God of All Creation – God of Me
I am persuaded that God is more involved in the creation than we are aware of. We are often aware of God’s involvement in our own lives, and we get glimpses of his involvement in the lives of family and friends, but his work extends well beyond those endpoints.
God’s Care
You care for the land and water it;
you enrich it abundantly.
The streams of God are filled with water
to provide the people with grain,
for so you have ordained it.
– Psalm 65:9, NIV-1983
God created all that exists in six days.1 Now he sustains that creation. Here we see him watering and enriching the soil. He fills the streams with water so that the people can have grain. This is the ordinance of God!
As those created in his image, God cares for you and he cares for me.
Yet he has not left himself without testimony: He has shown kindness by giving you rain from heaven and crops in their seasons; he provides you with plenty of food and fills your hearts with joy.
– Acts 14:17, NIV-1983
Not Just Humanity
But this is where my interest is heightened, because God’s focus on, and care for the creation goes well beyond caring for humanity.
He grows the grass and feeds the cattle.
He makes the grass grow for the cattle,
and plants for man to cultivate—
bringing for good from the earth.
– Psalm 104:14, NIV-1983
He feeds the creatures of the sea, both great and small.
There is the sea, vast and spacious,
teeming with creatures beyond number—
living things both large and small.. . .
These all look to you
to give them food at the proper time
– Psalm 104:25, 27, NIV-1983
He tends to the birds in the air.
Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?
– Matthew 6:26, NIV-1983
He watches over the flowers.
See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?
– Matthew 6:28b-30, NIV-1983
Inanimate Creation
But it goes beyond God caring for us, caring for the birds, cattle, and sea creatures. God cares for the inanimate creation as well, “upholding all things by the word of his power.”2 Speaking of Jesus, Colossians 1 confirms this reality.
He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by Him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.
– Colossians 1:15-16, NIV-1983
If Jesus is holding the creation together, it makes me wonder what will happen when he lets go, if he lets go. It fires the imagination.
It is partially through this inanimate creation that God has revealed himself to humanity. We know that “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.”3 The apostle Paul told us that God’s revelation through the creation is so extensive that humanity is left without excuse.
…since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. 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.
– Romans 1:19-20, NIV-1983
Humanity’s Special Position
Look once again at Matthew 6:26 above. Note that it does not say “the Father feeds them,” or even “their Father feeds them.” No, it says “your heavenly Father feeds them.” Your Father. He’s not the Father of the grass, or the cattle or the birds, or the sea creatures. He’s their Creator, but not their Father. He’s your Father.
For every animal of the forest is mine,
and the cattle on a thousand hills.
I know every bird in the mountains,
and the creatures of the field are mine.
– Psalm 50:11, NIV-1983
He created them, thus they are his. Every animal of the forest, the cattle on a thousand hills, every bird in the mountains and creature in every field, yet not a sparrow can fall to the ground without his notice.4
Our God, this Creator God and Sustainer God, great, glorious, and magnificent, is the God who cares for you and for me. Your Father is sustaining the entirety of the creation. Revere him, yes, even fear him, but also find comfort in his love and care.
Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.
– 1 Peter 5:6-7, NIV-1983
Thus we can confidently cry out with the Psalmist:
But as for me, I am poor and needy;
may the Lord think of me.
You are my help and my deliverer;
O my God, do not delay.
– Psalm 40:17, NIV-1983
1. Genesis 2:1-3
2. Hebrews 1:3
3. Psalm 19:1
4. Matthew 10:29
