Maker of Heaven and Earth
On the shores of Indian seas, the traveller may sometimes come across one of the most exquisite productions of Nature. It is a kind of chalice, called Neptune’s cup, which has been built up by myriads of polypi. First they constructed the base, then the slender stem, and finally the cuplike pinnacle. There are not only an evident plan and purpose, but exquisite beauty in that crystal cup; and beauty is surely the attribute and product of a mind like our own, only infinitely richer and more refined.
What if this world with its sun and sisterworlds constitutes a Neptune’s flower on the shores of the Universe! As there is incontrovertible evidence of the thought of a thinker, and the plan of an architect in the one, so much more in the other. The beauty of the world, of its nights and mornings, its rainbows and flowers, its waterfalls and dells, its babes and children, is a sufficient warrant for our affirmation, I believe tn God the Father Almighty, Maker of Heaven and Earth. Everywhere there are traces of the Love of the Father, and the Power of the Almighty.
John Stuart Mill tells us that if we want to prove the existence of God, we shall do well to hold fast to the argument of the evident plan which pervades creation; and the only thing that Matthew Arnold had to say against it was that he had had no experience of world-building. But if some Indian were to travel to our country, and see our railway stations, our locomotives, and electric trams, he would not say, “I have had no experience of such things, and therefore I suppose they grew up by chance.” He would be more likely to say, “‘ There was a path to my native hut, but it was not cut out of the forest without forethought; there was only one tiny room in my wigwam, but it was the result of planning and labour; my only weapons were the arrows that I carefully sharpened on the stone, but they required the utmost thought and care, or they had never sufficed to bring down the big game; and therefore all these wonderful things which I see about me must be due to an intelligence, akin to but infinitely superior to mine or my forefather’s.”’
Where there is a plan, such as is evident in the mechanism of heaven and earth, and in the adaptation of our nature to appreciate and enjoy them, there must be an idea; where there is an idea, there must be a purpose; where a purpose, there thought; where thought, a Thinker, and so you get back to the same conclusion as before when arguing from the existence of Force.
Take, for instance, the mechanism of the eye — the retina and the iris, the crystalline lens and vitreous humour, the variety of muscles by which it is focussed and adjusted. What a vast number of minute and exacting conditions must be fulfilled, before there can be perfect and unblurred vision. It is impossible to believe that this intricate and beautiful mechanism can have been due to the fortuitous concourse of atoms, or to the power of human volition. It must have been due to an intelligent Being who created the eye and light to match it, the ear and sound to match it, the nostril and fragrant scents to match it, the heart and love to match it, the spirit and truth to match it, and when it is asked, what is His Name, there is but one answer, “I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of Heaven and Earth.”
Two concluding thoughts demand expression. First what is our attitude towards this Almighty and Personal God, who thinks and wills, who loves and plans? Daniel Webster, the profound American philosopher, was asked on one occasion, what was the greatest thought that he had ever conceived, and he replied, “‘ The greatest thought, gentlemen, that I have ever conceived is the consciousness of my personal responsibility to a personal God;”’ and he arose and left the room. The company that was gathered around his table, were for a little while absolutely silent, every soul was filled with astonishment at the magnificence of the reply. It seemed wonderful to hear such a statement from such a man. Yet, I suppose that the most marvellous thing that any of us ‘carries in his heart is the Urim and Thummim stone of conscience, which sparkles with the Truth and darkens with Falsehood. What has been our response to our Maker? ‘<Tt7is* He that hath made us, and we are His. We are His people, and the sheep of His pasture.” Have we acted thus? Is this our attitude towards Him? If not, the Door of Christ’s mediation stands open for us. ‘‘ No one cometh unto the Father,”’ He says, “except by Me.”
Lastly, do we realize that He who made the heavens and the earth is willing to fashion us according to His perfect plan? It is easier to make worlds than men; to fashion stars and flowers than souls. Yet let us put ourselves before Him saying, “But now, O Lord, Thou art our Father; we are the clay and Thou our potter; and we are all the work of Thy hands. Maker of Heaven and Earth, make me!