As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God? My tears have been my food day and night, while men say to me all day long, “Where is your God?” . . . Deep calls to deep in the roar of your waterfalls; all your waves and breakers have swept over me. (Psalm 42:1-3, 7)

Francis Schaeffer once commented that “the death of joy in nature is leading to the death of nature itself.” He concluded that this was the result of the Darwinian view of nature. I believe Schaeffer was right in his evaluation. However, I believe there are additional reasons for loss of joy in nature—more personal and spiritual reasons. I’m in a Psalm 42-43 period, and I don’t feel much joy right now—and nature isn’t helping. The wonders of creation still abound, but my heart does not abound with them. I’ve been here before, and I know that the joy will return, but I also know that one must never look to the creation alone for lasting joy. That comes from the Creator himself. [Deer photo source]

I’m trying to figure out the reasons for this current loss of joy. Unrelenting heat and the lack of rain is slowly sucking the life out of West Michigan’s potential harvest, which brings up thoughts about the global climate change debate that’s dividing the world, our nation, and even the church. Trees all around us are in great distress and dying by the thousands, and attuned to the natural world as I am, I see this and am saddened by it. Last night I read some new reports that are providing facts that give evidence of the worst summer coral kill in decades. And deep below the waves of the Gulf of Mexico, millions of gallons of dispersed oil are settling down to the bottom threatening to greatly enlarge the Gulf’s “dead zone.”

I’m personally conservative in faith, economics, and politics, but am horribly disappointed by the mean-spirited and polarizing language of conservative pundits. And in spite of my efforts and the efforts of many friends to help motivate evangelicals to care more about and for the creation, it seems that conservative Christians would rather trust the word of talkshow personalities than either God’s Word or the words of fellow believers in the sciences who are confirming the existence of multiple environmental crises created in part by our materialism. We don’t want to hear that; so we sort of collectively put our fingers in our ears and mutter, “Na, na, na. . . .” [Dead coral photo source]

Add that to the fact that so many of the local churches we’ve been looking at to commit to seem to have become venues for Sunday rock concerts and/or social clubs for young families that appear to care little for whatever experience and wisdom those of us over 60 might have to share with them. Further, many fellow “seniors” simply seem to have melted into complacency and into their easy chairs in front of TV screens watching depressing news from every corner of the globe—and watching it for hours because most of the rest of what you get on TV is either inane or profane. They don’t particularly make good conversation partners.

Then I add all this to the fact that some people I love are experiencing health problems and relationship struggles. That’s probably one reason my soul resonates with the deer who “pants for streams of water.” So today I especially need to do what the psalmist recommends: “Put your hope in God—for I will praise him, my Savior and my God” (Psalm 42:11).

And I might also again read chapter eight in C. S. Lewis’ Screwtape Letters.  If your soul is in the dumps today, you might want to do that too. You can read it here.

Another classic on this issue, and extremely thorough, is Spiritual Depression: Its Causes and Its Cure, by Martyn Lloyd-Jones.

I am the most ignorant of men; I do not have a man’s understanding. I have not learned wisdom, nor have I knowledge of the Holy One. . . . If you have played the fool and exalted yourself, or if you have planned evil, clap your hand over your mouth! (Proverbs 30:1-2, 32).

Then Job answered the LORD : I am unworthy—how can I reply to you? I put my hand over my mouth. I spoke once, but I have no answer—twice, but I will say no more. . . . I know that you can do all things; no plan of yours can be thwarted. You asked, “Who is this that obscures my counsel without knowledge?” Surely I spoke of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know. You said, “Listen now, and I will speak; I will question you, and you shall answer me.” My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you. Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes (Job 40:4-5; 42:1-6)

One of the joys of studying Scripture is that there’s always something new to learn. Recently I saw Proverbs 30 again—for the first time. What struck me as I read it was how much the chapter seems to be a shortened version of the book of Job—only in reverse. Agur, the writer, begins by confessing his ignorance and then points to wonders of the creation as being proof of how little knowledge he has, eventually saying that those who exalt themselves as knowledgeable about the creation should clap their hands over their mouths.

Job, on the other hand, begins, along with his friends, to chatter about how much they know about the ways God works and why He does what He does. Only when God confronts him and points out the humanly incomprehensible miracles of the creation does he see how he needs, frankly, to shut up (put his hand over his mouth). Agur begins by saying that the majesty of creation—even the commonest of creatures of his region, like the ant, the hyrax, the locust, and the lizard—inspire such awe and wonder that we ought to be compelled to worship the Creator of them all—in part by admitting we don’t have all the answers.

Agur’s humble position reminds me of the comment made by Jack Thomas, former director of the US Forest Service, who was asked to give some definitive conclusion about the forest ecosystem. His answer is a classic: “The ecosystem is not only more complex than we think; it is more complex than we can think.” What did Jack, Job, and Agur hold in common? They all came to be taught by the creation itself that we hardly have an inkling of the complexities of the creation.

If you’ve been visiting this website for a while, you likely understand that this has become a hobby horse of mine: I’m not at all thrilled by so-called creation science and its preachers. The reason? Once you tie the meaning of the Genesis account of creation to science, be it “creation science” or “evolutionary science,” you are saddling the Creator of the universe with puny human conclusions. With a nod to Jack Thomas, I say, “not only is the Genesis account of creation more complex than we think; it is more complex than we can think.”

Why does the earth and the cosmos look like they are virtually endless and ageless? The Bible gives us the answer—in Romans 1:20. Man is “without excuse” in denying the existence of the Creator because the created things demonstrate “His eternal power.”  Space and time show themselves endless and ageless to us because God’s power is beyond space and time. So I’m no longer going to debate, like Job’s friends, about what the science of origins, Christian or not, is supposed to prove. I’m going to start where Agur started: confess my ignorance right up front and then go out to simply take delight in ants, grasshoppers, lizards, and lions.

Don’t you wonder what God thinks about the time, money, and energy we spend on the creation-evolution debate—and the time, money, and energy we don’t spend on the stewardship of His creation—or simply just loving and enjoying it?

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 (Revelation 4:11) -King James Version.

Worthy, O Master! Yes, our God! Take the glory! the honor! the power! You created it all; It was created because you wanted it.  -The Message.

You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being. –New International Version

One of my fond memories is a trip I took with our youngest son, David, when he was in junior high. We lived in Fullerton CA at the time; so we made a canyon loop that included the Grand Canyon in Arizona, and Kodachrome Basin and Bryce Canyon in Utah.  When we got to Kodachrome Basin and looked on the park event bulletin board we saw that we could take a trail ride with a local wrangler around the shallow, but fascinating, canyon in the morning.  This we did.

The ride became a highlight for us.  It included just Bob, the wrangler, Dave and I, and a small family represented by three generations: grandpa, the parents, and two kids—plus some well-behaved horses.  It turned out that grandpa was a joker, and he enjoyed repartee with Bob, who was doing a great job telling us about the natural history of the place—in particular the strange narrow spires that stood up like ancient, fossilized tree stumps.  They were apparently geyser holes that eventually filled with mineral deposits.  When the surrounding and softer rock and soil eroded away, the geyser “holes” had become tower casts and were now one of the canyon’s great attractions. And grandpa’s joking and continual questioning about these and everything else tested Bob’s knowledge and patience to the max.

Bob was soon commenting on about everything he could.  One feature he pointed out was what he called corral grass: a ring of grass so dense that it kept other plants from encroaching on its enclosed bare circle, which then became the exclusive watershed for each particular clump.  Here grandpa had to quip again: “That’s nice, but what’s it good for?”  Well Bob could not come up with a human utility for it, so he didn’t reply and just directed us on to the next feature.  But I could sense that he was getting his fill of grandpa—as were Dave and I.

Later I thought back on grandpa’s question and its implication.  It was definitely a question engendered by so-called Enlightenment thinking—thinking that even Christians came to adopt especially as the West entered the Industrial Revolution: nature’s value is in what it can practically provide to humankind.  And it’s that thinking that’s done a lot of damage to God’s good creation:  If we don’t see any direct benefit to a natural feature, we don’t value, preserve, and protect it.  That’s one of the reasons we call much of God’s creation “natural resources”: resources for man’s use and profit.  The implication left by that designation is that everything else is pretty much useless.

However, if we consider the King James rendition of Revelation 4:11, the English biblical text used virtually throughout the Industrial Revolution, we learn that the entire creation came about for “God’s pleasure.”  That should have been enough to remind our ancestors that if all created things exist for God’s pleasure, we have no right to heedlessly destroy them.  We don’t know all of God’s purposes; so we shouldn’t assume upon them.  And even more to the point is our knowing that Jesus our Savior is also the Creator who made all things for himself and will reconcile them all to God (Colossians 1:15-20)—even corral grass

Right now in my favorite old orchard goldenrod is gilding the landscape, punctuated by brilliant magenta-stemmed pokeberries, striking red high-bush cranberries, white-eyed osier berries, and several varieties of crabapple.  They’re of no utility to me, but they are pleasing to my eye—and just knowing that they also give pleasure to my Savior-Creator, I take joy in them and in their seasonal glory.  And if I lived in Utah, I’d be finding wonder in corral grass.  “wonder resources” I call them.

You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘Do not break your oath, but keep the oaths you have made to the Lord.’ But I tell you, Do not swear at all: either by heaven, for it is God’s throne; or by the earth, for it is his footstool; or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King (Matthew 5:33-35).

Friday I used this passage from the Sermon on the Mount to show that Jesus reiterates the prophet Isaiah’s words (chapter 66).  I’m not a theologian, so I can’t tell you all the nuances of Jesus using these same words, and most of the commentaries I have read simply explain the main point of the message: just be honest and keep your word.  You do not need to make an oath on anything if you tell the truth and honor your promises.

That’s obviously a critical admonition for us all.  But in reference to the purpose of this Wonder of Creation site, something else really jumped out at me: As Isaiah states, the heavens and the earth—the entire cosmos—is the work of God’s “hands.”  And Jerusalem is as well.  Jerusalem was chosen by David (obviously through God’s direction), and it became the city of his throne built by human hands.  Psalm 48, written by “the sons of Korah,” used the same expression that Jesus used: it is “the city the Great King”—foretelling the time in the future when the New Jerusalem, made by God’s hands, descends to the earth and serves as “the throne of God and the Lamb” (Revelation 22:1).

A major point, then—and one the church seems to have often missed—is that the material heavens and earth and coming New Jerusalem are all of sacred significance.  Consider some meanings of “sacred” from Dictionary.com:  Sacred: 1. devoted or dedicated to a deity or to some religious purpose; consecrated. 2. entitled to veneration or religious respect by association with divinity or divine things; holy. 3. pertaining to or connected with religion (opposed to secular  or profane); 4. regarded with reverence; 5. secured against violation and infringement; 6. properly immune from violence, interference, etc.

John Muir left the formal church primarily because of his super-pious father, who knew the Scriptures backward and forward but was abusive and spiritually shallow.  But Muir kept his faith in God the Creator and perhaps sensed the sacred in the cosmos more than anyone else.  And it was primarily because of Muir that American political leaders had the foresight to preserve some of the nation’s most awe-inspiring wonders.  The great national parks indeed offer us the opportunity to sense the sacred in God’s good creation, but even a nearby meadow, woodlot, pond, seashore beach, or marsh left to pretty much function naturally gives evidence of His eternal power and divine nature.

I close with a reverie of John Muir’s as a motivation for us to wonder even today in the glory of God’s “footstool”:

The forests seem kindly familiar, and the lands and meadows and glad singing streams.  I should like to dwell with them forever.  Here with bread and water I should be content.  Even if not allowed to roam and climb, tethered to a stake or tree in some meadow or grove, even then I should be content forever.  Bathed in such beauty, watching the expressions ever varying on the faces of the mountains, watching the stars, which here have a glory that the lowlander never dreams of, watching the circling seasons, listening to the songs of the waters and winds and birds would be endless pleasure.  And what glorious cloudlands I should see, storms and calms—a new heaven and a new earth every day, aye and new inhabitants.  And how many visitors I should have. I feel sure I should not have one dull moment.  And why should this appear so extravagant?  It is common sense, a sign of health—genuine, natural, all-awake health.  One would be at an endless Godful play, and what speeches and music and acting and scenery and lights!—sun, moon, stars, auroras.  Creation just beginning, the morning stars “still singing together and all the children of God shouting for joy.” [From My First Summer In the Sierra]

This is what the LORD says: “Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. Where is the house you will build for me? Where will my resting place be? Has not my hand made all these things, and so they came into being?”declares the LORD (Isaiah 66:1-2).

You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘Do not break your oath, but keep the oaths you have made to the Lord.’ But I tell you, Do not swear at all: either by heaven, for it is God’s throne; or by the earth, for it is his footstool; or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King (Matthew 5:33-35).

In my last post I made reference to John Walton, Old Testament scholar at Wheaton, and to his conclusion that the Genesis creation account, when seen in the context of the nations surrounding Israel, demonstrates all the attributes of a temple inauguration ceremony common to that era.  The prime difference, of course, is that in Genesis the Creator of the heavens and earth is inaugurated, not fanciful man-made idols.  It was in essence the very lamp of truth that Israel was to lift up for the nations around them to see so that they could be drawn to worship the one true God also.  And Israel’s miracle-filled establishment and existence was the evidence. [Walton's PowerPoint lecture on this is here.  Click on his photo to see the presentation.]

Walton’s colleague Gregory Beale, a New Testament scholar, has taken this concept and brought it through the Old Testament and all the way through the New Testament to the end.  He shows that Eden, the wilderness tabernacle, and the Jerusalem temple all have similar attributes and are places of God’s presence on earth—with His priests,  servants, and stewards occupying and being nourished by the surrounding area.

And as Eden had a river that watered the gardens and became the headwaters of many rivers going out to the nations (Genesis 2:10-14), so from God’s throne in the coming New Jerusalem there flows a river (Revelation 22:1-2) along which grows the tree of life which provides for the healing of the nations.  This is clearly the same tree of life we see in the garden of Eden—and from which mankind was banished.  Losing access to the sustenance of that tree led to the death of Adam and Eve—and all the rest of humankind.  But in the New Jerusalem, which comes down out of the new heaven to the new earth, people will gain access once again to the tree that provides such nourishment that those who eat of it will not die.

Man, this is exciting stuff: the Bible has perfect bookends!  So what should all this mean to us who are between the bookends?  Well that’s a study that clearly will not end until the End—in part because in the books that rest between is the story of Jesus, God in human flesh, and the salvation He provides for us and the restoration He provides for the creation.  At the culmination of all things where the New Jerusalem becomes the worship center of the cosmos, we will see the final proof of Jesus deity: the last chapter of the Revelation tells us that the throne in the Holy City rests on the dais “of God and of the Lamb.”

What does this mean about the wonder of creation, the theme of this website?  The implications are huge and provide food for thought and study that will no doubt occupy us and influence our living until the coming of the Lamb, who will be greeted with exuberant joy by all the creatures of earth: “Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, singing: ‘To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power, forever and ever!’” (Revelation 5:13).

If all nature is expectantly waiting for that grand finale, as Paul tells us it is (Romans 8:18-21), it means that believers have more affinity with the natural world than we do with the world of men who are rejecting “the Lamb who was slain” for them.  The natural world is filled with fellow worshipers all yearning for the enthronement of that Lamb—and for its release from the curse and its coming blessed coexistence with the children of God, who will also be finally free.

It is proper to weep over creation’s pain and abuse, but all the while remembering that we do not “grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope” (1 Thessalonians 4:13). Both followers of Christ and the suffering creation will share in the glory to come.

[Jesus as Lamb and Lion painting by Spencer Williams.  Be sure to look at his site.]