In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth.
Genesis 1:1 KJV
The greatest artist to ever exist is God Himself. God was the first to employ the basic essence of any artist and that is to make “something out of nothing”. God showed us the invariable nature of any great artist and that is to take a blank piece of anything or an open space full of nothing and create an awesome masterpiece. The entire creation is a testimony and stands in awe of God’s masterpiece; “…let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him” (Psalm 33:8 KJV). God, Himself, examined what He created and said that it was good. God saw the light and said it was good (Genesis 1:4). God called the dry land Earth and the gathering together of the waters into Seas and said that it was good (Genesis 1:10). God created the grass, herbs, and fruit trees and said they were good (Genesis 1:12). God created the great whales, every living creature that moves, everything that swims and flies and said they were good (Genesis 1:21). God made all the beast of the earth, cattle, and everything that creepeth on the earth and He said that they were good (Genesis 1:25). God examined everything that He made and said that it was good (Genesis 1:31). God says that we all should examine carefully our own work, our own actions, attitudes, and behavior, and then we can have the personal satisfaction and inner joy of doing something commendable in and of ourselves, alone, without comparing ourselves or boasting and bragging to others (Galatians 6:4). We should honestly examine what we have done in life and if it is good to ourselves then move on with the self-satisfaction that we have done something good (for ourselves) no matter what the enemy says or does in their attempt to destroy our self-esteem and self-worth. Jesus Christ was the first example of the benefits of having good self-esteem. The Lord gives us self-worth because He says that we are fearfully and wonderfully made (Psalm 139:14) and by obeying His Word we have a right to prove ourselves to ourselves and we know through the Lord’s commands when we have done right and when we have fallen short of God’s Word, “Look closely at yourselves. Test yourselves to see if you are living in the faith. Don’t you realize that Christ Jesus is in you? Of course, if you fail the test, he is not in you” (2 Corinthians 13:5 ERV).
The Apostle Paul says that sin was lurking in the midst of all that beauty that God had created, and sin seized an opportunity through God’s commandment to produce a wrongful desire in men and women to want something that God said we should not have (Romans 7:8). It was like someone who hated and despised great art throwing paint on the masterpiece in an attempt to destroy it. The Tree of Eternal Life was in the Garden of Eden and ultimately God would have shared the secrets of eternal life to His children but only by His timing and according to His purpose and His way. God intended for man to learn understanding by spending time with Him in the garden, not through sinful negative and disobedient experiences (1 Corinthians 14:20). This truth was a secret even to the invisible forces and powers in God’s creation until Jesus Christ finished his work on earth; “And God gave me the work of telling all people about the plan for his secret truth. That secret truth has been hidden in him since the beginning of time. He is the one who created everything. His purpose was that all the rulers and powers in the heavenly places will now know the many different ways he shows his wisdom. They will know this because of the church. This agrees with the plan God had since the beginning of time. He did what he planned, and he did it through Christ Jesus our Lord” (Ephesians 3:9-11 ERV).
The amazing part of God’s masterpiece is that He has made a way to eternal life in spite of the enemy’s efforts to destroy it and man’s own disobedience (Proverbs 23:19). The Lord’s Way is repulsive to the wicked and drives them away (Proverbs 29:27). God’s people are excited about Jesus’ way to eternal life (Acts 18:25). Fortunately for those that believe and unfortunately for those that do not believe, Jesus Christ is the only way to eternal life (John 14:6). The Lord did not come to earth to bring peace between His children and Satan’s children (Acts 19:23). Jesus Christ came with a sword to bring trouble between those that believe in his word and those that are unbelievers in his doctrine; “Do you think I came to give peace to the world? No, I came to divide the world!” (Luke 12:51). The enemy sows tares or noxious weeds (unbelievers and false doctrines) among the wheat (God’s people) but the Lord allows them to grow together and then His Word will separate out those that are wicked, disobedient, and unbelieving from His people for judgment and ultimate destruction (Matthew 13:24-30). Jesus Christ’s doctrine separates the chaff from the wheat. Jesus was the greatest piece of the art of God’s creation. Miraculously born by a virgin (Isaiah 7:14). Born in the most inhospitable environment imaginable (Luke 2:7). Living a perfect life without ever committing a sin (2 Corinthians 5:21). Pure, holy, and obedient but physically appealing to no one (Isaiah 53:2). Humble and innocent but having no home or place to lay his head (Matthew 8:20). Our Creator was innocent but abused (Matthew 26:67). He was whipped and beaten to a point where he did not even look human anymore (Isaiah 52:14). Even with all of that, in order to allow us access to the tree of eternal life that was once lost to us all, our Lord and Savior was still the masterpiece of the art of His own creation; “And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth” (Matthew 28:18 KJV). Ultimately, Jesus Christ was “The Art of the Creation”.
Submitted by Trustee Stanley Ridley