God is the Powerful Creator, not a Limited Creation

            Why do people worship God?  Why do people all over the world accept physical torture and death rather than renounce their faith in the one true God?  If you think Christians are naïve or misinformed, I beg you to reconsider.  Is it not possible that for thousands of years, sincere believers spread across the globe are not blind followers of tradition but passionate followers of the truth?  Children in China, old men in Nepal, and teenagers in Brazil have been saved by Christ and have devoted their lives to the God who deems them his eternal children.  Entirely by God’s grace and mercy, through faith in his Son, our filth is cleansed and we are forgiven.  God allows the punishment for sin, death, to be absorbed once by Christ so that many may be saved.

            And yet, God is ridiculed and staunchly opposed.  Many who spit on his name are doing so based on ignorant rumors, blatant heresy, or negative personal experiences.  They are usually rejecting a man-made god, not the God of the universe who presents himself to us through the Bible, Christ and the Holy Spirit.  If someone insults the person you cherish most, will you not rise to their defense?  Please understand then why I desperately want to speak about the God who has done more for me (and all of mankind) than any person I love could ever attempt.  There is so much about God’s character that I want to defend, but all I will currently attempt to address is God’s role as Creator.   

"You, Lord, laid the foundation of the earth in the beginning, and the heavens are the work of your hands; they will perish, but you remain; they will all wear out like a garment, like a robe you will roll them up, like a garment they will be changed.  But you are the same, and your years will have no end."

Hebrews 1:10-12

            God is a Heavenly Father of order, not chaos.  He created the cells that make up a ladybug’s eye, and he fashioned the stars in space that have yet to be discovered.  He designed every organ and organism that scientists study, including the complex brains they use to accomplish such work.  He is powerful, imaginative, and eternal.  He is more intelligent than the wisest man to ever live.  He sees all, knowing the hearts and actions of every person.  God made humans unique from the rest of his work, but our wisdom will never compare to his.  It is foolish to look at gaps in our knowledge, or apparent contradictions, and chalk it up to God being inadequate or false.  If we trust our own limited human capacities above God’s infinite depth as Creator, how silly do we look?  Being wise in our own eyes, when we clearly all fall short of the glory of God, will only usher in a life of hollow pride and eternity apart from God. 

            What we know of the vastness of God’s splendor and power in creation is only a glimpse.  What’s even more mind-boggling is that God is not a distant creator.  He created us with intentionality, and sent Jesus because of his love for us.  Just as a liver is made to produce bile for digestion (and other things I wouldn’t be able to explain well), humans are made to worship God and live with him in harmony.  We see this in Eden and we see it again in the book of Revelation.  God makes all things new, wiping away every tear and dwelling with mankind forever in peace.  This salvation and restoration is the act of a personal Creator – loving and compassionate in his position of authority, not weak and apathetic. 

            I do not kneel before an angry or lazy God.  I do not read in Scripture of an unjust Creator who acts on whims and demands undeserved worship.  I also do not know God as an enabler, accepting sin as long as he gets a bit of praise in return.  I follow the God of the Bible, the Creator of the heavens and the earth.  He is the only lawgiver and judge, the Father of a kingdom that will never be shaken.  He is the standard for all that is good, and I fall short.  Yet, his grace and mercy have been extended to me in the form of salvation through Christ.  He desires that all be saved, that every broken relationship be mended and every rebellion crushed.  I urge you to consider Christ; soften your heart towards the God who made it and knows it more intimately than anyone else.

 

For further exploration -

Genesis 1; Proverbs 3:5-8; Proverbs 15:3; Proverbs 16:2, 25; Psalm 118:8; Psalm 139 ; John 3:16-21; Romans 3:23; James 1:16-18; Hebrews 1:1-3, 12:28-29; Revelation 1:8, 7:9-12, 21:1-8

 

Reports of Christian persecution

 

Song, "God of Wonders"
Song, "Yahweh"