In the Image of the Creator

In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters. Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. And God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day. 

– Genesis 1:1-5

Then God said, “Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the wild animals of the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.”

 So God created humankind in his image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. 

– Genesis 1:26-27

God saw everything that he had made, and indeed, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day. 

– Genesis 1:31

God has existed in eternal relationship through the Holy Trinity. God is the Creator of good things. He is love. He is the Creator of light and life, and He creates by speaking them into existence. He creates humans in His image, and He conveys to humans the awesome responsibility and privilege of dominion over portions of His creation. 

I have heard it said that God created humans because He longs for relationship, but that misconstrues God. God does not need us. He creates out of love, not need; however, we need Him, we long for Him, we crave His transcendence. We long for the relationship that is only available with Him and through Him, we long for His love, light and life, and we long to create. We are each formed in the image of the great Creator, so we long to create.

God has also instilled within us a longing for the transcendent. Whether we express it in words or not, we know in our hearts that there is more to God’s creation and life than we can experience or understand. God’s holy word says, “He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end” (Ecclesiastes 3:11 NIV). God has placed within us the certainty that there is more to existence than the present and confidence that truth transcends what we can see, and we long to be near the Creator. I have heard it said that we have a God-shaped hole in our hearts, a void that only God can fill. We may not realize it, but we long for God.

The amazing truths filling the first chapter of Scripture and Ecclesiastes swirled in my mind as Lori and I attempted to take in the Booth Western Art Museum in Cartersville, Georgia, and its remarkable architecture, breathtaking works of art, supporters admiring paintings and sculptures, and artists who produced some of the masterpieces. I imagined the talent and passion displayed through the building and each work of art. As I stood there, unable to absorb it all, I was struck by the tangible evidence of the truth of God’s holy word before me – we mere humans truly are created in the image of our Creator and we need to create and we long to be in relationship with creators and we crave the transcendent.

In an amazing display of creative talent, six artists, whose work is housed in the museum, painted at easels positioned inside the museum. I watched in awe as they each rapidly transformed a blank canvas into art and then, moments later, as each newly formed creation was sold at live auction for a museum fundraiser – talent, creation and valuation displayed in rapid succession.

Attracted by their talent, admirers approached artists with reverence reserved for superior beings, similar to the way some might cautiously approach movie stars, rock stars, or superstar athletes. Admirers are attracted to mere humans possessing incredible creative talent. While wandering and admiring beautiful work after another, we spoke with two sponsors of the event who, with evangelistic fervor, passionately explained their desire to introduce art to young people so they might carry the appreciation forward and future generations will have art to admire. The conversation reminded me of a woman who long ago explained to me that we are always a single generation away from the death of Christianity, and the burden is on us to ensure our faith survives a while longer.

Seth Hopkins, executive director of the museum, explained that the price paid is the only applause visual artists experience, and that no one really owns art – the price paid is merely rental for the right to enjoy it for a time before passing it along to future generations to enjoy. He discussed the awesome responsibility and privilege of possessing art like a preacher elaborating on human dominion described in Genesis 1:26.

We long for God, the Creator, and at times we might mistake our yearning as a void that can be filled by mere humans or human endeavors. Our longing for the Creator, our longing to create, and our longing to be near His beautiful creation manifest themselves in a variety of ways. The Booth Museum honored artist Martin Grelle that weekend for his remarkable body of work. He and I happened to be admiring a painting by one of his friends when I asked Martin about his career. He had previously discussed how he has seen God’s hand at work throughout his career. When he was a teen striving to learn, two masters separately moved to his small rural Texas town and he was suddenly able to study their work, learn how they mixed paint, and admire the range of their grey tones and structure. He explained that shortly after graduating high school he had his first solo show and he was picked up quickly by strong galleries and he believes that God has blessed every step of his career.  

In response to his statement regarding God blessing his career, I asked how God has used him and his career. I know that God uses each of us to reveal His glory, and He instills certain talent and passion within each of us for His glory, and I was curious how Martin had experienced God work through him and his art. He looked thoughtfully past me, way into the distance. After a long pause he said that he prays before he starts a painting, he prays while he works on it and he prays over each painting after it is finished. He asks God to bless the painting and to use it to advance His kingdom here on earth. He is an extremely humble man, and without elaborating, he mentioned that he has seen God use his art. I believe him.

To some extent, we all long to create. Some create beautiful fragrant meals, some love creating beauty by removing clutter from a room and turning chaos into order, some love to build buildings or businesses, some love to help others create healthy lives. God created us in His image, and He is the Creator of good things. He creates light and life, He creates order out of chaos, and He does so by speaking. He speaks these things into existence, and we have His holy word and Word.  

God created you in His image, instilling within you the desire and talent to create good things. What good thing are you longing to create? May God continue revealing His love, His light, His life, His glory through you.