Daily Devotional

Creation

The Story of Salvation: Day 1

Through this new eight-day devotional series based on the short iBIBLE film The Real Story of Jesus, explore Jesus’ presence in all of God’s Grand Narrative. If we are to believe in Jesus and share Him with others, we must first understand the foundational elements of our faith.

Why Does Creation Matter?

When Christians discuss the seven days of creation, they typically fall into one of three camps: those who believe in the literal seven days of creation and a young earth, those who believe each day of creation was actually millions of years of evolution, and those who say it doesn’t matter how God created the earth and everything in it.

These latter two views, while fairly common, are dangerous. To believe or even allow the idea that God used macroevolution, a billion-year process made up by humans to explain the creation of all living things without a Creator, is to disbelieve God’s authority over creation. The Creator of time and space spoke the very universe into existence and breathed life into His final creation: humanity.

Jesus is the Word God spoke, the Divine medium through and with Whom God created all things. Denying the reality of God’s miraculous creatio ex nihilo, creation out of nothing, is denying Jesus’ authority over that same creation, authority He demonstrates repeatedly in the New Testament. Let us never say in doubt or fear, “Who is this, that even the wind and the waves obey Him?” (see Mark 4:35–41) but be assured that Jesus was present during and has full authority over creation.

Let us never say in doubt or fear, “Who is this, that even the wind and the waves obey Him?” but be assured that Jesus was present during and has full authority over creation.

Creation in Scripture

“In the beginning…” John starts his Gospel account the same way the book of Genesis begins, but John wants his readers to know beyond a shadow of a doubt that Jesus, the Man he walked and talked with while He was on earth, is the same Jesus through and with Whom God created the world. 

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.” —John 1:1–3, ESV

Did you catch that? “Without him was not any thing made that was made.” There is not a single ant, DNA strand, black hole, Venus flytrap, or human being that exists without Jesus as its Creator. And not only did Jesus create all things as part of the Trinity, He created them to work together in beautiful harmony. Bees pollinate flowers and collect their nectar, rain falls to water the flowers, oceans evaporate to cause rain, and the moon pulls the ocean’s tides. And it was very good (see Genesis 1).

Do you ever sit outside on a beautiful day and gaze out at what God has created? Does it make to want to sing praises to God, like the psalmist does?

“Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord from the heavens; praise him in the heights! Praise him, all his angels; praise him, all his hosts! Praise him, sun and moon, praise him, all you shining stars! Praise him, you highest heavens, and you waters above the heavens! Let them praise the name of the Lord!” —Psalm 148:1–5a

Do you ever sit outside on a beautiful day and gaze out at what God has created?

All creation sings praises to the God Who created all things. God’s creation proclaims His glory to the ends of the earth, so that everyone who sees, tastes, and experiences this creation might know that there is a God, and this God is their all-powerful and Divine Creator (see Romans 1:20). 

Jesus Himself tells us that if we do not praise God for His glory, the “very stones would cry out” and praise Him instead (see Luke 19:37–40)! How amazing it is to believe in the God Whose stones, the most unmovable and unfeeling of creation, cry out His praise!

And yet we know that creation is under the same curse of sin as humanity, for only three chapters into Genesis, Adam and Eve disobeyed God, sinning and forever severing the perfect relationship between God and His creation on earth. Adam and Eve were charged with caring for creation, and so their mistake affected all of creation. But God already had a plan to redeem not only humans, but all of creation.

Romans 8:21 tells us that “creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God.” Creation longs for the restoration of right relationship with God. And Jesus, without Whom nothing would have been created, would be the One with the authority to provide that redemption.

Looking Forward

Creation is only the beginning of the Grand Narrative of God’s story of redemption through Jesus. Next week, we will look more closely at the curse of sin and the promise of redemption that comes with it.

Prayer for This Week

Lord of all creation, we praise You because of Your great power and authority over all that exists. We stand in awe of Your glory, revealed in creation to all who would see it. We thank you that You have not abandoned your creation in our sin and suffering, but had a plan in place for our redemption since before time began. Thank You for Your goodness to us. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.