The universe was not created by chance. It was created according to God’s design; His plan. God’s plan included variety to confound those who chose not to accept Him but instead to believe a lie. In 1 Corinthians 1:27-29 (NKJV) Paul explains how the power of God to create variety brings confusion to mankind. Paul says, “But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, that no flesh should glory in His presence.”
God’s variety works together in harmony according to God’s plan and His purpose. God created all things and holds everything together with His power.
Ah, Lord God! Behold, You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and outstretched arm. There is nothing too hard for You (Jeremiah 32:17, NKJV).
God’s power is not limited to the universe and the complexities of the organisms that blanket the earth. God has a plan for all things. The plans are accomplished through His power. This includes His plan for mankind in general and for each Christian as an individual. God’s power is universal, eternal, and personal. God is All Powerful; we cannot deny Him.
We also see God’s power reflected in grace. Grace is when we do get what we don’t deserve. It is in grace and out of love that He created us. People are an expression of God’s power and grace and are essential to God’s creation plan. Human beings are the only creation that was formed in the image of God. We are special.
God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. God blessed them; and God said to them, Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth (Genesis 1:27-28, NASB).
That mankind is the central figure in all of God’s creation may sound egotistical. However, it is what God said. When He had completed the creation of the universe in all of its splendor, when He had finished the creation of all life on earth as spectacular and diverse as it is, God created man and gave him authority, “dominion,” over all of the earth and its creatures. It is due to God’s omnipotence that He can grant us that control. Along with that authority, God gave man the responsibility to deal with His creation wisely.
All of God’s creation is under His power and control. Through His power and grace, God has a plan for all of mankind. He has a general vision and mission for His disciples. His vision for humanity is that they would love Him above all of His creation and love others the way Jesus loved His disciples; sacrificially. His vision for loving is found in Matthew 22:37-40 when Jesus answered the Pharisee’s question concerning the greatest of the commandments: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.’" Then later in John 13:34, Jesus restated the second commandment as a new one when He said, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another.”
The men were amazed and asked, What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the waves obey him (Matthew 8:27).
Perhaps one thing we don’t often do is to look at Jesus as El Shaddai. While Jesus walked the earth he demonstrated power over sickness, over death, over sin, over demonic power, everything was under his control. He was demonstrating his power as God Almighty. Remember what the disciples said after being marveled when he calmed the storm.[1]
[1] Clarence L. Haynes, Jr. christianity.com/wiki/god/what-is-the-meaning-of-the-name-el-shaddai.html, used by permission, Article 107 of the Fair Use Copywrite Law.
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