The Creator
The echo and cry of every human heart is, “Why am I living?”
Have you ever questioned this in your own life? “Truly, why do I exist?” I think it’s our natural tendency to want to seek out the reason for our existence. This journey to find our “reason for being” is absolutely essential to our lives and walks with Christ. Once we know our purpose on this earth, it should change, shape, and define us forever.
Today, we are studying one of the first Old Testament names of God, Elohim, which means “The Creator.” The “El” portion of the word means, “mighty, powerful, strong,” and the “him” ending to the word designates in Hebrew God as Creator of all of the earth. We first see this name manifest itself as early as Genesis 1:1, “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” He simply called out, “let there be light,” and just like that, light came into being. He formed and shaped the earth to His purpose and likeness, displaying and leaving behind a reflection of His astounding beauty everywhere. In Genesis 1:26, God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness…So God created man in His image, in the image of God He created him, male and female He created them.”
So, why did He create man? What is our purpose? How should this name Elohim shape our lives?
We are all masterpieces of Elohim, the Creator. He made each of us with intentional purpose and care. He predestined our lives before the beginning of time; we are made for His glory alone.
Have you ever thought of yourself as a creation of God, specifically made for His glory? I know for me, it is so easy to forget when you look in the mirror and all you see staring back is the endless list of flaws.
Just the other day, I was looking through photos my husband had taken of myself without my knowledge. I am a photographer, so rarely am I on the other side of the lens, and I like it to stay that way. That night as I was looking through the pictures my husband had mysteriously taken, I was jokingly picking apart every bit of myself in each photo. He turned and looked at me and so seriously said, “Avery, why are you doing this to yourself? Do you realize that you are attacking the Creator when you bash yourself in this way? He has made every bit of you with intentionality and purpose, and when you talk this way, you are acting like you do not even care one bit about the creation He has made.” To say the least, I was taken aback. I thought I had been joking around, but when I truly thought about it, I was ashamed of the way I had been acting. How true is it that especially in this modern time of history with all the concentrated social media platforms and selfies that are floating around, we tend to compare and bash ourselves often. How many times do we actually think of ourselves as creation created for the Creator, and for the Creators’ GLORY alone (whoa, say that 5 times fast).
Don’t get me wrong, we are entirely, completely flawed in every way. That is our nature from birth, and is the reason we need Christ. It does not mean we should think highly of ourselves or pride ourselves on our outward beauty, but we should know that our purpose on this earth is to glorify the Creator, not ourselves, and our identity in Christ should be what defines us, and makes us truly beautiful. We need to stop trying so desperately to fit our piece in the puzzle that tries to define our beauty by worldly standards. Through God’s grace, He offers life, true beauty, and perfect completeness through His Son, so that when He looks at us, He only sees the majesty, grandeur, and fullness of Christ.
Now, you may be thinking, “Avery, it is so much easier to say than do. I have this issue that does not make me feel beautiful, how could the Creator create me to have this physical problem? Why did Elohim allow me to have this _____ problem or this _____ physical deformity, or why did He not create me to be physically beautiful to the human eye? How could He do this?”
I was reading through a book on the names of God, and when it came to the chapter about “Elohim,” the author reminded me of the story in John 9 about the blind man. The disciples had come to Jesus and said, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he should be born blind?” Jesus responded, “It was neither that this man sinned, nor his parents; but it was in order that the works of God might be displayed in him.” (John 9:3) We know from this passage, that God allowed this man to deal with blindness for a reason, and that was to display the glory and beauty of Christ through him. The same is true for you and me. No matter what physical issue we deal with on our own, God has allowed it to be so with intentional care and purpose.
As followers of Christ, He has given us a much higher calling than the world can ever give. We were created so that His beauty might be displayed through us. I love what Kay Arthur wrote when she says, “Your life is to be lived in such a way as to reflect Him, to show the world the character of God—His love, His peace, His mercy, His gentleness. You are to live for Him, to accomplish His will. To miss this purpose is to miss fulfillment. It is to have existed rather than to have lived.”
This truth should change, shape, and define us for the rest of our days. Elohim, the Creator, has fearfully, wonderfully, and purposely woven us together (Psalm 139:13-14). May the echo and cry of our hearts be to live in a way to glorify, reflect, and display the beauty of Christ every breath we are given on this earth.
