God never intended that any of His created people should go through suffering. God’s plan was all joy and gladness for us. Death, sickness, disappointments, the harsh burning sun heat, the deadly and dangerous rugged mountains were not meant to be experienced by God’s treasured creation. Why would God, so infinite in knowledge and with the best plans for us, allow all these things to happen to us?
We have all, at some point, ever asked ourselves about the complexity of creation around us. Such questions may be: Why were we created? Do we have any hope after all the disappointments? Did God create us to suffer? Is death the ultimate end of life?. These and many other questions are asked yet few or no answers are provided to address the problems of humanity.
Science and technology has failed to avail us with answers. It has instead created more questions such as what is an atom? How do our minds work? How is the world constructed? These, all leave us with floods of questions unanswered.
This article is intended to answer such questions. What a blessing to read words to bring us hope and reconnect us to God’s plan!
Lessons From Creation
It all started with creation;
The very first words of the Bible in Genesis chapter one, portray God as a creator! This not only shows us that God is creator, but also a lover of His creation.
“By the word of the Lord were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of His mouth.” “For He spake, and it was;” “He commanded, and it stood fast.” Psalm 33:6, 9. He “laid the foundations of the earth, that it should not be removed forever.” Psalm 104:5.
As the earth came forth from the hand of its Maker, it was exceedingly beautiful. Its surface was diversified with mountains, hills, and plains, interspersed with noble rivers and lovely lakes; but the hills and mountains were not abrupt and rugged, abounding in terrific steeps and frightful chasms, as they now do; the sharp, ragged edges of earth’s rocky framework were buried beneath the fruitful soil, which everywhere produced a luxuriant growth of verdure. There were no loathsome swamps or barren deserts. Graceful shrubs and delicate flowers greeted the eye at every turn. The heights were crowned with trees more majestic than any that now exist. The air, untainted by foul miasma, was clear and healthful. The entire landscape outvied in beauty the decorated grounds of the proudest palace. The angelic host viewed the scene with delight, and rejoiced at the wonderful works of God.
“As the earth came forth from the hand of its Maker, it was exceedingly beautiful. The fruitful soil everywhere produced a luxuriant growth of verdure. There were no loathsome swamps nor barren deserts. Graceful shrubs and delicate flowers greeted the eye at every turn. The air was clear and healthful. The entire landscape outvied in beauty the decorated grounds of the proudest palace.”
After the earth with its teeming animal and vegetable life had been called into existence, man, the crowning work of the Creator was brought upon the stage of action. “God said, Let Us make man in Our image, after Our likeness; and let them have dominion over … all the earth.” “So God created man in His own image: … male and female created He them.”
God intended that all human beings pick lessons from His creation and meditate upon His master plan and abundant love for the created.
Here is clearly set forth the origin of the human race. God created man in His own image. There is no ground for the supposition that man evolved by slow degrees from lower forms of animal or vegetable life. Inspiration traces the origin of our race, not to a line of developing germs, mollusks, and quadrupeds, but to the great Creator. Though formed from the dust, Adam was “the son of God.” Luke 3:38.
The Duty of the Human Family
Although everything God had made was in the perfection of beauty, and there seemed nothing wanting upon the earth which God had created to make Adam and Eve happy, yet He manifested His great love to them by planting a garden especially for them. A portion of their time was to be occupied in the happy employment of dressing the garden, and a portion in receiving the visits of angels, listening to their instruction, and in happy meditation. Their labor was not wearisome, but pleasant and invigorating. That was God’s plan.
He [Adam] stood before God in the strength of perfect manhood, all the organs and faculties of his being fully developed and harmoniously balanced; and he was surrounded with things of beauty, and conversed daily with the holy angels..
Holy angels … gave instruction to Adam and Eve concerning their employment, and also taught them concerning the rebellion of Satan and his fall.
Man was to be tested and proved, and if he should bear the test of God, and remain loyal and true after the first trial, he was not to be beset with continual temptations; but was to be exalted equal with the angels, and henceforth immortal.—The Review and Herald, February 24, 1874.
Communion with God
In the surroundings of the holy pair was a lesson for all time—that true happiness is found, not in the indulgence of pride and luxury, but in communion with God through His created works.
The holy pair were not only children under the fatherly care of God but students receiving instruction from the all-wise Creator. They were visited by angels, and were granted communion with their Maker, with no obscuring veil between. They were full of the vigor imparted by the tree of life, and their intellectual power was but little less than that of the angels. The mysteries of the visible universe—“the wondrous works of Him which is [51] perfect in knowledge” (Job 37:16)—afforded them an exhaustless source of instruction and delight.
So long as they remained loyal to the divine law, their capacity to know, to enjoy, and to love would continually increase. They would be constantly gaining new treasures of knowledge, discovering fresh springs of happiness, and obtaining clearer and yet clearer conceptions of the immeasurable, unfailing love of God.
Man was to find joy by spending time with God. This was because it was also a description of the duty of man…” -God’s Plan
God’s Plan Today: Back to the Original Plan
God’s creation has now been marred with sin and it is no longer as good and beautiful as the original design by the Master Artist, yet it still has lessons for us today. Let’s consider the obedience that nature reveals to us; the sun obeys it’s creator’s command that it is consistent from day to day , never changing it’s direction. The moon and all the galaxies in the skies obey the creator, how much more should the created human beings obey the creator!
God only demands obedience from us-His created beings, that we may enjoy the daily walk with Him. By this, He willing that we all get back to the original through the new earth, He shall establish forever and ever and we shall live in perfect harmony with one another and with our God
Hebrews 3:15 (KJV) While it is said, To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation.
Conclusion
God intended that we all live in harmon and learn lessons from nature; we can still learn lessons from creation think about matchless love the Master Artist employed in designing His creation including man.
Next quarter we shall be looking at the origin of evil…and how it has marred God’s creation and look into God’s solution to sin.
References
Most of the content of this article has been extracted from the inspired writings of E.G. White ; books including the truth about angels, patriarchs and prophets,
—Spiritual Gifts 1:20
—The Signs of the Times, January 9, 1879
About the Author
Dembe Herbert is a baptized member of the Seventh Day Adventist church currently in southwestern Uganda field.
He is a second year medical student at Kampala International University and a member of the Kampala International University Seventh Day Adventist Association(KIUSDAA).
He loves sharing the good news of Jesus Christ and His soon coming kingdom.
