2. God is the Maker of heaven and earth. Our Catechism explains these words thus: "I believe that God has made me and all creatures." God has made me; it is due to Him that I came into existence, that I am living. He gave me life and everything that I have. God, however, did not only make me, but me and all creatures. Creatures are all things that God has made. Heaven and earth, all the angels, the sun, the moon, the glittering stars, all things on earth, the mountain and the mighty oceans, all animals, large and small, all the plants on land and in the water, man himself; all things that we see, yes, even those we do not see, all things, visible and invisible, are His creatures. God has made them all, they are the work of His almighty power. "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth." Gen. 1,1. "By Him were all things created that are in heaven and that are in earth, visible and invisible." Col. 1,16.
3. In Bible History you have already learned how God made or created heaven and earth. Before God began to create the world, nothing was there except God alone, the Creator. God always was, is, and in all eternity will be. "From everlasting to everlasting Thou art God." Ps. 90,2.—God did not have any material out of which to make this world. Out of nothing He created heaven and earth. God simply said, "Let there be light," and there was light. He simply said, Let there be the sun and the moon and the stars, and, behold, there they were, shining in all their splendor. In this manner, by speaking, by His word, God made all things, visible and invisible, heaven and earth. God has created everything without any means; God has made heaven and earth and all creatures out of nothing, by His word. We do not understand how this is possible; but we believe it because God Himself has revealed it to us in His Word. "Through faith, we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God." Heb. 11,3. God made all things by His word, with the exception of His foremost creature, man. It pleased Him to form the first man in a different manner. Do you know how God made Adam? Read Gen. 1,26-28 and 2,7.—God could have made heaven and earth, as we see them now, in one instant, but it has pleased Him to do it in six days. In six days "the heavens and the earth were finished and all the host of them." Gen. 2,1. And when all this was finished, "God saw everything that He had made, and, behold, it was very good." Gen. 1,31.
4. When we consider this great work of our Lord, consider that He has made the whole world, the heavens and all the host of them, the mighty sun, the countless stars, the earth with all its treasures, with its millions of living creatures, must we not say that God, who created all these things by His word alone, is a mighty and powerful God, more powerful and mighty than all other things which He has made? And it is true indeed, God is more powerful than His creatures. He is almighty. We believe in God, the Father Almighty. "With God nothing shall be impossible," Holy Scripture tells us. Luke 1,37. "He hath done whatsoever He hath pleased." Ps. 115,3. God is an almighty Father. In Him we can trust. He can and will be our help. No one and nothing can resist His mighty power.
5. When we consider how wonderful this world is made, when we consider that everything that came from the hand of God was very good, that everything was made as it should be to serve its end, must we not say that God is a very wise God, being able to plan such a wonderful and good work? Yea, our God is the all-wise God. What He does is always good and wise, even if we do not understand it.—And remember, moreover, that God has created this beautiful world for us, His children. This great and wonderful earth is to be our dwelling-place; sun, moon, and the stars are to serve us. Is not our God a loving, a good, a merciful God? Truly, "the Lord is good to all; and His tender mercies are ouer all His works." Ps. 145,9. "God is Love." 1 John 4,8. In Him, our loving, merciful God, will we trust; He will surely help us.
REMEMBER:—
1. I myself must believe in God the Father Almighty. The faith of another cannot save me.
2. In six days God created heaven and earth. He is the Creator of all things, visible and invisible. He has created, that is, made, all things out of nothing, by His word. This we believe because God Himself has revealed it unto us in Holy Scriptures.
3. God, the Maker of heaven and earth, always has been and always will be. From everlasting to everlasting He is God. He is our almighty and all-wise Father, always loving, good, and merciful. In Him we can and will trust.
MEMORIZE:—
In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. Gen. 1,1.