By Terry Lees
MADE in the image of God (John 1:13), humanity was not burdened with original sin, but blessed by God with original blessing.
The word of God reveals this truth.
Within the first 50 words of the Bible, the truth behind God’s purpose of creation is revealed.
God saw creation as good.
Genesis begins with seven clear statements of “original blessing.” “God saw that it was good” six times and “found it very good” on the seventh (Genesis 1:4, 10, 12, 18, 21, 25, 31).
Pope Francis said, “God’s gaze, at the beginning of the Bible, rests lovingly on his creation. From habitable land to life-giving waters, from fruit-bearing trees to animals that share our common home, everything is dear in the eyes of God, who offers creation to men and women as a precious gift to be preserved. (World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation – 1 September 2019)
We are invited to look at the trees, flowers, sun, moon, stars, fish, birds, animals and the people that are around us.
‘God saw that it was good.’
God created all these things and declared that they are good. When we open our eyes to really see creation, we glimpse the signature of God, the Creator.
Author Wayne Dyer wrote in You are What You Think:
“Find an opportunity to observe a tiny little green sprout emerging from a seed. When you do, allow yourself to feel the awe of what you’re seeing. The scene of an emerging sprout represents the beginning of life. No one on this planet has even a tiny clue as to how all of this works. What is that creative spark that causes the life to sprout? What created the observer, the consciousness, the observation, and perception itself? The questions are endless.”.
Christians believe that while God is transcendent, he is also immanent, or at work in it.
While the universe cannot fully contain God, he is working in it.
Gregory Palamas, Byzantine Greek theologian and Eastern Orthodox cleric, wrote in the early 14th century, ‘God is the nature of all things, and he transcends every nature. He remains wholly within himself, and dwells wholly within us’.
This firmly establishes creation’s sacredness, because it is pervaded with, imbued with, and filled with God and therefore is to be treated with reverence.
Reverence for creation does not lead us to worship the created, but instead leads us to worship the Creator of all things.
I recall reading somewhere that human language fails when it tries to speak of God as if God was just another part of creation.
God is the Creator. God is infused in creation. God is everywhere, in all of creation.
Anywhere we look, we see God, feel God, hear God.
Wayne Dyer expressed his belief this way:
“There is no place that God is not. Remind yourself of this every day. It has been said that God sleeps in the minerals, rests in the vegetables, walks in the animals, and thinks in us. Think of God as a presence rather than a person – a presence that allows a seed to sprout, that moves the stars across the sky, and that simultaneously moves a thought across your mind; a presence that grows the grass and grows your fingernails… all at the same time. This presence is everywhere; therefore, it must also be in you.”
We locate God at the heart of God’s creation.
In and through Jesus Christ we know that God’s heart beats in all our hearts, that our bodies are temple of the Holy Spirit, and that every creature is, as St Paul tells us, “God’s work of art, created in Christ Jesus for the good works which God has already designated to make up our way of life” (Ephesians 2:10).
The existence of every creature comes with the divine presence.
St Thomas Aquinas wrote, “Every creature participates in some way in the likeness of the divine essence. In all creatures there is a footprint of the Trinity… God is more closely united to each thing than the thing itself.”
That is so powerful.
I take comfort knowing that God is here. I see, feel, and experience the presence of God in everyone and everything. God is always with me – I am never alone.
I encounter God in quiet times, in other people and creatures, in nature, and in times of trial, trouble and tragedy.
God’s brightest presence has sometimes been hidden in my darkest places.
God is with me because God tells me so – and I believe.
What is it that inspires your belief?
Treasure life.
