October 23, 2020 | Silver Spring, Maryland, United States | By: Ted N.C. Wilson, General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists
Greetings, Friends! Have you ever stopped a moment to ponder the incredible beauty of the words found in Genesis 1:1?
“In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.”
How amazing. How wonderful. But then, the second verse tells us more—
“The earth was without form, and void . . .”
“Void”—an empty space. Nothingness. How incredible. God created the earth, the sky, the sun, moon, the stars, and living things—out of nothing at all. What a powerful, loving, Creator God!
And yet, this incredible truth is hardly recognized in the world today. The devil has worked hard to obliterate the truth we find in God’s Word. In John 1:1-4 we read:
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.”
Nevertheless, God invites us, through His power, to be lights in the world today. To let the world know that there is a Creator God who made them, who loves them, who died for them, and who is one day soon coming back to redeem His own.
In order to fully understand the Creator, it is important to be out in nature where we can observe and appreciate His creation. In the wonderful book, Christ’s Object Lessons, we read,
“. . . through the creation we are to become acquainted with the Creator. The book of nature is a great lesson book, which in connection with the Scriptures we are to use in teaching others of His character, and guiding lost sheep back to the fold of God. As the works of God are studied, the Holy Spirit flashes conviction into the mind. . . In these lessons direct from nature, there is a simplicity and purity that makes them of the highest value. All need the teaching to be derived from this source. In itself the beauty of nature leads the soul away from sin and worldly attractions, and toward purity, peace, and God. . . .Thus the mental powers will be strengthened, the character developed, the whole life ennobled. (p. 24).
Friends, this coming Sabbath has been designated as “Creation Sabbath”—a beautiful time to reflect on the beauty of Creation and of our Creator. This worldwide celebration of Creation is organized by the Geoscience Research Institute, an entity of the Seventh-day Adventist Church that specializes in original research and the study of scientific and Biblical literature.
On the website, creationsabbath.net, you will find many wonderful resources to help you celebrate this event. And as we close today, I would like to share with a short but beautiful video from that website, titled “God’s Enduring Song of Love,” celebrating this special day—Creation Sabbath. May the Lord bless you today and in the coming days, as you remember that He is our Creator, Redeemer, and Friend!