Part 1 - In The Beginning

Stephen Bennett

'For He commanded and they were created' Psalm 148:5

'In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters' Genesis 1:1-2. The Mighty Creator, Beautiful God, artistically created from the very beginning of time.

In the first verse of the Bible, we see creativity stretched out on a canvass of such grandiose scale that we couldn't even comprehend its fullness. Isaiah the prophet calls God the Artist, 'The Creator of the ends of the earth' Isaiah 40:28. The twenty-four elders in heaven worshipped Him and said, "For You created all things, and by Your will they exist and were created" Revelation 4:11.

Artistic creation is God's nature - the word creator means to cut down wood, select and feed as a formative process, to choose and dispatch. The art of creating the world and the heavens, was an act of absolute creative intelligent design: pre-planned, loving, and timed to perfection. Every color shape and form was thought through and pre-established, with the finesse of an artist and sculptor of ultimate Renaissance.

This was the start of an incredible story - History - God's creative love affair with His art. 'This is the history of the heavens and the earth when they were created' Genesis 2:4. The exquisite statuesque centerpiece of this history is mankind - formed in the image of God - you. This was no big bang evolutionary theory; Artist God knew exactly what He was doing. Big bang is just hot air.

Creating through Christ
"The ideas flow in upon me, directly from God" Johannes Brahms
In the Beginning God the Father led the creative process (Genesis 1:1). Yet, everything was made through Jesus His Son - The Word. 'He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made' John 1:2-3. In fact Jesus was The Beginning. "These things says the Amen, the Faithful and True Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God" Revelation 3:14. True fulfilling artistic life starts with Christ! Have an ear to hear His ideas - they are the best.

Holy Spirit Movement
The person of the Holy Spirit brooded, hovered and moved over the face of the churning turning waters that were void and without form. It was in a relaxed manner, thoughtful, ready, and totally prepared with all the designs, blueprints, and models, to shake perceptions from their formless existence. 'You send forth Your Spirit - they are created; and you renew the face of the earth' Psalm 104:30.

The sculpting substance of that first day was mayim - water, or juice like semen. This was 'creative juice' that could be impregnated with the seed of an artist's desire - substance that could be spoken to; God was to become known through his art.
'For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse' Romans 1:20. 'The fool has said in his heart, "There is no God.'" Psalm 14:1.

Water is symbolic of the Holy Spirit - a river that is in us. When Jesus is the centre of our art, we can form a creative movement of spirit that is connected to heaven. We then paint, write, make song and sound, and articulate with heaven's presence in our art. God's glory is released, and change happens.

Creativity is not only just for the artists. Creativity is at the very heart and center of Christianity. "The wind blows where it wishes, and you can hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit" John 3:8 - Jesus

With the Holy Spirit we can move and hover and brood in life with Him, working with the creative plan He has for our lives. In just six days God created amazing things, accelerated by the Holy Spirit. He can propel us in the same way. "It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life" John 6:63 - Jesus

"All things were made through him, and without him nothing was made that was made, in Him was life...!" John 1:3-4. When Jesus is in the centre of your creative world, life can be in your art, and you can start a new beginning over and over and over again!

(Extracts from the book by Stephen Bennett - The Divine Artist)