"To the One who carved out the Oceans
and painted the stars in the sky, you are His
prized creation; the apple of His eye.
~ Treasure of You, Heaven in the Real World, 1994,
Steven Curtis Chapman
I was listening to a song in my head by Steven Curtis Chapman that is off his album, Heaven in the Real World (1994). Part of the song, that has been rolling around in my head reads, "You are a treasure worth more than anything under the sun or the moon."
"God's greatest treasure in the treasure of you." And a bit later in this same song, he sings, "You are His prized creation, the apple of His eye. There's no one else in the world who could take your place, just the thought of you brings a smile to His face; God loves you with 'Amazing Grace.'"
Jesus taught His disciples to pray in this way: "Our Father who is in heaven, Your name is holy. Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sinned against us. And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen" (Matthew 6:9b-13, New King James, italics should read, "Hallowed be your name," was making it easier to understand).
You see, in all of God's goodness, He created everything to share with us, to enjoy the blessings He made with us, to partake in His nature with Him. This is the same God that some like to claim: "Is a hateful God, an arrogant God who doesn't want to be involved in human affairs. He simply can't be known." The truth of the matter is these people who say that grieve His heart to know end. How He longs for those He has made to call on His name.
This is the same God who said to Job, "Where were you when i laid the foundations of the earth? Tell Me, if you have understanding. Who fixed its measurements? Surely you know! Or who stretched a measuring line across it? On what were its foundations laid, or who set its core in place--while the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy?" (Job 38:4-7, Berean Study).
God, while He's answering Job, and questioning him with these questions, isn't speaking harshly or dealing with Job in a wrong manner. If you look at the text in its rightful context, in the right way, reads more like, "Job, consider me for a moment, and tell me what you really think of me. Do you see who laid the foundations? Do you see who stretched the lines across the earth? Do you know Me, the One who laid its foundations?"
Yes, God is both Judge and Ruler, but He's far more than that! Think about it this way, if we look at the Genesis account where it says, "God divided light from darkness, [calling] the light Day, and darkness He called night. [Then He created] the sky (firmament) and divided the waters under it from the waters below. And God called the firmament Heaven. Let the waters under the heavens be gathered into one place, and let dry land appear. [He] called the dry land Earth, and the gathering together of the waters He called seas."
"Let the earth bring forth grass, herbs yielding seed, and fruit tree yielding fruits according to their kind. Let their be lights in the firmament of the heavens to divide day from night; [letting] them be for signs and seasons, and for days and years; and let them be for lights in the firmament of the heavens to give light on the earth. So [He] made two great lights: the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser to rule the night."
"Let the waters abound with an abundance of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the face of the firmament of the heavens. [He] created great sea creatures and every living thing that moves, with which the waters abounded, according to their kind, with every winged bird according to its kind. [He] blessed them, saying, 'Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let the birds multiply on the earth."
"[He then] said, 'Let the earth bring forth the living creature according to its kind: cattle and creeping things and beast of the earth, each according to its kind. [He made the beast of the earth according to its kind, cattle according to its kind, and everything that creeps on the earth according to its kind."
Finally, in a relational manner God did this: "Let Us make man in Our image (having a spirit, a soul, which we can connect to Him with), according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over [all things--the fish of the sea, birds of the air, over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth. [He] created them in His image; in the image of God He crated him, male and female. God said to them, 'Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth" (Genesis 1:3-28, summarized).
All of this, from the carved out canyon, to the wide open mesas and vistas and mountain-top views God designed for you and I to experience and to relate to Him with. He's the One who allowed His Son, Jesus Christ, to go to the cross on our behalf. Why? Because He knew we couldn't pay the price needed for a pleasing and aromatic sacrifice. Someone's life had to be given. Scripture records that God would provide the way for us to come back into relationship with Him. In this we look back at Steven Curtis Chapman's song, and we read these words, "If you look in the mirror in the light of the truth. You'll see there's really nothing you could say or do, to make you worth more to the One who made you."
Friend, I encourage you this day, to put off doing those things, which hinder and encumber you from the saving grace of God. It is by the Son, Jesus the Messiah, that we have righteousness before the Father. It is also by His shed blood we can come clean from our sinful life and behavior. If He can work a miracle in and on me, He can do so with you as well. All you have to do is allow Him that right. I pray in the name of Jesus this encourages and uplifts you. Amen.