Creation Speaks of God

Genesis begins with the story of creation. Before we begin the study of creation, we have to first gain some understanding of who God is and how he is different from man. When the Bible uses the word “man,”  it is referring to all human beings: men, women and children.

God is very different from man. As we were created to reflect his image, there are things about God that we can be such as: loving, kind, compassionate, faithful, etc. However, there are characteristics of God’s being that can never belong to people.

God’s Unique Characteristics

• Eternal: God has no beginning nor will he ever have an end.  He has and always will exist. He wasn’t born and he won’t die.  He is of a different nature than we are. We will die but God opens up the way to eternal life.
• Spiritual/non-material: God is not like the things he has created.  He is spiritual and doesn’t have a physical body. We can’t experience him with our physical senses (sight, touch, smell, hearing, etc.) like we can the things he has made. Besides having a spirit, we also have a physical body.
• Infinite: This relates to the fact God is a spiritual being. He has no measurable limits, meaning he has no end. He can’t be contained in a space. We live life in a finite body.
• Omnipresent: Because God is infinite he is not confined by time and space. He can be all places at all times. We are only in one place at one time.
• Omniscient: Besides being everywhere at all times, God knows and understands everything. There isn’t anything he doesn’t know and he alone is the source of true wisdom and understanding. The Bible says he even knows the number of hairs on our head. We have a mind so we can learn things but we are limited in our knowledge and understanding. 
• Omnipotent. God is all powerful and has the ability to do what he desires. He can bring things that haven’t existed into existence as he did in creation.  He can also perform miracles and change the way things normally function. We have very little power. We can only work with what God has already made. 
• Holy/Perfect – God is without sin. Because God is holy and perfect he can only do what is right. He won’t do anything that is against his nature. We rebel against God and sin.

Job’s Questions

In the Old Testament, there is a book about a man named Job who was faithful to God even in the midst of great suffering. Through all that happened to him, Job came to see God more fully. Listen to what Job had to say about God and think through the questions he asked.

Job 12:7-16

⁷“But ask the animals, and they will teach you, or the birds of the air, and they will tell you; ⁸or speak to the earth, and it will teach you, or let the fish of the sea inform you. ⁹Which of all these does not know that the hand of the LORD has done this? ¹⁰In his hand is the life of every creature and the breath of all mankind. ¹¹Does not the ear test words as the tongue tastes food? ¹²Is not wisdom found among the aged? Does not long life bring understanding? ¹³“To God belong wisdom and power; counsel and understanding are his. ¹⁴What he tears down cannot be rebuilt; the man he imprisons cannot be released. ¹⁵If he holds back the waters, there is drought; if he lets them loose, they devastate the land. ¹⁶To him belong strength and victory; both deceived and deceiver are his.

What can we learn from the animals God created?  They have life, which only comes from life. They exhibit design and have a purpose.

How do we know that the hand of God has made them all? Man with all his understanding can’t recreate life. Living things have to have a creator. Life doesn’t come from non-life. That living things only come from other living things is an important law of science called the Law of Biogenesis (bio-life, genesis-beginning).

How do we know that the life of every living thing is in God’s hands? If God is our creator then he is also our sustainer. He has provided for his creation everything that is needed to sustain life: food, water, air, light, etc.

How does the ear test words? The ideas you hear are made up of words; you examine ideas to see if they reflect what is true, what fits reality.

Why do we gain wisdom and understanding by listening to God? Since God is the creator of all things he knows how they work and are to function. We learn about what is true by listening to God.

What does it mean to be deceived? To be deceived one believes a lie or what isn’t true and doesn’t fit reality (the way things really are). We believe something that may appear to be true but isn’t.

Who is a deceiver? One who tries to get people to believe things that aren’t true. The devil is the great deceiver.

What does it mean that both the deceived and deceiver are God’s? Whether or not you believe God and what is true or don’t believe God, you still belong to him and are under his authority. You will answer to God for who or what you chose to believe and follow.

Clearly Seen Through Creation

As we examine the created world, we want to listen carefully and determine whether or not it speaks of God.  We live in a time where many people deny that God exists and consequently they don’t hear what creation has to say about God.  They have believed a lie that keeps them from seeing God’s work and hearing his voice.  That lie is the theory of evolution. 

Evolution is the belief that all the majesty, beauty, and design of the world around us came into existence without a creator through small changes over billions and billions of years.  People who believe in evolution think that everything must be explained by natural causes and won’t consider the possibility of God working in supernatural or miraculous ways. The basic premise of evolution is that given enough time the impossible (life coming from non-life) becomes possible.

God says that he can be clearly seen through his creation so people who deny his existence are without excuse. Romans 1:20 says For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities–his eternal power and divine nature–have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.

God’s power and divine nature are seen in the things God has made, as all of God’s creation shows design and purpose. A design lays out a plan that shows how something will be built or function. Purpose is the reason for which something is designed, done or created.

The design and order that anyone can see in the world of living things means that there must be a designer. This is referred to as the teleological argument for God. If you were walking through a forest and came upon a watch you would know by looking at it that a watch maker existed. The watch has both a design and purpose; it didn’t come together by chance.

Anything that exhibits both design and purpose must have been brought about by a designer, who has both the intelligence and ability to create something. God is omniscient and omnipotent meaning he has both the understanding and power to bring creation into being.

• Overview Questions:  What can we learn from the things God has created?  How do we know that the hand of God has made them all?  How do we know that the life of every living thing is in God’s hands?  How does the ear test words?  Why do we gain wisdom and understanding by listening to God? 
• Thought Question: What would cause people to look at the design and purpose in creation and deny that God exists?
• Prayer: Thank God that the design and beauty of the world speaks of his wisdom and majesty.  Pray that your eyes would be open to see him more fully through his creation, and that your ears would hear what he has to say through both his word and his works. Pray that your desire would be to submit to and obey God.
• Week’s Memory Verse:  Romans 1:20

What does creation show about God?

Creation reveals God’s eternal power and divine nature.

For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities–his eternal power and divine nature–have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.