So God created the great sea creatures and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarm, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. And God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.” (Genesis 1:21-22, ESV)
In Genesis 1, we read that before God created the first human pair, He created all the animals, in their wide and glorious variety.
As I read the Genesis creation account, something I notice is how much God seems to be enjoying Himself as He creates. Six times, it says He “saw that it was good.” And then the seventh and final time, after creating man and woman, He caps it off by saying creation is “very good” (Genesis 1:31).
Think of the satisfaction you feel when, after long hours of hard work, you finally finish a project. That gives us a glimpse at how God viewed His creation. He’s like a Master Craftsman who has finished His carefully built project and then leans back and smiles with satisfaction.
The Bible highlights God’s sheer joy in being God and His delight in all He has made.
Just as He was satisfied in His finished creation, Scripture highlights how God providentially cares for His world and gets involved in providing for all our needs.
“He waters the mountains from his upper chambers; the land is satisfied by the fruit of his work. He makes grass grow for the cattle, and plants for people to cultivate— bringing forth food from the earth: wine that gladdens human hearts, oil to make their faces shine, and bread that sustains their hearts.” (Psalm 104:13-15, ESV)
God is not a hands-off God. He shows a deep affection for all He has made.
This helps reframe our understanding of God. So often we think of holiness as being serious or morose. Maybe even boring. And since God is holy, we then make the mistake of picturing God as having a permanent frown on His face, as if it’s His nature to be cold and austere.
But I want you to see from the Bible that creation highlights God’s sheer joy at being God and His pleasure in all that He has made.
Frankly, to think that the God of this universe is boring is just so absurd! All you have to do is take a look at some of His creatures to rule out that idea. Take a look at the Aye-aye, and remember, God invented the glowing eyes and crazy-long fingers of this fascinating creature.
Or take one look at the face of the Proboscis monkey and tell me if you think God has a sense of humor. Then there’s the aptly named shoebill. One of the weirdest looking things is the blobfish. It looks like it’s part pig or something. But it’s a fish!
But this same God also created the beautiful tiger with its stripes and the energetic dolphin that leaps across the surface of the ocean. When we know these creatures are the handiwork of the Almighty, we begin to understand more of His character and nature.
I don’t know about you, but if we’re not careful, it’s easy to think of God as Someone who is constantly annoyed with us. Without question, sin grieves Him, but if you belong to Jesus Christ, you need to know God is not up in Heaven with arms permanently crossed when He looks at you. He’s not just waiting for you to mess up again so He can wag a finger at you.
No, God delights in who you are as His precious creation! David exulted in how God had made him.
“I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well.” (Psalm 139:13).
Zephaniah speaks of how glad God is to call you His own:
“For the LORD your God is living among you. He is a mighty savior. He will take delight in you with gladness. With his love, he will calm all your fears. He will rejoice over you with joyful songs.” (Zephaniah 3:17, NLT)
When you’re wondering, What does God really think of me? Meditate on passages like this. God, in His very being, is a happy God. He’s not up there pouting all the time. It would be more accurate to say He’s smiling for sheer joy at being God.
Even that idea of God delighting in being God might sound strange to you. But I think that’s because the Church hasn’t always done a great job of emphasizing this truth. At the core of His being, God is ablaze with infinite happiness, and His great desire is that we would find in Him the happiness for which we all long.
“The LORD has done great things for us; we are filled with joy.” (Psalm 126:3, ESV)
In 1 Timothy 1:11, Paul calls God the “blessed God,” which is probably better translated as “the supremely happy God.”
Later in that same letter, Paul talks about certain religious guys who have made up all these rules about things you can’t eat and can’t do. It’s like they feel the need to put caution tape around God’s good creation. And Paul’s response is:
Everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, for it is made holy by the word of God and prayer. (1 Timothy 4:4-5, ESV)
The gnostics of Paul’s day believed that the physical world of matter was the creation of a lesser god. They saw the body as something to be escaped. But God delights in His creation, and He designed human beings with physical bodies that can interact and enjoy the world He created.
Certainly, there are rules in the Bible, but the Bible is not primarily a book full of rules. Rather, God’s Word helps us enjoy God’s good creation more, because it teaches us to trace the enjoyment of His creation back to Him, who is the Fountain of all joy.
Prayer:
Father, I thank You for being a God of supreme happiness who delights in all He has made as a Master Craftsman. Help me take joy in your creation with fresh vigor, recognizing all that I see has been made by You with purpose and beauty. Help me to seek to live more joyfully in line with Your purposes. You are the God who gives me joy! In Jesus’ Name. Amen.
If you have thoughts on this post, I would love to hear from you.
The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it. (Genesis 2:15, ESV)
In the beginning, God created us to work. Wait a minute. Does that sound right to you? God created us to work?
Sure, that’s not the only reason God created us. He created us to know, enjoy, and love Him and others. But, yes, God did in fact create us for work.
It’s unfortunately common for many people–including many Christians–to view work as a curse rather than a blessing. Work is thought of as a necessary evil. Something that gets them the paycheck so they can do what they really want. You can hear it in the statements “Thank God it’s Friday!” and “I’m livin’ for the weekend!”
When you think of work as drudgery and curse, you won’t take delight in your 9 to 5 job. You won’t see how your work connects to a larger purpose or is part of what gives life meaning, because you don’t think of it as part of your created design.
Let me say something that might sound a bit radical. Work is less about earning a paycheck and more about living out your God-given purpose. Yes, I understand that the paycheck is important, that we need money to feed and care for ourselves and our families. And I’m not saying earning a lot of money is inherently evil. But I am saying that your work is about so much more than increasing your cashflow. Work is a blessing.
Think about how this perspective can transform your life.
If you work 40 hours a week for 40 years (pretty typical for many people), that is 80,000 hours of your life at work. So, how you view work really matters.
It all begins with seeing who God is.
When Genesis was written, other cultures at this time had their own creation stories. And in the Babylonian creation story, the gods basically get tired of working and then one of them has the bright idea of making man to be the little slaves that work for the gods, apparently so that the gods can relax on the heavenly beaches with mai tais and sunglasses.
But notice how different the story is in Genesis. First of all, work is not drudgery for God. God delights in His work of creation and calls it “very good” (Genesis 1:31). Then God rested on the seventh day from His work and blessed it (Genesis 2:2-3). But God wasn’t done working.
Jesus said, “My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I too am working” (John 5:17).
And when God creates man, He tells him that one of his great purposes is to do this honorable work of cultivating and developing His garden.
The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it. (Genesis 2:15, ESV)
The ancient Greeks and Romans viewed work as a necessary evil. Aristotle even famously said that some people were made to be slaves who worked and others were made for the higher life of philosophy and contemplation.
“The whole Greek social structure helped to support such an outlook, for it rested on the premise that slaves and [craftsmen] did the work, enabling the elite to devote themselves to the exercise of the mind in art, philosophy, and politics.” (Leland Ryken, Work and Leisure in Christian Perspective, 64)
In stark contrast, the Hebrews believed that work is part of our royal dignity as image bearers of a God who works. The Bible presents work as one of God’s blessings for taking dominion of the world He’s made for us. Again, Adam is put in a garden called “Delight” (Eden) “to work it and keep it.”
At this point, the world was perfect (well, almost perfect because he doesn’t have a wife yet). There was no curse because sin had not yet entered the world. Adam is in paradise, and he’s working. We might assume work is the result of the curse, but work is a blessing, intended for honoring God and loving others.
I’ve talked with a lot of business owners over the last few years. And one of the recurring trends is the lack of young people with a good work ethic, who are committed to doing quality work. This lack of motivation tells me that many people simply have a warped view of work.
Genesis 2:15 teaches that from the very beginning God intended for man to work and cultivate the ground and make something of the world he was living in. These two words “work” and “keep” are the same Hebrew words used elsewhere to describe the vocation of the priests. Well, what did the priests do? They worked in the Temple and led the people in worshiping God.
Here’s the idea. God created the whole cosmos to be His Temple. From the very beginning, God intended to dwell with His image bearers in a world He created. Man and woman would walk in fellowship with Him and glorify Him, even as they developed the world into a civilized paradise.
Do you know that you can worship God through work? And when you rely on Him, you can see work as a way of loving your neighbor. Whether you are a teacher, attorney, engineer, firefighter, homeschool mom, store clerk, pizza delivery guy, or police officer, when you see your work as part of God’s grand plan for caring for His world, you can actually take joy in even very demanding work. When I worked at a hospital, I asked a nurse what she liked best about her job. She said that “Every nurse knows how hard it can be,” but that even on very hard days, she knows she’s serving people and that gives her work meaning.
Also, keep in mind how high a view of mankind the Bible has. We weren’t created to be God’s little minions, slaving away in drudgery. God’s calling on our lives is much, much bigger than that!
When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him? Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor.You have given him dominion over the works of your hands; you have put all things under his feet, all sheep and oxen, and also the beasts of the field, the birds of the heavens, and the fish of the sea, whatever passes along the paths of the seas. (Psalm 8:3-8, ESV)
God didn’t create us to be His little slaves. No, God creates human beings and puts all things under our feet. And He then invites us to partner with Him in making something of this world. We should see work as a gift–a privilege, even–where we get to partner with God in creating civilization by cultivating the planet He made to be our home.
God cares about your work. And I’m not just talking about your 9 to 5 job. Being a full-time parent is God-honoring work. Cleaning your home is God-honoring work. Scrubbing toilets is God-honoring work. Why? Because you are bringing order out of chaos, and that is what God does.
Prayer:
Father God, help me enjoy the work you have given to me–even the menial tasks that can feel like drudgery. Help me see how my work is connected to how You care for the world You have created for us to dwell in. When I clean the gutter, mow the lawn, serve food, or wash the dishes, help me take pleasure in bringing order out of chaos. Give me joy in my work in Jesus’ Name. Amen.
If you have thoughts on this post, I would love to hear from you.
Recently, my family and I stopped to feast our eyes on an exquisite sunset, complete with a bright glowing blend of red, orange, and purple. Just after dusk, my three boys and I went frog hunting on my in-laws’ property. We crept up on a little pond, from which we could hear a chorus of croaks and chirps. As we closed in on the frogs, they suddenly fell silent in unison. It didn’t help that our dog, June, plunged into their pond a moment later.
On our way back to the house, we stopped to gaze up at the night sky above us, a deep black canvas dotted with tiny sparkling diamonds. It was sublime. We could even spot Jupiter and Venus. What a way to begin spring! Despite the cold March air, it was hard for the four of us to stop staring. In the midst of our shared excitement, I was reminded of the first line from Psalm 19:
“The heavens declare the glory of God,
and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.” (Psalm 19:1, ESV)
Ears to Hear
According to the Bible, that starry sky above is making a declaration to us. It’s announcing to us that there is an Artist and Designer behind it all.
Everything you see in this world – towering trees, majestic mountains, fertile fields, mighty elephants, growling lions, chirping crickets – all of it owes its existence to an all-powerful Creator, who ordered and designed this world for the glory of His great name.
Some people might say, “I don’t hear any announcement.” But think of it this way. Someone can be shouting something to you from across the room, and you still don’t hear it. Maybe you’re deaf or you’re wearing noise-canceling headphones. Or maybe you’re just choosing to ignore that person. Although the stars don’t actually speak (v. 3), their message of God’s glory is being declared “through all the earth” (v. 4) to those who have ears to hear.
God’s glory is all the beauty and majesty of His character and nature. The word “glory” (kabod in Hebrew) gives the sense of something being weighty or having importance. So to say the heavens declare God’s glory is more than saying they point to His existence. All of creation is announcing His importance, His power, His worth. The starry skies are urging us to worship God as the One who deserves all the glory.
“You are worthy, our Lord and God,
to receive glory and honor and power,
for you created all things,
and by your will they were created
and have their being.” (Revelation 4:11, NIV)
Many people today like to say they’re not too sure about God’s existence; instead, they prefer to look for a scientific explanation. But the more we learn about the heavens, the more we should see God’s glory. The magnetosphere is a magnetic field surrounding the earth that stretches out into space 36,000 miles. It acts like a massive shield, protecting our planet from the sun’s harmful solar winds. When the charged particles of the solar winds are redirected to the north and south poles, they create the beautiful auroras, known as the northern and southern lights. Science should lead us to exult in God’s incredible design. Not only does the magnetosphere act as a massive protective bubble, but it also creates a breathtaking display in the night sky.
Interestingly, scientists have discovered a host of features like the magnetosphere that have to be just so for earth to be a habitable planet. This includes the size of earth in relation to the sun, the size of the moon in relation to earth, the amount of oxygen in our atmosphere, the amount of water on earth, the size of the surrounding planets, and even our location in the Milky Way galaxy. These are well-documented in The Privileged Planet, a book written by Guillermo Gonzalez and Jay W. Richards.
The Sufficiency of Scripture
David, the psalmist, goes on to say that while creation declares there is a glorious Creator, it doesn’t tell us how to get right with Him. General revelation (nature) tells us there is a Creator, but we need special revelation (Scripture) to learn that there is also a Redeemer.
“The law of the Lord is perfect,
reviving the soul;
the testimony of the Lord is sure,
making wise the simple.” (Psalm 19:7, ESV)
While astounding things can be learned from observing the created world, true wisdom is found in God’s law. Such wisdom comes from above; it is more precious than gold (V. 10). Most people don’t realize what an extraordinary privilege it is to have a Bible in their home. It’s like they are sitting on a storehouse of treasure, and they’ve never realized it. God’s Word alone is perfect, flawless, and true. Through Scripture, our eyes are opened to see that this wise Creator has made a way for us to be forgiven and granted eternal life. Many have chased after gold and riches, but David reminds us that “the fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever” (v. 9).
David wants us to understand the sufficiency of Scripture. The wonder of God’s Word is that you don’t need to have an advanced degree in physics or philosophy to know what God is really like. Scripture itself imparts wisdom to even the “simple” or uneducated (v. 7). It tells us plainly of God’s goodness, justice, and grace. And most importantly, it tells us about the Redeemer Jesus Christ, who alone lived a life acceptable in God’s sight (v. 14) and then offered that life as an acceptable sacrifice in the place of sinners (Ephesians 5:2).
So while creation declares God is powerful and wise, Scripture declares that God is loving and gracious. The Bible alone is “able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus” (2 Timothy 3:15, ESV).
Have thoughts on this post? Feel free to comment below!
If someone was to ask you what the main theme of Jesus Christ’s teaching was during His earthly ministry, how would you respond? Would you talk about His call to love our neighbors – even our enemies (Matthew 5:44)? Would you share His repeated message about His sacrificial death as a substitute for us (Mark 10:45)? No doubt these two themes are primary in Jesus’s teaching, not secondary. But the most prominent theme that Jesus spoke on was the kingdom of God.
This surprises many who grew up hearing about Jesus dying on the cross for their sin and rising again but don’t recall learning much about the kingdom of God. But it is pretty hard to dispute such a claim when you consider what Jesus actually said in the Gospels.
In the Gospel of Mark, the message Jesus first preached was:
“The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe the gospel.” (Mark 1:15, ESV)
Likewise, in Matthew and Luke, we see Jesus constantly talking about the kingdom of God. He shares parables about the kingdom (Matthew 13). He tells His followers to pray “Your kingdom come” (6:10). He alluded to Himself in kingly terms, saying things like “A nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom and then return.” (Luke 19:12). He often prompted His listeners to consider, “What is the kingdom of God like?” (13:18-21). He said things like, “But if it is by the finger of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you” (11:20).
His famous Sermon on the Mount was all about what life in the kingdom of God looks like (Matthew 5-7). Jesus said, “For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven” (5:20).[1] Rather than being anxious about their daily needs, Jesus taught His followers to orient their lives around the coming kingdom: “But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you” (6:33). Matthew summed up Jesus’s earthly ministry like this: “And Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction” (9:35).
As you read through the Gospels, you can’t help noticing that Jesus loved to talk about the kingdom of God. The arrival of the kingdom was at the core of everything He did. It is no exaggeration to say that Jesus was either talking about the kingdom or showing the power of the kingdom.[2]
So what exactly is the kingdom of God? And why couldn’t Jesus quit talking about it?
God the King
In America, we often struggle with the concepts of king and kingdom. After all, we are a nation birthed through rejection of a king’s authority. The idea of a king reigning over us often sounds either quaint or tyrannical. We might resonate more with the peasant in the Monty Python film Holy Grail. When King Arthur tells him he should show deference to his king, the peasant responds, “Well, I didn’t vote for you.” To which the frustrated Arthur replies, “You don’t vote for kings!”
And yet, there’s just no getting around the fact that the kingdom theme is prominent in Scripture. I think Graeme Goldsworthy summed it up well when he said the kingdom is God’s people, in God’s place, under God’s rule.[3] When we talk about the kingdom of God, we are talking about God’s right and power to reign over His world.
The faithful Jew of the first century would recognize immediately what Jesus meant by “the kingdom of God is at hand.” The Hebrew Scriptures frequently refer to God as the King reigning over the earth (Exodus 15:18; Psalm 93:1; 103:19).
“Who is this King of glory? The Lord of hosts, he is the King of glory!” (Psalm 24:10)
As Creator, God is the rightful King over His creation. He alone is perfectly righteous and capable of executing justice on the earth.
“Your throne, O God, is forever and ever. The scepter of your kingdom is a scepter of uprightness.” (Psalm 45:6)
Despite the privilege of having God as their just and loving monarch, the people of Israel continually pursued false gods and failed to submit to the Lord. When the people demanded a human king like the surrounding nations, God tells the prophet Samuel, “They have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them” (1 Samuel 8:7). While there are flickers of hope throughout, the Old Testament can be summarized as the story of Israel rejecting God as her true king. At its core, sin is rebellion against the kingly reign of God (Romans 1:18-21).
In the words of R. C. Sproul, “Every sin is an act of cosmic treason, a futile attempt to dethrone God in His sovereign authority.”[4]
Israel’s greatest human king, David, is said to be “a man after God’s own heart” who reigned in the power of the Lord (1 Samuel 13:14; 2 Samuel 5:10). God even promises David that one of his offspring shall build a temple and sit on the throne forever, saying, “And your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me. Your throne shall be established forever” (2 Samuel 7:16).
David was understandably overwhelmed by this promise, often called “the Davidic Covenant.” While David’s son, Solomon does build the temple, he eventually dies. So the promise is not fully realized. From this point forward, the Jewish people look forward to the arrival of this messianic figure in the line of David. Through the prophets, God reassures the people that this son of David will come: “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land” (Jeremiah 23:5). For justice to be executed and righteousness to fill the land, God would somehow have to deal with sin, putting down the rebellion that naturally springs from the human heart (17:9).
Over the centuries, we see a long line of kings descending from David who fail to be this “righteous Branch.” In fact, most of these men do not walk with the Lord. Eventually, God judges Judah (David’s tribe) by allowing the people to be conquered by Babylon and taken as subjects to live under the pagan king, Nebuchadnezzar. Things look pretty bleak now. Whereas before they were in the right land but didn’t have the right man, now they weren’t even in the right land!
And yet, God’s promise stood firm. The prophet Jeremiah assured them that his fellow Jews would only be in exile in Babylon for 70 years, at which point a godly remnant would return to land of Israel (Jeremiah 29:10). Hope remained!
A Kingdom that Fills the Earth
Not only that, but in Babylon, God showed His power to fulfill promises through Daniel, a young man who found himself standing before the mighty Nebuchadnezzar. The pagan king had threatened to kill all the “wise men” of Babylon unless someone could interpret a dream that deeply troubled him. So God used Daniel to deliver a prophetic message through the dream’s interpretation.
Daniel tells Nebuchadnezzar that in his dream he saw a terrifyingly massive statue. He then interprets the dream, explaining that the various portions of the statute (head, chest, middle and thighs, and legs and feet) symbolized Babylon and the three successive kingdoms (or empires) that will dominate the world scene in the future. These kingdom predictions align with what we know of the Medo-Persian, Greek, and Roman Empires.
In the dream, however, Nebuchadnezzar saw
“…a stone was cut out by no human hand, and it struck the image on its feet of iron and clay, and broke them in pieces. Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold, all together were broken in pieces, and became like the chaff of the summer threshing floors; and the wind carried them away, so that not a trace of them could be found. But the stone that struck the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.” (Daniel 2:34-35)
Daniel tells Nebuchadnezzar that during the fourth kingdom “the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that shall never be destroyed, nor shall the kingdom be left to another people. It shall break in pieces all these kingdoms and bring them to an end, and it shall stand forever” (Daniel 2:44).
In the following centuries, the Jews remembered this prophetic dream and eagerly anticipated the kingdom of God that would be established during that fourth kingdom (Roman Empire). They also anticipated the arrival of a “son of David” who would bring in this kingdom as the Messiah, who will deal justly with the poor, destroy the wicked, and bring in an era of righteousness and peace (Isaiah 11:1-5).
The Now and Not Yet of the Kingdom
The kingdom of God, then, is about God coming to reign as King over His people in His world. We cannot abstract the kingdom of God from the person of Jesus. To be in the kingdom and seek first the kingdom is to live for King Jesus. When Jesus announced that the kingdom was at hand, He was saying that the kingdom of God was arriving in and through Him. More specifically, it was in Jesus’s death and resurrection from the dead that the kingdom of God was inaugurated on earth, because in these events Jesus defeated sin (rebellion against the reign of God) and broke the power of death (the result of rebellion). The kingdom would not yet arrive in full until the end of the age when He returns, but His resurrection was the first installment of the powers of the age to come breaking into this age.
It is important for us to understand both the present and future reality of the kingdom of God – what theologians have termed the “already” and the “not yet” of the kingdom. In one sense, the kingdom is already present because all who repent of their sin and trust in Christ are born again and enter the kingdom of God (Matthew 18:4; 19:14).
Paul can say that already Christ has “rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins” (Colossians 1:13-14, NASB). Because of Christ’s resurrection, the kingdom truly is present on earth today as men and women surrender to the reign of Jesus and experience new spiritual life and forgiveness of sins. Like the nation of Israel, believers are called a “kingdom of priests” (cf. Exodus 19:6; 1 Peter 2:9).
On the other hand, Jesus also spoke of the kingdom’s future arrival as something we should pray for (Matthew 6:10). The fullness of the kingdom has “not yet” arrived in its final form. He also used parables that express both the growth of the kingdom from small beginnings and its future consummation on earth at “the close of this age” when evildoers will be cast into the fiery furnace while the righteous “will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father” (Matthew 13:24-43).
The Apostle Paul explains it this way:
“But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ. Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death.” (1 Corinthians 15:20-26)
On Earth as It Is in Heaven
The kingdom of God is an essential theme of the story of Scripture. You could even say that the story of the Bible is the story of God’s kingdom coming in and through the redemptive reign of Jesus Christ. From all we’ve seen, one thing should be made clear in our minds. Jesus spoke of the kingdom’s arrival – here on earth. He said it is close “at hand.” Daniel said the stone that shattered the great image “became a great mountain and filled the earth” (Daniel 2:35). In describing the Messiah’s kingdom, Isaiah spoke of creation being restored to its original design, with animals living in perfect harmony under the kingly reign of the Messiah.
“The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat, and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together; and a little child shall lead them.” (Isaiah 11:6)
It will be Eden restored: “for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea” (v. 9).
When Jesus said “it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God,” Peter asked about the disciples’ payoff for leaving all for the sake of Jesus (Matthew 19:24-27). Jesus responded that “in the renewal of all things” (v. 28), they would be more than rewarded for their sacrifices. This same Peter would later write that “we wait for new heavens and a new earth, where righteousness dwells” (2 Peter 3:13).
It is no wonder that, in the Beatitudes, Jesus spoke of His people inheriting both “the kingdom of heaven” and “the earth” (Matthew 5:3, 5). In God’s great plan of redemption, His kingdom will be on earth, when all of creation is restored and rightly ordered under the reign of our Lord.
In that day, God’s people will be comforted because God Himself will be with them and wipe every tear from their eye. And death will be no more. “For… the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God” (Romans 8:20-21). Christ the King will reclaim His entire creation. As Abraham Kuyper put it, there is not one square inch of the universe, over which Christ does not exclaim, “Mine!”
Therefore, we shouldn’t think of God’s future kingdom as an otherworldly existence in a realm of pure spirit. Rather, followers of the risen King are now called to pray for the kingdom’s full arrival “on earth as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:10).
“Joy to the world! The Lord is come. No more let sins and sorrows grow, nor thorns infest the ground. He comes to make His blessings flow, far as the curse is found.” – Charles Wesley
Have thoughts on this post? Feel free to comment below!
[1] Many scholars have noted that since “kingdom of heaven” is synonymous with “kingdom of God.” Matthew wrote his Gospel primarily to a Jewish audience, so his tendency to use “the kingdom of heaven” is explained by the reticence of Jews to use God’s name for fear of committing blasphemy.
[2][2] While John’s Gospel favors the phrase “eternal life,” he nevertheless includes Jesus saying, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3).
“By faith we understand that the
universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out
of things that are visible.” (Hebrews 11:3)
On Christmas Eve, 1968, the crew of Apollo 8 had the unique privilege of becoming the first human beings to see the far side of the moon. Coming out of their fourth orbit, these astronauts — Frank Borman, James Lovell, and William Anders — were mesmerized by the breathtaking view of earth, with all its beautiful and vibrant colors. It stood in stark contrast to the barren landscape of the moon in the foreground. In that captivating moment, the crew thought it was only fitting to read reverently from the majestic first verse in the Bible: “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1).
Thus begins the grand story of Scripture. How different this account is from all the ancient pagan creation myths. For example, the Babylonian epic, Enuma Elish, speaks of the gods warring with one another and finally forming the worlds out of the carcasses of slain gods. In contrast, this God of Genesis, Yahweh, does not need already existing matter to create His universe. There is no battle raging in Genesis 1. God simply speaks, and a vast universe stretches into existence.
That phrase “the heavens and the earth” is called a merism, where two ends of a spectrum are
used to encompass the whole. In Genesis 1:1, we are meant to take “the heavens
and the earth” as the entire cosmos being created by the one God. Modern
science has now caught up to Genesis in recognizing that there had to have been
an absolute beginning to the universe, but for many centuries the consensus
among secular scientists was that the universe was eternal. In contrast,
Christians and Orthodox Jews have always believed that only God is eternal.
“Before the
mountains were brought forth,
or ever you had formed the earth and the world,
from everlasting to everlasting you are God.” (Psalm 90:2)
God Speaks and Things Happen
“And God said, ‘Let there be light.’ And there was light”
(Genesis 1:3). God merely speaks and things burst into existence. This same basic
pattern is followed throughout the whole first chapter (see verses 6-7, 9, 11,
14-15, 20-21, 24, 26-27). And what’s the point? I think Psalm 33 best captures
this.
In Psalm 33:6, we read: “By the word of the LORD the heavens
were made, and by the breath of His mouth all their host.” Verse 9: “For He
spoke, and it came to be; He commanded, and it stood firm.”
The whole point is that creation was instantaneous, just
like the miracles of Jesus. Jesus did not need to take that water from the
wedding in Cana, run to grab grapes from a local vineyard, press them down, and
wait for the whole process of fermentation to be completed before He finally
made wine. No, the whole point of this first “sign” was that Jesus transformed
the water into wine in a moment (see John 2:1-11).
In the same way, God did not need long ages of stellar
evolution before creating the first star.[1]
Genesis offers no rhetorical flourish when describing the creation of those
massive gas giants with all their incredible combustion. Almost as an
afterthought, we read, “He also made the stars” (Genesis 1:16, NIV).
This instantaneous creation by His word displays God’s infinite creative power. All He has to do is exhale, as it were, and galaxies spin into space, whole worlds take shape, and all the various living creatures fill the earth. Just imagine how much power this Creator must wield!
Photo courtesy of DesktopBackground
God of Infinite Power
Yahweh is not like the gods of the ancient cultures, who
needed humans to be their slaves because they were too tired.
“Have you
not known? Have you not heard?
Yahweh is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He does not faint or grow weary;
His understanding is unsearchable.” (Isaiah 40:28)
Nor did He need to kill other gods in order to form the worlds. It
is simply the awesome power of Almighty God on full display. This is the God we were made to
know and with whom we have to do (Hebrews 4:13).
You and I were made to bow down and worship such a God. And after
considering His infinite power, this only makes sense.
“Worthy are
You, our Lord and God,
to receive glory and honor and power,
for You created all things,
and by Your will they existed and were created.” (Revelation 4:11)
Wired for Glory
But more than that, we were created to know Him. This is the greatest privilege imaginable: to know the Creator. That is why we ought to consider what the Bible says about Him. For knowing God is the key to finding true and abundant life. From the beginning, humankind was designed to be in relationship with this infinite Creator. We are wired for glory. That is why we hunger for glorious experiences, achievements, and relationships. But everything else will ultimately leave us empty and unsatisfied until we come to know the One who authored our life.
“And this
is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom
you have sent” (John 17:3).
Eternal life is found in repenting of sin against this Creator and trusting in Jesus Christ alone as Savior from that sin. I invite you to open your Bible and discover this awesome God for yourself.
[1] As an aside, the current theory of stellar evolution that is widely accepted in the secular academy is that stars are born from the elements produced by already existing stars. The problem for the atheist is how those first stars came to be. While the current theory among secular scientists is that the first stars formed from a collapsing cloud of gas, this theory has numerous problems. See Rod Bernitt, “Stellar Evolution and the Problem of First Stars,” https://creation.com/stellar-evolution-and-the-problem-of-the-first-stars. Even the agnostic astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson has admitted: “Not all gas clouds in the Milky Way can form stars at all times. More often than not, the cloud is confused about what to do next. Actually, astrophysicists are the confused ones here. We know the cloud wants to collapse under its own weight to make one or more stars. But rotation as well as turbulent motion within the cloud work against that fate. So, too, does the ordinary gas pressure you learned about in high-school chemistry class. Galactic magnetic fields also fight collapse: they penetrate the cloud and latch onto any free-roaming charged particles contained therein, restricting the ways in which the cloud will respond to its self-gravity. The scary part is that if none of us knew in advance that stars exist, front line research would offer plenty of convincing reasons for why stars could never form.” Neil deGrasse Tyson, Death by Black Hole: And Other Cosmic Quandaries (New York: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc., 2007), 187.
“Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path” (Psalm 119:105).
This last weekend, I stood atop Mount Defiance, a peak that overlooks the Columbia River Gorge. The view was breathtaking. Across the hills, pine forests comingled with the orange, yellow, and red of leaf-bearing trees turning their autumn hue. The broad river below shimmered under the bright sun that shone alone in the blue vault above. To the north stood the majestic peaks of Mount Rainier, Mount Adams, and Mount St. Helens. To the south, Mount Hood towered over the surrounding landscape. It was beautiful, and I thanked God for His work of art. One might wonder what could possibly move the heart to worship the Creator like such an experience outdoors. Psalm 119 provides an answer.
Psalm 119 is something of a love poem written about God’s Word, the Bible. We read statements like: “Oh how I love your law! It is my meditation all the day” (v. 97). It gives us a sense of just how central Bible reading must be for the man or woman who desires to walk hand-in-hand with God on the journey of life. There is a powerful lesson here for the committed follower of Jesus. Our relationship with God is not primarily strengthened through nature hikes, where the grandeur of God’s creative power is on full display, or through reading the great works of clear-thinking theologians. It’s certainly true that staggering views of creation can ignite a sense of awe and worship that is God-directed. Similarly, soul-thrilling treasures can be mined from the writings of Augustine, Edwards, Spurgeon, and many more. And yet, above and beyond these, God has made it clear that it is the Bible alone that should occupy the central place in the believer’s relationship with God.
It is through reading Scripture that true intimacy with God is forged. It is God’s Word that moves our hearts to bring bold requests to our Maker in prayer. It is through studying the Bible that we are guided, not by vague notions of what a good God might want, but by clear enunciations of His will for every believer (1 Thessalonians 4:1-8; 5:18; 1 Peter 2:25). It is the Bible — not creation — that tells us how we come into a relationship with God (2 Timothy 3:15). Every follower of Christ should reflect the attitude of the psalter in Psalm 119:35-40:
“Lead me in the path of your commandments, for I delight in it.
Incline my heart to your testimonies, and not to selfish gain!
Turn my eyes from looking at worthless things; and give me life in your ways.
Confirm to your servant your promise, that you may be feared.
Turn away the reproach that I dread, for your rules are good.
Behold, I long for your precepts; in your righteousness give me life!”
From this passage, we learn that the Lord’s commandments are not burdensome; they are “good” (v. 39). In fact, they are a source of “delight” (v. 35). The implication of verses 36-38 is that when Scripture is not central to our lives and constantly redirecting our thoughts, we are prone to selfishness (v. 36), to “looking at worthless things” (v. 37), and to ignoring rather than fearing the God for whom we are made (v. 38). The words of Scripture are the words of life — apart from which we have no hope. Your Creator authored them, and they are intended for your good. As Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life” (John 6:68).
Prayer: Father God, I often feel the pull of temptation to all kinds of worthless pursuits. Please redirect my thoughts and attitudes by Your mighty Word. Like the psalter, fill me with an unhindered longing for the Spirit-inspired Word of God (Psalm 119:40)!
Lamp and Light 