Jesus Christ was Creator (Col. 1:16) before He became Redeemer (Col. 1:20). He is the very “beginning of the creation of God” (Rev. 3:14). How then can it be possible to really know Him as Savior unless one also, and first, knows the Triune God as Creator?
The very structure of man’s time commemorates over and over again, week by week, the completed creation of all things in six days. The preaching of the gospel necessarily includes the preaching of creation: “The everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth . . . worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters” (Rev. 14:6–7).
One of the greatest blessings of the study of God’s creation is the increasing sense of wonder and gratitude that it generates. The planning and fabrication of the infinite array of beautiful stars in the heavens and animals and plants on the land and in the sea, with systems of incredible complexity and marvelous symbiosis, can only be explained in terms of an omniscient Creator!
Praise to God for His Creation
One of the greatest mysteries of human nature is the fact that intelligent scientists, familiar with these phenomena, can actually attribute them to blind chance, acting through random mutations and natural selection processes operating on eternal matter. The only explanation of this strange belief is, as the Apostle says, they “became vain in their imaginations. . . . Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools. . . . they did not like to retain God in their knowledge” (Rom. 1:21–28).
The normal response to the beauty and order of the creation, however, is one of thanksgiving and praise! This is one of the dominant themes of the writers of the Bible, especially in the Book of Psalms. A few of such passages are noted below:
For great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised: he also is to be feared above all gods. For all the gods of the people are idols: but the Lord made the heavens (1 Chron. 16:25–26).
Rejoice in the Lord, O ye righteous: for praise is comely for the upright. . . . By the word of the Lord were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth (Ps. 33:1, 6).
Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving. . . . The sea is his, and he made it: and his hands formed the dry land. O come, let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the Lord our Maker (Ps. 95:2, 5–6).
Know ye that the Lord he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves. . . . Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name (Ps. 100:3–4).
I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvelous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well (Ps. 139:14).
O give thanks unto the Lord of lords. . . . To him that by wisdom made the heavens . . . . To him that stretched out the earth above the waters . . . . To him that made great lights: for his mercy endureth forever (Ps. 136:3–7).
Sing unto the Lord with thanksgiving; sing praise upon the harp unto our God: Who covereth the heaven with clouds, who prepareth rain for the earth, who maketh grass to grow upon the mountains (Ps. 147:7–8).
Let them praise the name of the Lord; for he commanded, and they were created (Ps. 148:5).
And when those beasts give glory and honour and thanks to him that sat on the throne, who liveth for ever and ever . . . saying, Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created (Rev. 4:9–11).
Many other such references abound in the Bible, ascribing praise and thanks to God for His magnificent work of creation and for His providential and loving care thereof. In contrast to the people who offer such praises, however, those who refuse to acknowledge and thank God for His creation are condemned in these words of bitter irony:
For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse: Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened (Rom. 1:20–21).
But there is another important teaching of Scripture on the theme of thanksgiving. There is a greater number of references in the Bible to giving thanks and praise for God’s work of salvation and personal guidance than even for His work of creation. Christ’s work of creation is foundational, but His work of salvation is both transformational and motivational! We are “created in Christ Jesus unto good works” (Eph. 2:10).
A beautiful study of “first mentions” is found in the Bible in this connection. The main Hebrew word for “give thanks” is yadah, which is often translated “praise.” It occurs first in Genesis 29:35, when Jacob’s wife Leah gave birth to Judah: “And she said, Now will I praise the Lord: therefore she called his name Judah.”
As events later developed, Judah turned out to be the most Christlike of Jacob’s sons (in his willingness to give up his life for his brothers), and he was selected as the one through whom Christ would come (Gen. 49:10). Thus, the first mention of giving thanks to the Lord introduces us, in a human type, to His coming work of salvation.
The New Testament word for “give thanks” is the Greek eucharisteo. It occurs first in Matthew 15:36–37, in which the Lord Jesus Christ manifested himself as Creator and sustainer, creating a great quantity of food for the multitude: “And he . . . gave thanks. . . . And they did all eat, and were filled.”
The first recorded thanksgiving in the Old Testament was for Judah, whose very name means “thanks,” pointing forward to God’s work of salvation. The first recorded thanksgiving in the New Testament was by the promised Son of Judah, the Lord Jesus, whose very name means “salvation,” looking back to God’s work of creation. Today, let us praise the Lord continually, first for His splendid creation, but even more for His gracious salvation!
1 Stanley D. Beck, Bioscience, vol. 32 (October 1982), p. 738.
2 Ibid., p. 739.
3 Gilman Ostrander, The Evolutionary Outlook, 1875–1900 (Marston Press, 1971), p. 1.
4 Mary-Elaine Swanson, Mayflower Institute Journal (August 1983), p. 5.
5 Dr. Elias Boudinot, Address to the New Jersey Society of the Cincinnati (July 4, 1783).
6 Marshall Foster, Mayflower Institute Journal (August 1983), p. 1.
7 For listing and exposition of all these references, see Biblical Creationism, by Henry M. Morris (Green Forest, AR: Master Books, 1993), 276 p.
Chapter 9
Jesus Christ — Creator and Redeemer
Christians are so accustomed to thinking of Jesus in His human manifestation that they tend to overlook the fact — even though they know it doctrinally — that He was also our great Creator. We can never fully understand, at least not in this life, the doctrines of the Trinity and the Incarnation, but we can believe them.
Before His incarnation in human flesh, Christ was one with the eternal Father as God