The Theology of Creation (II)

And God said, Let there be light.
And Grod said, Let there be a firmament.

And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together. And God said, Let there be lights. And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly. And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature. And God said, Let us make man. — Genesis i.

It is not to discuss the mere science, so-called, of creation that these words are put together in the form of a text. We are not about to analyse light, or discuss the chemistry of water, or the progress of animal life. It is not by these methods that we can get anything like a complete grasp of the idea of creation. The chemist works along his own brilliant line of discovery and exposition; the astronomer has his special field to explore; the geologist has a well-defined sphere to occupy. It is manifest, however.

that not one of these men can tell the whole tale and make a complete story of creation. Another man is wanted. A man who though not necessarily going into formal science sees the whole idea and speaks of it in its unity. This man is the theologian. He is not a chemistj an astronomer a geologist, a botanist, — he is more: he speaks of circles, not of segments; of principles, not of facts; of causes and pmposes rather than of effects and appearances. Not that the latter are excluded from his study, but that they are so wisely included in it as to be put in their proper places.

We may see the meaning of this more clearly by taking other ground. Take the idea of the political state. At the head of affairs set the prime minister: now it is obviously possible that in the cabinet over which he presides there may be men very much better qualified than himself for the various departmental services. He may not be half so good a financier as the chancellor of the exchequer; he may be ill qualified to administer the affairs of the admiralty, or of the poor-law board; he may be ignorant of many of the details of the postal service j he may be utterly incapable of giving a sound opinion upon any legal question, — yet his is the supreme mind in the cabinet! The cabinet would be disorganised were his influence to be withdrawn. In an emphatic sense he is a statesman: lie carries in his mind the state as a whole: with an intellectual energy and rapidity known only to the highest genius, he collects the sense of all his counsellors, he settles their advices into their proper proportions, and by the peculiar inspiration which makes him their master, he takes care that the part is never mistaken for the whole. Observe, each man may actually be abler in some point than his chief, yet not one of all the brilliant staff would dispute the supremacy of that chiePs mind. It is one thing to be a politician, another to be a statesman.

Apply the illustration to the case in hand. The theologian does not, in his proper character, deal with mere departments. One man is superior to him in chemistry: another may actually laugh at his astronomy or geology: a third may despise him when he talks about animal or botanical physiology, — yet he may know more of the wholeness of creation than any of them, and may give the ablest of them the pass-word which opens the central secret of the universe. The aurist studies the ear, and the oculist the eye, others devote themselves to special studies of the human frame, but there is another and completer man to whom we hasten when the mystery of life itself becomes a pain which may end in death. That other and completer man would himself send sufferers of special maladies to men who had made those maladies the subject of exclusive study yet in his knowledge of the mystery of life lie might excel them all.

In some such way would we hint at the proper position of the theologian. He may or may not be a chemist; he may or may not know some particular science; but if he be a divinely inspired theologian — not a mere sciolist in divinity, a pedant in letters — he will see farther than any other man, he will hear voices which others do not hear, and will be able to shape the politics of class students into the sublime and inclusive statesmanship of a sacred philosophy.

What, then, so far as we can gather from the words before us, has Biblical theology to say about creation, material and human?

I. That creation is an expression of Gods mind. It is the embodiment of an idea. It is the form of a thought. Theology says that creation has a beginning, and that it began at the bidding of God. Theology says — You see the heavens? They are the work of Gods fingers. You see the moon and the stars? God ordained them: all things are set in their places by the hand of God. He laid the foundations of the earth, and covered it with the deep as with a garment. “When He uttereth His voice, there is a multitude of waters in the heavens, and He causeth the vapours to ascend from the ends of the earth; He maketh lightnings with rain and bringeth. forth the wind out of His treasures. You see the cedars of Lebanon? God planted them. You see the moon? God set her for seasons. You behold the sun? Though he be the king of day yet he knoweth his going down. You see the high hills? God hath made in them a refuge for the wild goats. You see the fir trees? God hath found in them a house for the stork. 0 Lord, how manifold are Thy works! in wisdom hast Thou made them all: the earth is full of Thy riches.” Now this is very unscientific in its form of expression, yet it is the declaration of theology. Theology could not speak otherwise. Theology would dwarf itself if it went into formal statement of so-called scientific truth. But what does theology do? She sends the chemist on her errands; she calls the astronomer to consider the heavens; and sends the geologist to read the story of the rocks. They are not rebels, they are friends and allies and chosen servants. Yet not one of them could by any possibility do the whole work. The geologist and the astronomer talk diflPerent languages. The chemist and the botanist but dimly comprehend each other. It is the theologian that must call them to a common council, and proclaim their conclusions in a universal tongue.

Granted that there is mystery in the doctrine that all things were created by the word of God. This is not denied. It is felt, indeed to be a necessity of the case. On the other hand whatever mystery may be on the side of theology, there is nothing hut mystery on the side of Atheism.

II. That creation being an expression of Gods mind, may foem the basis for the consideration of Gods personality and character. If we see something of the artist in his work, we may see something of the Creator in creation. The works of God proclaim His eternal and incommunicable sovereignty. ‘Who hath directed the Spirit of the Lord, or being His counsellor hath taught Him? With whom took He counsel, and who instructed Him, and taught Him in the path of judgment, and taught Him knowledge, and showed to Him the way of understanding ?^’ Thus men are put back: they are ordered off beyond the burning line which lies around the dread sovereignty of God. If a man would trespass that line, he would encounter the thunder of questions which would make him quail: “Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth V “Hast thou commanded the morning since thy days, and caused the day spring to know his place ?^^ ‘’’Hast thou entered into the springs of the sea? or hast thou walked in the search of the depth ?^’ ‘’Have the gates of death been opened unto thee? or hast thou seen the doors of the shadow of death?” Where is the way where light dwelleth 1’^ “Hast thou entered into the treasures of the snow?^^ “Canst thou bind the sweet influences of Pleiades, or loose the bands of Orion? Canst thou bring forth Mazzaroth in his season? or canst thou guide Arcturus with his sons? And still the questions would come like the shocks of a rising storm until the proudest speculator might quake with fear and totter into darkness that he might hide the shame of his pride. As a mere matter of fact man cannot approach the dignity of having himself created anything. He is an inquirer, a speculator a calculator, a talker — but not a creator. He can talk ahoiit creation. He can reckon the velocity of light, and the speed of a few stars. He can go out for a day to geologise and botanise j but all the while a secret has mocked him and an inscrutable power has defied the strength of his arm. The theologian says that secret is God — that power is Omnipotence.

There is more than sovereignty, there is beneficence. ‘^ While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease. “He sendeth springs into the valleys, which run among the hills. They give drink to every beast of the field; the wild asses quench their thirst. By them shall the fowls of the heaven have their habitation, which sing among the branches.^’ ‘^ He hath not left Himself without witness in that He did goodj and gave us rain from heaven, and fruitful seasons filling our hearts with food and gladness.” “Thou openest thine hand, and satisfiest the desire of every living thing.” “Thou openest Thine hand; they are filled with good.” “He giveth to the beast his food, and to the young ravens which cry.” This is a step downwards, yet a step upwards. Over all is the dread sovereignty of God, — that sovereignty stoops to us in love to save our life, to spread our table, and to dry our tears; it comes down, yet in the very condescension of its majesty it adds a new ray to its lustre. The theologian says, This is God’s care; this is the love of the Father; this bounty is an expression of the heart of God. It is not a freak of what is called nature; it is not a sunny chance; it is a purpose, a sign of love, a direct gift from Gods own heart.

III. That God’s word is its own security for fulfilment. God said, Let there be, — and there was. ‘^ He spake, and it was done; He commanded, and it stood fast.” “By the word of the Lord were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of His mouth.” This is the word which alone can ultimately prevail. “As the rain cometh down from heaven, and returneth not thither,” etc. We see what it is in the

THE THEOLOGY OF CREATION, 16i

naiiiral worlds we shall see what it is in the spiritual. ‘’ I am the Lord; I will speak, and the word that I will speak shall come to pass/^ ‘^ The word of God liveth and abideth for ever.^^ “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my word shall not pass away.^^ ‘’ For ever, 0 Lord, Thy word is settled in heaven,” ^’ God is not a man, that He should lie; neither the son of man, that He should repent: hath He said, and shall He not do it? or hath He spoken, and shall He not make it good?’’ “What His soul desireth, even that He doeth,”

This is of infinite importance — (1) As the hope of righteousness; (2) As the inevitable doom of wickedness.

TV. That the word which accounts for the existence of nature accounts also for the existence of man. ‘^ Know ye not that the Lord He is God? it is He that made us, and not we ourselves.^’ ^’ 0 Lord, Thou art our Father; we are the clay, and Thou our potter; and we are the work of Thy hand,” Have we not all one Father? hath not one God created us?’’ We are the offspring of God: “‘’ In Him we live, and move, and have our being,”

See what a great system of tmity is hereby established.

He who made the sun made me /

y. All things CONTEOLLED by the Creator.

YI. All things JUDGED BY THE CrEATOE.