Being creative with God
Guest contribution by Simon Tatje, songwriter & worship leader.
GOD AND CREATIVITY
God, who created the universe, our earth, all life, and with it us, is the source and the perfection of creativity. You just have to look around to see how incredibly creative our God is. From the complex interaction of the atoms to the never-ending universe with all the innumerable stars and galaxies. From the smallest microorganisms to the mighty over 30 meter long blue whale. If you open your eyes, you will not be out of wonder anymore. And even if one thinks as a human being at some point to have understood the world a little bit, God’s creation always has new surprises ready. Did you know, for example, that the lyre bird is not only able to imitate other bird songs, but also, if exposed to corresponding noises, construction noise,or laser projectiles from science fiction films? PEOPLE AND CREATIVITY The Bible says that God created man in his own image. So it’s not surprising that we humans are also very creative. But what did God think about providing us with so much creativity and how should we best use them?
WHAT HAS GOD CONSIDERED?
An interesting biblical passage is found right at the beginning of the Bible in the creation story: “And the Lord God formed from the ground all the beasts of the field, and all the birds of the heavens, and brought them to man to see what he would call them, and that every living creature may bear the name which man gives unto him “(Genesis 2:19). This verse becomes even more interesting when we consider that in Hebrew the name is not just a name but the character or the name describes the role of someone. So we can assume that Adam was also able to work a bit creatively here, and was allowed to shape the character and position of the animals. God could have named the animals as well, but he left this task to Adam. I find the statement “to see how he would call it” especially fascinating in this biblical passage.
GOD WAS ANTICIPATING HOW ADAM RESPONDED TO GOD’S CREATION AND WHICH NAMES HE WOULD GIVE TO THE ANIMALS.
It is this paternal and friendly exchange that God desires. God wants to be creative with us by responding to his creation and creating new ideas. I believe this is a great secret of creativity and I encourage you to rediscover this area with God!
This article is from our ERLEBT magazine on the subject of “creativity”.
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