Made in His Image

 

John 1:3

"All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made." 

 

My wife and I were fortunate to take a trip to Sedona Arizona with some friends a few years ago. Sedona is a beautiful city and is situated amongst red rock mountains and big, broad skies.

 

One night we decided that we wanted to be out in the desert for the sunset, and we wanted to see the night sky with no light pollution. I researched the best places to photograph the sunset and night skies, and we found what we thought was the perfect place, well off the main road in the desert. We rented a Jeep and set out just after dinner.

 

We got to our destination and I set my camera on my tripod and pointed it to the coordinates of the sunset. I sat in my camp chair and watched as the beautiful golden sunlight lit up the red rocks and painted the puffy clouds red and orange on a vivid blue background. It was so breathtaking I almost forgot to press the shutter on my camera.

 

A little while later the black sky filled with what looked to be millions of stars. I had never seen a night sky like it, There were twinkling stars on every horizon for as far as I could see.

 

As I sat there looking at the sky I thanked God, the artist behind the whole thing. I occurred to me that the most beautiful painting in the world couldn't match what I just saw.

 

The truth is, friends, that God is omniscient, omnipresent, and eternal. There is nothing that has ever existed that was not created by God. He created the stars and planets but He also created the smallest spot on the wings of the smallest butterfly, He created the mountains but He also created the smallest flower.

 

God created me and He created you. The prophet Isaiah wrote,

"But now, O Lord, you are our Father; we are the clay, and you are our potter; we are all the work of your hand." (Isaiah 64:8).

 

I take great comfort in knowing that the same hands that created that sunset and all those stars also created me. I know God loves me and I know he loves you, and because He loves us He provided a way for us to always be with Him. God sent His son Jesus to die on a cross to pay for our sins. Because of that gift, we know that we have the closest possible relationship with God, our creator and our Father, starting right now and for eternity.

 

Father, thank you for your creation. The world is your handiwork and daily displays your glory. We thank you that your grace and love provided us a way to know you and be with you forever. Amen.

 

This episode was written and read by Cliff McCartney.

Grace for All is a daily devotional podcast produced by the members of the congregation of First United Methodist Church in Maryville, Tennessee. With these devotionals, we want to remind listeners on a daily basis of the love and grace that God extends to all human beings, no matter their location, status, or condition in life.

If you would like to respond to these devotionals in any way, we would enjoy hearing from you. Our email address is: podcasts@1stchurch.org.

First United Methodist Church is a lively, spirit-filled congregation whose goal is to spread the message of love and grace into our community and throughout the world. We are located on the web at https://1stchurch.org/.