Creation. It’s a word we use to describe an act of God, the world around us, or Frankenstein’s monster (Behold, my creation! Mwahahaha!!). And believe it or not, it’s that last one I’m primarily focused on. Not necessarily mad-science monster-creation, but using the elements of this world to create things. So, think with me for a moment on what it means to CREATE.

When God created, He spoke. He uttered, and it was; commanded, and it came to be. “In the beginning was the Word,” right? That Word was the acting power of creation (John 1:3, Colossians 1:16-17). His final act of creation was to make Man “in His own image.” In doing so, God created a creator. This is reflected in the very commands given to Adam and Eve to procreate (ahem!.. proCREATE) and fill the earth. It is further reflected in the second portion of the command to take dominion.

God created Adam outside the Garden, and then placed him inside it to keep it and cultivate it. His mission was to expand the human race, and to expand the beauty and order of the Garden of Eden. The obvious implication is that the rest of the world, though “very good,” was yet unordered. The Lord left that task “unfinished” so that His mini-creators could practice their God-given abilities on the raw universe.

Of course, sin hindered our ability to fulfill this Creation Mandate, but it did not abort our mission. Any artist today knows what it means to create. For that matter, so do scientists, engineers, builders, and children in sandboxes. Every human being knows what it is to create (it’s built into us). However, the Christian has a greater appreciation and ability to create after the manner of our Creator, and with that ability comes a responsibility.

I am an artist. I am a creator. I am a Christian. That means I have a calling to utilize my gifts for the glory of God and the good of His people. Every Christian artist shares this responsibility with me. Whether you paint, write, sing, sculpt, bake bread, or carve bowls out of tree trunks, you (like me) have a responsibility to use that talent to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

What an incredible calling! Heavy? Absolutely. Noble? Most definitely. Easy? Nope. Good? Oh my, yes! I don’t know that I can imagine a more wonderful calling than to serve my God through doing something I love that also contributes to His glory and helps to beautify His Bride, the Church.

Doubting whether you’re actually one of these “creators” I’ve been talking about (to)? Consider this: every word you speak causes ripples in the air, these ripples enter another person’s ear, and register as a thought (human-speech super simplified, lol). In this instant, you have spoken, and it has come to pass in the other person’s mind. Ever had a song stuck in your head, after somebody just hints at the title (isn’t that the worst?!)? Well, that is human creation in action, at its most basic level. SPEECH. IS. CREATION! The big difference is that when we speak, we create shadows of reality in the imaginations of people around us. When God speaks, it IS. My point is that everybody is a creator.

This means that everybody shares in the responsibility to create for the glory of God and the good of His people. So I have a question for every creator reading this article: what do you create, and why?