Theme · creation
Creation
Genesis opens with God speaking the cosmos into existence — light, sky, land, vegetation, sun and moon, creatures, and finally humanity made in his image. Creation is declared 'very good,' establishing that the material world is not an obstacle to the spiritual but its theater. The Psalms celebrate creation as testimony to God's power and wisdom. The prophets invoke creation as the basis for trust: the God who made heaven and earth can surely save. Paul and John identify Christ as the agent of creation — 'all things were made through him' — and the New Testament ends with a new creation that surpasses the first.
Related doctrines
Passages expressing this theme
- 1Pet 1:24 — For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away:
- 1Tim 4:4 — For every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving:
- 2Pet 3:4 — And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.
- Acts 4:24 — And when they heard that, they lifted up their voice to God with one accord, and said, Lord, thou art God, which hast made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all that in them is:
- Acts 14:15 — And saying, Sirs, why do ye these things? We also are men of like passions with you, and preach unto you that ye should turn from these vanities unto the living God, which made heaven, and earth, and
- Acts 17:24 — God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands;
- Acts 17:25 — Neither is worshipped with men’s hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things;
- Amos 5:8 — Seek him that maketh the seven stars and Orion, and turneth the shadow of death into the morning, and maketh the day dark with night: that calleth for the waters of the sea, and poureth them out upon
- Col 1:16 — For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by hi
- Col 1:17 — And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.
- Deut 4:19 — And lest thou lift up thine eyes unto heaven, and when thou seest the sun, and the moon, and the stars, even all the host of heaven, shouldest be driven to worship them, and serve them, which the LORD
- Deut 32:6 — Do ye thus requite the LORD, O foolish people and unwise? is not he thy father that hath bought thee? hath he not made thee, and established thee?
- Eccl 3:2 — A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;
- Eccl 12:1 — Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them;
- Eccl 12:7 — Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.
- Eph 3:9 — And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ:
- Exod 4:11 — And the LORD said unto him, Who hath made man’s mouth? or who maketh the dumb, or deaf, or the seeing, or the blind? have not I the LORD?
- Exod 20:11 — For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.
- Ezek 28:13 — Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle,
- Gen 1:1 — In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
- Gen 1:2 — And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.
- Gen 1:3 — And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.
- Gen 1:14 — And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years:
- Gen 1:26 — And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over
- Gen 1:27 — So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.
The Church Fathers on Creation
— [OECUMENIUS] "but a new creation." A new creation, he says, of all things; for all who were circumcised and those uncircumcised alike, having believed, have become a new creation, having buried the old man, and we having been regenerated by the washing of baptism. [end of the excerpt by Oecumenius] —
Creation seems to be delegation through and through. He will do nothing simply of Himself which can be done by creatures. I suppose this is because He is a giver. And He has nothing to give but Himself. And to give Himself is to do His deeds—in a sense, and on varying levels to be Himself—through the things He has…
All things, therefore whatsoever it is possible to declare, and whatever, being not as yet discovered, one must omit, were likely to receive adaptation to the world which was about to be generated from the Seed. And this (Seed), at the requisite seasons, increases in bulk in a peculiar manner, according to…
The causes of the beginnings of all things are seeds. And the apostle of the Gentiles has said that the human body is a seed. And so in succession after sowing there is the substance that is needed for the resurrection. But even if there were no substance and no cause, who could think it difficult for God to create…
Corporeal nature was brought into being in six days, such that in the beginning, before every day, "God created heaven and earth." Since things flow from the first and most perfect principle, and such a principle is most omnipotent, most wise, and most benevolent: therefore it was necessary that they be brought into…
The metaphors of creating and establishing are never spoken of in Scripture except in great works. The world is created. A city is established. But observe that a house, however grand it may be, is more commonly said to be built than established or created. Note then that it is a great work of God when it is said…