Why Art Matters for the Christianنموونە

From the very first words of Scripture, we discover a God who creates. The first sentence shows us God’s pre-existent presence, His eternal nature. God was there at the beginning. But then we discover that God creates.

The Hebrew word for “create” in this verse is bara. Throughout the first five books of the Bible, only God can bara. He is the one that takes nothing and makes it something. He is the ultimate source of all things.

But God did not create a world that was fully formed for human existence. God created all the necessary materials, fashioned every animal, and gave it breath, but He then gave Adam and Eve this charge, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it.” They were to take the raw materials God provided and fashion them into what is good, useful, and beautiful.

This thread resurfaces throughout the Bible. In Genesis 2, the story of the creation of Adam and Eve is retold. It describes the river that flows out of Eden and toward Havilah where “The gold of that land is good; bdellium and onyx stone are there.” The raw materials were readily available, even outside the boundary of the Garden of Eden. Why did God provide raw materials for creative work outside of Eden? Because humanity’s work would extend beyond its borders. Adam and Eve were not meant to cloister inside the Garden but were called to fill the earth, using the materials God provided to create a more useful, beautiful, and harmonious design.

Creativity can be an overlooked aspect of the nature and character of God. Even before we learn about God’s holiness, justice, and goodness, we learn that He is a God who creates. He could have made the world in grayscale, but He delighted in painting with the colors of the rainbow. He didn’t have to create human beings with the capacity for taste and touch and smell, but He delighted in the limitless possibilities His creation provides.

God made us in His image. He made us with a creative impulse, a desire to subdue His creation and reshape it for our enjoyment. Cutting down an oak tree to create a rocking chair. Arranging stones to outline a new garden. Even pulling a string to the exact right tension to create music. Each is a creative act and a reflection of the image of God in us. But we must remember that all of our creativity is derivative. God is the ultimate source of the materials we use: the human body, concrete, or a computer. God is the ultimate creator. And art matters because we are made in His image.