Read: Jeremiah 5:21-24; Acts 17:22-31
Let's begin by playing ‘fill in the blank’. As long as you live in my house-------! If your mind raced back to the words "you'll do what I say", we were raised with the same kind of thinking. It was a given that our parents were in charge because they had brought us into the family either through birth or adoption. They took care of us and therefore had the ultimate authority concerning decisions until we were on our own. That meant that we were expected to respectfully obey when we were told to do something. We did not make the rules, our parents did, and we learned about answering to authority if we did wrong.
Although I must admit to not always being excited about doing what I was told to do, I had a good foundation for understanding that there was One higher than even my parents. God! Even though I didn't know Him as I grew up, I knew that He existed, and Whoever He was, I wanted to understand and know Him. I knew that He created the earth, and I knew I wanted to be with Him some day. To some degree, I knew He, as the song said, ‘had the whole world in His hands’.
What simple and yet profound truth is tucked away in that children's song; yet sadly, now there are so many who scoff at those precious words. That truth foundation that I accepted has been torn up, leaving uncertainty in its place. So, who, if anyone then has the whole world in His hands? When that truth is discarded, more problems arise. If there is no all-knowing Creator, there is no absolute truth concerning right and wrong. Man is the one who chooses those parameters, as it was in the time of the Book of Judges, Judges 17:6. No wonder confusion reigns all around us. The beauty of God's truth has been set aside and the noise of man's differing opinions, bombards our thinking, and it all stems from not believing that everything was created by an awesome Creator God, Genesis 1:1-31. When man chooses his own truth, this saying holds sway:
‘The one with all the gold makes the rules’; however, because there is truly One Who holds the whole world in His hands, this is true: ‘The One Who made the gold, makes the rules. He is the One to be honored because we and everything around us were made by Him.’
God spoke through the prophet Jeremiah to His people with this same thought, Jeremiah 5:21-24. He reasoned with them that they should reverence the One Who had set borders for the sea and controlled its roaring waves. They should honor the One Who gave rain to their land so they could have food. Yet, instead of honor, God spoke through the prophet that His people had turned away from Him.
In Acts 17:16-31, Paul spoke to those listening to him about the one they called the "unknown god". Paul had seen an altar that had been erected to honor this deity that the people hadn't yet understood. Paul longed for them to know the One True God Who was Creator, Judge and Savior. The apostle spoke of him as creator and the one who had marked out places for the various nations. Such dominion! All people and nations came through that one man whom God created. This God had no needs and didn't live in a temple made by human hands. Of course not. He was the One Who gave and sustained life. This was the God Who commanded every man to turn from his sins in repentance. This God was the One to be feared because He was not only Creator, He was the One Whose resurrection from the dead demonstrated that He was also Redeemer.
Paul wasn't finished. This same God was also judge, not of a few or a particular nation, but of all men. He was the One to be feared and honored. Each man would one day stand before Him. Is it any wonder that creation has been under attack for so long? If we are simply the products of random chance, there is no one to whom we must be accountable, and there are no standards we must meet. Praise God that we are the creation of a God Who loves us so much that He sent us a Savior, John 3:16. This same God truly has the whole world in His hands, and one day He will make all things new. The One Who created has prepared a place of perfection, joy and beauty beyond what we can imagine, 1 Corinthians 2:9; Revelation 22.
While we wait, may we honor God as we see His beautiful creation, and may He make Himself known to countless people when they see what He has made. Father, Thank You for the beauty of the seasons. You are a wonderful Creator/Redeemer!