God spoke and universe to take shape. Plants, animals, sky, sun, moon, planets, solar systems, even light itself, all at the utterance of a few syllables. Not only did His voice create all things, but His voice created all things good. This was not by our standard for good, as in ‘not quite great’. God’s version of good speaks to the life-giving and life-changing potential of all the things He has created. This is the kind of creative power His voice has.

Just imagine then the kind of incredible creative work that can be done in and through our lives when we tune our ears to that voice. The apostle Paul says, “if the Spirit of him who raised Christ from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you.” (Romans 8:11) In a similar way, I believe that the same voice that created the entire universe lives in us, and this voice calls us forth to join Him in creating opportunities for His light to shine in and through our lives.

This is God’s call to each and every one of His children; to join Him in the process of creation that continues to this day. The same voice that created the sun calls to us to let our light shine as well.

Let’s be clear about one thing: the artist who has “figured it out” or “gotten it right” is no artist at all. He’s a bum. “Figuring it out” and “getting it right” is for standardized tests. Good art is anything but standard. Good art is anything but average. Good art is an honest expression of the soul of its creator. As our soul continues to deepen and develop over time, so does our art. You never get art right. You never figure out art, because art is never finished.

It is only when we let go of “right” that we begin to discover not only our best work, but our best self.

This is why I prefer faith over ‘religion’. Religion is about doing right and reaching some moral standard. When in fact, the Bible teaches that no matter how “right” we are, we will never be able to live up to God’s standard for righteousness. That’s why the Bible also speaks so frequently about the power of faith. Faith is not about getting it right, it’s about creating, discovering, and sharing what’s good. 

God described all His creation not as right, but as good. Our job then, as bearers of His divine image, is to at times discard what the world says is “right” in order to discover and create what is truly good.

At the top of the scriptural narrative, we watch as God creates everything by speaking it into being, everything, except for His crowning achievement, his masterpiece. Us. Up until this point, everything has been made simply with words using the language “Let there be.” When God creates man however, the language changes to, “Let us make.” Not only does the language change, but the scriptures actually outline an entirely different “making” process for when God created man. 

So how did God make Adam? Genesis 2:7 says that “the Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.”

There are two parts to the creation of God’s masterpiece. The first we’ll call formation. This is the physical putting together of parts, the logistics. An artist might call this technique. Technique is important. Technique separates an artist from a first grader who can’t control his Legos. You might be having all the fun in the world, but if your art makes no sense and is not helpful to anyone but you, no one will care.

The second part to this process is breath, as in the transfer of life. In God’s case this was a literal transaction. In our case, this is the infusion of inspiration, passion, and energy into our creative work. Breath is what separates the architect and the part time construction worker. The construction worker is heavily involved in the formation of the building, but she is not an artist and she has no desire to be. She simply wants to follow the instructions, build the thing, get paid, and go home. The architect, through his design and emotional investment in the project, brings life to the piece.

Without technique, there is no form. Without breath, there is no life. Without both parts working together, there is no art. Art that’s missing either on of these parts ceases to be art at all. It’s either a lifeless building, or a mess of Legos. On the other hand, you can live in the tension between technique and breath long enough to finish your project, you might just create a masterpiece.