 
Illustration. Creative Power. "For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works." Eph. 2:10. 1. What is revealed concerning God in the first verse of the Bible? “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.” Gen. 1:1. 2. What contrast is repeatedly drawn in the Scriptures between the true God and false gods? “Thus shall ye say unto them, The gods that have not made the heavens and the earth, even they shall perish from the earth, and from under these heavens.... The portion of Jacob is not like them: for He is the former of all things; and Israel is the rod of His inheritance: The Lord of hosts is His name.” Jer. 10:11-16. See Jer. 14:22; Acts 17:22-29; Rev. 14:6-10. 3. Through whom did God work in creating all things? “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by Him; and without Him was not anything made that was made.” John 1:1-3. 4. Through whom is redemption wrought? “But God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him.” Rom. 5:8, 9. 5. In what scripture do we learn that Christ, the active agent in creation, is also the head of the church? [pg 058]“For by Him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by Him, and for Him: and He is before all things, and by Him all things consist. And He is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the first-born from the dead; that in all things He might have the preeminence.” Col. 1:16-18. 6. What scripture shows that the Creator is also the Redeemer? “But now thus saith the Lord that created thee, O Jacob, and He that formed thee, O Israel, Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art Mine.” Isa. 43:1. 7. Who is declared to be the source of power to the weak? “Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of His understanding. He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might He increaseth strength.” Isa. 40:28, 29. 8. What prayer of David shows that he regarded redemption as a creative work? “Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.” Ps. 51:10. 9. Who keeps the heavenly bodies in their places? “To whom then will ye liken Me, or shall I be equal? saith the Holy One. Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who hath created these things, that bringeth out their host by number: He calleth them all by names by the greatness of His might, for that He is strong in power; not one faileth.” Isa. 40:25, 26. 10. What can the same Holy One do for the believer? “Now unto Him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy, to the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen.” Jude 24, 25. 11. What is the measure of the power which is available for the help of the believer? “That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him: the eyes of your understanding being [pg 059] 12. How great was the deliverance of Israel from Egyptian bondage? “Ask now of the days that are past, which were before thee, since the day that God created man upon the earth, and ask from the one side of heaven unto the other, whether there hath been any such thing as this great thing is, or hath been heard like it?... Hath God assayed to go and take Him a nation from the midst of another nation, by temptations, by signs, and by wonders, and by war, and by a mighty hand, and by a stretched out arm, and by great terrors, according to all that the Lord your God did for you in Egypt before your eyes?” Deut. 4:32-34. Note.—The great deliverance of Israel from bondage and oppression in Egypt is but a type of the power of God displayed in the deliverance of man from the bondage and slavery of sin. In both is seen a manifestation of creative power. 13. What scripture plainly states that it is creative power which transforms the believer? “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.” Eph. 2:10. 14. Of what great work is the Sabbath both a memorial and a sign? “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work: but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy man servant, nor thy maid servant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it.” Ex. 20:8-11. “It is a sign between Me and the children of Israel forever: for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day He rested, and was refreshed.” Ex. 31:17. 15. Inasmuch as creation and redemption are both wrought by the same creative power, of what besides the original creation was the Sabbath given to be a sign? [pg 060]“Moreover also I gave them My Sabbaths, to be a sign between Me and them, that they might know that I am the Lord that sanctify them.” Eze. 20:12. 16. Through whose agency is the material universe sustained? “And He [Christ] is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.” Col. 1:17, R. V., margin. 17. What statement shows that all things, both material and spiritual, are sustained by the same personal agency? “But to us there is ... one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by Him.” 1 Cor. 8:6. 18. Why is God worthy to receive glory and honor? “Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power: for Thou hast created all things, and for Thy pleasure they are and were created.” Rev. 4:11. Note.—That comparatively modern view of creation known as evolution, which rests upon human research rather than upon divine revelation, and which substitutes an impersonal force for a personal Creator, overthrows the very foundation of the gospel. Redemption is simply the new creation, and the Creator is the Redeemer. The Head of the original creation is the Head of the new creation. The original creation was wrought through Christ by the power of the word; the new creation, or redemption, is wrought in exactly the same way. The evolutionary theory of creation inevitably involves an evolutionary theory of the gospel, and sets aside the truth concerning sin, the atoning sacrifice of Christ, and the necessity of becoming new creatures through faith in the saving power of Christ. O worship the King, all-glorious above, And gratefully sing His wonderful love; Our Shield and Defender, the Ancient of days, Pavilioned in splendor, and girded with praise! O tell of His might, and sing of His grace, Whose robe is the light; whose canopy, space; His chariots of wrath the deep thunder-clouds form, And dark is His path on the wings of the storm! Thy bountiful care, what tongue can recite? It breathes in the air, it shines in the light; It streams from the hills, it descends to the plain, And sweetly distils in the dew and the rain. Frail children of dust, and feeble as frail; In Thee do we trust, nor find Thee to fail; Thy mercies, how tender! how firm to the end! Our Maker, Defender, Redeemer, and Friend! Robert Grant. |
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