1.5.4-1.5.5 Creation and the Creator

The first time I ever heard someone talk about other confusing creation with the Creator, I immediately thought that someone was off his rocker. Who could ever confuse the two? But I eventually realized that people do it all the time and has been going on since man first sinned. That is what the idol worshipers of the Old Testament were doing. They were worshiping as a god their own creations made out of items from God's creation.

Skip forward to the modern day and worshiping creation is just as common. I have seen plenty of bumper stickers commanding me to treat Mother Earth with respect. The earth is a mother? I thought it was an inanimate part of God's creation. I agree that we should treat the earth with respect, but it did not give life to anyone.

Calvin addressed this confusion in the Institutes. He also attacked the beliefs of those who denied God's work in their bodies. Some people are so enamored with themselves and what a miracle they are that they forget who it was that created them. They start thinking that they are their own creation.

Creation is miraculous, but only because of God's presence. Therefore we must remember that all power belongs to God and not what he has created.