Gensis 1:1 Jesus Christ, Our Creator

Genesis 1:1 which says, "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth." Genesis, one of five books written by Moses, begins our journey into the scriptures and how the world was created. I thought it would be appropriate to split the first chapter of Genesis into 7 days during this week, each day focusing on what was happening during that day. We will start Day One tomorrow and continue until the last day where God rested from his labors.

It is a good idea to begin our discussion addressing the "who" in the story of the creation. If you haven't watched the first video post on this blog, click here. In the video Dr. Lewis talks about God, the Father as the architect and Jesus Christ, his son, the builder. We read in the scriptures when Christ was speaking about his father and his relationship to him when he said, "I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me." (John 5;30) Jesus Christ, was given the responsibility to create a world that would fulfill the requirements of earth life for all of God's children. Thus one of the many names given to Jesus Christ is Creator.

What does it mean to create? The Hebrew word translated as “created” means “shaped, fashioned, created; always divine activity” ( Genesis 1:1 c ) Joseph Smith once said,

“You ask the learned doctors why they say the world was made out of nothing: and they will answer, ‘Doesn’t the Bible say He created the world?’ And they infer, from the word create, that it must have been made out of nothing. Now, the word create came from the word baurau which does not mean to create out of nothing; it means to organize; the same as a man would organize materials and build a ship. Hence, we infer that God had materials to organize the world out of chaos—chaotic matter, which is element, and in which dwells all the glory. ..” ( Teachings, pp. 350–52.)

Our Savior, Jesus Christ, not only came to earth, set a perfect example and redeemed us from our sins thus giving us an opportunity to repent and follow him, but he also was our very Creator.

Elder Nelson testifies of Christ being the Creator when he said,

"I testify that the earth and all life upon it are of divine origin. The Creation did not happen by chance. It did not come ex nihilo (out of nothing)... It is God who made us and not we ourselves. We are His people! The Creation itself testifies of a Creator. We cannot disregard the divine in the Creation. Without our grateful awareness of God’s hand in the Creation, we would be just as oblivious to our provider as are goldfish swimming in a bowl. With deep gratitude, we echo the words of the Psalmist, who said, 'O Lord, how manifold are thy works! in wisdom hast thou made them all: the earth is full of thy riches.'" (Psalm 104:24)

I love looking outside my kitchen window and seeing the beautiful lake, trees and scenery that was created by my Savior or whenever I am in Costco with my kids, I will stop and smell the fresh flowers there and rejoice in its fragrance and the beauty that Christ created for me. Everyday, even when we may feel down, lonely, depressed or stressed, we can take a quiet moment to take a deep breath of the air and close our eyes to hear the song of bird and give thanks to our Father in Heaven and his Son, Jesus Christ who made it possible to enjoy another day, another moment in this beautiful world that we live in.

I am reminded of a song that I learned as a child in church called "My Heavenly Father Loves Me." Here is a video with two missionaries singing it with the ukulele. May we all feel the Lord's love and celebrate his creations today!