I sing the mighty pow’r of God, that made the mountains rise,
That spread the flowing seas abroad, and built the lofty skies.
I sing the wisdom that ordained the sun to rule the day;
The moon shines full at His command, and all the stars obey. (“I Sing the Mighty Power of God” by Isaac Watts)In the beginning the Word already existed.
The Word was with God,
and the Word was God.
He existed in the beginning with God.
God created everything through him,
and nothing was created except through him.
The Word gave life to everything that was created,
and his life brought light to everyone.
The light shines in the darkness,
and the darkness can never extinguish it. (John 1:1–5 NLT)
John makes it abundantly clear in the prologue to his gospel that Jesus, the Word of Life, did not simply exist before all creation, He was instrumental in creating everything out of nothing. He goes on to say that Jesus “came into the world he created” so that “all who believed him and accepted him” might be given “the right to become children of God” (John 1:10, 12).
There is a deep love that drives Jesus’s actions. The Creator of the world, the One who sets the stars in motion and causes the birds to sing and flowers to bloom—who knit each of us in the womb and recorded every day of our lives in His book—loved His creation so much that He chose to become a part of it. He chose to experience life on earth in the flesh, with all of its beauty and joy and laughter and wonder, as well as death and decay and suffering and tears. He was able to revel in the best aspects of this world, but He was not protected from the worst parts either; even knowing this in advance, He still chose to leave behind the glory of heaven for the disdain of the cross, setting in motion the restoration of all things by His death and resurrection.
Dedicate time to relish the world God has gifted us: go for a quiet walk in a nearby park, meditate on John 1:1–5 as you look out your window at the world God made, or watch a nature documentary that shows the glory of God’s creation at work. End your time with a prayer of praise for the Creator of all things.