INTRODUCTION
Science tells us that we came to be by an accident of nature. They tell us that we evolved from a lower form of life. They say that one-day for no particular reason, life began.
We are taught about survival of the fittest, how man basically made it to the top of the food chain. We are told that though natural selection the traits that we needed evolved and the ones that we did not need died out.
Today I am not here to argue about how we got here per se, but I want you to think about something with me as we continue to look at the Attribute of Our Awesome God. The first three attributes we looked at (omnipotence, omnipresence, and omniscience) are attributes that God alone possesses.
Today I want us to consider another attribute of God, the attribute of creativity.
If we indeed did evolve and if indeed the traits that we needed to survive surfaced to the top, there are a few questions that science cannot answer.
Where did our appreciation for art, music, literature, poetry evolve?
Where did love evolve?
What does an appreciation for beauty have to do with survival?
Where did our creative ability evolve?
When you look into the animal kingdom, you do not see creativity. Robins sing the same song, Blue Jays sing the same song. Beavers build the same kind of dam.
Spiders of the same type build the same type of web. Birds of the same type build the same nest. Animals do not exhibit creativity.
Birds do not create new music; they sing the songs that were ingrained into their mind by the creator.
Animals do not have the creative abilities that man has. Our God is creative. Look around you, we all do not look the same, we all do not think or act the same.
Today I want us to see that one of God’s attributes is His creativity.
We are going to look at two areas where God has exhibited His creativity.
The first area we will study is creation and the second will be mankind.
SERMON
GOD EXHIBITS HIS CREATIVITY THROUGH:
I. CREATION
A. The process
As we look at the creation, I want us to look a moment at the process by which it happened.
Look with me at Genesis 1. (READ GENESIS 1:1-11a)
God spoke the universe into existence. (v 3,6,9,11,14,20,24)
God named what He made (5,8,10)
ROMANS 1:20 say, “For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse”
We can see God though His creation.
The way the God created everything reflects His creativity.
Let’s look at how the design of God’s creation reflects His creativity.
B. The design
ISA 45:18 For thus says the Lord, who created the heavens (He is the God who formed the earth and made it, He established it and did not create it a waste place, But formed it to be inhabited), "I am the Lord, and there is none else. Design is involved in creativity.
God created everything with a designed purpose. (I will talk about design of the universe in my message on the attribute of organization)
READ VERSES 11-12
When God created the vegetation, He set up a process by which the plants could reproduce with seeds, later we find that God was creative in how many plants were pollinated, buy the use of bugs.
Look at the human body and marvel at God’s creativity.
The eye. The retina, about one square inch of tissue inside the eye has over 100 million light-receptor cells. These fat cones and slender rods convert light into electro-chemical energy enabling a person to see. The eye is a delicate camera that takes 196 color photos per second. It has its own light meter, protection, cleaning equipment and self-repairing abilities.
The ear. The ear did not happen by accident. The outer ear collects sound waves from the air and funnels them to the eardrum. The waves cause the eardrum to vibrate. The eardrum can sense frequencies that move the eardrum only one billionth of a centimeter. Vibrations are mechanically transmitted and amplified through the three connecting bones in the inner ear. The mechanical vibrations enter a fluid in the inner ear. The waves are converted into nerve impulses by the 24,000 auditory receptor cells in each ear. The auditory nerve transmits these to the brain, enabling a person to hear. The ear also provides us with balance.
The heart beats about 100,000 times per day pumping 5.8 tons of blood per day, enough to fill a 4,000 gallon tank car. The entire circulatory system includes passageways totaling about 60,000 miles. The heart is self-lubricating, high capacity and self-regulating.
Our skeleton makes up one-fifth of our body weight, yet because of its’ design, it is more flexible and stronger for its size than if it were made of steel or wood. A man’s thighbone is strong enough to support the weight of a small car.
The brain, our skeletal structure, our hands. This took creativity.
C. The variety
How would you like life if everything was the same, what if we all looked the same, all animals looked the same, there was only one color, we had to eat the same thing all the time. What if we all looked exactly alike?
God shows His creativity in the variety of His creation.
God also shows a sense of humor in some of the things He made. Think about the variety of trees, plants, foods, animals, climates, and landscapes.
The Venus flytrap is an example of creativity. It is a plant, which is an intricate trap with long bristles around its edges. It gives off a sweet smelling odor that entices its prey. When an insect is tempted into the center of the plant and touches the trigger hairs, the trap snaps shut within one half second capturing the insect.
The archer fish is interesting also. It has complex eyes that bulge out farther than those of a normal fish so it can focus both eyes on a single object. It pushes its bony tongue against the groove in the top of its mouth. Water is brought in through a quick snap of the gills and shot through this barrel and spouted at insects above the water. Allowing for water refraction and wind velocity the archer fish hits with accuracy an insect two or three feet above the water. An evolutionary scientist writing in the Scientific American expressed perplexity about the archer fish. He said the ability to spout was not necessary to its survival so it was difficult to account for its development by natural selection. (All these examples come from Lynn Gardners book “Christianity Stands True” College Press 1994)
God could have made one thing and multiplied it, but God exhibits His creativity by the variety of creation.
GOD EXHIBITS HIS CREATIVITY THROUGH:
II. MANKIND
A. The image of man
When you look in Genesis 1:26, we find that God created man in His own image. God could have created us in any image that He wanted to, but He chose to create us in His image. This does not necessarily mean that we look like God, but that we are created in His likeness, we have an eternal soul, we have intellectual capacities, we have free will. We can love and appreciate beauty.
In the introduction I asked where our appreciation for art, literature, music came from? Where did our creativity come from? Why don’t we build the same kind of house like a bird or sing the same songs like the birds?
It is because we did not evolve, but God created us in His image. This should be the starting point of understanding ourselves, the fact that we are created in the image of God, we are God’s children.
B. God’s dealings with man
In 1 Kings 17, when Elijah told Ahab that it would not rain again until the Lord said so, God fed Elijah by the mouth of Ravens.
God was creative in the way that He kept His promise to Abraham concerning the fact that through Abraham all of the nations of the world would be blessed, starting with giving him a son Isaac at such an advanced age. God was creative in the way He preserved Joseph. How Joseph was responsible for the salvation of the nation of Israel.
God was creative when He saved Moses from death and had him raised in the home of the Pharaoh who was enslaving God’s people. God was creative in the way that He delivered the Israelites from Egypt.
God’s plan of salvation was creative. Of all the possibilities, why did He chose to send Jesus?
Jesus’ birth was creative, you would expect Jesus to have been born in palace surrounded by the trappings of royalty, but He was not.
God was creative in who He chose to announce the birth to.
C. God’s love for man.
I want us to consider how creative God has been in showing His love to us.
In Genesis 6, God was sorry that He made the world because of the way it had become corrupt. Even though God was upset to the point of destroying everything, His love for man was exhibited though Noah and telling him how to save mankind though the Ark.
There is a truth that you need to know. The truth is that God loves you, He always has and He always will.
Creativity build things, it does not destroy.
Listen to what Jesus is telling you in JOHN 10:10 "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.
Jesus came so that you could have eternal life with Him. Our God used His creativity to devise a way in which you can live eternally with the God who created you and loves you. Satan does not care for you, God has gone to great lengths to show you His love for you.
In Psalm 51:10 the Psalmist said, “Create in me a clean heart, O God, And renew a steadfast spirit within me.”
We went to Oklahoma City a few years ago and saw the devastation that a few people caused. As we looked at what was left of the Federal Building, it reminds me of what Satan wants to do with your life. He wants to destroy, mangle and ruin your life, the life that God has given to you.
Our creative creator loves you and wants help you to be what He created you to be.
CONCLUSION
I am glad that our God is a creative one. Can you imagine how boring life would be without creativity?
We get our creativity from God and from the fact that we are created in the image of God.
When you think about it, all of the advances mankind has made is a result of someone using the gift of creativity that God blessed them with.
Our awesome God has displayed His creativity in nature and in you.
God created you and He created the plan of salvation.
God has gifted each one of you with a tremendous amount of creativity and potential.
I want to challenge you to tap into that creativity and find new and exciting ways to serve the Lord. Use your potential for God and His glory.
Some of you may have some creative ways that we can reach this community for Jesus.
God created you, God wants the best for you.
Have you ever thought about how creative God is? Next time you are outside take a moment and look at what God has done. I want you to also take a moment and look at what you are doing with your life. Turn your life over to Jesus, He will take you places you never dreamed of!
