If you have ever worried about your self-worth, remember that God made you and that he made the universe so you could live, flourish, and see his glory so that you could love Him and know you are loved by Him. Our Creator is a personal God. Furthermore, there are the three persons who fully share in the perfect divine nature. Horton noted that, “creation is the result of a free decision and activity of intratrinitarian love, the product of an extravagant exchange of gift-giving between the Father, the Son, and the Spirit” (Michael Horton, Christian Faith, 329). 

In Genesis 1, Moses used a technical term (bara) to describe the act of God creating everything. This term is only used of God’s creative work. This helps us to understand that when God created everything from nothing it is qualitatively different than when we make things out of other things. 

God created everything where once there was nothing (Gen. 1:1). He was able to do this because he has life within himself and gives life to whoever and whatever he wills (1 Jn. 1:3-4). God’s infinite greatness leads us to stand in awe of him (Ps. 19:1-4). God’s decision to make us makes us marvel at his love for us.  

The Biblical record is different than the ancient pagan myths. God’s record of creation began with the eternal God who eternally exists by virtue of his own power. The pagan myths depend on fanciful creatures, monsters, or other forms of matter to produce the world. This begs the question of where these animals and/or inorganic matter originated. Most of these ancient myths present a history of the universe that is cyclical (repetitive) and has no real beginning. This is impossible. There has to be a beginning and an uncaused cause that began everything. Only God, as recorded in the Bible, is that necessary unmoved Mover and uncaused Cause. We must conclude that “Either the world creates itself, or it is the product of a personal creator” (Colin Gunton, The Triune Creator, 38).

Creation “is not only brought into being but sustained in being and becoming and finally brought to its consummated goal by the Father, in the Son, through the Spirit” (Michael Horton, Christian Faith, 328). The Bible teaches that Jesus upholds all creation by the word of his power and continues to make everything hold together (Heb. 1; Col. 1). Again, we can not help but marvel at God’s love for us. He made us. He sustains us. He must love us.  

D. L. D.