Day 42: The Work of Creation (290-298)

• Nine DEEP paragraphs today!

• Are you LOVING this?

• I’m LOVING this!!

• We talked about God’s Power Almighty

• Creation is VASTLY UNIQUE

• The question everyone wants to know…

• WHAT IS OUR ORIGIN?

• WHAT IS OUR DESTINY?

• ARE WE ACCIDENTS?

• WHERE IS GOD IN ALL OF THIS?

• WHY DO I EXIST?

• In the Baltimore Catechism, the first question of the Catechism is, “WHO MADE YOU?”

• We are getting REALLY DEEP into that question

• THE ANSWER, OF COURSE, IS GOD MADE ME!!

• The second question of the Baltimore Catechism is, “WHY DID GOD MAKE YOU?”

• THE ANSWER IS GOD MADE ME TO KNOW HIM, TO LOVE HIM, AND TO SERVE HIM IN THIS LIFE SO AS TO BE HAPPY WITH HIM FOREVER IN THE NEXT!!

• We are going to get a little glimpse of that question and answer in today’s paragraphs

• There is more to come on this

• BUT…

• Here is the INCREDIBLE UNIVERSAL CATECHISM

• It was promulgated in the 1990s and given to us today

• It dives deeply into the fact that Creation is the work of the TRINITY

• IN FACT…

• Paragraph 290 says, “‘In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth’: three things are affirmed in these first words of Scripture: the eternal God gave a beginning to all that exists outside of himself; he alone is Creator (the verb ‘create’-Hebrew BARA-always has God for its subject). The totality of what exists (expressed by the formula ‘the heavens and the earth’) depends on the One who gives it being.”

• THAT IS INCREDIBLE!!

• That is the FIRST LINE of the ENTIRE BIBLE

• It tells us these THREE CLEAR AND DISTINCT THINGS

• We will also talk about how everything emanates from…

• (Squirrel!! 😁)

• EMANATES might be the wrong word 

• Because the Church clarifies that CREATION is not some sort of DIVINE EMANATION

• IT IS A CHOICE!!

• It is the DECISION that God Himself WILLS creation to exist outside of himself

• It didn’t just spontaneously erupt from Him

• He actually CHOSE that there would be a CREATION

• And it COMES (If you heard Fr. Mike say “crumbs” here, you are not alone 🤣) from Father, Son, and Holy Spirit

• THAT IS REALLY IMPORTANT!!

• BUT ALSO…

• WHY??

• Why did God create the World?

• The answer is THE WORLD WAS CREATED FOR THE GLORY OF GOD

• God didn’t NEED anything

• God didn’t do it to INCREASE HIS OWN GLORY

• Paragraph 293 says, “St. Bonaventure explains that God created all things ‘not to increase his glory, but to show it forth and to communicate it.’”

• Lastly, we have THE MYSTERY OF CREATION

• God creates by what?

• God creates by His WISDOM 

• AND…

• God creates by His LOVE

• THIS IS SO IMPORTANT!!

• God does not create out of ANYTHING other than His GOODNESS

• HIS WISDOM AND HIS LOVE!!

• We hinted at this a little while ago

• GOD CREATES OUT OF NOTHING!!

• IT IS VITALLY IMPORTANT!!

• Some philosophies of creation say that the “creators” of the universe SHAPED the creation maybe out of themselves

• There are some Middle Eastern creation stories that say that the “gods created the universe out of battle”

• Or “the gods created the universe out of some kind of fertility rite”

• BUT…

• The Judeo-Christian origin of the universe is UNIQUE

• God created OUTSIDE OF HIMSELF

• The Hebrew word is BARA-God creates OUT OF HIMSELF

• The Latin is EX NIHILO-God creates OUT OF NOTHING

• So God creates OUTSIDE OF HIMSELF something that REVEALS HIS GLORY

• NOT TO ADD TO HIS GLORY!!

• BUT…

• TO REVEAL HIS GLORY AND TO COMMUNICATE IT TO US!!

• So let’s say a prayer as we begin this day!!

Prayer by Fr. Mike: “Father in Heaven, we thank you and we give you praise. Thank you for revealing yourself to us in these first words of the Book of Genesis. And revealing yourself to us what we need to know about you and what we can know about you by your revelation and by the unfolding of your revelation in our understanding in the history of the Church. Thank you so much. Thank you for those who have gone ahead of us and have figured it out and are passing it on to us today. In Jesus’ name we praise you. Amen”

• THAT WAS INCREDIBLE!!

• These first words of Genesis 1:1, “In the beginning God created the heavens and earth.”

• They affirm THREE THINGS

• The eternal God gave a beginning to all that exists outside of Himself

• He alone is Creator

• Remember that word BARA-to create OUTSIDE OF HIMSELF

• Or EX NIHILO-to create OUT OF NOTHING

• The totality of what exists depends on the One who gives it being

• THIS IS SO IMPORTANT!!

• Paragraph 292 says, “The Old Testament suggests and the New Covenant reveals the creative action of the Son and the Spirit, inseparably one with that of the Father.”

• This creative cooperation between the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit work together in the creation of the world

• We see this in Genesis Ch 1 where it talks about the Father creating and the Word goes out and the Spirit hovers over the waters

• We also have the prologue of the Gospel of John, “In the beginning was the Word…and the Word was God…all things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made.”

• We also have St. Paul’s Letter to the Colossians, “All things were created, in heaven and on earth…all things were created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.”

• THIS IS JUST SO POWERFUL!!

• The HIM here is Jesus Christ, Himself

• THE LORD!!

• Right?

• THE WORD MADE FLESH that John’s prologue talks about and makes VERY VERY CLEAR

• John 1:1, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”

• THIS IS SO IMPORTANT!!

• Why??

• Because we realize that the WORD of Creation…

• Yes, we talk about God the Father as CREATOR

• BUT…

• The work of CREATION is the work of the HOLY TRINITY

• Remember the DEEPEST IDENTITY of God?

• HIS INNERMOST SECRET??

• He is an ETERNAL EXCHANGE OF LOVE

• There are so many ramifications of this

• Here is one

• This means the ENTIRE CREATION was NOT JUST THE WORK OF THE FATHER

• IT IS THE WORK OF THE HOLY TRINITY!!

• WHICH IS LOVE!!

• WHO IS LOVE!!

• ALL OF CREATION IS THE WORK OF LOVE!!

• Does that make sense?

• Why?

• The next section talks about this

• THE WORLD WAS CREATED FOR THE GLORY OF GOD

• Dei Filius says in Paragraph 293, “The world was made for the glory of God.”

• St. Bonaventure says in Paragraph 293, “God created all things ‘not to increase his glory, but to show it forth and to communicate it.’”

• God didn’t have any reason to communicate OTHER THAN HIS LOVE AND GOODNESS

• THAT IS SO MASSIVELY IMPORTANT!!

• Why??

• Because it reveals that God doesn’t NEED anything

• People often say, “Why does God need us to worship Him?”

• When we read the Old Testament, it is all about WORSHIP OF GOD

• Almost all of the Bible is about how do we give God the worship that HE DESERVES and the worship that HE DESIRES

• The question people ask is, “Why would God want us to worship Him in the first place? Is He that delicate? Is He that much of an attention hog?”

• The answer here is VERY VERY CLEAR

• The answer is ABSOLUTELY NOT

• God gains NOTHING from our worship

• God gains NOTHING from revealing His glory to us

• The only thing he GAINS is that He gets to SHARE His glory and His divine life WITH US

• St. Bonaventure explains, “God created all things ‘not to increase his glory, but to show it forth and communicate it.’”

• THAT IS INCREDIBLE!!

• Let’s keep moving on…

• THE MYSTERY OF CREATION

• Paragraph 295 says, “We believe that God created the world according to his wisdom.”

• God created this world OUT OF LOVE

• NOT because it emanated from Him

• NOT because there was a necessity for it

• Paragraph 295 continues, “We believe that it proceeds from God’s free will; he wanted to make his creatures share in his being, wisdom, and goodness…”

• NOT because God NEEDED anything

• BECAUSE GOD LOVES US!!

• GOD LOVES YOU!!

• As we look at all Creation, let this be a sign of God’s LOVE FOR YOU

• Paragraph 295 continues, “The Lord is good to all, and his compassion is over all that he has made.”

• God creates “out of nothing”

• Paragraph 296 says, “We believe that God needs no pre-existent thing or any help in order to create, nor is creation any sort of necessary emanation from the divine substance. God creates freely ‘out of nothing’...”

• He didn’t NEED to do this

• THIS IS FREE!!

• He didn’t get any help

• IT IS OUT OF NOTHING!!

• That is not only affirmed in Scripture

• It is also affirmed in the history of the Church

• We will continue to talk about what kind of world God creates and how He continues to uphold and sustain Creation

• Paragraph 298 brings it HOME for us

• If God creates FREELY and no one is coercing Him or manipulating Him into do this and He didn’t NEED it

• And if God creates out of NOTHING…

• Paragraph 298 says, “Since God could create everything out of nothing, he can also, through the Holy Spirit, give spiritual life to sinners by creating a pure heart in them and bodily life to the dead through the Resurrection.”

• THIS IS WHY THIS IS SO VITALLY IMPORTANT FOR US!!

• Creation is NOT A THING OF THE PAST

• Creation and Re-Creation is a thing that is happening RIGHT NOW

• God, who didn’t need ANY HELP to create this universe, does not lack anything when it comes to Re-Creating a NEW HEART IN YOU

• The God who could make EVERYTHING out of NOTHING can RAISE UP YOUR DRY BONES

• HE CAN RAISE UP DUST FROM THE EARTH!!

• HE CAN BRING US BACK TO LIFE!!

• AND HE WILL!!

• Because He promises to BRING US BACK TO LIFE

• Paragraph 298 continues, “God ‘gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist.’”

• That comes from Romans Ch 4

• Paragraph 298 continues, “And since God was able to make light shine in darkness by his Word, he can also give the light of faith to those who do not yet know him.”

• This is one of the WORDS OF HOPE for us

• GOD CAN GIVE THE LIGHT OF FAITH TO THOSE WHO DO NOT KNOW HIM!!

• When there is darkness in our minds we say, “God, you who created all things out of nothing. God, you who invented light simply by your Word, give that Light to me. Give that Light to my friends and my family.”

• THIS IS REALLY IMPORTANT!!

• Let’s pray for those people we love who DON’T HAVE THE LIGHT OF FAITH

• BUT…

• We know that God is SO GOOD that He can bestow that LIGHT OF FAITH even on those who have HARDENED THEIR HEARTS and HARDENED THEIR MINDS to Him

• EVEN US!!

• When we HARDEN OUR HEARTS or the areas where we HARDEN OUR MINDS to Him 

• Because we can listen to The Catechism in a Year and we CAN STILL STRUGGLE

• WE CAN STRUGGLE WITH FAITH!!

• WE CAN STRUGGLE WITH CERTAIN TEACHINGS WE ARE GOING TO GET TO!!

• SO WE NEED GOD’S HELP!!

• BUT…

• THE CRAZY THING IS THAT WE HAVE GOD’S HELP!!

• Fr. Mike is praying FOR YOU!!

• Please pray for Fr. Mike and for each other!!

• I cannot WAIT to see you tomorrow!! (And after today’s episode, I leave you with this….it seems very pertinent to what we learned today 😁 So Will I (100 Billion X) Lyric Video - Hillsong United )

Scripture References & Reflections

- compiled by Andrew Adamany

Bible Translation - RSVCE

CCC 291 "The New Testament reveals that God created everything by the eternal Word, his beloved Son."

John 1:1–5

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God; all things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it."

Colossians 1:15–17

"He is the image of the invisible God, the first-born of all creation; for in him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together."

"The Church's faith likewise confesses the creative action of the Holy Spirit, the "giver of life", "the Creator Spirit" (Veni, Creator Spiritus), the "source of every good".

John 6:63 

"It is the spirit that gives life, the flesh is of no avail; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life."

CCC 292 "The Old Testament suggests and the New Covenant reveals the creative action of the Son and the Spirit, inseparably one with that of the Father. This creative co-operation is clearly affirmed in the Church's rule of faith: "There exists but one God. . . he is the Father, God, the Creator, the author, the giver of order. He made all things by himself, that is, by his Word and by his Wisdom", "by the Son and the Spirit" who, so to speak, are "his hands".Creation is the common work of the Holy Trinity."

Psalm 33:6 

"By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, 

and all their host by the breath of his mouth."

Psalm 104:30

"When thou sendest forth thy Spirit, they are created; 

and thou renewest the face of the ground."

Genesis 1:2–3

"The earth was without form and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep; and the Spirit of God was moving over the face of the waters. 

And God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light."

CCC 294 "The glory of God consists in the realization of this manifestation and communication of his goodness, for which the world was created. God made us "to be his sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace"

Ephesians 1:3–6

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. He destined us in love to be his sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace which he freely bestowed on us in the Beloved."

for "the glory of God is man fully alive; moreover man's life is the vision of God: if God's revelation through creation has already obtained life for all the beings that dwell on earth, how much more will the Word's manifestation of the Father obtain life for those who see God." The ultimate purpose of creation is that God "who is the creator of all things may at last become "all in all", thus simultaneously assuring his own glory and our beatitude."

1 Corinthians 15:28 

"When all things are subjected to him, then the Son himself will also be subjected to him who put all things under him, that God may be everything to every one."

CCC 295 "We believe that God created the world according to his wisdom. It is not the product of any necessity whatever, nor of blind fate or chance…"

Wisdom of Solomon 9:9

"With thee is wisdom, who knows thy works 

and was present when thou didst make the world, 

and who understand what is pleasing in thy sight 

and what is right according to thy commandments."

"We believe that it proceeds from God's free will; he wanted to make his creatures share in his being, wisdom and goodness"

Revelation 4:9–11

"And whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to him who is seated on the throne, who lives for ever and ever, the twenty-four elders fall down before him who is seated on the throne and worship him who lives for ever and ever; they cast their crowns before the throne, singing, 

“Worthy art thou, our Lord and God, 

to receive glory and honor and power, 

for thou didst create all things, 

and by thy will they existed and were created.”

"Therefore the Psalmist exclaims"

Psalm 104:24

"O Lord, how manifold are thy works! 

In wisdom hast thou made them all; 

the earth is full of thy creatures."

Psalm 145:9 

"The Lord is good to all, 

and his compassion is over all that he has made."

CCC 297 "Scripture bears witness to faith in creation "out of nothing" as a truth full of promise and hope. Thus the mother of seven sons encourages them for martyrdom:

2 Maccabees 7:20–23,25-29

"The mother was especially admirable and worthy of honorable memory. Though she saw her seven sons perish within a single day, she bore it with good courage because of her hope in the Lord. She encouraged each of them in the language of their fathers. Filled with a noble spirit, she fired her woman’s reasoning with a man’s courage, and said to them, “I do not know how you came into being in my womb. It was not I who gave you life and breath, nor I who set in order the elements within each of you. Therefore the Creator of the world, who shaped the beginning of man and devised the origin of all things, will in his mercy give life and breath back to you again, since you now forget yourselves for the sake of his laws…

Since the young man would not listen to him at all, the king called the mother to him and urged her to advise the youth to save himself. After much urging on his part, she undertook to persuade her son. But, leaning close to him, she spoke in their native tongue as follows, deriding the cruel tyrant: “My son, have pity on me. I carried you nine months in my womb, and nursed you for three years, and have reared you and brought you up to this point in your life, and have taken care of you. I beseech you, my child, to look at the heaven and the earth and see everything that is in them, and recognize that God did not make them out of things that existed. Thus also mankind comes into being. Do not fear this butcher, but prove worthy of your brothers. Accept death, so that in God’s mercy I may get you back again with your brothers.”

CCC 298 "Since God could create everything out of nothing, he can also, through the Holy Spirit, give spiritual life to sinners by creating a pure heart in them,and bodily life to the dead through the Resurrection."

Psalm 51:12

"Restore to me the joy of thy salvation, 

and uphold me with a willing spirit."

"God "gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist."

Romans 4:16–17 

"That is why it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his descendants—not only to the adherents of the law but also to those who share the faith of Abraham, for he is the father of us all, as it is written, “I have made you the father of many nations”—in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist."

"And since God was able to make light shine in darkness by his Word, he can also give the light of faith to those who do not yet know him."

Genesis 1:3–4 

"And God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. And God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness."

2 Corinthians 4:6 

"For it is the God who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ."