January 11, 2009

Originality

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

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.

Genesis 1:1-2 (NASB)

Yesterday I talked about being surrounded by God. That got me to thinking about what we do in our lives as we live day to day. We make a great deal about creativity, about creating something. But God is the only one who created something out of nothing. All we do flows from Him. Every new thought, every new deed has its roots in the verses above.

I am not an especially creative person with either hands or mind. I admire those who are, who have been blessed with that gift by the Creator. When someone fashions a story or a poem. When someone crafts an item out of wood or metal, paper or plastic. They are using God bestowed talent to create. Not out of nothing, but out of Him.

Based on this, there has no been an original thought, word or deed in the entire course of humanity. Everything flows from Him.

I might give us one thing: sin. But He allows it, He uses it for His greater glory, and He will vanquish it for eternity.

So even then, nothing we do is really lasting of ourselves; but only of Him.


3 comments:

Laurie M. said...

I could wax philosophical here and say that sin is not really so much a creation as a negation (which I do believe to be the case) - but even that begs more questions in my mind. So - it remains mysterious. But what is clear that God has a purpose in it, and any time good comes from evil we are witnessing His mighty and mysterious hand at work. It's a fascinating thing to me, that this tendency of God's - to bring good about through the evil of others- is so universal that even rank heathens are aware of it. How many times have you heard an unbeliever say "things have a way of working out for the best"? I've heard it over and over. People who won't acknowledge God depend upon his goodness - expect it even.

Ancoti said...

Those of us who know God have learned not to take Him for granted, that all He gives us is an unmerited gift.

But how many of us needed to be broken by Him before we could accept that? All of us sounds right.

Laurie M. said...

You wouldn't believe what it took for God to break me before I began to think of Him as anything beyond a cosmic rich grandpa - or Santa Claus. It was a bit of a Nebuchadnezar moment. I thought I'd never know an ounce of pride again - I was that devastated. But after all that I still find myself a prideful creature. It's nauseating at times - like today.