God and Creation

God and Creation

Psalm 8

Introduction

There are five basic ways people describe God’s relationship with the world.

1.        The world is all there is.  God is not real.  The only things that are real are the things we can perceive through our senses.  (Materialism)

2.        God and the world are the same.  Everything is God and God is everything.  (Pantheism)

3.        The world is a part of God.  The world is God, but God is more than the world.  God is a combination of everything and everyone in the world.  (Panentheism)

4.        God is not the world and does not exist in the world.  God sets the world in motion but does not interfere with what is going on in the world.  (Deism)

5.        God is not the world, but God exists in dynamic relationship with the world.  God is concerned about the world and acts in the affairs of the world.  (Theism—the Jewish and Christian view of God)

Last Sunday, we sought an answer to the question: “What can we say about God?”  The simplest answer to that question is that we can only say what the Bible says about God.  The Bible is our authority on God.  The Bible is God’s revelation of himself to us.  The Bible was written for the purpose that we might know God.  Therefore, if we want to describe the way God relates to the world, we must turn to the Bible.

In the first book of the Old Testament (actually, in the first verse of the first book), we discover something very important about both God and the world.  Genesis 1: 1 tells us, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”  This tells us that God is not a part of the world, and the world is not part of God.  God is separate from the world.  God is the creator…The world is the creation.

However, Genesis is not the only place where we read that God is the creator.  This is a foundational theme which runs throughout both Old Testament and New Testament—God is real, God is separate from nature, and God is the creator.

Psalm 8: 1 – 9.

Psalm 8: 1 – 2…  1 O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!  You have set your glory above the heavens.  2 From the lips of children and infants you have ordained praise because of your enemies, to silence the foe and the avenger.

Notice that the word “Lord” is used twice in verse one.  The first use of “Lord” is spelled in all capital letters…L-O-R-D.  In the Old Testament, this is the way all English translations render the Hebrew word Yahweh, the personal name for God.  This is the name God revealed to Moses at the burning bush in Exodus 3.  At the burning bush, God called Moses and sent him to rescue God’s people from slavery in Egypt.  Moses asked who was sending him.  God answered “I Am.”  The Hebrew name Yahweh is derived from the Hebrew word Hayah, which means “I Am.”  This name is only used to refer to the One True God of Israel.

The name Yahweh is closely associated with the story of the Exodus.  The Exodus is a story of salvation.  God heard the cries of his people and sent Moses to rescue them from slavery.  When Moses led the Hebrew people out of slavery, he also led them to Mount Sinai.  At Mount Sinai, God established the Hebrew people as the nation of Israel—God’s chosen people and the people who entered into a covenant relationship with God.  Salvation is more than just God’s rescuing us.  Salvation also involves relationship with God.

The second use of “Lord” is not written in all capital letters.  In Hebrew, this is the word “Adonai.”  Adonai can refer to the One True God, or it can refer to a human master.  It indicates someone who is the lord, the master or ruler of another person.

So, Psalm 8 begins with a profession of faith…Yahweh is both the God of salvation and our sovereign Lord.  Yahweh is the God who saves us and enters into relationship with us.  He is the ruler of Heaven and Earth.  All of the earth should recognize that Yahweh is the Lord.  His glory can be seen in his created works.  His praise can be heard even from the lips of children and infants.

Psalm 8: 3 – 5…  3 When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, 4 what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him?  5 You made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor.

There is no biblical story associated with this Psalm.  However, we can figure out the context from what is written in verses 3 – 4.  These verses describe a familiar scene.  The Psalmist is looking at the vastness of space.  He is probably sitting outside at night, looking up at the stars and the moon.  And while he is sitting there, he begins to feel small and insignificant.

The Psalmist did not know everything we know today about the universe and the way it works.  For example, he did not know that the moon is 238,900 miles away from earth or that the sun is 93 million miles away from earth.  But, he knew enough to feel small.  All he knew was that God had created a wonderful and beautiful and infinitely huge creation.  He knew that he was only a part of all God had created.

With all of our scientific discovery and easy access to knowledge, this is something that we still have a difficult time acknowledging.  We know that the moon is 238,900 miles away.  We know that the sun is 93 million miles away.  But, we still think we are the center of the universe.  We think of ourselves as the most brilliant mind in the universe…When, in reality, we are not the creators of the universe.  We are merely a part of God’s creation.  We have never actually created anything by our own power or intellect.

In verse 3, the Psalmist makes a connection between Yahweh (the God who saves us) and the God who created heaven and earth.  This is a remarkable confession of faith.  It stands in stark contrast with what most ancient people believed about God and creation.  Most ancient people worshipped the creation and believed that nature was divine.  The Psalmist confesses that nature is NOT God.  Nature is merely a creation of God—a work of God’s hands and fingers.

God Is Creator

The Bible places a lot of significance on God as the creator.  It is significant that nature is NOT God.  Nature is the work of God’s hands.  It is also significant when we consider the way God created the heavens and the earth.  God created everything out of nothing.  Before God created, there was nothing.  God did not use any preexisting materials.

If God created everything out of nothing, then God’s work of creation is different from creative work we might do.  We use materials and stuff to build and create something new and different.

If God created everything out of nothing, then all of creation depends on God for its existence.  Without God, there would be nothing.  There would be no heavens (sky, clouds, sun, moon and stars).  There would be no earth (land, sea, plants and animals).  There would be nothing under the earth (cells, molecules and atoms—the building blocks of matter).  And, without God, there would be no human life!

When the Psalmist realized how small he truly is and that he is only one part of God’s vast creation, he expressed an existential crisis.  He asked the question, “What is man?”

I think it is important to note that he did not ask, “WHO is man?” or even “WHO am I?”  This is a very impersonal question…What is a human being?

There are several ways we can answer this impersonal question.  A human being is an animal life form.  A human being is a complex organism made up of atoms, cells and molecules which have to be in perfect balance in order for life to exist.  A human being is a body with many different parts and internal organs linked together by blood vessels and nerves.  But, none of these answers are satisfying, because they do not describe the purpose or meaning of human life.

A human being is creation of God.  In the story of creation, the human beings were God’s final creations.  They were not created in the same way as the other created beings. 

One difference is that human beings were the only created beings which were not created by God’s spoken word.  God spoke, and there was light and dark, sun and moon, earth and water, plants and animals…  But, when God created human beings, God stooped down and got his hands dirty.  He took dirt and shaped it into a man.  He took a rib and used it to build a woman.  Human beings were personally and intimately made by God’s hands.

Another difference is the fact that God created human beings (both male and female) in the image of God.  Another way to say this is to quote Psalm 8:5, “You created him a little lower that the ‘heavenly beings’…”

Technically, the Hebrew word here is the word Elohim, the plural form of the word El.  A simple translation of El is god.  A simple translation of Elohim is gods.  However, the Old Testament rarely uses the singular El to refer to the One True God.  More commonly, it refers to God as Elohim, in the plural. 

I believe the best way to interpret this phrase is to say that God has created human beings a little lower than himself.  We have been created in the image of God, but we are NOT God…We are NOT little gods.  You may be small, but you are special to God.

Instead, we have been created by God and given purpose and meaning in life.  God has given us a responsibility to work alongside God in God’s creation…

Psalm 8: 6 – 8…  6 You made him ruler over the works of your hands; you put everything under his feet: 7 all flocks and herds, and the beasts of the field, 8 the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea, all that swim the paths of the seas.

Human beings have a higher status than anything else in creation.  But, we need to recognize something about our status.  Our status in creation is a derived status.

In verse five, we read that God has “crowned us with glory and honor.”  In verse six, we read that God “made us rulers” and “put everything under our feet.”  This is royal language and should make us think of God as the ultimate King of the created order.  God, as King, has assigned us a royal responsibility to serve as his representative in creation.  Human beings are not the ultimate King.  But, we do have a royal assignment from the King.  Our assignment is to participate with God in preserving and sustaining God’s creation.

God has made human beings the rulers over flocks and herds (domesticated animals), wild animals which can be tamed and wild animals which cannot be tamed.

As we think of humanity as “ruler” over creation, we need to keep in mind God’s intention for rulers.  Worldly rulers wield power over their subjects in order to promote themselves and to keep other people in subjection.  Godly rulers use power selflessly in order to serve other people and to meet their needs.

When we apply this to humanity’s relationship to creation we can talk about the biblical view of dominion.  In the creation story, God created humanity and gave them dominion over creation.  Dominion is not the same thing as domination.

Some people think humanity is supposed to dominate creation by exploiting the earth to the point of using up all natural resources.

Dominion is more like stewardship.  It is recognizing that the creation does not belong to us.  It belongs to God.  God has entrusted the creation into our hands.  We are to use God’s creation, to enjoy God’s creation and to take care of God’s creation by making sure that future generations can also use and enjoy God’s creation.

If we think of ourselves as stewards or caretakers of God’s creation, then we can affirm two things about God and his relationship with his creation.  First, God has created us—he has given us life.  Second, God has provided for our needs through his creation.

God Sustains His Creation

If God created everything out of nothing, then all of creation depends on God for its existence.  But, that is not all…  Creation also depends on God to sustain and to preserve our existence.  Without God’s sustaining presence, the world would collapse into nothingness.  Every moment and at all times, God is involved in his creation.  God creates life and preserves life by providing for all of our needs.

As human beings, we have learned how to manufacture goods, and we have mastered agriculture to cultivate the land to produce food.  BUT, we cannot create something out of nothing; and we cannot make seeds grow into produce.  We cannot provide for our own basic needs—food, water and the air we breathe.

Conclusion

Psalm 8: 9…  9 O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!

Psalm 8 ends exactly the same way it began…O LORD, our Lord…  These are the same words we read at the beginning of the Psalm.  But, they sound a little different now.

The LORD, Yahweh, is the Creator of Heaven and earth.  The LORD, Yahweh, has created you and provided for all of your needs.  The LORD, Yahweh, wants to be your Lord—your ruler, your master, the leader of your life.  God, the creator and sustainer of life, is worthy of our worship and our lives.

If God is the creator, and I am a part of God’s creation; then I am NOT God.  Instead, I have been created by God and have been given a meaning / purpose by the God who created me.  God created me.  God sustains me.  God invites me to find meaning / purpose in life by participating with God in taking care of creation.

Physical life comes from God.  But, so does spiritual life.  God has met all our physical needs through creation.  God has met all our spiritual needs through his Son, Jesus. 

The Creator has not left us to figure things out for ourselves.  God is already involved in your life as the creator and sustainer of life.  In addition, God loved you so much that he has actually pursued you.  He demonstrated his love for you through the life, crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus.  Now, he invites each of us to enter into a proper relationship of Creator and creation—a relationship of worship and service. 

The God who created you is the God who sustains your life and offers you salvation.  God is worthy of your worship and is worthy of all of your life.