The Apostles' Creed - Pt. 6

 

By the word of the LORD the heavens were made, and by the breath of his mouth all their host. He gathers the waters of the sea as a heap; he puts the deeps in storehouses. Let all the earth fear the LORD; let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him! For he spoke, and it  came to be; he commanded, and it stood firm. (Psalm 33:6-9 ESV).

 

Though I am not a carpenter by trade, I love to work with wood. He enjoyed taking a piece of wood and transforming it into something useful and pleasing. I’ve done different kinds of construction through the years. There were times when I worked on large projects like the church and parsonage in Kipnuk, Alaska (see picture); and, at other times I have been found in my shop building a piece of furniture or turning a bowl on the lathe. Regardless it is a wonderful experience to make something from “nothing.”

 

As creatures made in the image of God, we all have an inborn desire to make things useful and lovely. In this we imitate God, who created the heavens and the earth. Our reading, taken from Psalm 33, recalls God’s almighty power in creating everything around us: the sky, the sun, the stars, the mountains, the oceans. God not only created all that we see; he also created good things we can’t see like air, gravity, and sound, as well as love, goodness, and justice. God did this, as the psalm says, through the power of his spoken word.

 

When we say, with the Apostle’s Creed, that God is the “creator of heaven and earth,” we are declaring that the same God who made the mountains, forests, and oceans made each one of us too. What’s more, we are declaring that this God hasn’t stepped back from what he has made; no, he still delights in sustaining it. We can take great comfort in knowing that the all-powerful creator and sustainer, God Almighty, is the one that we also call our heavenly Father. God cares for us; he knows what we need; and he will never let us slip from his tender care.

 

Test yourself. When you think of anything around you, trees, flowers, mountains, seas, rivers, clouds, sunsets or sunrises, ask yourself why they are the way they are. Often we will find ourselves going to God as the answer last. The truth is that God is the first answer. They are the way they are because God made them that way. That great truth brings us great comfort in knowing He has done it and will continue to make it for our good.