The God of Creation
Read Psalm 100:1–3. What is the human response to the God of Creation,
and why?
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In Genesis 1, the first message of the Creation account is “God.” We
hear it in the translation: “In the beginning God” (Gen. 1:1). In the first
line (Gen. 1:1), the word “God” is placed in the middle of the verse and
is underlined by the strongest accent in the Hebrew liturgical, traditional
chanting in order to emphasize the importance of God. The Creation text
begins, then, with an emphasis on God, the Author of Creation.
The book of Genesis begins, in fact, with two different presenta-
tions of God. The first Creation account (Gen. 1:1–2:4) presents God
as infinitely far from humans, the transcendent God, Elohim, whose
name speaks of the supremacy of God. The name Elohim denotes
pre­eminence and strength, and the use of the plural form of the word
Elohim expresses the idea of majesty and transcendence.
The second Creation account (Gen. 2:4–25) presents God as up close
and personal, the immanent God YHWH, whose name many believe
denotes closeness and relationship. The Creation text as a whole is,
then, an implicit appeal to worship God; first, to be aware of God’s
infinite grandeur and power, and at the same time to acknowledge our
dependence on Him because He created us “and not we ourselves” (Ps.
100:3). This is why many of the psalms often associate worship with
Creation (Ps. 95:1–6; Ps. 139:13, 14 [compare with Rev. 14:7]).
This twofold view of a God who is both majestic and powerful,
and who also is close, loving, and in a relationship with us, makes an
important point about how we should approach God in worship. Awe
and reverence go along with joy and the assurance of God’s proximit­y,
forgiveness, and love (see Ps. 2:11). Even the sequence of the two
presentations of God is meaningful: the experience of God’s proximity
and the intimacy of His presence follows the experience of God’s dis-
tance. Only when we have realized that God is great shall we be able to
appreciate His grace and enjoy, in trembling, His wonderful and loving
presence in our lives.
Think about the vast power of God, who upholds the cosmos,
and yet can be so near to each of us. Why is this amazing truth
so amazing?