Over the past several years, I've been working my way through the Topical Guide topics under Jesus Christ. I'm making slow progress since I don't have a regular schedule about it, but I do occasionally read through. Now, I'm in Jesus Christ-Creator, and I just came upon Isaiah 44:24, which reads:
"Thus saith the Lord, thy redeemer, and he that formed thee from the womb, I am the Lord that maketh all things; that stretcheth forth the heavens alone; that spreadeth abroad the earth by myself."
It's interesting to note the present tense here. We usually think of the creation in terms of what happened in the beginning, as explained in Genesis, but actually, creation is ongoing, spiritually and physically. Every time a child is born -- to any species -- or a plant produces seed, creation is taking place.
And He's constantly working on helping us in our spiritual growth, and growth is creation because changes take place--new things come about. The words "stretcheth" and "spreadeth" also emphasizes this point of growth.
Perhaps this is why there is the combination/juxtaposition here, highlighting that it is the same being who is our Redeemer and our Creator and that these two attributes work together, not as distinct attributes.
Continuing reading, verse 28 adds another dimension to these thoughts, with the grammar continuing from v. 24 "I am the Lord..." "That saith of Cyrus, He is my shepherd, and shall perform all my pleasure: even saying to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be built; and to the temple, Thy foundation shall be laid."
Things that are built, like temples, seem to us to require man's hands. But would they happen if God didn't command it so? Is He not the one who gives the men strength to do these? He is creating things we think we're creating. So, we have no cause to worship the things we make with our hands because we are only instruments ourselves. It's like a hammer saying, "I'm so proud of the way that I hit that nail."
Now what of the things that "men" make that aren't perfect? Using temples as an example here is interesting because they are made to perfection, we think, so it's easy to see them as the exception to things "men" create. God can say He made the temples because they're perfect, we might think. But that's not entirely true. Every year, temples have shutdowns for minor renovations and cleaning. And as we've seen with a few temples over the past decade or so--SLC, Cardston, Manti, etc., sometimes they need huge renovations. So yes, temples are pretty impressively built, but they're not perfect. This, too, this imperfection in creation, is also part of our growth. Human beings by nature are all flawed in some way. We're born to die in corruptible bodies. Being born perfect was, well, not even exactly Satan's plan but closer to it. The growth we have in life is all part of our creation.
So if we make a flawed piece of art, such as a temple, or a book, or a painting, or a piece of music, it doesn't mean that God didn't have his hands in it. Our learning about creation is part of our creation and ultimately our perfection. We don't learn without making mistakes.
So does God make flawed temples? Yes, He does. Does this diminish His own perfection? Not at all. In fact, it reinforces it. He knows what needs to happen for things to become perfected because He is perfect Himself, and that means making flawed or imperfect things. So we (I) shouldn't worry about doing things perfectly. It won't happen right away. Perfection comes from trying and making mistakes.
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