God is Creator and the Sovereign Lord

Genesis 1:1-3: In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. And God said, 'Let there be light,' and there was light."

More than any other passage of Scripture, the first three verses of the very first book of the Bible give us the context of who God is, namely that He is the Sovereign Creator of all things and therefore rightfully worthy of our worship (see the 24 elders in Revelation 4:11 worshipping the Lord, for He is "worthy to receive glory and honor and power, for (He) created all things, and by (His) will they were created and have their being").

We know that God created all things for His glory; and even to this day, He continues to hold all things together so that we can experience the blessedness of worshipping Him as our One True Lord (see Colossians 1:15-17). Were God to choose to withdraw His Spirit from sustaining us we would immediately pulverize back to the dust from which we came (see Job 33:4; 34:14-15). Just by His mere Word, Christ even now is sustaining us in our existence.

Now, we need to understand that God is not in need of our praise and worship; He is not an insecure deity who needs words of affirmation to make Himself feel better. But our Loving Lord inhabits our praise, which is truly amazing in and of itself . . . . that the Supreme, Eternal, Sovereign Creator would condescend to us in order that we might experience the joy of communion with Him. This is love at its finest.

What truly is tragic, is that humanity has chosen to deny the rightful worship of God in favor of their own lordship. This is cosmic treason at its worst! As Job 15:20,25-26 tells us, "the wicked man . . . . shakes his fist at God and vaunts himself against the Almighty, defiantly charging against him with a thick, strong shield." And the way in which humanity attempts to justify such rebellion against the Lord is to deny His existence and His creative involvement.

This debased ideology is most evident in the Humanist Manifestos I & II which state, “Religious humanists regard the universe as self-existing and not created . . . we begin with humans not God . . . we can discover no divine purpose or providence for the human species . . . no deity will save us; we must save ourselves.”

We must understand that a right understanding of God as Creator is foundational for a proper appreciation of God as Lord. Langdon Gilkey in his book, Maker of Heaven and Earth has said it well:

The idea that God is the creator of all things is the indispensable foundation on which the other beliefs of the Christian faith are based . . . The good news . . . is not just that we are judged and loved. It is rather that He who is maker of heaven and earth . . . judges and loves us. In this way the doctrine of creation gives meaning and significance to all else in the Christian faith.

Henry Morris in his work, The Genesis Record, echoes these sentiments:

It has often been pointed out that if a person really believes Genesis 1:1, he will not find it difficult to believe anything else recorded in the Bible. That is, if God really created all things, then He controls all things and can do all things.

What is noteworthy is the order in which God chose to create the universe. He began by creating a formless and empty universe without light and life, only to then paint His glorious light onto an otherwise formless, chaotic canvas of creation. I believe that God was intentional in interjecting light first, in order that He as the One True Light could teach us that He alone is the path of life and truth. It is He who in ineffable glory and light is beyond our ability to see or fathom; still He comes in golden splendor and awesome majesty to give us His light of salvation, provided that we would respond to the offering with surrender (Job 37:21-24; John 8:12).

May we never forsake our God as Creator. Instead, let us exalt Him with our praises, for He truly is "Highly Exalted" (Exod 15:1 [literally, "Risen Risenly]).