I Believe God is the Maker of Earth and All That is Seen

As the Nicene Creed professes, God is the maker of heaven and earth, of all that is, seen and unseen. Today we will discuss the visible aspects of God’s creation. Tomorrow, we will discuss the unseen of God’s creation.

The opening words of the Bible lead us into the story of God speaking the earth into being. He said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. He spoke into being the heavens, vegetation, night, day, sun, moon, stars, creatures of the sea, birds of the air, and beasts of the earth. Genesis 1:2 says, “The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep.” God created something from nothing. He created order from chaos. And all He created, He called good.

Close your eyes and imagine you were there as God orchestrated beauty from the void. You’d see most phenomenal display of power and creativity as God spoke creation into being with authority and purpose. Why did the authors of the creed make a distinction between God creating the seen (the physical world) and the unseen (the spiritual realm)? When the creed was written, there was a debate over whether the material, physical world was evil and should be rejected. By saying God made the earth, the authors of the creed put an end to the debate by affirming the Scriptures, which say God created the earth and called it good. The physical world is filled with the imprint of God. It is His handiwork.

After creating a perfect world, Jesus puts His hands in the dirt to craft a final masterpiece. This time, He didn’t use words. He lovingly fashioned man from the dust and woman from a rib. He breathed life into them. Humanity would be imago dei—the image of God. He designed His image bearers to represent and reflect Him to the whole earth. As sin entered the world, the reflection was marred, but it remains today. Christ designed every person you pass on the street to reflect God’s glory. Do you believe you have inherent value and worth as God’s image bearer? Before He made us, Christ knew we would sin. What feelings come to mind when you think of Christ forming us, knowing He would be crucified to redeem us?

When humanity sinned in Genesis 3, creation broke as a result. Our ragged world groans under the weight of sin but continues to worship God (Romans 8:18–25). David wrote, “The heavens declare the glory of God!” (Psalm 19:1). When the Pharisees chastised Jesus’ followers for rejoicing at His arrival in Jerusalem, Jesus rebukes the Pharisees saying, “If these were silent, the very stones would cry out” (Luke 19:40). If we do not worship God, the very rocks of the earth will worship Him. At the cross, we see creation revolt in anguish at the Lord’s death. The crowd fell to their knees as the ground shook violently and the sun went black (Matthew 27:45, 51). To this day, every mountain, tree, bird, raindrop, and grain of sand knows who made it and endlessly declares His glory.