Creation

                  God as Creator

                  The Bible begins with God creating the heavens and the earth and ends with God bringing about a new heaven and a new earth (Gen. 1:1; Revelation 21–22). As such, the doctrine of God as Creator frames the biblical story and plays a key role in Christian theology.

                  At its core, the doctrine of creation is that God, without the use of any preexisting material, brought into being all that is. Creation is a completely free act of God intended to communicate his excellence. He alone has no beginning (Ps. 90:2). God created all that is, including light, the earth, sky, water, vegetation, marine life, animals, angels, and everything else (Gen. 1:1–25; Ps. 148:1–5; Col. 1:16; Rev. 4:11). God has also directly created men and women, whom he made specially in his image (Gen. 1:27; 2:7; Mark 10:6; Rom. 5:12–21; James 3:9–12). All of creation reflects the design and order of God’s eternal plan, having come into being by his wisdom (Jer. 10:12), will (Rev. 4:11), and word (Ps. 33:6–9).

                  Creation reveals God, bearing witness to his power and handiwork to all people, at all times, and in all places (Ps. 19:1–6; Rom. 1:18–32). Creation also brings glory to God, displaying his kingship, power, goodness, wisdom, love, and beauty (Gen. 1:1–28; Isa. 43:7; Rom. 11:33–36). Revelation 4:11 links God’s role as Creator to his reception of worship and glory: “Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created.”

                  Creation through His Word

                  The Bible regularly highlights how God creates through his word. Genesis 1 conveys this through a refrain. God the King powerfully decrees, “Let there be . . . ,” and creation obediently responds. Psalm 33 similarly declares, “By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, and by the breath of his mouth all their host. . . . For he spoke, and it came to be; he commanded, and it stood firm” (Ps. 33:6, 9; cf. 148:5). Hebrews 11:3 reiterates, “By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible.”

                  Creation as a Work of the Trinitarian God

                  The spoken word that brought creation into being is vitally related to the eternal Word who was with God and was God (John 1:1). According to John, all things were made through Jesus the Word, and without this Word nothing was made (John 1:3). Paul speaks just as plainly about Jesus’ role in creation: “By him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him” (Col. 1:16).

                  Thus creation is the work of the Trinitarian God (Genesis 1; Heb. 11:3). Paul further clarifies that God the Father is the source of creation, while the Son is the agent: “There is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist” (1 Cor. 8:6). The Spirit of God, too, is active in creation (Gen. 1:2; Job 33:4; Ps. 104:30). All three persons act inseparably to create, but in a way that maintains personal distinctions.

                  The Father, Son, and Spirit delight in creation because it glorifies the Trinity and blesses men and women, created in God’s image (Gen. 1:26–28). This world is distinct from its Creator, the triune God, who has made himself known ultimately in Jesus Christ, revealed to us today in the Scriptures. Thus we recognize that it is not just any god who created the world; it is the God who is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

                  Creation, Sovereignty, and Providence

                  God’s rule in and over his creation is consistently made known in the Bible and is essential for the development of the doctrine of providence. The doctrine of creation shapes the understanding of God’s kingship, his governance of and sovereignty over the world (Isa. 37:16; Jer. 27:5; Amos 4:12–13). God’s wisdom and knowledge inform not only his kingship in creation, but also his governance of the world (Ps. 104:24; Prov. 3:19). The world order is not self-created, nor it is self-sustaining. The stability of the created world depends on the supernatural upholding of all things by the cosmic Christ (Col. 1:16–17; Heb. 1:2–3), and the direction of the world is divinely ordained and purposed ultimately for the glory of God and the good of his people (Rom. 8:28–30; Eph. 1:3–14).

                  Creation, Worldview, and Worship

                  Knowing that God made the world, including humans as a part of it, is foundational to the pattern of Christian truth, the shaping of a Christian worldview, a doxological understanding of life (Psalm 148), and an understanding of the unfolding of God’s revelation to mankind. The doctrine of creation leads to the idea of human stewardship of God’s creation. Men and women as image-bearers of God hold creation in trust for him, exercising human responsibility for the world (Gen. 1:26–28). While the world as we know it has been affected by the fall (Genesis 3; Rom. 8:18–26), the doctrine of God as Creator points to the original goodness of creation, as seen in the affirmations of Genesis 1 (vv. 4, 10, 12, 18, 21, 25, 31).

                  God is also independent and ontologically distinct from his creation. He created the sun, the moon, animals, and humans, but he himself is not any of these. There is therefore no place in a Christian doctrine of creation for atheism (the belief that there is no God), agnosticism (the belief that we either do not or cannot know if God exists), dualism (the belief that the spiritual world is superior to the physical one), pantheism (the belief that God is contained in creation), or naturalism (the belief that the physical order is all that exists).

                  Creation, the Fall, and the New Creation

                  Yet, the Christian doctrine of sin points to the recognition that the world has departed from the pristine condition into which God placed it—it has fallen from the glory with which it was created. The Christian doctrine of redemption includes the hope for creation’s restoration to its original goodness. The fallen state, then, is only a temporary imperfection (Rom. 8:19–22), for it will be redeemed in the final work of God, the new creation (Isa. 65:17–25; Rev. 21:1–5).

                  The Praise and Glory of the Creator God

                  God is a purposeful God who creates in freedom. In creating, as well as in preserving, God is working out his ultimate purposes for humanity and the world. Because human beings are created by God, in the image of God, for the glory of God, and for the good of others, they matter, and their lives are meaningful. The overall meaning, unity, and intelligibility of the universe are also affirmed in the doctrine of creation. In these doctrinal affirmations we see God’s greatness, goodness, power, beauty, and wisdom. The doctrine of creation finds its full explication in Jesus as the God-man who entered creation. He is the light and life of the world and will bring creation fully under his rule at the consummation of the world, leading to the ultimate praise and glory of the Creator God.