Creation and the Glory of God

Viewpoint of Mark Cadwallader, Creation Moments Board Chairman

When morning gilds the skies,

My heart awaking cries,

May Jesus Christ be praised!

I remember driving along the magnificent Columbia River Gorge in the early morning hours. The light was breaking gloriously through the clouds with rays from the sun in a brilliance of color and formation all over the vast horizon, and I was just wonderfully impressed as I viewed this new “painting” from the Lord! What a blessing! I was on a business trip with a salesman co-worker, and he commented that this was the majesty and glory of God. We began talking about spiritual matters while basking in the marvel and magnificence of it all.

The Bible says, “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament showeth His handiwork” (Psalm 19:1). It says that the invisible attributes of God can be understood from the creation (Romans 1:20). The evidence is all around us. We just need to look and listen.

And when we do that, we receive revelation and illumination. When we quiet our souls and let faith be kindled in hearing Him speak through what has been made, spiritual light bulbs come on inside us. This is God’s provision to mankind, His special creation. We can share in His glory, His radiance and His beauty in relationship with Him.

They looked unto Him and were lightened (radiant) ….

O taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man that trusteth in Him. Psalm 34:5,8

We have the capacity to exercise faith and to have a relationship with our Maker. That is our most precious gift. Because not only has God given us the creation, He has given us Himself as well! And we can be reconciled to Him and enjoy Him – God with us and in us through Jesus Christ!

And because He is God, there is so much to know and to enjoy (“…in Thy presence is fullness of joy…” Psalm 16:11). His depths and the riches of His glory are infinite – including the joys inherent in observing and marveling and inquiring about that which testifies of Him, the creation. So our relationship with the Lord has an incredible capacity for depth – far beyond what we can imagine or put into words. The relationship capacity is infinite.

One of the most beloved hymns of all time – “How Great Thou Art” – connects mightily with our understanding of God through the creation, and then goes on to the special revelation of Jesus, the living Word and Savior. I won’t repeat all of the first verse since you likely know it by heart. But it begins like this:

O Lord my God, when I in awesome wonder

Consider all the worlds Thy hands have made.

….

And when I think that God His Son not sparing

Sent him to die, I scarce can take it in.

That on the cross my burden gladly bearing

He bled and died to take away my sin.

Then sings my soul my Savior God to Thee,

How great Thou art! How great Thou art!

God is “the Father of glory” (Ephesians 1:17), the source from whom all divine splendor and perfection proceed in their manifestation of supernatural brightness. And Jesus is “the brightness of His glory” (Hebrews 1:3 – as in “to emit from inherent energy, or shining forth from an inherently luminous body”. God, the Son, becoming one of us, allows us to truly touch the infinite.

The face of Moses shone when he came down from Mt. Sinai and when he went in to talk with the Lord in the Tabernacle tent such that it had to be covered with a veil when speaking to the people (Exodus 34:29-35). His face was radiant from speaking with the Lord God in the presence of His glory – like he was irradiated with the glory of God. And the people of Israel could not look directly at it.

God’s glory is manifested as energy and light – from the Source of all energy and light in creation. Thus, while driving down the Columbia River Gorge on that early morning years ago, we were able to see “the heavens declare the glory of God” – a created radiant picture of God’s glory! And frankly, we can perceive God’s glory everywhere because the evidence and the heavens are all around us!

But evolution is a stumbling block to many, interfering with God’s messaging through the creation to grab hold of them. Evolution helps tear down faith. The devil uses evolution to keep people from coming to the Lord, and/or to keep Christians mired in doubts and fear.

This is why we must all labor in prayer and action to stand for and proclaim the truth of biblical creation! This is also why we thank God for tearing down strongholds of evolution and for giving us the privilege of leading so many people to Him for salvation.

“Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord (1 Corinthians 15:58).

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