THE GREAT CREATOR

Isa. 48:12, “Hearken unto me, O Jacob and Israel, my called; I am he; I am the first, I also am the last.” Isa. 48:13, “Mine hand also hath laid the foundation of the earth, and my right hand hath spanned the heavens: when I call unto them, they stand up together.” 

I. CONTROL

Isa. 45:7, “I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things.”  Isa. 45:12, “I have made the earth, and created man upon it: I, even my hands, have stretched out the heavens, and all their host have I commanded.”  Chapter 45 speaks of Cyrus, king of Persia, who would overtake Babylon, and allow many of the Jews to return back to Jerusalem.

In verse 7, forming light and creating darkness, and making peace and creating evil teach the same truth. God can bring light to the nation or he can cause it to be covered in darkness. He can also bring peace to the land, or cause evil (disaster) to destroy.

II. CREATE

Isa. 45:18, “For thus saith the LORD that created the heavens; God himself that formed the earth and made it; he hath established it, he created it not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited: I am the LORD; and there is none else.” 

While three particular Hebrew words are used frequently elsewhere in the Old Testament, they occur together in Isaiah 45:18 and are translated “created”, “formed” and “made”. It is interesting that these words, bara (to prepare, form, fashion, create), yatsar (to form, fashion, frame, constitute), and asah(to do, make), are much more frequently used with reference to the creation in one particular book than in any of the others in the Old Testament: Isaiah. Three main points are viewed from Isaiah 45:18.

(1) God Created and Formed the Earth Evolution had no part in the creation of the universe or this world. God tells us that He created and Formed the earth with purpose.

2) He Established It & Created It Not In Vain The earth was laid upon a foundation. It was not created to be a desert where life could not be sustained.

3) He Formed It To Be Inhabited The earth was made to be a convenient habitation for life. The atmosphere is a mixture of nitrogen (78%), oxygen (21%), and other gases (1%) that surrounds Earth. High above the planet, the atmosphere becomes thinner until it gradually reaches space. It is divided into five layers. If the mixture of these gasses were less or more, the earth would not be livable.

If you were to breath pure nitrogen, you would suffocate. If you were to breath in pure oxygen, you would die from oxygen toxicity. To produce the right amount to sustain life would take an extremely intelligent designer.

III. CONSIDER

1) A Creator God is To Be Feared and Not Men Isa. 51:12, 13, “I, even I, am he that comforteth you: who art thou, that thou shouldest be afraid of a man that shall die, and of the son of man which shall be made as grass. And forgettest the LORD thy maker, that hath stretched forth the heavens, and laid the foundations of the earth; and hast feared continually every day because of the fury of the oppressor, as if he were ready to destroy? and where is the fury of the oppressor?” 

Matt. 10:28, “And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” Heb. 13:6, “So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me.”

2) A Creator God Can Create Things New “For behold I create [bara] new heavens and a new earth; and the former shall not be remembered, nor come to mind. But be ye glad and rejoice for ever in that which I create [bara] for behold I create [bara] Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her people a joy” (Isa. 65:17-18). He also promises: “For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make [asah] shall remain before me … so shall your seed and your name remain” (Isa. 66:22).

Isaiah’s new heaven and new earth point to the deliverance of the Hebrews from captivity. We note this from Jerusalem being the center of this new beginning.

Rev. 21:1, “And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.” John’s vision of the new heaven and new earth points to the final judgment, and heaven as the eternal destination for the saints.