- Fashioned by God -

[Abednego+2]

Psalm 19:1, “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows His handiwork”
Hebrews 11:3, “The worlds were framed by the word of God”
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In the beginning (Genesis 1:1) is not the only place in the Bible where we read about creation. The remarkable work of God’s creation is not a one-passage phenomenon. Woven throughout Scripture are reminders that God fashioned our world, telling us again and again how vital it is to believe that the universe and everything in it came through the masterful work of His mighty hand. We are told that God created:

(1) “the foundations of the earth” Psalm 104:5;
(2) “sun, moon, stars, and the heavens” Psalm 148:1-5;
(3) “the ends of the earth” Isaiah 40:28;
(4) “lightning, rain, wind” Jeremiah 10:13;
(5) “people” Malachi 2:10;
(6) “all things” Ephesians 3:9; Colossians 1:16.

We need these reminders, otherwise, the teaching we hear continually from the government, and scientific community who spend millions upon millions of dollars in an effort to learn the origin of man and the universe could easily influence us. All types of hypothesis have been developed from the big band theory to evolution to explain the beginning. When devotional writer Aletha Lindstrom needs a lift for her spirits, she thinks of her favorite poetry book title, “Who Tells the Crocuses It’s Spring”? That prompted her to ask other questions like:

(1) Who makes the trees turn all those beautiful colors in the autumn?
(2) Who splashes rain in shining puddles?
(3) Who makes the stars shimmer in the night?

Such questions ought to also stimulate our own thoughts. Centuries ago, Job exclaimed that it is God who “does great things past finding out, yes, wonders without number” (Job 9:10). It is God who reminds the sun to rise at its appointed time every morning. It is God who keeps the earth steadily rotating at tremendous speed. It is God who feeds the sparrow and dresses the lilies of the field in their entire splendor. It is God who guides the feathered flocks southward in the autumn and then brings them north again in the spring. Argue if you like that all these wonders are simply the operation of the laws of nature. But just as civil law is the expression of human will, so natural law is God’s wisdom as it works in keeping with His will.
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Further thoughts:

How easily we grow accustomed to our surroundings and dulled to things that are familiar, even places and experiences that once brought great delight to us. Although God’s glory is clearly displayed all around us, sometimes the busyness of everyday life blocks our view. We begin to take for granted His amazing work in our lives. We lose the wonder of the cross. We forget the privilege of being His child. We neglect the pleasure of His presence and miss the beauty of His creation. In today’s world many people say, there is no God. They say that all the wonders around us are accidental. No Almighty hand made a thousand billion stars. They made themselves." If this is what you think, please consider the following:

The surface of our land just happened to have topsoil, without which we would have no vegetables to eat, and no grass for the animals whose meat is our food. The inexhaustible envelope of air, only 50 miles deep and of exactly the right density to support human life is just another law of physics. We have day and night because the earth spins at a given speed without slowing down. Who made this arrangement? Who tilts it so that we get seasons? The sun's fire does not generate too much heat so that we fry, but just enough so that we do not freeze. Who keeps its fire constant? The human heart will beat for 70 or 80 plus years without faltering. How does it get sufficient rest between beats? Who gave the human tongue flexibility to form words, and who made a brain to understand them? Some people say its all-accidental and there is no God? I say there is a God and He is the Creator and Sustainer of all life including each breath that we take daily.

Moreover, the Bible says, "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth" (Genesis 1:1). God’s wisdom is plainly observable in the works of His creation. His handiwork in nature speaks so strongly for His existence and power that the apostle Paul used it as an argument to establish man’s guilt and condemnation. He wrote that man is without excuse if he does not respond in faith to the God who made it all (Romans 1:20). Thus, the fool says, "There is no God" (Psalm 14:1).
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All life is created by God and bears His autograph.