Criação
A criação revela a glória de Deus. Céus, terra, mares e tudo o que existe testemunham o poder criador. No princípio Deus criou — e tudo era muito bom.
No princípio
No princípio criou Deus os céus e a terra. O Espírito de Deus pairava sobre as águas. E Deus disse: haja luz.
In the beginning God (Elohim)created [by forming from nothing] the heavens and the earth. [Heb 11:3] The earth was formless and void or a waste and emptiness, and darkness was upon the face of the deep [primeval ocean that covered the unformed earth]. The Spirit of God was moving (hovering, brooding) over the face of the waters.
Then God said, "Let Us (Father, Son, Holy Spirit) make man in Our image, according to Our likeness [not physical, but a spiritual personality and moral likeness]; and let them have complete authority over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, the cattle, and over the entire earth, and over everything that creeps and crawls on the earth." [Ps 104:30; Heb 1:2; 11:3]
So God created man in His own image, in the image and likeness of God He created him; male and female He created them. [Col 3:9, 10; James 3:8, 9]
So God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it [as His own, that is, set it apart as holy from other days], because in it He rested from all His work which He had created and done. [Ex 20:11]
Now the Lord God said, "It is not good (beneficial) for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper [one who balances him—a counterpart who is] suitable and complementary for him."
O poder criador
Pela palavra do Senhor foram feitos os céus. Tudo foi criado por Ele e para Ele — o visível e o invisível.
By the word of the Lord were the heavens made,
And all their host by the breath of His mouth. [Gen 1:1-3; Job 38:4-11; Heb 11:3; 2 Pet 3:5]
Before the mountains were born
Or before You had given birth to the earth and the world,
Even from everlasting to everlasting, You are [the eternal] God.
O come, let us worship and bow down,
Let us kneel before the Lord our Maker [in reverent praise and prayer].
I will lift up my eyes to the hills [of Jerusalem]—
From where shall my help come? [Jer 3:23]
My help comes from the Lord,
Who made heaven and earth.
Our help is in the name of the Lord,
Who made heaven and earth.
This [day in which God has saved me] is the day which the Lord has made;
Let us rejoice and be glad in it.
For You formed my innermost parts;
You knit me [together] in my mother’s womb.
I will give thanks and praise to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
Wonderful are Your works,
And my soul knows it very well.
Criador e Sustentador
O Deus eterno não se cansa nem se fatiga. Dele, por Ele e para Ele são todas as coisas — a Ele seja a glória.
Do you not know? Have you not heard?
The Everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth
Does not become tired or grow weary;
There is no searching of His understanding.
"Woe (judgment is coming) to him who quarrels with his Maker—
A [worthless] piece of broken pottery among other broken pieces [equally worthless]!
Shall the clay say to the potter, ‘What are you doing?’
Or does the thing say, ‘He has no hands’? [Rom 9:20]
‘Ah Lord God! Behold, You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and by Your outstretched arm! There is nothing too difficult or too wonderful for You—
It is He who builds His upper chambers in the heavens
And has established His vaulted dome (the firmament of heaven) over the earth,
He who calls to the waters of the sea
And pours them out on the face of the earth—
The Lord is His name.
For from Him [all things originate] and through Him [all things live and exist] and to Him are all things [directed]. To Him be glory and honor forever! Amen.
For ever since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through His workmanship [all His creation, the wonderful things that He has made], so that they [who fail to believe and trust in Him] are without excuse and without defense. [Ps 19:1-4; Eph 2:10]
For [even the whole] creation [all nature] waits eagerly for the children of God to be revealed.
Nova criação
Se alguém está em Cristo, nova criatura é. O Criador faz novas todas as coisas — na natureza e na redenção.
Therefore if anyone is in Christ [that is, grafted in, joined to Him by faith in Him as Savior], he is a new creature [reborn and renewed by the Holy Spirit]; the old things [the previous moral and spiritual condition] have passed away. Behold, new things have come [because spiritual awakening brings a new life].
For we are His workmanship [His own master work, a work of art], created in Christ Jesus [reborn from above—spiritually transformed, renewed, ready to be used] for good works, which God prepared [for us] beforehand [taking paths which He set], so that we would walk in them [living the good life which He prearranged and made ready for us]. [Rom 1:20]
It was of His own will that He gave us birth [as His children] by the word of truth, so that we would be a kind of first fruits of His creatures [a prime example of what He created to be set apart to Himself—sanctified, made holy for His divine purposes].
For every house is built by someone, but the builder of all things is God.
For in Him we live and move and exist [that is, in Him we actually have our being], as even some of your own poets have said, ‘For we also are His children.’
And I heard every created thing that is in heaven or on earth or under the earth [in Hades, the realm of the dead] or on the sea, and everything that is in them, saying [together],
"To Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb (Christ), be blessing and honor and glory and dominion forever and ever." [Dan 7:13, 14]