
Amanda Nichols shares slides of her paintings and answers the question, "How has a growing understanding and appreciation of God as Creator affected your way of making things?"
On March 9, we gathered at Quills Coffee in New Albany to hang out, hear from Amanda Nichols, Alan Vales, and Justin Vorel. To start things off, Michael Winters presented the following notes as a way to think about God as Creator and how we might make things in response to the way God makes things:
I want us to think about WHO GOD IS AS CREATOR, WHO WE ARE AS HIS CREATURES INHABITING HIS CREATION, and from that knowledge we can think about LIVING CREATIVELY.
“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” – Genesis 1:1
The first thing we learn about God from the Bible -which is the primary way we know about God – is that God created.
“God spoke: “Let us make human beings in our image, make them
reflecting our nature
So they can be responsible for the fish in the sea,
the birds in the air, the cattle,
And, yes, Earth itself,
and every animal that moves on the face of Earth.”
God created human beings;
he created them godlike,
Reflecting God’s nature.
He created them male and female.
God blessed them:
“Prosper! Reproduce! Fill Earth! Take charge!
Be responsible for fish in the sea and birds in the air,
for every living thing that moves on the face of Earth.” – Genesis 1:26-28 (The Message)
What might we assume about the character of God from this passage?
“Let US”… God created in and with community – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. He must value working together.
“make mankind in our image”… God was willing to give of himself. He seems eager to share his likeness. He’s not stingy with his abilities or with his authority. He’s willing to lend his authority to others. He’s not a control freak.
What might we assume about the nature of human beings from this passage?
God is creator. People are God’s creatures.
We have a job to do, a job description – to be responsible for the creation, to steward it, to rule over it. We’re expected to fill the earth and subdue it. By the grace and blessing of God, Adam and Eve – and by extension us – are expected to fill the earth with God-like creative acts – making babies, cultivating the vegetation, and making sure the animals are alright.
“God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day.” – Genesis 1:31
If this was all we knew about God, he’d still be worthy of our praise and our submission.
John starts his Gospel writing with a poetic retelling of the creation account.
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” – John 1:1-5
In this passage what is “The Word” referring to?
Christ
Who Created the World?
God who is one, expressed in 3 persons
Father
Son
Holy Spirit
What did God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – create?
Everything we can see.
And everything we don’t see – everything that exists.
What are some of the things God created?
Time
Angels
Sloths
Gravity
Humanity
Dinosaurs
Cellular Structures and systems of reproduction
Solar Systems
Galaxies
Universes(?)
What characterizes God’s original creation?
Goodness
unity despite apparent chaos
order despite unimaginable complexity
integration of beautiful form and economical function
trees adorn the landscape and clean the air
oceans are visually attractive and recycle the earth’s water
reproduction and ‘filling the earth’ / change
extravagant luxury
more stars than can be seen
birds of paradise
variety all containing the Creator’s signature style
macro/micro
God’s work as Creator is ongoing. What work is the Creator now doing?
“He (Christ) is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.” – Colossians 1
Christ is ‘reconciling to himself ALL things’.
“In him all things hold together” – Everything is dependent on Christ.
“I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. – Ezekiel 36
“I saw Heaven and earth new-created. Gone the first Heaven, gone the first earth, gone the sea. I saw Holy Jerusalem, new-created, descending resplendent out of Heaven, as ready for God as a bride for her husband. I heard a voice thunder from the Throne: “Look! Look! God has moved into the neighborhood, making his home with men and women! They’re his people, he’s their God. He’ll wipe every tear from their eyes. Death is gone for good—tears gone, crying gone, pain gone—all the first order of things gone.” The Enthroned continued, “Look! I’m making everything new.” – Revelation 21
As artists, we form new things. Don’t you want to work on God’s projects of making things new? Don’t you want to participate in that with him?
No doubt, God is the one that does the work. But we can give witness to it / call attention to his good work.
Now that we, his creatures, know these things about our Creator God, how can we respond?
Worship