The Creator

The teaching of creation is vital to understanding our origin, purpose, and destiny, in the light of faith. This understanding provides the motivation for all that we are called to be.

The order of the natural world provides us with evidence of the existence of the loving Creator. "Ever since the creation of the world, His invisible attributes of eternal power and divinity have been able to be understood and perceived in what He has made." (Romans 1.20) This evidence comes to light for scientists and philosophers alike who have long sought the origin of the cosmos and the meaning of human existence. In the book of Genesis, we are told that God formed the earth out of a "formless wasteland…[where] darkness covered the abyss." (Genesis 1.2) By His decree, God created the order of the cosmos out of the chaos of nothingness, and all of creation bears His loving touch.

As Christians, we believe that Jesus Christ, the Word of God made Flesh, is the means by which all creation exists. At the beginning of the Gospel of St. John, we are told: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God… All things came to be through him, and without him nothing came to be." (John 1.1,3) In Christ, our existence continues to be sustained from moment to moment, "for in Him we live and move and have our being" (Acts 17.28). In Christ, we are destined to become "a new creation" (2 Corinthians 5.17), "to be holy…in love, destined for adoption to Himself through Jesus Christ, in accord with the favor of His will, for the praise of the glory of His grace." (Ephesians 1.4-6)

St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus found her purpose in light of the Creator's will: "It is because His Love for us is so unsearchable, so tender, that He wishes us to share in all He does. The Creator of the universe awaits the prayer of a poor little soul to save a multitude of other souls, ransomed, like her, at the price of His Blood." (St. Thérèse of Lisieux, Story of A Soul, A.12)

God decreed: "Let us make man in Our image, after Our likeness." (Genesis 1.26) Every person bears the resemblance of the Almighty within them, including the sacred trust of free will. Yet, because of our fragile and mortal nature, we exist with original sin - the instinctive inclination to sin. We take heart in knowing that "everything created by God is good" (1 Timothy 4.4), despite our inclination to sin. Since the beginning of creation, the plans of God included the redemption of His creatures which had fallen, from their initial created state of innocence, into sin. "For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him might not perish but might have eternal life." (John 3.16) We know that evil has no power over God, for "where sin increased, grace overflowed all the more." (Romans 5.20) We believe that God, in His infinite wisdom, can extract good from any evil, provided that we strive to work in cooperation with His will. "We know that all things work for good for those who love God, who are called according to His purpose." (Romans 8.28)

We do not believe that we were created as a race and then left to fend for ourselves, nor can we expect to make any progress in fulfilling God's will without the help of His grace, for Jesus said: "without Me you can do nothing." (John 15.5) We continue to be a work-in-progress, dependent on His providential love for our every breath, and He continues to work with us and through us. "Like clay in the hands of a potter, to be molded according to his pleasure, so are [people] in the hands of their Creator" (Sirach 33.13) We are called to cooperate with the will of the Creator in our spiritual journey - to "put on the new self, which is being renewed, for knowledge, in the image of its creator", (Colossians 3.10) and to become "a new creation." (Galations 6.15)

The difficulties of trials and suffering in our brief and sometimes painful lives can provide opportunities to allow God to create us anew, as we place our hope completely in Him, trusting in the power of His creative love, knowing that His will is always for our spiritual good. "Those who suffer in accord with God's will hand their souls over to a faithful Creator." (1 Peter 4.19) Even in the face of death, our hope lies in the promise of the resurrection, for we believe: "Since it is the Creator of the universe who shapes each [person's] beginning, as He brings about the origin of everything, He, in his mercy, will give you back both breath and life." (2 Maccabees 7.23)

As mortal and sinful creatures, adopted as children of a loving Father and Creator, it is our greatest privilege to praise Him with all the gratitude our hearts can muster: "Worthy are you, Lord our God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things; because of your will they came to be and were created." (Revelations 4.11)



Holy Spirit, You re-create
Us in the image of the Son;
May the Father's love reinstate
Us in the midst of You, as One.

(c) Paul Buis, 2006