Continuing Creation

I believe in God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth.

            Christians confess their God as the Creator, but we should guard that confession against misunderstanding. Sometimes people conceptualize creation as if once, a long time ago, God set everything up and put it in motion and now He just sort of leaves it to its own devices. We think of God as a divine watchmaker: builds the watch, winds the watch, lets the watch run with no more effort.

            Martin Luther, in his Small Catechism, headed off this misunderstanding when he explained the First Article like this:

I believe that God has made me and all creatures; that He has given me my body and soul, eyes, ears, and all my members, my reason and all my senses, and still takes care of them.

He also gives me clothing and shoes, food and drink, house and home, wife and children, land, animals, and all I have. He richly and daily provides me with all that I need to support this body and life.

He defends me against all danger and guards and protects me from all evil.

All this He does only out of fatherly, divine goodness and mercy, without any merit or worthiness in me. For all this it is my duty to thank and praise, serve and obey Him.

This is most certainly true.

Count the number of first person singular pronouns (I, me, my, mine) in there! The point is God is my Creator. He is still active as the world’s Creator. He’s not just off in His heaven, but He is active in His Creation.

            In Catechism class, I like to summarize this involvement of God in Three Ps: procreation, providence, and protection. In each case, all our eyes see is a natural process. Moms and dads have babies, farmers raise and sell crops, dairy, and cattle; police and military protect us from danger. Where’s God in the process? Well, He’s hidden, but He’s working through the process. He honors us by using us in His work of ongoing creation. King David recognized this: “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb” (Psalm 139:13), and “Praise be to the Lord my Rock, who trains my hands for war, my fingers for battle” (Psalm 144:1). Jesus understood it, too. “Your Father in heaven… causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous” (Matthew 5:45).

            God remains our good Creator, giving, sustaining, and protecting life, even if we can’t see His hand involved in it!