In recent sermons we’ve been exploring Psalms focused on God’s creative handiwork (Psalms 19, 104, 148).  And yet, the theme of creation is pervasive in Scripture, from Genesis to Revelation.  Here are a few key texts that complement the sermon passages:

At the end of each creation day in Genesis 1, God announces that “it was good” (and after forming humans, “very good,” 1:31).  Of course, it’s idolatrous to worship nature (Romans 1:25), but that doesn’t negate the deep, inherent goodness of all that God made. 

“When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him?” (Psalm 8:3-4).  We feel small as we ponder God’s vast universe.  And yet, humans are “crowned with glory and honor” (8:5)—our status is uniquely lofty as beings made in God’s image (Gen 1:26). 

Isaiah points to nature repeatedly to spotlight the grandeur of God:  “The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever” (40:8).  “Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand and marked off the heavens with a span, enclosed the dust of the earth in a measure and weighed the mountains in scales and the hills in a balance?” (40:12).  “It is he [i.e., God] who sits above the circle of the earth, and its inhab­itants are like grasshoppers” (40:22).  “Lift up your eyes on high and see:  who created these?  He who brings out their host by number, calling them all by name; by the greatness of his might and because he is strong in power, not one is missing” (40:26—just think:   God names and counts and monitors all of the stars). 

But still, this side of heaven creation joins us in “groaning” over our sin-ravaged existence:  “We know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now” (Romans 8:22).  To be sure, we groan with hope, waiting eagerly for the fullness of our adoption in Christ (8:23-24).