The Creator of heaven and earth
The underlying theme in Christian theology is the teaching that God created everything. The Bible does not teach a theology of random, arbitrary chances that banged the universe into order.
While Christians believe God the Father created all things, we equally believe creation was done by the Son (the Word) and the Spirit of God as well. The Westminster Confession of Faith puts it clearly in the following quote.
“It pleased God the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, for the manifestation of the glory of his eternal power, wisdom, and goodness, in the beginning, to create, or make of nothing, the world, and all things therein whether visible or invisible, in the space of six days; and all very good.”
(WCF Ch 4 Of Creation)
The Father, Son and Holy Spirit created everything.
God created all things in the world from the heavens to the earth and everything in it.
“The heavens are Thine, the earth also is Thine; The world and all it contains, Thou hast founded them. The north and the south, Thou hast created them…” (Psa 89:11-13 NAS)
“Do we not all have one father? Has not one God created us?…” (Mal 2:10 NAS)
Scriptures teach that God created all things in heaven and on earth through Christ His Son. Paul explains this saying,
“He is the image of the invisible God, the first-born of all creation. For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities– all things have been created by Him and for Him.” (Col 1:13-16 NAS)
“In these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world.” (Heb 1:2 NAS)
God also created everything by His Spirit. The Holy Spirit actively causes creation to come into existence.
“And the earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep; and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters.” (Gen 1:2 NAS)
“The Spirit of God has made me, And the breath of the Almighty gives me life.” (Job 33:4 NAS)
“Thou dost send forth Thy Spirit, they are created; And Thou dost renew the face of the ground.” (Psa 104:30 NAS)
All the past, present and future is created by God.
The Bible teaches that creation was not merely a one-time event, but a timeless and transcendent act. Though the creation story tells us that God created the world in six days and rested on the seventh, this does not mean God simply set everything into motion and let the world go in its own way unregulated. All of creation was created past, present and future by God in six days.
Some believe that God did not create all people; but that people are created by the act of the parents and not by a supernatural act of God. God created all mankind throughout the entirety of history. The Bible says,
“Remember what my span of life is; For what vanity Thou hast created all the sons of men!” (Psa 89:47 NAS)
From the first generation to the last generation of people, all humanity is created by God. Psalms says God has yet to create a group of people.
“This will be written for the generation to come; That a people yet to be created may praise the LORD.” (Psa 102:18 NAS)
The Bible does not teach people come into existence naturally outside of the actions of God. God actively creates everyone from the conception in the mother’s womb. Psalms says,
“For Thou didst form my inward parts; Thou didst weave me in my mother’s womb. I will give thanks to Thee, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Wonderful are Thy works, And my soul knows it very well.” (Psa 139:13-14 NAS)
“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, And before you were born I consecrated you; I have appointed you a prophet to the nations.” (Jer 1:5 NAS)
God created everything good. The Bible teaches that all things created by God is good.
“For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” (Eph 2:10 NAS)
“For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected, if it is received with gratitude;” (1Ti 4:4 NAS)
There are objections to the view that God created everything.
Those who hold a naturalist view object to the idea that God created everything past, present and future. For example, the atheist will typically say all things came into existence by its own random actions caused by a big bang. Christian naturalists say that God doesn’t interfere with creation; but, He only watches over creation from heaven. The naturalist Christian view teaches that all come into existence by free will. Some Christians hold a partial naturalist view that God simply interferes with creation. This is a mixture of things happening on humanity’s free will and God intervening with His creation. Each of these views teach that the universe runs itself outside of any action of God. This is naturalism. The Bible clearly teaches something different.
The Bible teaches that God upholds all creation by His power. This is called supernaturalism. God establishes the order, controls the actions, causes the weather, and upholds all of the universe by His power.
“When I consider Thy heavens, the work of Thy fingers, The moon and the stars, which Thou hast ordained; What is man, that Thou dost take thought of him?…” (Psa 8:3-4 NAS)
“The steps of a man are established by the LORD; And He delights in his way.” (Psa 37:23 NAS)
“…for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.” (Mat 5:45 NAS)
“And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power.” (Heb 1:3 NAS)
God did not create evil.
God created all things good. Evil, death and misery are a byproduct of creation. Anything God creates will be less than Him. Only God is sinless. For God is infinite in power and righteousness. All of His ways are perfect in righteousness and justice.
“Great is our Lord, and abundant in strength; His understanding is infinite.” (Psa 147:5 NAS)
“The Rock! His work is perfect, For all His ways are just; A God of faithfulness and without injustice, Righteous and upright is He. (Deu 32:4 NAS)
Anything that God creates will be less than Him by definition. Evil, death, and misery came into the world as a result of Adams sin. God gave Adam a commandment.
“And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, “From any tree of the garden you may eat freely; but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you shall surely die.” (Gen 2:16-17 NAS)
Adam did not obey God’s commandment to not eat the fruit from the tree and thus opened the door to evil, death and misery.
“Then to Adam He said, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree about which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat from it’; Cursed is the ground because of you; In toil you shall eat of it All the days of your life. “Both thorns and thistles it shall grow for you; And you shall eat the plants of the field; By the sweat of your face You shall eat bread, Till you return to the ground, Because from it you were taken; For you are dust, And to dust you shall return.” (Gen 3:17-19 NAS)
Because Adam sinned by eating the forbidden fruit, evil, death and misery passed to all humanity through ordinary generation. Paul explains this by saying,
“Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned.” (Rom 5:12 NAS)
God made humanity good; however, humanity cannot be equal to God in perfection and righteousness.
“Behold, I have found only this, that God made men upright, but they have sought out many devices.” (Ecc 7:29 NAS)
“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom 3:23 NAS)
No created being can be in the presence of God on their own initiative.
It is impossible for anyone to be equal to God. Nobody can even come to God or be with God on their own merit or power. The apostle John wrote,
“No man has seen God at any time; the only begotten God, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him.” (Joh 1:18 NAS)
Jesus Himself told the people that nobody can even know the Father except through the Son.
“And the Father who sent Me, He has borne witness of Me. You have neither heard His voice at any time, nor seen His form.” (Joh 5:36-37 NAS)
“No one can come to Me, unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day… “Not that any man has seen the Father, except the One who is from God; He has seen the Father. “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes has eternal life. (Joh 6:44-47 NAS)
Only through Jesus Christ can we be reconciled the God. We can only know the Father through the Son. Without Christ mediating between us and God we would die in our sin. Paul wrote,
“For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,” (1Ti 2:5 NAS)
God is purifying His creation to the outcome that glorifies His name.
All of God’s creation is less than Him in glory. Because of this, His creation has a byproduct that must be removed in order for the creation to be pure. Just like a smelter that is making a pure metal. The byproduct that is not wanted must be removed in order for the metal to be of pure quality. Malachi wrote,
“And He will sit as a smelter and purifier of silver, and He will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, so that they may present to the LORD offerings in righteousness. (Mal 3:3 NAS)
The apostle Paul compares creation to God molding clay. God is molding creation like a potter molds clay.
“On the contrary, who are you, O man, who answers back to God? The thing molded will not say to the molder, “Why did you make me like this,” will it? Or does not the potter have a right over the clay, to make from the same lump one vessel for honorable use, and another for common use?” (Rom 9:20-21 NAS)
One problem people have with God supernaturally governing all His creation is the existence of evil. Because evil, death and misery plague God’s creation, people rationalize God’s role in creation. In order for some people to not be angry with God over what He created, they turn God into a spectator over His creation. They do this because they think this exonerates God from any responsibility for what He created. Making God a spectator over His creation actually makes God complacent, helpless and incapable of governing His own creation. This begs the question, “what kind of God would just watch His creation go through such misery and evil and do nothing about it?
The fact is, evil, death and misery are a byproduct of God’s creation. If God wanted to stop all evil and misery, He could obliterate the existence of all that He created. Jesus explains this in His parable of the tares and the wheat. God does not remove the evil from the world because it will destroy the good which he is trying to produce. In reality, God is actively dealing with the evil and misery in the world in real time. Jesus said,
“But while men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed tares also among the wheat, and went away. “But when the wheat sprang up and bore grain, then the tares became evident also. “And the slaves of the landowner came and said to him, ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?’ “And he said to them, ‘An enemy has done this!’ And the slaves said to him, ‘Do you want us, then, to go and gather them up?’ “But he said, ‘No; lest while you are gathering up the tares, you may root up the wheat with them. ‘Allow both to grow together until the harvest; and in the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers, “First gather up the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them up; but gather the wheat into my barn.”‘” (Mat 13:25-30 NAS)
The only way to stop evil in the world is to repent, believe in Jesus Christ and follow God’s commandments.