A Worshipful World View

February 2012 — Grace & Truth Magazine

A Worshipful World View

“My view of our planet was a glimpse of divinity.”
— Edgar Mitchell, USA, Apollo 14

Many astronauts have commented on the ecstasy felt when looking at the planet we call home. Many of us have seen pictures of Earth beamed from outer space, and the view always seems to attract our attention to look for the continent, or specific area, where we live. If a view of this unique globe gives us a special feeling, what do you think it does for its Maker?

Having completed the wondrous works of Genesis 1 in six days, God saw everything that He had made and declared it “very good” (Gen. 1:31). And while the Earth may orbit around the sun, it can be said with some certainty that this apparently insignificant little ball (when compared to the size of other terrestrial bodies) is, in God’s eyes, the very center of the universe He created.

Why is it so special? First of all the Bible tells us that it was made by the Lord Jesus Christ for His pleasure (Col. 1:16). Then, in our enjoyment of creation (such as a beautiful sunrise), or a deeper study of the Earth’s wonders (such as the intricacies of a rose or the atom), God is pleased to reveal Himself in the glories of His creative handiwork (Ps. 19:1). He loves to reveal Himself to us; as it is said, “If you seek Him, He will be found by you” (1 Chr. 28:9 NIV).

Earth is the planet where God placed His most intimate beings. When He formed the first man out of the dust of the ground, and breathed into him the breath of life, he became a living soul, made in God’s own image (Gen. 1:27; 2:7).

And Earth is the stage of the greatest mystery drama of the universe. First Timothy 3:16 puts it this way: “Beyond all question, the mystery from which true godliness springs is great: He appeared in the flesh, was vindicated by the Spirit, was seen by angels, was preached among the nations, was believed on in the world, was taken up in glory.”

Do you know what this marvelous testimony means? Nowhere else in the universe was God manifested in the flesh! Nowhere else could the angelic hosts ever see their Creator until He was pleased to take upon Himself the likeness of men (Phil. 2:7). There is no other place where salvation can be preached and no other place where God provided a Person suitable to be believed on for that salvation (Jn. 3:16). And there is no other place in the universe so closely linked to heaven, with a Man in the glory, waiting for His bride still on the Earth, from which she watches for that coming day when her Lord shall return to bring her to His eternal home (1 Th. 4:16,17).

This planet is special because it was made by Him and for Him and became the stage for the greatest love story ever told. But why look merely at His beautiful handiwork when we can look at the Creator by faith now and by sight soon? After all, doesn’t the Master Builder of the house have more honor than the house (Heb. 3:3)? Isn’t He more wonderful than all He has ever made? The eye of faith and the believing heart both say “Yes! ... Even so, come Lord Jesus” (Rev. 22:20). And isn’t this cause for worship?

By Hank Blok

“To look out at this kind of creation out here and not believe in God is to me impossible.
It just strengthens my faith. I wish there were words to describe what it's like.”
— John Glenn, First American Astronaut In Space