God is an Artist

Yes, the world has been damaged by our sin and the bad things that came from it, but everywhere we look we can see how much our Creator God enjoys beauty.

Artists come in many varieties:

Artist at Work (Photo credit: chooyutshing)

• Painters work with oils, acrylic, or watercolors
• Drawers use pencil, chalk, ink, or crayons
• Sculpters form clay, wood, soapstone, marble, granite, plaster, or plastics (think movie masks)
• Architects take all the ingredients we use to make a building and make something both enormous and graceful

These are just some of the most common ways a person can make something we call “art”. Lots of people work with several different materials (called media) on the same piece to make something extra special.

Now it’s time to bring God into the mix. Can you think of the things He uses to form His art? We all love sunrises and sunsets. What does God use to make these pieces the size of the sky? Sunlight, air, wind, and clouds. Pretty simple materials, but breathtaking results.

There was one major “visual art” form I left off the list above: photography. Why? Because whenever we take a photograph, we are capturing an image of either something people have done, or what God has made.

Have you ever seen a special book museums offer for a special exhibit? You can have copies of some of the most famous paintings in the world to look at on your coffee table for just a few dollars (compared to the cost of the originals). If you don’t have the money or room, you can get some postcards to tack on your wall or send to someone who loves art and you.

I bet your family has taken pictures of sunsets to save a memory of those couple minutes of glory. Whenever we take pictures of a beautiful landscape, flower, animal, or even each other, we are really making an art gallery print of the greatest Artist ever.

That reminds me, God doesn’t use acrylics or pencils to make His art, but some of those other ingredients He does use. Ever seen a really pretty rock? That’s God’s sculpture. Love the way a tree holds its branches so gracefully? That’s Him using wood to form architecture.

And then there’s my favorite. God saved something rather unusual to make His masterpiece out of: clay. Remember what God formed using damp dust? Us. The creatures He didn’t just speak into existence. The ones He saved until last and then finally said the creation was “very good”. How amazing little ones can shape the same stuff God used to make our hands and eyes out of in the beginning!

We’ve been looking at earthly art forms, but there’s a whole universe out there jam-packed with God’s art. Using just gas, heat, and a few other ingredients, God gave us enough to look at, admire, and study for a life time. The bigger our telescopes, the bigger God’s canvas is shown to be.

For kids I enjoy a Kindle book talking about God as the Heavenly Painter from Apologetics Press. It’s only 24 pages long, but is a great way to introduce little ones to the idea of God the artist. Of course, the pictures are fabulous and the words just enough to read aloud while the kids absorb each awesome view.

Here’s the link to Apologetics Press article about the book: New Children’s Book: Does God Like… to Paint?

And the direct link to Amazon’s Page: Does God Like… to Paint by Branyon and Alana May

Remember if you like it to leave them a review. They make a big difference and help other people find wonderful resources.

God asked Job, “Canst thou bind the sweet influences of Pleiades, or loose the bands of Orion? Canst thou bring forth Mazzaroth in his season? or canst thou guide Arcturus with his sons? Knowest thou the ordinances of heaven? canst thou set the dominion thereof in the earth?” Job 38:31-33