The First Thing We Know About God
Introduction:
I've decided to use this blog as a personal growth tool. I want to read the Bible more and get more out of it, so my plan is to start at the beginning and read until something strikes me as important or insightful and then record the thoughts that occur to me. My primary objective is to gain a better understanding of what a relationship with God is like and how that relationship is built. A blog seems like a good place to do this.
There may be times when I blog something that has nothing to do with the Bible, spirituality or God but rather a thought occurs to me that I don't want to forget.
Genesis 1:1
I opened the Bible at the beginning and the first words I read are: "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." It suddenly struck me, the first thing that God tells us about Himself is that He is creative - an artist. His medium is time, space, galaxies, earth, water, sky, and life itself.
My wife and I recently built a flowerbed in front of our home; I did the construction and she filled it with beautiful plants. As we were admiring some of the blooming flowers, I thought about how difficult it would be for me to create a drawing, painting, or photograph that really captured the depth of color and intricate beauty we were witnessing. When I stopped to study it in detail it amazed me with its brilliance. My artistic abilities could never come close to His, and I take great comfort in the fact that no other earthly artist has either!
There's another important message here: God is proclaiming His authority. He is saying, "I made all this, its Mine; it belongs to Me. I know how it all works and if you'll let Me, I'll show you the best ways to enjoy it."
What does this tell me about my relationship with God? Well, for one thing, there is a creative connection. We are fellow artist - He, far superior, to be sure, but we both share a love of creating and expressing what is in us.
But perhaps more importantly I have realized that He is the Artist that created me. He knows me; my goods and my bads, my strengths and weaknesses, my personality and how it reacts to life around me. There is a special bond an artist has with his creations. He cares about it and for it. For me, the fact that I am (and you are) a creation of God is an important aspect of this relationship.
When an artist creates, some of who and what the artist is shows in the creation. The more we see of the artist in the art, the "better" the art is. So I must ask myself, how well am I revealing the Artist who created me?
I've decided to use this blog as a personal growth tool. I want to read the Bible more and get more out of it, so my plan is to start at the beginning and read until something strikes me as important or insightful and then record the thoughts that occur to me. My primary objective is to gain a better understanding of what a relationship with God is like and how that relationship is built. A blog seems like a good place to do this.
There may be times when I blog something that has nothing to do with the Bible, spirituality or God but rather a thought occurs to me that I don't want to forget.
Genesis 1:1
I opened the Bible at the beginning and the first words I read are: "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." It suddenly struck me, the first thing that God tells us about Himself is that He is creative - an artist. His medium is time, space, galaxies, earth, water, sky, and life itself.
My wife and I recently built a flowerbed in front of our home; I did the construction and she filled it with beautiful plants. As we were admiring some of the blooming flowers, I thought about how difficult it would be for me to create a drawing, painting, or photograph that really captured the depth of color and intricate beauty we were witnessing. When I stopped to study it in detail it amazed me with its brilliance. My artistic abilities could never come close to His, and I take great comfort in the fact that no other earthly artist has either!
There's another important message here: God is proclaiming His authority. He is saying, "I made all this, its Mine; it belongs to Me. I know how it all works and if you'll let Me, I'll show you the best ways to enjoy it."
What does this tell me about my relationship with God? Well, for one thing, there is a creative connection. We are fellow artist - He, far superior, to be sure, but we both share a love of creating and expressing what is in us.
But perhaps more importantly I have realized that He is the Artist that created me. He knows me; my goods and my bads, my strengths and weaknesses, my personality and how it reacts to life around me. There is a special bond an artist has with his creations. He cares about it and for it. For me, the fact that I am (and you are) a creation of God is an important aspect of this relationship.
When an artist creates, some of who and what the artist is shows in the creation. The more we see of the artist in the art, the "better" the art is. So I must ask myself, how well am I revealing the Artist who created me?
posted by d2 at 8:04 AM
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