Christians are typically expected to refer to nature as creation, not nature. However, using nature twice in one title is just so much more catchy. It just seems like referring to trees or rivers as creation implies a creator. Lets face it, this offends any sensibility that seeks to obfuscate the obvious: that a tree got here somehow, probably by a creator.
And here is the real kicker, if the tree got here by a creator then that creator is probably deserving of some real recognition. Like a hero who saves someones life, it wont be appropriate to recognize him or her by saying “thanks, here’s a gift card.” In fact, Isaac Watts got it right when he says in his hymn: “were the whole realm of nature mine, that be an offering far too small. Love so amazing, so divine, demands my life, my love my all.” Oh...yes, I realize that Isaac Watts referred to creation as nature...so I suppose that doesn't exactly support what I said earlier.
Nonetheless, we are pressing into the heart of the issue. There is a personal connection that is implicit within creation. Just stop for a moment and let science instruct you. If you understood not just the visible beauty of a tree or river or mountain or animal or flower but understood how it came to be and how it fits into the whole it would be far more impressive. So much so that praise and worship would be the only appropriate response. Yet, praise and worship must be directed somewhere for it to be praise. To go a step further, if directed somewhere logic tells us that it must ultimately end up at someone. In other words, praise and worship is always personal.
Thus, creation is personal. Have you ever stopped to think about this? Psalm 8 tells us of the discovery David makes upon looking at the stars:
“When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him,and the son of man that you care for him?” Psalm 8:3
Let me draw out three observations from this verse:
Creation Demands Contemplation
First of all, it should be noted that creation not only invites our contemplation but demands it. There are two ways at least that our contemplation is demanded in creation. First, without contemplation the intricacies will almost certainly be missed. David comes to a conclusion: what is man? Why does he come to this conclusion? He has contemplated the vastness of the heavens and come to see how potentially insignificant man is by comparison! The second reason that contemplation is not only invited but demanded is because of the greatness of what is before us. God does not hide creation in the back closet and bury it beneath an avalanche of keepsakes. Romans 1:20 tells us that God’s invisible attributes are clearly perceived through what has been made and as a result they [everyone] are without excuse. This is a chilling warning, not only to those who reject Christ but to those who have received him. If mankind will face the penalty of eternal condemnation for not heeding the message of creation it should shake even Christians awake to the realization that listening to it is not optional. It is demanded.
Creation Evokes Awe
I have already pointed out that David comes to a conclusion after contemplating the vastness of the heavens: man is so small by comparison. This is correct but there is more to his conclusion. Much more. He indeed recognizes the smallness of man by comparison but his true conclusion is worship and awe! He says to God: what is man that you are mindful of him? This is a question but really a statement! David is in wonder that God, being so enormously transcendent, would care about man! This is worship. David has made more than an observation about how a human’s stature measures up to the heavens. He comes to the right conclusion and that being that God, even though so magnanimous, still cares intimately for people who feel so insignificant.
Creation Is Personal
Behind this observable world there is a creator who is knowable. In other words. David is allowed to come to the conclusion he does in Psalm 8. His conclusion again: God is so great yet he cares intimately for his people. Can you sense the fears that David’s discoveries have alleviated from him? What was David’s fear that presents itself in this Psalm? Isn’t it this: do I matter? Will I be merely forgotten? Am I as significant as a grain of sand that like me, is one of billions? If we take what David is saying here and press the logical conclusions it is this: if the universe is impersonal then people do not matter and nothing they do, whether bad or good, will matter in the end either. If there is no creator behind the universe we live in and science is the only resource we have to explain everything we would only be left with despair. Everything would be meaningless and humans would have no value. You see, this is David’s fear: “what is man that you are mindful of him?” Of course this question is really a statement. A statement that says, there is a creator behind the universe, a creator who is great and a creator who knows me. Therefore, I matter and what I do matters! If his question truly were a question it would be one of despair and not awe. If there is not creator the universe would be impersonal and all of mankind’s greatest fears would be realized. We don’t matter. We are unloved. There is no purpose to anything.
So there you have it. The nature of nature is extremely personal and this matters in the most important of ways. May we, God’s people, learn to see the invisible God through the visible parts of God’s creation and may it lead us to observation, awe, and security in his great love.
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