Why art and music (and filing) point to the very essence of God

"There’s just something about music that is so indescribable but makes us feel so good."

I was struck by this line from an interview with a talented young singer, Rebekah Wilson, who has battled with depression. She comments that music has given her a way to deal with it.

In making us in his image, God made us to be creators. That's what the so-called “creative mandate” in Genesis 1 v 28 is about.

“God blessed [the first people] and said to them, ‘Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.’”

Filling and subduing isn't just about pro-creating and controlling our world. It's being about the work of the one who created us. We're to subdue an unruly garden and create a beautiful flowerbed. We're to subdue the random paints on our pallet and create a wonderful landscape. We're to subdue the seemingly incoherent notes on our piano and create a tune that transcends everyday words.

In Tim Chester's latest book The One True Light (released in the US in 2016) he helpfully shows us from Proverbs 8 v 30-31 how God loves to create. And when I say God, I mean the triune God. The Father, the Son and the Spirit share a mutual delight as they participate with each other in the act of creating:

“We might almost imagine the Son saying to the Father 'I love what you've planned for these mountains. Wow, that waterfall is amazing.' And the Father says to the Son, 'You've done an amazing job with those dragonflies - that's lovely workmanship.'

Jesus ... especially delights in humanity because we are made in the image of the triune God. More than anywhere else, this is where Jesus sees his Father's glory reflected in creation." (p. 22-23)

That's why it feels so good to create. Because we're reflecting the triune God. We're being who we were made to be. We were created to be creators. That's how we image our creator God.

We were created to be creators. That's how we image our creator God.

But it doesn't just apply to “art”, it applies to the office, or the street, or your house. We subdue the unruly filing cabinet and create an ordered system. We subdue the litter and rubbish down our street and create a clean and ordered environment. We subdue the dirty washing, the toys thrown around the room and create a place of warmth and comfort (not least because we're not standing on little bits of Lego anymore).

So, please, go and create. Create in anyway you can. Support those who create for a living—both in the office and on the stage. Encourage each other as you create to look to the creator who created you to create. And show those young artists why it feels so good. Take them to God the artist, the Word “through [whom] all things were made.”

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