The Creator of Heaven and Earth

 

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).

 

Many of you are aware that I have long been a woodworker as a hobbyist. I certainly would not characterize this as a vocational level of carpentry, though I love to work with wood. I enjoy taking a piece of wood and transforming it into something useful and pleasing. 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. And, no one, amateur or professional can create like Him!

 

Our reading today 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; in fact, 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. That is a truth worth knowing and declaring with all our heart, mind, and soul.