Genesis 1:27 "And God created man in His own image, in the
image of God He created him, male and female He created them."
"Image" applies only to human beings and is used figuratively,
for God does not have human form. He is Spirit.
But within our finite limits, we share in God's nature; that
is, we share some of His attributes like appreciation of life, love, truth,
insight, integrity, holiness, personality, spiritual fellowship, and
creativity.
This image or likeness includes that of choice - by exercising
our will; of intellect - by exercising our thought; of emotion - by exercising
our response; of life and personhood - by exercising our individuality and
enjoying identity with others.
POINT: The capacity to be creative we have because we are
created in the image of God.
Genesis 11:1 "Now the whole earth used the same language
and the same words."
Genesis 11:9 (Part) "...the Lord confused the language of
the whole earth; and ... scattered them abroad over the face of the whole
earth."
We can communicate by language, spoken and written.
Because of our ancestor's, the sin of arrogance, we have
several thousand languages on earth, but we continue to be able to learn and
use them.
It is natural to begin to talk some time during the first
three years of life, and
It is also natural to begin to read and write during the next
three years of life. That special capacity diminishes later in life.
Our simple language (English) is 97.4 percent phonetic. (2.6
percent of English is not phonetic, but those words are for the most part
frequently used and we can easily remember them.)
For millennia, the Chinese have been communicating in
writing without use of phonetics. We can use sounds to express profound
thought in exquisite forms of prose and poetry.
"Do you know that the teaching of reading never was a problem
anywhere in the world until the United States switched to the present method
around 1925 (R Flesch, WHY JOHNNY CAN'T READ, p.2.) when the humanists
successfully infiltrated our educational system.
POINT: By the present use of our own language we easily
recognize that the creative capacity can be BADLY misused. Our Government is
beginning to push the need to learn to write well.
In Genesis 42, Joseph, the eleventh son of Jacob,
creatively tested his brothers
by words - through an interpreter,
by deeds - imprisonment of his brother Simeon and a challenge
to the integrity of all his brothers, and
by time - which Joseph patiently endured though it cost him
personal stress to the point of tears.
Why did Joseph do this?
He recognized what was necessary to instruct them in God's
purpose that they learn God's wisdom.
Psalm 105:22 (Partial quote) "... that he might teach his
elders wisdom..."
Joseph taught them the fundamental truth of substitution and
he planned ahead to do so.
POINT: Creativity may take planning and time to put into
effect.
In Exodus 1:22-2:3
Jochebed, the wife of Amram, the mother of Miriam, Aaron, and
Moses saved the life of her youngest child by creatively using the command of
pharaoh to cast her son into the Nile River along with all other boy babies.
She obeyed the command, but first she put the baby in a basket
and had his sister near by to recommend to Pharaoh's daughter when she found
the baby that a nurse was available - of course, the nurse was Jochebed
herself.
POINT: Times of stress can be great times for creative
thought and action. Creative action may be stimulated because of evil laws.
In Exodus 18:14 ff
Jethro. priest of Midian, the father of Zipporah, so the
father-in-law of Moses, creatively analyzed the work load Moses carried and
recommended a division of labor carried out by selected and qualified men.
This wisdom was included in the Mosaic law recorded in Deuteronomy 1:5 ff.
POINT: When a creative principle comes from another source,
we need to be willing to hear it. It can have significant impact on many
lives, including our own.
Joshua 2:1, 18
The two spies Joshua sent into Jericho told Rahab who lived
there to gather her family into her house on the wall and to tie a cord of
scarlet thread in the window.
This identified to all the Israeli soldiers the house between
the double walls of Jericho while they marched around the city day by day and
then captured the city and spared the inhabitants of the house with the
creative dangling vivid visual scarlet cord.
POINT: A simple everyday item can become a unique tool of
identification and protection.
This is another creative use of the common tool.
Judges 15:1-5
Samson, the twelfth judge for God in the book of Judges,
effectively created havoc among Israel's enemies, the Philistines.
HOW?
By fastening torches between tied pairs of 300 foxes and
releasing the animals and thereby destroying three major crops of the enemy:
the grain, the vineyards, and the groves.
POINT: Man's capacity for creative activity is not
necessarily used for blessing. Men choose how we use God's gifts.
The capacity may be used for destruction which is a common
use in this world (acts of genocide, terrorists' activities, etc.).
1 Samuel 17:40 "And he (David, the shepherd boy) took his
stick in his hand and chose for himself five smooth stones from the brook, and
put them in the shepherd's bad which he had, even in his pouch, and his sling
was in his hand; and he approaches the Philistine."
David used a carefully selected stone and a sling to put down
a giant enemy, Goliath, contrary to the expectation of all who thought that
they knew a better way which would be with heavy armor and sword.
POINT: Creative acts may use the most elementary items, and
be contrary to the advice of others. It is important to know well our God and
how to use our tools.
1 Samuel 14:28 ff
King David's embittered son Absalom tried twice to arrest the
attention of David's great general Joab, but Joab ignored him, -- until
Absalom had Joab's barley field set on fire.
That got the attention of Joab, but it was a very destructive,
if creative, act. Others more than Joab would suffer lack of the grain Absalom
burned.
Inventiveness is like say, "I have a better idea!"
I would like to think that Absalom could have thought of a
better method to arrest Joab's attention. Perhaps a surprising gift, a
courteous note, a humble petition in place of a couple of arrogant orders.
POINT: Creativity can be a dangerous tool and used for evil
methods even when a better way is possible.
1 Kings 3 - Early in the reign of Solomon.
When two women claimed the same baby, King Solomon with wise
insight into human nature said,
"Cut the kid in two! and give half to each woman."
The false mother agreed, but the true mother was willing to
give up her babe rather than see it halved.
POINT: Wisdom and a good use of creativity are related,
harmonious, and may be even daring. That might too comes from God. We need to
understand the people involved.
In 2 Chronicles 24,
Money for the repair of the house of the Lord was not coming
in. So creative young King Joash commanded -
that a chest be made and set outside by the gate of the house
of the Lord, and
that a proclamation be proclaimed for giving of funds.
This simple solution had more than adequate results. People
saw, were reminded, and gave...
POINT: Creative methods may be very obvious, truly simple,
and surprisingly inexpensive.
In Esther,
Queen Esther courageously prepared a couple of very small
parties to find favor in the sight of her husband, King Ahasuerus.
Her creative method was effective and saved her people from
massive slaughter.
POINT: A simple solution may take great courage, be
exercised with wise caution, and effect many people.
Daniel 1:8 reads "Daniel made up his mind that he would
not defile himself with the king's choice of food or with the wine which he
drank, so he sought permission from the commander of the officials that he might
not defile himself."
Rather than rebel against king Nebuchadnezzar's command,
Daniel recognized a godly solution - a creative alternative - to the king's
defiling diet.
So, Daniel and his friends ate simply and healthfully and
found favor with their authorities.
POINT: A creative alternative may be very personal and
personally limiting, and it should always be a godly solution. We have that
choice.
In Mark 1:40 ff it is recorded that the Lord Jesus
cleansed a leper, sternly warned him, and sent him away telling him to say
nothing to anyone,
but to go show himself to the priest according to the law of
the leper in the day of his cleansing, as Moses had commanded in Leviticus 14.
This could be a tremendous testimony to the priests in the
temple that God was present and active in the person of Jesus of Nazareth.
BUT, the healed leper followed his natural inclination to
spread freely the news of his healing. Thereby he lost the unique opportunity
of testimony, and the resultant publicity hindered the outreach of Jesus.
POINT: God's ways are not via excessive publicity. Simple
obedience itself may be a creative, imaginative, response.
In Mark 2,
the four friends of a paralytic could not get through the
crowd around the Lord Jesus, and into the house were He was;
so they removed the roof composite of grass, clay, clay tiles,
and laths to lower the paralytic on his mat into the presence of the Lord who
forgave the paralytic's sins and healed him.
POINT: Creative insight may require WORK.
Of course, some of the scribes present had no insight, so they
objected to the Lord Jesus forgiving sins.
They said in verse 7, "He is blaspheming; only God can forgive
sins!" They could not even see the truth of their own statement.
Jesus answered their problem with a question:
"Which is easier to say to the paralytic, 'Your sins are
forgiven' or to say, 'Arise, take up your pallet and walk'?"
Of course it is easier to say, as He had, "Your sings are
forgiven," since no evidence is necessary. So then the Lord made the more
difficult statement to prove: "Arise, take up your pallet and walk." This
required immediate evidence and displayed that the power of the Lord Jesus was
of God.
POINT: A simple creative act like opening up a roof may
result in a testimony for the Lord that goes far beyond the anticipation of
the actors involved.
In the Written Word of God there are many examples of
creative uses of words.
John 1:1, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was
with God, and the Word was God."
Why is the only incarnate God the world has even known called
the Word of God?
A word is the fundamental, most complete, preeminent, fullest
communication of personality.
JESUS CHRIST is the full expression of the Living God.
Thus, the word WORD is a perfect tool for expressing the
significance of the Lord Jesus.
There are fourteen names or titles for the Lord Jesus in John,
Chapter One of which WORD is one.
John the Baptist used a remarkably creative on in verse 29,
THE LAMB OF GOD.
No one thought that God needed a lamb! - a sacrifice. God's
lamb is God's substituted sacrifice -- for us.
The apostle Paul in Romans 12:1 relates to this concept when
he exhorts his reader.
POINT: True creative use of words expresses increased
clarity of meaning.
In Exodus 25 ff detailed instructions are given for the
construction of the Tabernacle.
The physical details have spiritual parallels, but every
detail and the whole is also artistically and aesthetically pleasing:
In form and materials,
In color,
In proportions of the parts to the whole;
And building it also functions well to serve its purpose.
It is a structure of purpose that is also a work of art. We
can live in a house like that.
POINT: We can use creative combinations in our home decor.
Think: How has God done it?
He uses lots of curves; angles are not necessarily right
angles.
The great economy of material in close construction uses the
hexagon - bees know that - a hive.
We can exercise our gift of creativity anytime.
WHEN
