Our Grand Creator and His Works
HOW GRAND! The thundering falls of Iguaçú or Niagara, the mighty canyons of Arizona or Hawaii, the magnificent fjords of Norway or New Zealand—what cries of admiration these natural wonders call forth! But are they merely chance products of a so-called Mother Nature? No, they are much more than that! They are the breathtaking works of a Grand Creator, a loving heavenly Father of whom wise King Solomon wrote: “Everything he has made pretty in its time. Even time indefinite he has put in their heart, that mankind may never find out the work that the true God has made from the start to the finish.” (Ecclesiastes 3:11) Truly, it would take an eternity of time for humans to search out all the glorious works with which our Creator has filled the universe.
What a Grand Creator we have! And how glad we are that this all-powerful God “has at the end of these days spoken to us by means of a Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the systems of things.” (Hebrews 1:2) This Son, Jesus Christ, appreciated the lovely things of his Father’s creation. He referred frequently to them in illustrating his Father’s purposes and in speaking words of encouragement to his listeners. (Matthew 6:28-30; John 4:35, 36) “By faith” many have perceived that the marvels of creation were “put in order by God’s word.” (Hebrews 11:3) Our daily lives should reflect such faith.—James 2:14, 26.
Grand, indeed, are the creations of our God. They reflect wonderfully his wisdom, his power, his righteousness, and his love. For example, he tilted our earth and set it in rotation around the sun so that his future creation, man, could enjoy the delightful procession of the seasons. God stated: “All the days the earth continues, seed sowing and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night, will never cease.” (Genesis 8:22) Further, God bountifully stocked our earth with valuable minerals. Especially, he provided an abundance of water, later to become an essential component and support of all terrestrial life.
In an orderly sequence of six ‘creative days,’ each thousands of years in length, “God’s active force” proceeded to prepare earth for man’s habitation. The light by which we see, the air that we breathe, the dry land on which we live, the vegetation, the sequence of day and night, the fish, the birds, the animals—all were brought forth in order by our Grand Creator for man’s service and enjoyment. (Genesis 1:2-25) Surely, we can join the psalmist in exclaiming: “How many your works are, O Jehovah! All of them in wisdom you have made. The earth is full of your productions.”—Psalm 104:24.
God’s Masterpiece of Creation
As the sixth creative “day” drew to a close, God made man and then his helpmate, woman. What a masterly climax to the earthly creation, far more wonderful than all the physical creations that had gone before! Psalm 115:16 informs us: “As regards the heavens, to Jehovah the heavens belong, but the earth he has given to the sons of men.” Accordingly, Jehovah designed us human souls so that we could both delight in and make use of his earlier creations on earth. How thankful we should be for our eyes—more intricate than the finest camera—that can take in the colorful world around us! We have our ears—finer than any man-made sound system—to help us enjoy conversation, music, and the melodious song of the birds. We have a built-in speaking mechanism, including the versatile tongue. The tongue’s taste buds, combined with our sense of smell, provide also for delight in savoring an endless variety of foods. And how we appreciate the touch of a loving hand! Surely we can thank our Creator, as did the psalmist who said: “I shall laud you because in a fear-inspiring way I am wonderfully made. Your works are wonderful, as my soul is very well aware.”—Psalm 139:14.
Our Creator’s Loving-Kindness
The psalmist wrote: “Give thanks to Jehovah, O you people, for he is good . . . ; to the Doer of wonderful, great things by himself: for his loving-kindness is to time indefinite.” (Psalm 136:1-4) That loving-kindness is now moving him to do wonderful things far grander than all the creations we have just described. Yes, even while resting from creating material things, he is creating on a spiritual plane. This he is doing in answer to a wicked challenge that was thrown in his face. How so?
The first man and woman were placed in a glorious paradise, Eden. However, a renegade angel, Satan, set himself up as a god and led that human pair into rebellion against Jehovah. Justly, God sentenced them to death, with the result that their children, the entire human race, have been brought forth in a sinful, dying state. (Psalm 51:5) The Bible account concerning Job indicates that Satan challenged God, claiming that no man can keep integrity to Him under test. But Job proved Satan to be a gross liar, as have many other faithful servants of God in Bible times and down to our day. (Job 1:7-12; 2:2-5, 9, 10; 27:5) Jesus, as a perfect man, exemplified peerless integrity keeping.—1 Peter 2:21-23.
Thus, Jesus could say, “The ruler of the world [Satan] has no hold on me.” (John 14:30) Yet, to this day “the whole world is lying in the power of the wicked one.” (1 John 5:19) Having disputed the rightfulness of Jehovah’s sovereignty, Satan has been given some 6,000 years to show whether his own rulership of mankind can succeed. How miserably he has failed, as deteriorating world conditions continue to testify! Our loving God, Jehovah, will soon remove this corrupt world society, asserting his rightful sovereignty over the earth. What happy relief that will bring to humans yearning for peaceful, righteous rule!—Psalm 37:9-11; 83:17, 18.
However, that is not all! God’s loving-kindness will be further demonstrated on the basis of Jesus’ words at John 3:16: “God loved the world [of mankind] so much that he gave his only-begotten Son, in order that everyone exercising faith in him might not be destroyed but have everlasting life.” This restoration to mankind of the prospect of everlasting life on earth involves the creating of new things. What are these? How do they benefit groaning humanity? Our next article will tell.