LORD of ALL Creation
(Where you at Christian)
Christ is the one through whom God created everything in heaven and earth. He made the things we can see and the things we can't see-- kings, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities. Everything has been created through Him and for Him. He existed before everything else began, and He holds all creation together. (Coloss. 1:16-17 NLT)
Hello Reader,
What shapes your worldview? Is it your experiences, your television, your news, your science, your knowledge and education, your upbringing, your society? I’m going to assume that you are a ‘Christian’ who is reading this, but what forms your belief system? Is it God and His word, or is it as Paul says, “empty philosophy and high-sounding nonsense that come from human thinking and from the evil powers of this world, and not from Christ” (Col 2:8). Having gone through years of “higher education” in both the secular and supposedly ‘evangelical’ arenas, I can confidently say that in both cases, education was shaped more by what Paul describes in Colossians 2:8, then Colossians 1:16-17. Where you at Christian? What forms your belief system – the Word or the World?
One of my favorite contemporary evangelical authors is John Piper, who is unashamedly a Christ glorifying, Word of God honoring, scholarly yet very practical man of God. In a recent devotional entitled ‘Ruler of all Nature’, describing God’s sovereign rule over all creation, Piper reminds us of the story of Jonah where, “God commands a fish to swallow a man (1:17), He commands a plant to grow for shade (4:6), and He commands a worm to kill it (4:7).” Point: God rules over all creation! More specifically, all is created by God through Christ; all is for Him and He not only rules and reigns over it, He holds it all together! Do you believe that? Does our world believe that? Absolutely not! Neither Canada nor the USA are ‘Christian’ nations. The leaders who lead these countries don’t live for Christ, nor have a biblical world view. There may be a few ‘evangelicals’ in government, but the Word of God is not allowed to dictate governance, especially in secular, democratically elected politics. At best, the founding fathers of the nations were ‘deists’ who may have believed that a supreme being created and set natural laws in motion, but that deity is not involved in the governance of that creation – governance is left to human wisdom, reason, logic, and science. How we doing at self-governance?
God gave dominion over creation to ‘man and woman’ (Gen. 1:28). As time went on, we got rid of God, and took full control of the planet, even creating our own deities from the creation itself (Rom. 1:20-23). We’ve made a mess of the planet, God’s creation which we were supposed to steward to His glory. Pollution, bad irrigation, bad forest management, abuse of aquatic and land resources, and we find ourselves in a real mess. But instead of repenting and humbling ourselves before our Creator, admitting that we blew it and need His divine intervention, we come up with excuses for the mess we’re in like global warming, over-population, pandemics and disease, economic disparity, etc. Pride continues to say, “we don’t need God – we’ll come up with our own solutions” and so we create ‘Artificial Intelligence’ better known as AI, which will be the ‘messiah’ that delivers us from the plight in which we find ourselves. How Foolish to think that our own intelligent design can save us from the degradation of this world that God created for our enjoyment and once declared “Very Good”. God remains the only Deliverer!
Now let’s get serious…and controversial! Where you at in your faith? Do you believe in a Sovereign Creator who rules all of His creation? Is He the same God who parts the waters, shakes the earth, calms the storms, walks on water, commands water out of a rock, sends quail in to feed His people, controls governments and rulers alike, uses all of nature to humble kings who think they control the universe with their magic arts (Think Pharaoh and the 10 plagues)? What God do you believe in…the God of the Bible or the one man has created in his own image and sadly most of the church believes in – you know that god who could not possibly create everything in six days but created it to evolve and leave it evolve without His oversight. Which god - that god Hollywood created who is for sexual deviancy, promiscuity, “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness/personal pleasure”. You know…that non-judgmental god who is ok with abortion as birth control, same-sex marriage, and assisted suicide because he is so tolerant and accepting and affirming of our choices, cause he is “love” after all!
Do you see the disconnect between the God of the Bible and the one the world has created and much of the church has adopted. Is God in control or not? Is He sovereign or not? Does Jesus rule or not? Is He really like the hymn we sing “Ruler of all nature” (From Fairest Lord Jesus) or are these just empty words? If He indeed rules, are the fires and floods we see across Canada His doing? Are all the natural disasters happening across the globe His doing? Can He prevent them? If so, why doesn’t He? Are Canada’s fires a judgment for 110,000 abortions every year; 17,000 people using MAID to end their life in 2024; the recent Bill C-9 ‘Combatting Hate Act’ which would allow for the ‘persecution’ of people who teach biblical truth; rampant antisemitism; neglect of the poor amongst us; ‘soft on crime’ policies that let dangerous criminals out on the streets, etc. Is your worldview biblical – informed by God’s word or mans wisdom?
"You are worthy, O Lord our God, to receive glory and honor and power. For you created everything, and it is for your pleasure that they exist and were created."
(Revelation 4:11)
Is God the same yesterday, today and forever? Is He sovereign ruler of the universe who does whatever He pleases (Psalm 115:3); who works all things according to the counsel of His will (Eph. 1:11); who changes the times and the seasons; removes kings and raises up kings; gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding (Dan. 2:21). Is your God able to “work all things together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose” (Rom. 8:28). Don’t you want a God who is sovereign over every detail of your life and can change people and circumstances to bring about “good” for you. Isn’t the God of the Bible merciful and compassionate, abounding in love, and although He corrects and disciplines and brings judgment on a nation to lead them to repentance, He will forgive their sins and heal their land. Is it not merciful that God would allow/use man’s mismanagement of the creation to bring him to his knees in humility to repent and receive restoration and blessing. If Canada would “turn from its wicked ways and repent, God would turn and heal our land” – is that not what we pray for (2Chron. 7:14)! Friends, there are dozens of examples in scripture whereby God uses natural disasters to awaken people to their state of sin and their need for repentance. Is it not possible that the same is true for Canada – if we repent of our pride and sins the Lord would heal our land. Canada needs Jesus! We need Jesus! If He ‘holds it all together’, and we see the world, our nation or our lives falling apart, wouldn’t the natural conclusion be, “we have abandoned the One who holds it all together…let us return to Him”. Where you at in your faith?
"Yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we live;
and there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we live.”
(1 Corinthians 8:6)
Peace
"Advancing the Kingdom of God by releasing Spirit-filled followers to serve Jesus in freedom and joy."
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