The First Article.
God Has Made Me And Still Preserves Me.
Which is the First Article of the Creed?
_I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth._
What does this mean?
_I believe that God has made me and all creatures, that He has given me
my body and soul, eyes, ears, and all my members, my reason and all my
senses, and still preserves them._
1. God is the Maker of heaven and earth. I believe that God made all
creatures, all things in heaven and earth. He also created _man._ About
the creation of man we read in the Holy Scriptures: _"And God said, Let
us make man in Our image, after Our likeness, and let them have dominion
over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the
cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that
creepeth upon the earth. So God created man in His own image, in the
image of God, created He him; male and female created He them. And God
blessed them; and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and
replenish the earth, and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of
the sea and over the fowl of the air and over every living thing that
moveth upon the earth."_ Gen. 1,26-28. _"And the Lord God formed man of
the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of
life; and man became a living soul."_ Gen. 2,7. There is a _great
difference_ between the creation of man and the creation of all other
visible things. God, so to say, took especial care about this last of
all His wonderful works. He did not merely say: Let there be a man, but
God the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, as it were, _deliberated_ and
_planned_ beforehand how to make man. God then formed man, that is, his
body, _out of the dust of the ground,_ and _breathed the breath of
life,_ his soul, into his nostrils, his nose, and so man became a living
soul.--And what is more, God created man _in His own image, after His
likeness._ As God is Lord and Master over all things and governs them,
so He gave to man the power to govern all things on earth; He gave him
_dominion_ over all the creatures on earth, to be Lord over this world.
God made man in His own image. Adam and Eve were created _holy, without
any blemish and sin._ They _knew_ and _loved God,_ their Creator, and
lived according to His holy will. Truly, man is the _foremost of all of
God's visible creatures._ God has made all men; therefore I confess, He
made _me._
2. _"I believe,"_ I know it to be true from the Word of God, _"that God
made me." He has made me by giving me body and soul._ True, God did not
make me as He made Adam, by forming my body out of the dust and
breathing the breath of life into my nostrils. He made me by giving me
body and soul through my parents. Nevertheless it is true that God has
made me, that my body and my soul are _the gift of God,_ my heavenly
Father. I confess: _"The Spirit of God hath made me, and the breath of
the Almighty hath given me life."_ Job 33,4.
3. How wonderfully did God make me! _"He has given me my body and soul,
eyes, ears, and all my members, my reason and all my senses."_ Consider
how beautifully and wonderfully God made your body. He gave you _eyes_
and _ears._ You can _see_ and _hear;_ you can see all the great works of
Go, the sun, the moon, and the stars, all the animals and plants, the
mighty mountains and the vast seas. You can see your fellow-men, your
friends and parents, and hear their voices, hear their words that
instruct and console you. You ca read your Bible and hear the preaching
of God's Word. He gave you not only eyes and ears, but _all the members
of your body_--your mouth so that you are able to talk to your friends
and parents and make known your needs and wishes; your feet and hands
for your work.--We are wonderfully made. God has given you a _soul,_
and He has endowed it with _reason,_ and has given you _all your
senses._ You are able to _think_ about the great work of God that
surround you, to try to understand what they are and for what purpose
God created them, You are able to understand all that God tells you in
His Word about Himself, His will, and His grace, and thus to know Him.
You are able to _feel_ His goodness, His fatherly love and mercy. Surely
we must say: _"I will praise Thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully
made. Marvelous are Thy works, and that my soul knoweth right well."_
Ps. 139,14.
4. _"I believe that God has given me my body and soul, eyes, ears, and
all my members, my reason and all my senses, and still preserves them."_
Every Christian confesses: God, my Father, _preserves_ me, my life, my
body and soul, all that I am. God has not made us and given us His great
gifts and then left it to us how to preserve and keep them. This we
could never do. He is not like a builder who, having finished a house,
leaves it and lets others take care of it in the future. _"He is not far
from every one of us; for in Him we live and move and have our
being."_ Acts 17, 27.28. He will preserve us, and He alone, our Almighty
Father, can do it. He has preserved me until this day. The fact that I
am still enjoying life, that I still have body and soul with all their
precious gifts, that I still can see and hear and have the use of my
members, that I still have the gift of reason and the use of my senses,
all this is not my work, not due to my prudence, or the care of my
parents, or the skill of a physician, _but it is God's work and gift
alone. "He upholds all things by the word of His power."_ Heb. 1,3. And
I believe that God, my Father, will also in future preserve me, His
child, until the hour of death, and that He will then for Christ's sake
take me up to heaven, body and soul, and there preserve me forever.