Gospel Design
“Let us create man in our image,” this was the command breathed out by the Grand Designer himself. The command that went forth was different from the previous commands in which God said…let there be and there was. The act of creating in either case was quite obviously an intentional act, but for man, God chose a different method, something quite special. Special in that He would now put his Holy Hands to the task, and so along with the two other members of the Trinity, God Fashioned and molded his most precious creation of all, and he would do it in his own image.

This must have been a spectacular moment, a moment in which God himself would summon all knowledge, all wisdom, and all power to create this treasured thing. Then, at the completion of this most pinnacle of moments, when the sixth day had come to its end, and having saved his best work for his last work, God rested. He looked down upon his creation and uttered the words that we all should hope to hear at our end…”it is good.” How blessed is that moment when we all can look upon our work, upon some creation that hath been made by our own hands and say…”it is good.” We are reminded than that this skill of ours is only useful when employed with knowledge, and knowledge is only useful when employed with wisdom. For instance, man in past times may have had the skill to cut down a tree and burn its core for heat. But knowledge hath taught that man that the tree is useful in many ways…we may fashion for example: tools…tools that can then be useful in building better homes, or weapons that may be useful in protecting those homes when they are built. But in the same manner without the wisdom to know what those objects are useful for, the knowledge and the skill become futile.

Why though, for what purpose hath God created anything? I should think at first glance, and to be sure it only takes a singular glance, we observe the beauty of God’s creation. Picture if you will the snow-capped and jagged edged mountains that split our nation down the middle. The magnificence of such a thing, who, but God would have ever thought to have given a man this picture? Or the many oceans of the world, stretching as far as the eye can see, and making landfall on beaches around the world, beaches that share nearly as much beauty as the waters. It’s almost as if God hath said to himself “let the oceans meet the sand that my people will have a soft place to stand as they look upon the beauty of the seas and wonder.” Many men have known great fear of the waters deep, as they should. For within the waters there is great and massive power. We however have trained ourselves to ride upon their waves in glorious splendor, or even to sink below the surface and ride the currents beneath. So long as we follow the prescribed order written into the oceans charter, we shall not be consumed. We must at all costs understand and appreciate its power.

This truth is painted in a way that teaches us about our God, the same God which these oceans were created to reflect, for our God is a consuming fire, and we are instructed to fear Him, not for his wrath, but his power. God hath painted a picture, a living picture, one that moves and breathes and in some way reaches down into the depths of our souls and causes us to wonder. As we wonder our minds are carried away quite naturally to another place by which we wonder about the creator of such things. It is here, in this place of wonder that we come to realize the answer to our question…Why?

God is communicating his love to us through his creation. Why, because without him we are doomed and damned to a place of everlasting torment. God is, I think a true romantic, hypnotizing us with his beauty, and drawing us nearer and nearer with every glance upon his masterpiece. As we make our approach, seeking a deeper examination, we observe the lines, the curves, the color, the height, the width, the breadth and we reach out our own hands now to touch and to feel the thing in our hands. We are launched now into a much deeper investigation, one that will lead us to an even greater discovery. We will have uncovered the true identity of the author and creator of such things.

This is where the Gospel comes in, for we may discover the name of our creator, Elohim, without ever having come to know him ourselves. This is not enough…we must know. We must make every effort to come to him, to introduce ourselves and lavish upon him the Glory he is due. There never has been or ever will be an Author quite like this. It is clear however through our own discovery that this Author and Creator is one of perfection. We realize too that we ourselves are far less than perfect. Will he allow us into his presence, or might we disrupt his Holy hands from doing Holy work? We hear that this author has a son, a son who like his creation was perfect…a son in whom his father delights. We hear also that his son has come to our land in search of us, that he might take us to his father. What wonderful news this is, however it gets even better. You see the son knows too that his father demands a clean garment and we have none to wear. Yet the son has come to give us all new garments, garments that look much like his own. Garments that his father approves, the only condition is that we accept the invitation.  Yes, the gospel was in mind when the Grand designer designed.