Declaring the glory of God – The Robesonian

Have you ever just stood and looked in awe at a sunset? Perhaps youve gone to some spectacular natural vista like the Grand Canyon, Yellowstone or even North Carolinas own Blue Ridge Parkway. Maybe you have just been traveling one of the quite back roads here in Robeson County and been blown away with how pretty tobacco fields framed by pine trees can be.

Have you ever thought about the human body and how it works? It is full of these amazingly complex systems that enable us to live, systems that are upset, sometimes fatally, by the smallest of changes in our physiology. We see these same complex systems at play at the smallest level in the atom all the way up to largest levels, the universe itself.

If this planet was just a little closer or further from the star at the center of our solar system, or it was tilted just a few degrees further one way or the other, life on this planet would not be possible. The moon is one-four hundredth the size of the Sun. It is also one-four hundredth of the distance between the Earth and the Sun. This is what makes perfect solar eclipses possible. If the moon were just slightly larger or smaller or closer or further from Earth, again not only would we not have eclipses the way that we do, but it is very possible that life as we know it would not be possible.

Psalm 19:1 says The heavens declare the glory of God, and the expanse proclaims the work of his hands. In a very real sense, those sunsets, amazing vistas and the intricacies of the human body and the solar system are all there to proclaim Gods glory and that He is the creator. They are all a part of Gods divine plan, His perfect design, that not only allows life to flourish, but also points to Him.

In the prologue to his gospel, John tells us that He [meaning the Word, or Jesus] was in the world, and the world was created through him, and yet the world did not recognize him, (John 1:10). John is testifying to the fact that the very world in which we live was created through Jesus and as such His glory is woven into the very fabric of creation.

This is not to be confused with ideas like pantheism or panentheism that say that the creation itself is God or that God is in the creation. No, I am simply saying that since creation was created through Jesus, that every atom, every sunset, every planet hurtling through space is there to testify to Gods glory and, in fact, His very existence.

The story of creation that we find in the first chapter of Genesis shows us that God created the world by bringing order from chaos. God starts hovering over a formless, empty, and dark world, and over the course of six days brings perfect order and design. When, at the end of the sixth day God saw all that he had made, and it was very good indeed, Genesis 1:31.

When He was done, as we just saw, it was very good. In fact, it was perfect. As part of this great design, God made it so that everything fit together. There was perfect balance and cohesion. There was no headlong sprint into disorder and chaos.

This design is there to tell us about God, to testify to Him, and to expose His glory to all.

Questions to consider:

1) What is the most spectacular thing youve ever seen in creation?

2) Name a time that you saw something that left you in total awe of God and His glory.

3) How do you see Gods design in your own life?

4). Do you think that Gods design is visible even to those that dont know Him? Why or why not?

S. Carter McNeese lives in Fairmont, NC with his wife, son, and various pets. He is pastor at Fairmont First Baptist Church. You can reach him at [emailprotected]

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Declaring the glory of God - The Robesonian