The Songs We Sing...Creation

[This is post 2 in a series of blogs about what we do on Sunday mornings at New City Church, Macon written by Keith Watson and Arthur Lin.]

The four main components of the Gospel Story are Creation, Fall, Redemption, and Restoration. Creation is going to be the topic we discuss in this article.

The Creation Story calls us to worship God and declare His glory. Creation is the starting point of the Gospel. To have creation there must be a Creator, and that is none other than God Himself (Gen 1:1).  In the very beginning, the moment even before time came into existence, there was all-powerful God - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Out of God's abundant love, the intricate orchestration of the earth began. With a word, stars flashed into existence, water separated from dirt, plants sprouted from the ground, and animals populated earth, water, and air. At the climax of his masterpiece, God created Adam and Eve. Psalm 19:1-6 tells us that all creation declared the glory of God!

Humanity was set apart from the rest of creation. Adam and Eve were given the responsibility of bearing the image of God on this earth. They were to rule over and steward God’s creation. God looked at His completed creation and declared it was “very good.”  In the cool of the day, He would come to fellowship with Adam and Eve. He walked with them and talked with them. Unhindered worship of God poured forth from Adam and Eve. It was, indeed very good.

Samuel Emadi points out that in the Creation Story, of God we see:

1.    God created the world out of nothing.

2.    God created the world good.

3.    God created the world for his glory.

4.    God is distinct from his creation (Creator/creature distinction).

The revelation of who He is and what He has done leads us to respond with humility, praise, and adoration.  Therefore, each Sunday at New City, we begin our gathering at the beginning of the Gospel story, Creation, and Creation calls us to worship our Creator! 

As we start our gathering with a “Call to Worship” we are reminded each week of God’s goodness, of His great glory and amazing power and love. We are called once more to renounce all idols and give praise to our Creator, the only one who truly satisfies. In our Call to Worship, we are not only declaring our praise to God but we are also reminding one another of who God is and what He has done, and we are declaring to those in our midst who may not know Him, that our great and mighty God is worthy of worship!

Bryan Chapell writes, "We do not approach God on our terms, but his. When he speaks, it is our obligation and privilege to respond appropriately in praise, prayer, repentance, testimony, encouragement of others, and service to what he declares about himself. This corporate dialogue in which we as God's people respond to God's revelation is the sacred rhythm of covenant worship that begins with the Call to Worship."  God has spoken. Creation declares His glory. Come and worship Him.

* Thoughts and ideas have been taken and condensed from Mike Cosper's Rhythms of Grace and Bryan Chapell's Christ-Centered Worship.