Created Order
We are by nature creative creatures. In the beginning God created—everything! He made us in His image; in His likeness, therefore we are also creative beings.
“So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.”
Genesis 1:27
God is a god of order. Everything He made is perfect and functions perfectly through reliable laws of nature. The Sun, moon and stars are all placed just so, so that we can rely on them to sustain us, and to orient ourselves in the time and space world in which we live. From the ingenious self-replicating micro machines of bacteria, to the many self-sustaining ecosystems of the world—the finely balanced coexistence of fauna and flora—and from the most humble of intricate wild flowers to the most majestic of trees that reach to the heavens: all things operate together to make this amazingly beautiful world we live in work.
“The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.”
Psalm 19:1
On Purpose
God made everything on purpose, for a purpose; nothing He made came along by accident, by blind chance, or pitiless indifference, everything has its place and fits perfectly in its place. This includes us humans: we are not a blight on this planet; indeed we were put here on purpose, for a purpose too. (There are not too many of us either, there are too few: the mandate to fill the earth has not been rescinded. Indeed, “God … said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it” (Genesis 1:28)).
He also said, “Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground” (ibid)—subduing and ruling over all creatures does not mean beating and misusing them, but in taking responsibility as the chief creature among all Gods creatures, to manage and steward well all within their charge.
Spoiler Alert
Everything you see in the world which does not seem to live up to these high orders, is corrupted because the world has been infected by evil—like a parasite on an otherwise healthy animal.
“The truth is that evil is not a real thing at all, like God. It is simply good spoiled. That is why I say there can be good without evil, but no evil without good.”
C S Lewis, On the Nature of Good & Evil, in a letter to Arthur Greaves 1933
Creatures designed to represent God upon His perfect creation, have become twisted almost out of all recognition: His beautiful world is now full of death, decay, poison and deadly predators. Life under this shadow of death is hostile and not what it once was—not what it was made for: life was made for abundance, not loss. The thief, that is Satan, has certainly lived up to his name.
“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy”
John 10:10a
The meaning and purpose given us by God has been twisted into selfish ambition. The sensible stewarding over a wealth of God-given resources has been hijacked by greed; they hoard what is for everyone. The sense of order and the free will that inhabits us has been corrupted to create tyranny to harness these resources, using this power over other people, instead of working with them for the good of all.
“There is but one good; that is God. Everything else is good when it looks to Him and bad when it turns from Him.”
C S Lewis, The Great Divorce
Restoration Job
But all is not lost. We still live in the world God made. At the same time as we witness the effects of death, decay and sin in the world, it is still abundantly beautiful and people are still capable of glorious acts of goodness and incredible feats of creativity. A world created in such perfection by an all-seeing-knowing-powerful God, is not easily destroyed—indeed, as C S Lewis suggests, evil is not a real thing, it passes and good remains.
For now, the world is decaying; Death still casts its shadow over everything. However, the tide has turned: all creation will be restored—even while people panic about saving the planet, and although people still die, deceived and blind in their sins—Death has lost its sting and one day all will be made new again.
The one who made everything, who watched as His world was ruined, had a plan to redeem it all. He sent His Son, Jesus to undo and reverse the damage. He redeems mankind by His death and resurrection, defeating sin and death on our behalf—for those who believe—and at the same time makes it possible for the redemption of everything that was made as it is placed under His feet.
“Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away … God’s dwelling place is now among the people … ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”
Revelation 21:1-4
Until then, even in a broken world, we continue to bear Gods image—creative, ordered and purposeful: stewarding resources and solving problems (with science that relies on the fixed laws of nature); loving our neighbour, as Jesus hands and feet; being salt and light, bringing truth to bear in a deceived world; being a city on a hill, a light of hope to the nations. As lights in a dark world we carry the character and hope of God inside us, so that the world can see that good will prevail in the end.
My Story
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Walking With the Word 
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