DID GOD REALLY CREATE EVERYTHING? Part Seventeen — Did God Really Create Everything?

 

DID GOD REALLY CREATE EVERYTHING?

Part Seventeen — Did God Really Create Everything?

By Reverend Michael Cook, D.Div.
Red Bull Illuminati Ministry

We have arrived at the end of our journey.

For sixteen chapters we have walked together through some of humanity's oldest questions.

Who is God?

What is the Infinite?

Why does evil exist?

Why does suffering exist?

What is wisdom?

Why does love matter?

What is the purpose of life?

Where is creation going?

Now we return to the question that began this entire series.

Did God really create everything?

At first, this seems like a question that demands either a "yes" or a "no."

But after walking this journey together...

Perhaps we now realize that the question itself reaches far deeper than we first imagined.

The answer depends upon what we mean by everything.

If we mean existence itself...

The stars...

The galaxies...

Life...

The laws of nature...

The capacity for love...

The gift of reason...

The beauty of creation...

Then countless believers throughout history have joyfully answered:

Yes.

God is understood as the Source from whom all life flows.

The Infinite Reality sustaining all existence.

The Ground of Being.

The One in whom all things live, move, and have their being.

But if by "everything" we also mean...

Hatred...

Cruelty...

War...

Greed...

Murder...

Then the conversation becomes much more profound.

Perhaps evil is not a "thing" created in the same way that light, beauty, and life are.

Imagine darkness.

Can you carry darkness in a bucket?

Can you manufacture darkness?

No.

Darkness appears wherever light is absent.

Turn on a lamp...

Darkness retreats.

The lamp did not destroy a substance called darkness.

It simply filled the room with light.

Many philosophers and theologians have used this image to explain evil.

Perhaps evil is not something God created as an independent reality.

Perhaps it is what appears whenever wisdom is rejected...

Whenever love is abandoned...

Whenever compassion is forgotten...

Whenever truth is ignored.

If this is true...

Then every human life becomes incredibly important.

Because every one of us helps determine whether the world grows brighter...

Or darker.

Throughout this series we have spoken about seeds.

Gardens.

Builders.

Light.

The Beast.

These are not merely stories.

They are mirrors.

They ask us to look honestly at ourselves.

Not simply to debate theology.

But to examine our own lives.

For what good is believing that God created the universe...

If we spend our lives destroying one another?

What good is speaking about heaven...

If we refuse to show compassion here on earth?

What good is possessing knowledge...

If knowledge never becomes kindness?

Perhaps the greatest evidence for God is not found only in arguments.

Perhaps it is found wherever genuine love appears.

Whenever someone forgives...

Something sacred enters the world.

Whenever someone protects the weak...

Something sacred enters the world.

Whenever someone tells the truth despite personal cost...

Something sacred enters the world.

Whenever someone chooses mercy over revenge...

Something sacred enters the world.

These moments remind us that humanity is capable of reflecting something greater than itself.

Perhaps that is what it truly means to be created in the image of God.

Not merely existing...

But participating in creation itself.

Every day we create something.

We create hope...

Or despair.

Peace...

Or conflict.

Trust...

Or suspicion.

Healing...

Or wounds.

Our words create.

Our actions create.

Our choices create.

Perhaps creation did not end in the distant past.

Perhaps it continues every day through the decisions of every human being.

God gives us life.

We decide what kind of life we will build.

God gives us freedom.

We decide how we will use it.

God gives us the capacity to love.

We decide whether we will love.

This series has never attempted to answer every mystery.

No single book ever could.

The Infinite will always remain greater than our understanding.

That is not a weakness of faith.

It is one of its greatest invitations.

To keep seeking.

To keep learning.

To keep growing.

To remain humble before mysteries greater than ourselves.

Perhaps that is why the greatest spiritual teachers never stopped asking questions.

They understood that wisdom is not the end of curiosity.

Wisdom is the beginning of deeper wonder.

So...

Did God create everything?

Perhaps the better question is this:

What are we creating with the life God has given us?

Are we creating peace?

Or conflict?

Understanding?

Or division?

Compassion?

Or indifference?

Hope?

Or despair?

The answer to those questions will shape the future far more than winning any theological argument.

For one day...

Our debates will be forgotten.

Our opinions will fade.

Our possessions will belong to someone else.

But the love we gave...

The kindness we showed...

The truth we lived...

The compassion we shared...

These things will continue echoing through generations.

That...

Perhaps...

Is one of God's greatest gifts.

Not merely the gift of existence.

But the privilege of helping shape creation through lives lived in wisdom, humility, and love.

As we conclude this journey, I leave you with one final thought.

The purpose of spiritual life is not simply to know more about God.

It is to become more like the goodness we believe God has revealed.

To become more compassionate.

More truthful.

More patient.

More forgiving.

More loving.

If we can do that...

Then perhaps we have begun to understand not only what God created...

But why.

Thank you for walking this journey with me.

May your questions never cease.

May your compassion continue growing.

May your wisdom deepen with every season of life.

And may your life become a reflection of the Light that first gave it being.

Peace, Light, and Understanding to All.

— Reverend Michael Cook, D.Div.
Red Bull Illuminati Ministry