“In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.” – Genesis 1:1-3
Have you ever wondered why God created all things? It’s not as if God gets bored and God certainly didn’t need something to complete Him. So why did He create all things? Why speak the creation into existence in the first place? Especially since God, knowing all things, foreknew how mankind would mess up so badly and need Him to become part of the creation in order for redemption to take place!
St. Augustine pondered the question of why God created all things and here is what he thought.
It is enough for the Christian to believe that the only cause of all created things, whether heavenly or earthly, whether visible or invisible, is the goodness of the Creator, the one true God; and that nothing exists but Himself that does not derive its existence from Him; and that He is the Trinity—to wit, the Father, and the Son begotten of the Father, and the Holy Spirit proceeding from the same Father, but one and the same Spirit of Father and Son.
To sum up Augustine’s take: God created out of love.
He didn’t need us, but out of love He created the world and everything in it, including you and me.
As we’ve been exploring the love of God in this devotion series we have seen the loving work of God the Father in giving us all that we need for life, the love of Jesus in redeeming us and giving Himself and His saving work to us, and the loving work of the Spirit in sanctifying us.
As we conclude this series, we’re going back to the beginning when the Triune God chose to create this world. In those first three verses of the Bible, each person of the Trinity is there and a part of this act of love. The Father spoke, Jesus is the Word (John 1:1), and the Spirit is there too!
The fact that the universe exists is evidence of God’s love. The fact that you exist is evidence of God’s love for you. God chose to create the world out of love. God chose to create you out of love.
And as we have seen, the Father continues to care for His creation, the Son gave Himself to redeem the creation, and the Spirit is at work sanctifying sinners. The love of God was there in the beginning, is now, and will be forever! In the resurrection on the last day, God will continue to lovingly provide, and He will do so for eternity.
God is love. (1 John 4:8) From beginning to end, God is love.
Prayer
Triune God, Your love is amazing. You chose to create all things, redeem the creation, and You will restore the creation. We give you thanks for Your love that is from beginning to end. Amen.
For Reflection
- Have you ever considered why God chose to create all things?
- What are you looking forward to most in the new creation?
- What are some of the other aspects of God’s love that we haven’t yet covered in this series?
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