Creator God

There is nothing more incredible than holding a baby in our arms. Each life is precious and knit with promise from God Himself.

My daughter Brooke with her son.

Let's enjoy Creation from a Biblical perspective. It is massively faith-building. I can't see the children I love without speaking about the Creator. The body of Christ can not leave this truth about God's nature in Sunday school or consider it elementary. Its meaning blows me away, and I will partially write about it here.

I have to get this stuff out - or I might explode. Thank you for joining me today.

Honoring how rabbis and Israelites read the Bible can reveal much about God. I see God's echoes and patterns when I learn under rabbis, and it is incredible (beyond words) to look at the first mentions in the Word.

YHWH chooses the first mention of many people, places, miracles, words, and phrases to bring foundational truths to these things. For example, the first mention of the word "love" is in Genesis 22:2. The world had 2000 years in those first chapters. Still, the word love was reserved foundationally for the story of Abraham and Isaac.

Genesis 22:2

He said, "Take now your son, your only son, whom you love, Isaac, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I will tell you.

(For some foundational gold in this Chapter - my podcast Biblically Wired dated March 26, 2024 Abraham and Isaac foundational gold is very fun)

Knowing this, we see the basis of love going forward is knit to the love between a Father and His Son and Sacrifice. Interesting also is that the word love here is not agape love which refers to God's love as it always sustains and never changes.

Agape love is the kind of love Jesus calls us to give others through His commandments to love God and love others as ourselves (Matthew 22). This word for love in Genesis 22:2 is ahab, a love toward God or other humans.

We can not miss the blazing fact that God introduces Himself as Creator. You may all comment later that it seems crazy I would call God introducing Himself as a creator as a first mention. Isn't it obvious God would start His story this way?

I don't think so. I believe God's introduction as Creator is way more massive than we realize. We often leave God as the creator in Sunday School, but to the Israelites, it was everything.

If God wanted to introduce Himself first as Judge, He could have started the Bible with the story of Sodom and Gomorrah and reverted to the creation story later.

According to rabbis, God created the world with ten words. We call them statements, but words are an OK translation. 10 is the number for God's order and authority.

The Hebraic system uses numbers like emojis - numbers add extra emphasis and meaning to the text.

As we advance, YHWH will give the Ten Commandments through Moses (Exodus 19). When the Israelites first heard the ten commandments (the word commandment is not in the Hebrew text; they call it ten words) they immediately would have connected the commands to Genesis 1 (through the number 10). Minimally what did this tell them?

1. The Creator God was doing something new with His order and authority.

The number system is used throughout the Word.

Example: Matthew Chapters 8-9 list 10 miracles in a row, demonstrating that Jesus is God Himself (as the number 10 emphasizes God's order and authority). He used the number 10 to emphasize that Jesus had the same authority as God. More importantly, Jesus has the same creative power as God. Nothing can be healed without creation's power. (if you're interested in the number emphasis of Matthew we are in the middle of Matthew in our podcast right now).

Fundamentally, what does it mean to us that God is the creator? Why is it important to our faith in this day and age?

Many things are noteworthy about God's initial introduction to humanity (Genesis 1). Today, we will look at five of them.

1. God creates with His words.

2. God creates out of nothing (dust).

3. YHWH is a God of order.

4. God creates "good" things.

5. The whole world is blessed by His creations.

   
   

   Recently, when someone I mentor was struggling with God's nature, I sensed Him telling me to tell them to meet Him outside. He is approachable through nature.

   
   

The power of God's words is incredible. How could we describe God's words using our minimal language? We can't? We see Jesus echo this when He calms a storm with His words, or commands a dead person to walk. Again, God's Words Create.

Now, fast forward to the centurion who asked Jesus to heal his servant who was ill and dying.

Matthew 8:5-10

When Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him, asking for help. “Lord,” he said, “my servant lies at home paralyzed, suffering terribly.” Jesus said to him, “Shall I come and heal him?” The centurion replied, “Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and that one, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”

When Jesus heard this, he was amazed and said to those following him, “Truly I tell you, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith.

The Jews would have despised this Gentile Roman Centurion (commander of 100 men). The original crowd at the scene believed the real Messiah was going to defeat the Romans, but now Jesus is healing their servants? Blow my shawl off!

There are times when Jesus seems entirely God and other times when His Godship is not as evident. God Himself allowed Jesus to be surprised this time, which was probably reassuring to His ministry. Matthew 8:10 says Jesus was amazed at this Centurion's faith. It isn't exceptional for Jesus that a gentile asked for a miracle; it was amazing because this gentile believed Jesus was God. The God of creation. The God who created with His words. He understood that Jesus had the authority to heal with His words alone (It is thought this centurion donated to an early synagogue as described in John 4).

Jesus/God creates out of nothing in this story and many others. Understanding that God creates out of nothing gives us hope in our desert seasons.

When we feel spent and the impossible is before us, we can realize we serve a God who, by His nature, creates out of nothing. And this makes sense. God shows up when we quit micro-managing and controlling a situation. God shows up when we will see that it is God because no other avenue could have brought about our miracle.

Also, when we receive a good miracle, we can have faith that it is from God. We can know that it is God because it has His creation ways all over it. Others may call it a coincidence, but we can understand that it is God and give Him the glory.

When God moves, it is all goodness.

God creates good things.

Lastly, fundamentally, God created the world for all humans. God is not partial (Acts 10:34). Creation's beauty and longevity can not be claimed as unique to any race, religion, caste, or other factor. God's gift of creation was for all humanity, and so was His gift of His Son. God has fundamentally always been about the entire world.

Creation's power is behind every act of redemption, every stone heart that turns to flesh, and every miracle.

Nothing can be redeemed without His power of creation. God emphasizes this boldly when He brings 10 plagues against Egypt so that the Israelites will be free from bondage/slavery (again, 10 emphasizing the order and authority of God). Slavery was a desert season where they needed YHWH to move. No other force would have freed them. Again, the Israelites understood this was the Creator God's act.

Taking this forward, we have the second coming of Christ, the millennial reign (where Jesus will reign over all of the earth for 1000 years), and more to look forward to. Apostle Paul has only a few things he does not want us to be ignorant about, including the second coming of Christ (Thessalonians 4). We can know the 2nd coming is coming when we understand that God will be doing a new thing again, and by His power, He will bring redemption to the entire planet, animals, and humanity.

The millennial reign is probable in God's power and fits His nature perfectly. God will redeem the universe at this time. How? By the power of His words.

If we minimize God's power of creation, all these things look impossible. Once again, though, God is going to create something good out of nothing and set believers free from the powers of the world (or slavery).

The rapture through the lens of His power is possible and in His nature. He starts the pattern of the rapture with Enoch (Genesis 5) and Elijah (2 Kings 2), who were both taken to Heaven without dying physically. If we are raptured tomorrow, it will be evident to those who have read the Bible. God is not complicated. He is calling the world to His kingdom.

The resurrection of Jesus was nothing for the Creator. It should have been evident to the Israelites, who understood God as Creator. The third day again signifies complete. 3 is the number for completeness in the Hebraic system. Hence, there is an emphasis on Jesus' rising on the third day throughout the New Testament and in the early church.

When we discount Genesis 1 or minimize its emphasis, we diminish a foundational piece of God Himself.

I pray that all people grow in the knowledge of the Creator God and see His glory all around them. As they embrace His goodness through Creation, they embrace His very being.

Knowing Him first as Creator sustains every other attribute of YHWH. It is the root of who He is and will always be. Its truth could lead the next generation more faithfully through the hard times and give assurance to every part of their faith walk. By understanding God's nature, I have grown in faith by leaps and bounds in recent years. Each day is a day to enjoy His creation. Ultimately, nothing can come our way that He can't handle with just a word.

If the Creator of the Universe is for us, nothing can take us down.

May we all see Creation and understand God's goodness so that we can deeply walk with Him and embrace Him as a Holy and Good Deity.