God’s Wonderful Creation
by Rev Jacky Quarmby 17 September 2021
Reading: Genesis 1: 1 – 25.
In the church, the months of September and October are often months when we focus on the wonders of God’s creation. The passage above is the first of the two creation stories that we find in the book of Genesis. Composed thousands of years ago, it is not intended to be a scientific account of how the world came into being. It is rather a statement of faith by an ancient people, articulating what they believed about God and the world in which they found themselves. This is not to discount it as being unimportant, for the story tells us a number of things about God’s creation, that are just as relevant to us today, as they were to those ancient people thousands of years ago.
The first is, that God created the heavens and the earth. God was there in the beginning and was part of the process in which the heavens and earth were formed. We don’t know for sure how it happened and we don’t know for sure how the plants and creatures, in all their incredible diversity, came into being, but we believe that God was part of that process and is still part of that process.
And the second thing is, that the world created by God is good. Throughout the passage, we hear the words repeated over and over, “and God saw that it was good”. God’s creation is amazing, awe-inspiring, magnificent, something to be cherished, protected and loved. But do we always notice?
There’s a story told of a man who spent every waking moment longing to get to heaven. He spent hours every day sitting indoors meditating, imagining what heaven would be like. When the man died, an angel took him on a guided tour. The angel showed him majestic snow-capped mountains, lush green meadows full of birdsong, miles of sandy beaches, lapped by froth capped waves. One beautiful sight after another was steadily revealed. The man was quite overwhelmed by the beauty of it all. “How wonderful,” he said, “So this is heaven?” “No,” the angel replied, “This is the world in which you lived, the world you never saw.”
As summer moves into autumn and green leaves turn golden brown, let us take the time to really see God’s wonderful creation and let us give thanks for it.
Music: For the Beauty of the Earth (John Rutter)
YouTube shows adverts which may not be appropriate to the video we have selected.
Let us pray,
Creator God,
Each day you pour blessings upon us.
You surround us with the beauty of your creation
You give us wonderful creatures to delight us and share our lives
You give us food and homes, family and friends to love.
What precious gifts you entrust us with.
Teach us to love and honour your world,
To care for it, as you care for us.
And help us never to lose the sense of joy and wonder in your creation
That causes us to praise and thank you,
Our Creator, our Father and our dearest friend.
Amen