Saturday, September 21, 2013

Knowing God: 12 - God is a Creator

We who take the Bible seriously know that God is:
  • Personal
  • Triune / Three part
  • Has Spiritual "senses"
  • Demands Honor
  • Keeps His Promises
There are some other attributes God chooses to share with His creation

God is Creative

God brings order out of chaos.  He is the Author and Perfecter of created things.  We are given dominion over God's Creation to reflect that same creative nature.
Isaiah 45:18 For this is what the Lord says — God is the Creator of the heavens.  He formed the earth and made it. He established it; He did not create it to be empty, but formed it to be inhabited.   HCSB
God Creates Order and Beauty in Nature because it is a reflection of His Nature.

The Trinity: Unity and Diversity

 

God is creative, but with functional order.  Even the Godhead has order and function
The Father is of none, neither begotten, nor proceeding; the Son is eternally begotten of the Father (filiation) ; the Holy Ghost eternally proceeding from the Father and the Son (
spiriation)

God's Imprint on His Creation

Since God is not the author of confusion (1 Corinthians 14:33) structure, order and harmony are present within His creation when it is not corrupted.  Nature shows this in a dazzling array of symbiotic relationships, self correct and self-mediating ecosystems and biospheres.  Similarly, God has guided us through the Word and human organizations to promote harmony and support through interactions between us.
  
God's Imprint on the Family

Ephesians 5:29-32  For no one ever hates his own flesh but provides and cares for it, just as Christ does for the church, since we are members of His body. For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two will become one flesh. This mystery is profound, but I am talking about Christ and the church.  To sum up, each one of you is to love his wife as himself, and the wife is to respect her husband.  HCSB
God's Imprint on the Church
Romans 12:4-5  Now as we have many parts in one body, and all the parts do not have the same function, in the same way we who are many are one body in Christ and individually members of one another.  HCSB
God's Imprint on Society
Romans 13:1-4  Everyone must submit to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except from God, and those that exist are instituted by God.  So then, the one who resists the authority is opposing God’s command, and those who oppose it will bring judgment on themselves.  For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Do you want to be unafraid of the authority? Do what is good, and you will have its approval.  For government is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, because it does not carry the sword for no reason. For government is God’s servant, an avenger that brings wrath on the one who does wrong.  HCSB

God is Life

The greatest "Imprint" on His creation is that He shares life with creatures great and small, and for us the incredible gift of life everlasting.
John 1:4  In him was life; and the life was the light of men.  HCSB
John 5:26  For as the Father has life in himself, even so gave he to the Son also to have life in himself. The fact that the Son has life in himself shows that the Son is self-existent.  HCSB 
John 17:3 This is eternal life: that they may know You, the only true God, and the One You have sent—Jesus Christ.   HCSB

We give life through children, and save lives through charity and caring for others in need.  However...

Without God there is only death...

Evolution = death... 

This is a very startling and profoundly sad video clip from Focus on the Family's: The Truth Project (recorded from purchased DVD) 

Video: Evolution Equals Death


Why would you insist on promoting a philosophy that tells its believers there is no purpose, no free will and no hope.  Staking out this position has some "significant" implications:
  • What if this philosophy is wrong and Christians were right all along?
  • What is the cost / benefit of adhering to this philosophy (see:  Pascal's wager) if it does turn out to be false?
  • What is to be gained if this philosophy is true?  It has nothing Good, Perfect, Moral, Beautiful or Hopeful to offer.  Why even bother having children?

The saddest part of this terrible philosophy is that it most definitely is wrong.  Even unbelievers are intuitively repulsed by the ramifications of following this philosophy to its logical conclusion.   

Romans 1:21 For though they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God or show gratitude. Instead, their thinking became nonsense, and their senseless minds were darkened
We can be eternally grateful that God is Life, and gives us life.  Now for a cleansing breath and a happy video to clear your mind of the horrible prospect of Dr. Provine discovering his error in judgment some day. 

 
The good news is the Good Guy will win...  End the end we will see these truths be revealed to the entire world and all past and present believers who had hope in their Creator:
  • God is Sovereign...
  • God will share His Authority with us!
  • The Saved in Christ will inherit the Kingdom
  • We will rule alongside Yeshua.



_____________________
Acknowledgements:
Dr. Del Tackett, Focus on the Family: The Truth Project, 2006 - DVD Recording

Scripture citations are from:  Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB) © 2009 Holman Bible Publishers, Nashville TN or New King James Version®. (NKJV) Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson

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