A Huge Wave of Glory

The wonder of God’s glory and goodness ripples throughout the Genesis account of creation. All of creation is unqualifiedly good because it comes from the God in whom infinite good, love, and power are wedded. The supreme goodness of what is made naturally reflects the glory of the Maker. Should we be surprised? 

When we look at biblical references to creation or to God as Creator, the call to praise and glorify the Lord soon appears. 

The praise that is associated with creation in the Bible has many emphases, flowing in and out of one another. Steve and I noticed at least the following four elements. 

1. Praise of God as Creator invariably rings with joy and merriment.

“Worship the LORD with gladness; come before him with joyful songs.

Know that the LORD is God. It is he who made us, and we are his” (Psalm 100:2 – 3). 

2. Praise of God as Creator constantly marvels at God’s glorious attributes. For instance, creation becomes the ground for celebrating God’s faithfulness: 

“Blessed are those whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the LORD their God. 

He is the Maker of heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them – he remains faithful forever” (Psalm 146:5 – 6). 

Above all, creation summons us to remember God’s awesome power: 

“Ah, Sovereign LORD, you have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and outstretched arm. Nothing is too hard for you! (Jeremiah 32:17).

3. Praise of God as Creator unfailingly celebrates the confident security that God’s people have, a security firmly grounded in God’s unchallenged ability to accomplish his own purposes. Recall the words of the prophets. They frequently point to God as Creator when they wish to stress the certainty of God’s promises being fulfilled, as when Isaiah comments on Israel’s return from Babylon: 

“This is what the LORD says — your Redeemer, who formed you in the womb: I am the LORD, the Maker of all things, who stretches out the heavens, who spreads out the earth by myself” (Isaiah 44:24).

Again, those like Hezekiah who appeal to God for deliverance remember that he is the Creator, and therefore he can deliver: 

“LORD, the God of Israel, enthroned between the cherubim, you alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth” (2 Kings 19:15; cf. Isaiah 37:16).

What greater security could there be than that possessed by those who can say, 

“Our help is in the name of the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth” (Psalm 124:8).

4. Praise of God as Creator consistently delights that God is the final and ultimate reality, beyond whom there is simply nothing. When an angelic messenger in the book of Revelation needs to emphasize the significance of a new revelation, he can do so no more forcefully than by invoking God as Creator: 

“Then the angel … swore by him who lives for ever and ever, who created the heavens and all that is in them, the earth and all that is in it, and the sea and all that is in it, and said, ​‘There will be no more delay’” (Revelation 10:5 – 6). 

Knowing that God is the Creator of heaven and earth is never simply a matter of information. It is instead a summons – a summons to celebrate, to adore, to trust, to bow. When God is known as Creator, he is known with glad singing and with silent awe; as the loving protector and as the almighty judge; as the one who has done more than we know and who certainly will do more than we can imagine. 

To say that God is Creator is to say that he is utterly unique, for ​“all the gods of the nations are idols, but the LORD made the heavens” (1 Chronicles 16:26). It is to say that there is nothing outside the scope of his rule, for ​“in his hand are the depths of the earth, and the mountain peaks belong to him. The sea is his, for he made it, and his hands formed the dry land” (Psalm 95:4 – 5). It is to say that worship belongs to him alone: ​“You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being” (Revelation 4:11).

“Oh, Lord. You have created all things, from the smallest sub-atomic particle to the great super-nova. You have created me. You surround me, protect me, keep me, love me. I cannot comprehend your greatness. It overwhelms me, a huge wave of glory.”

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Find more installments of the Mystery of God series at Conversations with Chris.