Why is there so much in our world? Let’s talk about it on Deeper Waters!
Recently at our small group, I told the people that it’s quite easy to worry about the future in our current economic state, at least if you’re an American like myself. Yet when we come to Matthew 6, we are told to seek first the Kingdom and His righteousness and all these things will be added to you. We are told in the Psalms that God owns the cattle on a thousand hills. We are told in Romans 8 that He who gave us His Son will most graciously give us all things. We are told in Luke 12 that it is the Father’s good pleasure to give the flock the Kingdom.
So why is there creation?
I have no desire to give a total answer to this. That would require something book-length. Something I notice in the passages is that we will be taken care of and that God does not need anything. Of course, God does everything for His glory, but it is not because He needs glory. It is not God who is benefited when we glorify Him. We do not give Him something He lacks. It is we who are benefited.
It can be hard to believe we will be, but at times like that, we need to learn to not listen to our emotions and to our fears but to the voice of Scripture. Please don’t think I’m someone who’s mastered this as well. There can be nights where I wake up and have a hard time going back to sleep due to worrying about a financial situation.
When we’re tempted to think about this, then consider, God gave us His Son. He is giving us the Kingdom. We think it is too much to ask that God will give us our daily bread then? We think it is beyond His ability to supply us? Of course, we are to be good stewards of what He gives us, something many of us can work on, but we should recognize they are His good gifts.
Could it be then that part of the purpose of creation is for God to show His grace and riches towards us? Is it because God wants to bless us? Why not? Does He not give us His Kingdom and His Son so He can show us the abundance of His glory? Doesn’t Ephesians 2 teach us that it will take all eternity for God to show the abundance of His grace towards us?
Do we think God is stingy? With what could He be stingy? You can take the richest person in the world today and even they can’t give everyone everything they want without going broke themselves. No matter how much wealth such a person has, they still have a limited amount of it.
God is not like that. He has unlimited wealth and He is the only one who if more was wanted, could create more immediately. This is the same one who fed the 5,000, not counting women and children, and yet it is to be seen as difficult to think that He will supply day to day needs?
In fact, if anything, Scripture shows us God likes to bless us. He likes to bless the same way a husband can love to adore his wife with gifts or parents love to go crazy with their credit cards for Christmas.
Could it be we just don’t trust God? While we can realize He would not be benefited by us, we should also realize it would not really do Him much to deny us. Do we think God is petty and spiteful?
Now the question we have to ask is are we doing what Matthew 6 says? Are we seeking the Kingdom and His righteousness? We cannot think God will bless us if we are living in rejection of Him. Of course, we do not obligate Him to bless us by our goodness. We realize that is grace, but we are in a much better place to receive when we live in obedience to Him.
Note also if creation is the gift to provide us, this is something for those in the environmental movement, and in fact those outside, to consider. The creation is a gift to us, and we are to take care of it properly like any other gift. We can use it, but we are not to abuse it. It is our gift, but ultimately from the hand of God. It is our Father’s world.
Let’s try to rest easy fellow Christians and seek the Kingdom and trust God to care for us then.
In Christ,
Nick Peters
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