Creator

We are most comfortable celebrating Father God as Creator God; but in light of the fact that we accept that God is Trinity we should consider how and why the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit were united in the work of Creation.

The Trinity’s Work of Creating
Creation comes as a gracious act of the triune God. The Trinity was from the beginning and it is the origin of all things as God emanates Himself through the three Trinitarian roles. Genesis 1:2 clearly describes the Spirit of God’s presence “hovering over the face of the waters”. And by the mysterious plurals used in verse 26 of Genesis 1, “God said, let us make man in our image”, we can find further precedence for the divine relationship working in union through creation. The Apostle Paul’s testimony expounds on the Father and the Son’s roles in his letter to the Corinthians: “there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we live; and there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we live”. In John’s first epistle there is a sense in which titling Jesus, “the Word”, suggests an intimate connection between Christ “through whom” and the Word of God “by which” the universe was fashioned.

Holistically, the Trinity called all things into existence, laid purpose for all things, and is at work sustaining and leading creation to respond to the Creator. Faith in the completeness of a Trinitarian God who creates out of His own nature provides that there is purpose in an orderly creation, and that all creation is inherently good, as Paul wrote to Timothy: “for everything God created is good, and nothing is to be rejected”. He has put all things into proper order, and all things are created to express His glory. The “creative” nature of creating, also expresses God’s artistry and playfulness. The artist is creator of beautiful things. Picturing God in this manner could indicate that creation may be seen in different ways, but as is true with all artwork, its true meaning is only found within the intent of the Creator. In this sense we comprehend that the world is God’s and that His creation was purposed to present the beauty within His nature. He sought to share the holiness that is found within the Trinity, and so He created out of who He is.

The Point of God’s Creating
Stanley Grenz, wrote that “The world exists because out of the overflow of His own character, which is love, the eternal God establishes an external counterpart, creation. Just as it is created in accordance with the very essence of God –love—this counterpart exists to be both the recipient of and the mirror of the divine love”. What this means is that as God emanates His character through creative activity, He cares for and provides for the needs of His creation, coinciding with forming His creation for His glory.

As His love and abundance are the beginning (the purpose of) His creating; and the aim of all of God’s creative work is to express His glory. “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims His handiwork. Day to day pours out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge. There is no speech, nor are there words, whose voice is not heard.” The universe was made to show His glory, and we were made to respond by conforming to its ways. "But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit. "

He is love, He is abundant, He is the beginning (with His work of creation) and He is the end (the receiver of creation’s response).