We’ve been looking at the names of God and how his names help us understand him better. This week I want to look at the name, ‘The Creator’.

 

God is often called the ‘Creator’ in the Bible. For example, God’s priest Melchizedek said to Abram: ‘Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth. And blessed be God Most High, who delivered your enemies into your hand’ (Genesis 14:19-20).

 

Why is God called the Creator? Because he is the one who created heaven and earth. All that has been made was made by him and so he alone is rightly called ‘The Creator’. The Apostle John makes this clear when he says of the Son of God: ‘In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of men’ (John 1:1-4).

 

So it’s not surprising that Moses spoke of God as our Creator: the creator of all humans. In Deuteronomy Moses said to the Israelites: ‘I will proclaim the name of the LORD. Oh, praise the greatness of our God! He is the Rock, his works are perfect, and all his ways are just. A faithful God who does no wrong, upright and just is he. They have acted corruptly toward him; to their shame they are no longer his children, but a warped and crooked generation. Is this the way you repay the LORD, O foolish and unwise people? Is he not your Father, your Creator, who made you and formed you?’ (Deuteronomy 32:3-6).

 

So what does God being our Creator mean we should do? We should follow the counsel of the teacher in Ecclesiastes: ‘Remember your Creator in the days of your youth, before the days of trouble come and the years approach when you will say, “I find no pleasure in them’’’ (Ecclesiastes 12:1). If God is our Creator then we should remember him and acknowledge him. But more than that, we should worship him! There is none higher than God and to ignore him would be a dangerous thing to do.

 

But sadly that is what all people are guilty of doing. The Apostle Paul says about all humanity: ‘They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator– who is forever praised. Amen’ (Romans 1:25). All humans are guilty of worshiping created things rather than the one who created those things.

 

Imagine giving praise for a delicious meal to the meal itself, rather than to the chef who made it. Not only that, imagine giving such praise in front of the chef. That is precisely what we do when we worship things and people instead of receiving them as gifts from our Creator and giving him praise. As a result, we rightly deserve punishment from our Creator for eternity in hell for our complete disrespect towards him.

 

But thankfully our Creator came into his created world and died on a cross in order to pay the penalty that his people deserve for their disrespect. And you too can have him die for your disrespect if you simply repent of your sin and trust in him.

 

Are you remembering your Creator and trusting in him?

Joel Radford.