I have come to associate God, in His act of creating, with Mickey Mouse as the Sorcerer’s Apprentice in Disney’s 1941 film Fantasia. If you haven’t seen the movie for awhile (or ever) it is still available. Now, don’t get hung up on the “sorcerer” name. If God can use you and me to accomplish His will, I don’t believe the term “sorcerer” is a stumbling block for Him. Consider, instead, the utter joy that Mickey exhibits as he gleefully waves the sorcerer’s wand and the magic flows.
God, of course, didn’t wave any magic wand. Putting His action in human terms to help us understand, He simply spoke: as He said, so it was (and is). Here’s the rub. Aside from arguing about the length of a day, or is there undisclosed time between Genesis 1:1-2 and 1:3, put that aside and focus on the unparalleled actions and reactions going on as He spoke. Stars were blossoming into existence and the Sun and its system of planets were coming together. Earth was formed, initially “without form and void,” and covered in water, totally inhospitable to life. In moments of eternity, the mountains pushed above the waters, the skies became blue and inviting as the heavenly bodies presented themselves to the newly created life at sea, in the skies, and on land. Man appeared.
The apparent simplicity of God’s acts of creation can be underwhelming as we read that “God said,” “and it was.” As Christians, we too often (if not universally) assume a blase’ unmoved mundane God who quietly (ho-hum, sigh) was having just another day at the office as He created everything from absolutely nothing. That’s why I like Mickey waving that wand and being seriously excited at the results. Look at the picture with this post–have you ever noticed the tongue of a butterfly that is specifically designed (not evolved) to provide nutrients for the butterfly and cross-pollination for the flower? This is not chance, but God’s design at work. God spoke, and it was, all in concert, in perfect harmony.
God’s repeated analysis of His own work throughout the six days of creating was that the result was invariably “good.” His final analysis was that His creation was “very good.” In our superlative-laden world we forget that “good” is biblically reserved for God alone. He didn’t make this judgement in surprise, but rather as an announcement of satisfaction in a job well done, perfect in every respect–even including His soon-to-disobey creature man. Take a minute to read Revelation 4, especially that last verse.
God didn’t have Moses write Genesis 1 to give all-knowing scholars something to debate, but that all of His children would join Him as He celebrates His unique creation; to give each of us cause to rejoice, not just in appreciation of he beauty and the inextricably interrelated nature of nature–from the inner workings of the tiniest microbe to the whole of the cosmos. And, to bring us to worship the God who designed, implemented, and sustains it all (surely we understand that it is God, not man who controls the cosmos, including the weather, climate, and everything else). In doing so, he invites each of us to have a personal relationship with Him. The Infinite One sent His own Son to provide an unbreakable link between every willfully sinful man who will accept Him and Himself. Read John 3:16-17. God the Creator speaks to finite man through His written Word, the Bible, as He illustrates and punctuates that revelation for hard-headed my-way-or-no-way man, revealed through nature. Man, instead of seeing the beauty of the synchronous workings of nature, attempts to explain away God and leave everything to time and chance through mechanisms only imagined, but never seen or proven. Even the smallest organism is complicated beyond the ability of the best minds of man to understand, and certainly beyond his attempts to duplicate, but, blinded by self-interest, he doesn’t understand his own shortcomings. The great delusion began with Eve in the Garden of Eden, but so did the solution that was finalized on the cross at Calvary when Jesus, God the Son, died for my sins and for yours. The delusion continues for now, but will one day be put away forever. The problem is, that at that time, man will no longer be able to claim the free gift of salvation offered through the blood of Jesus Christ, for time as we know it will cease and God’s patience will be replaced with His judgement: every knee will bow before Him, all of those who reject Him now.
The philosopher Paul Sartre noted that no finite point has any meaning unless it has an infinite reference: man has no meaning without God. He is finite, yet different from all of nature, for he is created in some limited sense in the image of God, finite in his beginning, yet infinite in his spirit after that God-blessed instant of conception–wanted by his parents or not, he is loved eternally by God. Take another moment to read Psalm 139:13-17. Better yet, read the whole Psalm 139.
He is the personal God of unlimited power who created you and me in our mothers’ wombs. He is interested in each of us, because He knows each of us personally. He can “fix” any problem you bring to Him–when you obey Him and allow Him to do it His way. John’s declaration that “God so loved the world” is not some sort of magic wand like Mickey waved. It is an absolute declaration of the God of Creation that He made specific provision for you and me to become reconciled to Him through the sacrificial blood of His very own Son. That part of the equation is balanced. Now it is up to you.