From the introduction to Nurture and Inspire Love …
The Creator
John 1:3 says, “All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.”
From John 1 we learn that God is the Word. We also learn that Jesus Christ is the Word—that He is, in fact, God. And we learn from the book of Genesis that God spoke creation into existence. It is all woven together beautifully throughout the Scriptures, but especially in the gospel of John. This same Jesus Christ is the creator of all that exists. Nothing—not one thing—was made without Him.
This is certainly reason enough to pay attention to Jesus’s words as recorded in the Scriptures. After all, our creator is speaking.
I once heard an interview with two scientists. It was amazing! One studied the cosmos. The other was a microbiologist who studied the smallest building blocks of life. Both were Christian.
The universe is unbelievably immense. And Jesus created it all: every galaxy, every planet, every star.
Even an individual cell is amazingly complex. And Jesus created each microscopic component: each electron, each proton, each neutron.
There are plants and creatures on Earth we haven’t even discovered yet, and Jesus created them all. He made everything, from the largest whale to the single-celled amoeba, from the mighty redwoods to each individual blade of grass.
And the mysteries of the universe? The more we learn, the more questions we have. But Jesus fully understands each mystery.
Granted, man has walked on the moon and landed a probe on a comet. We look out into the vastness using the Hubble telescope. And those things are amazing. But just think, Jesus made the moon and the comets and everything beyond what we can see even with the most high-powered telescope.
We rush from Point A to Point B, most of us never considering the wonders all around us—and the wonders within.
The sun rises, and even if we’re already awake, we’re busy preparing for the next sixteen or so hours and don’t even notice.
Our children scramble out of bed—willingly or unwillingly—and, depending on their ages, need our help to get ready for the day. Do we take time to really look at them, to contemplate what a wonder it is that God Himself entrusted them to us? After all, Psalm 127:3 says, “Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward.”
We work at home or in our community. We run errands. We have places to go and people to see.
Do we consider the blue sky, the green trees, the sparkling water, or the chirping birds?
We tend to supper and clean up and help with homework—and the sun sets. We do what needs to be done and collapse into bed, only to start over when the sun rises again.
Your day may not look exactly like this. Even so, do you take the time to consider the world around you?
Romans 1:20 says, “For his [God’s] invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made.”
The very complexity and order that some use to explain away the existence of God actually reveals what He is like. But we must take the time to truly see, to truly listen.
And to know that Jesus created humanity, knowing how far we’d stray from His ways, knowing He’d have to come to Earth to live as a man, die as a thief, and rise as the God He is to redeem us, should stop us in our tracks. He looked down the annals of history and said, “They’re worth it.” Now that is truly awesome!
Psalm 46:10 instructs us to be still and know that He is God. Even if we cease running from one destination to the next, quieting our hearts and minds is another challenge altogether. It takes practice and discipline, but it’s well worth it.
Steph Beth Nickel is an author, blogger, editor, and regular contributor to HopeStreamRadio.