The Beauty of Creation

 

And God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures according to their kinds—livestock and creeping things and beasts of the earth according to their kinds.” And it was so. And God made the beasts of the earth according to their kinds and the livestock according to their kinds, and everything that creeps on the ground according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. (Genesis 1:24-27 ESV).

 

Imagine an artist who works hard at a sculpture day after day. Often they’ll stand back to look at their work, and if they’re not satisfied with how it looks, they’ll keep working on the sculpture. When they’re happy and proud of what they’ve completed, they’ll say that the work is good. They’ll look on it with satisfaction and joy. While I’ve only worked with clay a bit, it never became my passion. I prefer to do the same with wood. It’s not uncommon for me to get a piece of wood from the firewood stack and mount it on my lathe and let it develop as I turn and shape it. This is the context of our reading today.

 

When the first chapter of Genesis speaks of God creating the heavens and the earth, it does so by describing a pattern of six days. And several times in the process we read, “God saw that it was good.” God took joy and satisfaction in the things he created. God saw that the world was good and beautiful. God made the world to be beautiful: the light, the sky, the land, the sun, the fish, the animals. God called all of these things “good.” And when God created human beings, God created them in his own image. Men and women are all created in the image of God, beautiful like their creator.

 

This should create a desire to praise God for all men, including ourselves. I find it interesting that some people spend so much energy denying this beauty because of color, size, or other uniquely created attributes. I do not deny preference; however, there is a great difference between preference and acceptance. If you are ever tempted to doubt your own worth as a person, remember that the creator of the universe made you in his own image. If you are tempted to disparage another’s worth as a person, remember that God looks on all of his beautiful creation and calls all of it “good” and beautiful. A part of praising Him is in declaring that worth and value in our speech and behavior.