RUSHWAVE: Establishing Believers in the Christian Faith

Chapter 5: God Created and Sustains All Things

All that is, whether visible or invisible, was created by God.

Compared to where man was thousands of years ago, we have come a long way in understanding the world in which we live. Through advances in technology we observe both the minute and the enormous, the infinitesimally small and the astronomically large at deeper and deeper levels. But irrespective of advances in science, one thing is self-evident and inwardly known by every man, even though he may suppress this irrefutable truth.

The physical universe and all the complexity within it did not come to exist out of absolute nothingness. From the vast expanse of space filled with innumerable galaxies which themselves contain countless stars and planets, to the minute, intricate subatomic particles of which these massive objects are comprised, to the diverse and complex forms of life that exist on earth — these all did not ultimately come from absolutely nothing. The processes we observe in the world, and the objects involved within those processes, had a starting point.

God created all things. Everything that exist, and every process surrounding those things on both a macro and micro level, is the handiwork of an exceedingly creative, intelligent, all powerful, eternal God. The planets which orbit the sun in their orderly patterns; the ability of certain insects and sea creatures to mimic their environment and change color so as to avoid detection; the instinct of birds to gather twigs and build a protective nest to hatch and feed their young; the ability of plants to produce seeds and thereby perpetuate themselves from year to year; this is all the creative work of God.

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Genesis 1:1
You created all things, and because of Your will they existed and were created. Revelation 4.11
It is You who have made the heaven and the earth and the sea, and all that is in them. Acts 4:24
For the Lord is a great God and a great King above all gods, in whose hand are the depths of the earth, the peaks of the mountains are His also. The sea is His, for it was He who made it, and His hands formed the dry land. Psalm 95:3-5
The heavens are Yours, the earth also is Yours; The world and all it contains, You have founded them. Psalm 89:11
The heavens are telling of the glory of God; And their expanse is declaring the work of His hands. Psalm 19:1
Whatever the Lord pleases, He does, In heaven and in earth, in the seas and in all deeps. He causes the vapors to ascend from the ends of the earth; Who makes lightnings for the rain, Who brings forth the wind from His treasuries. Psalm 135:6–7
Thus says the Lord, “Heaven is My throne and the earth is My footstool. Where then is a house you could build for Me? And where is a place that I may rest? For My hand made all these things, thus all these things came into being,” declares the Lord. Isaiah 66:1-2
Give thanks to the Lord of lords … To Him who made the heavens with skill … To Him who spread out the earth above the waters … To Him who made the great lights …The sun to rule by day … The moon and stars to rule by night. Psalm 136:3–9
He who made the Pleiades and Orion And changes deep darkness into morning, Who also darkens day into night, Who calls for the waters of the sea And pours them out on the surface of the earth, The Lord is His name. Amos 5:8

And God’s creative activity extends to man himself who was part of the creation.

God created man … male and female He created them. Genesis 1:27
Then the Lord God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being. Genesis 2:7

Creation is the basis God used to answer questions about human suffering. There was a man called Job who had lost his children, his wealth, and even his health. In the midst of this great physical and emotional agony, he was wanting answers as to why God was allowing him to go through such hardship. God humbled him by pointing to the wonders of His creation.

Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell Me, if you have understanding, Who set its measurements? Since you know. Or who stretched the line on it? On what were its bases sunk? Or who laid its cornerstone … Or who enclosed the sea with doors When, bursting forth, it went out from the womb; When I made a cloud its garment And thick darkness its swaddling band, And I placed boundaries on it And set a bolt and doors, And I said, “Thus far you shall come, but no farther; And here shall your proud waves stop”? Have you ever in your life commanded the morning, And caused the dawn to know its place, That it might take hold of the ends of the earth …Have you entered into the springs of the sea Or walked in the recesses of the deep? Have the gates of death been revealed to you, Or have you seen the gates of deep darkness? Have you understood the expanse of the earth? Tell Me, if you know all this. Job 38:4–18

The passage above is a very small portion of God’s answer to Job. God goes on to bring out numerous other creative acts. Such a message only has meaning if God is in fact the Creator of all things.

Some hold the universe and all life is the result of random processes over eons of time from matter that somehow formed from nothing. To put it another way, some hold all that is does not reflect the creative handiwork of an all powerful God — all that exist can or will eventually be explained by the laws of physics, biology, and other fields of study. It is not necessary to posit the existence of God from all that is seen.

Scripture stands in direct contraction to any position that denies God’s creative role in the universe. If God chose never to engage in any creative act, then there would be absolute nothingness. But God did choose to act. He conceived in His mind all the galaxies, stars, vegetation, and life forms. And He acted on His thoughts, and hence all that is came to be.

God sustains all things. He is not only the reason all that is initially came into being. He is the reason things continue to exist after they initially had been created. Jesus said:

Consider the ravens, for they neither sow nor reap; they have no storeroom nor barn, and yet God feeds them. Luke 12:24
Observe how the lilies of the field grow; they do not toil nor do they spin … God so clothes the grass of the field. Matthew 6:28—30

And in the continuance of the human race through the procreative process and the provision of daily needs, God is at work.

For You formed my inward parts; You wove me in my mother’s womb. Psalm 139:13
Before I [the Lord] formed you in the womb I knew you. Jeremiah 1:5
He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. Matthew 5:45
He did good and gave you rains from heaven and fruitful seasons, satisfying your hearts with food and gladness. Acts 14:17
He Himself gives to all people life and breath and all things; and He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation. Acts 17:25–26.
In Him we live and move and exist. Acts 17:28

These two works of God — His creating and sustaining all things — are beautifully related in a Psalm. The writer is so inspired by these works that he begins by exalting God’s majesty and greatness, saying “Bless the Lord, O my soul! You are very great.” He then poetically describes God’s awe inspiring creation as something which “clothes” Him with “splendor and majesty,” expressing how God covers Himself with light “as with a cloak,” stretched out heaven “like a tent curtain” and covered the earth with water “as with a garment.”

Bless the Lord, O my soul! O Lord my God, You are very great; You are clothed with splendor and majesty, Covering Yourself with light as with a cloak, Stretching out heaven like a tent curtain. He lays the beams of His upper chambers in the waters; He makes the clouds His chariot; He walks upon the wings of the wind; He makes the winds His messengers, Flaming fire His ministers. He established the earth upon its foundations, So that it will not totter forever and ever. You covered it with the deep as with a garment; The waters were standing above the mountains. At Your rebuke they fled, At the sound of Your thunder they hurried away. The mountains rose; the valleys sank down To the place which You established for them. You set a boundary that they may not pass over, So that they will not return to cover the earth. Psalm 104:1-9

The writer then reflects on God sustaining His creation by providing water which can “give drink” to animals, and allow the “grass” and “vegetation” to “grow” for the benefit of both man and beast.

He sends forth springs in the valleys; They flow between the mountains; They give drink to every beast of the field; The wild donkeys quench their thirst. Beside them the birds of the heavens dwell; They lift up their voices among the branches. He waters the mountains from His upper chambers; The earth is satisfied with the fruit of His works. He causes the grass to grow for the cattle, And vegetation for the labor of man, So that he may bring forth food from the earth, And wine which makes man’s heart glad, So that he may make his face glisten with oil, And food which sustains man’s heart. The trees of the Lord drink their fill, The cedars of Lebanon which He planted, Where the birds build their nests, And the stork, whose home is the fir trees. The high mountains are for the wild goats; The cliffs are a refuge for the shephanim. Psalm 104:10–18

Next the writer reflects on the glory of the seasons of the year which God Himself established as part of creation.

He made the moon for the seasons; The sun knows the place of its setting. You appoint darkness and it becomes night, In which all the beasts of the forest prowl about. The young lions roar after their prey And seek their food from God. When the sun rises they withdraw And lie down in their dens. Man goes forth to his work And to his labor until evening. O Lord, how many are Your works! In wisdom You have made them all; The earth is full of Your possessions. Psalm 104:19–24

Finally, the writer reflects on the mighty seas which are filled with life and depend on God’s provision.

There is the sea, great and broad, In which are swarms without number, Animals both small and great. There the ships move along, And Leviathan, which You have formed to sport in it. They all wait for You To give them their food in due season. You give to them, they gather it up; You open Your hand, they are satisfied with good. You hide Your face, they are dismayed; You take away their spirit, they expire And return to their dust. You send forth Your Spirit, they are created; And You renew the face of the ground. Psalm 104:25–30

This psalm is just one of many passages attributing glory to God for the awesomeness of His creation.

What we deem simple, common, everyday activities actually involve millions of exceedingly complicated, dependent, coordinated processes designed by God who created and sustains all things. Consider just one: your reading or listening to this paragraph. If reading, light is traveling through the air and being processed by your eye’s complex optical system. If listening, sound waves are traveling and causing vibrations to your eardrum. This visual and audio stimuli is converted to signals which travel to your brain through various nerves. Your brain interprets those signals as words and sentences corresponding to thoughts and ideas — something that is nowhere near being understood. Through more exceedingly complex processes (which also are nowhere near being understood), your mind is able to evaluate those thoughts and ideas, associate them with memories, and identify relationships between them and other thoughts and ideas. All these activities involve extremely precise physiological processes working together and thereby allowing you to enjoy the faculty of comprehension. And this is without even considering the fact that if you can comprehend this paragraph, you are alive, and we still do not understand the mystery of human life.

God created you and has sustained you your entire life. The abilities you possess are there because He has willed that it be so. He has provided the food, water and shelter that has sustained you to this day. And all the beauty, complexity and wonder you see in creation are the works of His infinite, powerful, creative mind.

from The Nature and Character of God

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