I BELIEVE • DEVOTIONAL: A 14 Day Devotional With Phil WickhamУзорак

# CREATOR My six-year-old son, Henry, loves talking about space. Lately, most nights, as I’m helping him get ready for bed, he asks if there’s anything new astronauts have found out about space since we talked about it the day before. I always smile at how cute this question is, but I also feel a little spark of excitement in my own chest. Because you know what? I love talking about space too. We lay side by side and Google facts about stars and black holes. I try to explain what a light year is. His little six-year-old eyes get so wide when I try to help him understand how small we are compared to the sun, and how small the sun is compared to other stars. How there are billions of stars in our galaxy and countless galaxies spinning outside of our own. What I love the most about our space conversations is that they inevitably lead back to God. Henry and I talk about how, in the Bible, the first thing we find out about God is that He is a CREATOR. He imagined and spoke the universe into existence. The laws of nature and physics were literally written by His own hand. He spoke “light” and the entire universe burst into existence. He spoke “life” and everything that lives and breathes came into being. It’s incredible! And then we talk about what God made last... Something truly beautiful and unique, made in His own likeness and after His image. Something, or someone rather, God could share the world with. And what was this crown jewel of creation? It was us. Humanity. He created us to know Him and be known by Him. To love Him and be loved by Him. He also created us with an incredible attribute—the ability to trust. From the very beginning, humanity has been given the choice whether to trust God’s definition of what is good and what is bad, or to go off on our own and define those things for ourselves. Eventually, the first man and woman chose not to trust, and every human since has followed the path they walked. The problem with this is that man was made to thrive in God’s definition of life and goodness. Just as our lungs were made to breathe oxygen, our souls were made to live in God’s presence. To thrive in His goodness and order. In Genesis 3, humanity became lost. The more we tried to save ourselves, the further away from our original home we fell. We needed a Savior. Someone who could make right what went wrong in the Garden all those years ago. Someone who could bridge the gap between heaven and earth. Opening a door. Making a way. Pulling all who were willing from darkness to light. In Genesis chapter 3, not only do we see the devastation of sin set in motion, but we also have the very first prophetic promise that someday, a rescuer would come. While God is cursing the serpent, he says in Genesis 3:15 (NIV): “He will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.” In speaking of the offspring of the woman, we are told that, somehow, all that went wrong in creation would be set right by this “Serpent Crusher” but that He, Himself, would be given a fatal blow as well. So, when the fullness of time came, the Creator stepped into His own creation to save the ones He loved. He came to bring back to humanity what was stolen by our own rebellion. It was a beautiful and powerful act of love and humility. The Creator wasn’t bringing humanity back to the Garden of Eden… He was bringing the Garden into the hearts of Humanity! Every soul that allows Him access becomes a place where heaven and earth meet. The same voice that said “let there be light” and the universe was formed, was now saying “let there be light” and the hearts of men began to burn again. The same breath that animated every living thing was breathing new life into humanity. The restoration had begun. The ultimate act of creation came as the debt of sin that humanity racked up was fully paid for on the cross. We have been redeemed and set free by His precious blood. In His death, we have been given eternal life! The last page of the Bible ends with this remarkable declaration in Revelation 21:5 NIV: > “He who was seated on the throne said, ‘I am making everything new!’ God, the Creator, has not and will never stop creating! There is no area of your life beyond His redemptive, creative power. No soul that He cannot breathe new life into! From the opening pages of Scripture to the very end, we are given the same invitation… > Praise Him who stepped into what He made > Paid our debt and pulled us from the grave > Every heart He set free > Every soul that’s been redeemed > Lift your voice and worship your Creator! #### Key Questions: #### 1\. Why do you think it’s so important that the Bible would start and end with the attribute of God being the Creator? #### 2\. How does God’s creative and redemptive ability speak hope into your own life? What circumstance do you need to invite the Creator into? #### 3\. How can you spend some intentional time outside today or this week to take notice of all that God has made? What does it look like to be in awe of the order, intricacy, and beauty in creation that was made for our delight and His glory?