Creative Power of Jesus

 

Last night we were at a dinner party hosted by a refugee family. We laughed most of the time and ate some delicious food. Before the meal, someone mentioned the quilts I’d made for them so out they came, and those guests who had not seen them were open-mouthed. I was praising God that part of being made in His image is being creative.

After dinner, one of the refugee family said something about her design skills and since none of the guests had seen the evidence, out they came. She is a remarkable artist. We were all open-mouthed at her drawings and watercolors.

This morning’s devotions are about the creativity of Jesus Christ. The key verse follows the one that tells how God revealed Himself. It says:

But in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. (Hebrews 1:2)

Think this way: Jesus is the Word of God made flesh, that same Word that God spoke brought the universe into existence. This means that Jesus Christ is also is the agent through whom God created the world and all things. It sounds a bit like science fiction, but it is not at all an invented thing like AI or human technology. The Bible is clear that Jesus did it and that He has the power to do it. While humans are creative, we are nothing in artistic skill compared to Him:

All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. (John 1:3)

As it is written, “I have made you the father of many nations”—in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist. (Romans 4:17)

I try to imagine life with His creative ability. As MacArthur suggests, I’d enlarge my house, have an acreage with a horse, and a perfect occupation, or I could sit on my patio and make money! Fortunately, God did not give us sinners the power to create something out of nothing. Our creative abilities do not go that far.

The ability to create ex nihilo (out of nothing) belongs only to God. Since Jesus creates that way, His divine nature is declared. Remembering the words in Genesis, His creation was “good” until humanity sinned and changed it. This required that God intervened with great mercy, grace and love to restore what He had made. This is our desire and our hope:

For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that 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 8:19–21)

The word used in Hebrews 1:2 for world is not the usual “kosmos” but “aionas” which appears in only one other verse: “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) It can mean far more than the visible world and certainly includes space, time, energy and other less visible entities than rocks, trees, and people. The power of Christ to create is far beyond cloth sewn together or lines and shapes on canvas or paper! He used no hands in the process; He just spoke it and all things appeared.

While most of the world accepts some sort of spontaneous ‘big bang’ theory, the idea of God speaking as the source of creation has been ridiculed. Is it harder to believe that creation has a design and an Author than it is to believe it just happened?

PRAY: Jesus, I know that You are God in human flesh, but also that You are the Word of God who created all things. You have given me a love for words, for precise communication. These thoughts remind me of that amazing book, “The Humiliation of the Word” by Jacques Ellul. Everyone should read it and see the parallels between images replacing language and how the world views You. While the wonder of creation awes me, Your ability to open human hearts to eternal truth is staggering!

PONDER: Think today about the ability of Jesus to use all things to transform His people into His image — not fully for we cannot speak worlds into existence, but we can use our words far more effectively than we do when it comes to bringing glory to His name.

 

 

Seeing the wonder . . .

Yesterday while scrolling through the channel selections, I found a program about the Hubble telescope. It was mostly videos of galaxies unseen by the naked eye, and I marveled. For me, these scenes confirm the power of Almighty God. They also confirm how insignificant earth and humanity are compared to the rest of what is out there.

Those who create the today’s news, and those who report it, need to take a tour and get a reality check. Some of them are so sure they can change things and make a mark for themselves. These vain ambitions are almost laughable, but mostly sad. Not only do they reveal tremendously inflated egos, they reveal hearts that have no interest in a power higher, wiser and incredibly more powerful than themselves.

This morning, I read this passage and noted all the things God does, particularly the equipping of people who do not know Him in relation to those who think they know everything . . .

“I am the Lord, and there is no other, besides me there is no God; I equip you, though you do not know me, that people may know, from the rising of the sun and from the west, that there is none besides me; I am the Lord, and there is no other. I form light and create darkness; I make well-being and create calamity; I am the Lord, who does all these things.

“Shower, O heavens, from above, and let the clouds rain down righteousness; let the earth open, that salvation and righteousness may bear fruit; let the earth cause them both to sprout; I the Lord have created it.

“Woe to him who strives with him who formed him, a pot among earthen pots! Does the clay say to him who forms it, ‘What are you making?’ or ‘Your work has no handles’? Woe to him who says to a father, ‘What are you begetting?’ or to a woman, ‘With what are you in labor?’

“Thus says the Lord, the Holy One of Israel, and the one who formed him: ‘Ask me of things to come; will you command me concerning my children and the work of my hands? I made the earth and created man on it; it was my hands that stretched out the heavens, and I commanded all their host. I have stirred him up in righteousness, and I will make all his ways level; he shall build my city and set my exiles free, not for price or reward,’ says the Lord of hosts.” (Isaiah 45:5–13)

This reminds me of an old hymn with these lines: “Holy, holy, holy! Though the darkness hide Thee, though the eye of sinful man Thy glory may not see; only Thou are holy; there is none beside Thee, perfect in power, in love, and purity.”

What does the eye of sinful man see when gazing at space through the Hubble? I try to remember what I once thought when I looked at the stars before Christ came to me. Some wonder? Some awe? But I did not worship God or even consciously credit Him for the loveliness of the night sky. Now I know the love of God through faith in Christ Jesus and now, when I look at the sky, my heart is fills with worship and with a sense of His presence — both bring joy and peace to my heart. The horrors of today’s news (and yesterday’s) comes into perspective; God is sovereign. I do not understand why He allows some things, nor how He is involved in tragic situations, but I know He made the moon and stars and all that I can see and not see. He is still in charge of His universe, and is mercifully in charge of my life.

^^^^^^^^^^^^

Jesus, God spoke and the universe came into existence. You are the Word of God, involved in that speaking and in this masterful creation. Even more incredible, You became one of us that we might know You and know the great power that is over all things. You are immense, Almighty, yet You graciously and tenderly love and take care of Your children. In my mind, I am so tiny, so nothing, but You know the number of the hairs on my head. Oh Lord, what a wonder You are!