God is an Artist

I have often wished I was more creative. I am about as creative as a brick wall, which isn’t very creative at all. I want to be creative – to be able to come up with new ideas and perspectives. However, I am better at taking other people’s ideas and using them, modifying them for my own purposes, and then relating them to others. I guess that makes me a better teacher than a creator. However, I still wish I more creative. I know a few people who can come up with the most creative ideas and solutions to problems. I know just a couple of people who are natural-born artists, people who can paint and sculpt and build beautiful and thought provoking images. I have always admired the many talented musicians who can create a song that fills the imagination, at times conveying to the listener an association not even intended by the author, but still beautiful in the catalyst of each unique human soul.

I guess for every creative person there needs to be those who can admire their creations. Perhaps that is my contribution to the creative process.

Genesis 1:1-12
1:1" In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. 3 And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light. 4 God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light "day," and the darkness he called "night." And there was evening, and there was morning--the first day. 6 And God said, "Let there be an expanse between the waters to separate water from water." 7 So God made the expanse and separated the water under the expanse from the water above it. And it was so. 8 God called the expanse "sky." And there was evening, and there was morning--the second day. 9 And God said, "Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear." And it was so. 10 God called the dry ground "land," and the gathered waters he called "seas." And God saw that it was good. 11 Then God said, "Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds." And it was so. 12 The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. 13 And there was evening, and there was morning--the third day."

God is the ultimate Creator. The poem found in the first chapter of Genesis was written to express God’s supremacy as the Artist without rival or peer. He is the initiator of light into the darkness, earth and sky, land and sea, and vegetation and fruit. He designed each with words from His mouth. His words called the universe into existence, from atomic particles to the largest galaxies.

The earth was formless and empty, in darkness. The Spirit of God was there, over the waters of chaos. How long did God remain there, and what was He thinking about? Did He at some point get the impulse to make something, a creative urge to construct and paint and shape? As He put together some carbon molecules did He receive an epiphany – “I could make something from all this dirt!”? Or did it just happen as He swept the water aside and made a dry place, planting a garden of botanical delights, thinking : “Next I should make a creature to keep this garden nicely tended”?

Was the human race planned ahead of time or did God create us as He went along, only coming to the inspiration for our existence by the sheer exhilaration of His craft?