God created the world out of love 06 God created the world out of love

Compendium of the Catechism 54. How did God create the universe? 295-301 317-320 God created the universe freely with wisdom and love. The world is not the result of any necessity, nor of blind fate, nor of chance. God created “out of nothing” (ex nihilo) (2 Maccabees 7:28) a world which is ordered and good and which he infinitely transcends. God preserves his creation in being and sustains it, giving it the capacity to act and leading it toward its fulfillment through his Son and the Holy Spirit.

Introduction In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (Gen 1:1) God created everything out of nothing. Everything was created out of love. And God, with His laws, takes care of everything He created God wants men to cooperate with His work. The Bible says that man was created to work, and to rule with his work over creation. “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (Gen 1,1) This is how the Bible begins, and the first chapter describes the way God created the world. God, without any materials or instruments, created heaven and earth, animals, plants… and finally man. God created everything out of nothing. Everything was created out of love: small things like insects, and big things like the sun, the moon, the planetary systems, the whole universe. The most perfect visible creature is man. And God, with His laws, takes care of everything He created. Besides, God wants men to cooperate with His work. Human work is so significant that the Bible says that man was created to work, and to rule with his work over creation, following God’s design. In this lesson we shall see what it means that God created heaven and earth the way we profess it in the Creed: “I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth”.

Main ideas

1. God is eternal Only God is really eternal, that is, God has no beginning and no end. In God there is no past nor future, only present. God wanted to communicate his perfections to other beings, so He created the world, with a special regard to man, whom He created in His image and likeness. Only God is really eternal, that is, God has no beginning and no end. In God there is no past nor future, only present. There was a moment when there was only God. But God wanted to communicate his perfections to other beings, so He created the world, with a special regard to man, whom He created in His image and likeness. God thought about all of us way before He created us. We had no existence and He already loved us. And since God loves men He prepared for us a world full of wonderful things, like the oceans, the mountains, animals, plants, etc.

2. God created the world out of nothing God created all things just willing, and He created them out of nothing. There was nothing before God created things. Man needs time and effort to make things, but God created all things just willing, and He created them out of nothing. There was nothing before God created things. MICHELANGELO Buonarroti Creation of the sun and the moon 1509-10 Fresco Cappella Sistina, Vatican

3. To create is not the same as to make or manufacture things To create means to bring into existence, out of nothing, something that did not exist before. Man cannot create: only God can. We say that God created the world, but we do not say that God manufactured the world. To create the world implies that when creation began there was nothing, only God who wished things to exist and created them. Therefore, to create means to bring into existence, out of nothing, something that did not exist before. Man cannot create; he can only modify things, for example, the course of a river; and he can also build a house or an automobile by assembling existing parts. LARGILLIÈRE, Nicolas de Study of Hands c. 1715 Oil on canvas, 65 x 52 cm Musée du Louvre, Paris

4. God created for His glory and out of love The world is a manifestation of God’s perfection, a reflection of what God is: we can say that the universe sings God’s glory. God wanted man to rule over material creatures, which God created thinking of man, and put them into our hands. When we see a work of art, like a cathedral, we admire the talent of those who built it. When we see the magnificence of the universe, the perfection of such small things as a bird or an insect, we admire God who created them. The world is a manifestation of God’s perfection, a reflection of what God is: we can say that the universe sings God’s glory. Man should join this song, not only because man is the most perfect visible creature, but also because God wanted man to rule over material creatures, which God created thinking of man, and put them into our hands. MICHELANGELO Buonarroti Creation of Eve 1509-10 Fresco, 170 x 260 cm Cappella Sistina, Vatican

5. Work and ruling the earth God chose to have man ruling over creation transforming things as a product of his work. In the same way as God created only good things and out of love for man, man has to work well and out of love for God. God could have created things like chairs, desks and power stations just the way they exist nowadays, but He chose to have man ruling over creation transforming things as a product of his work. Man collaborates with God with his work. In the same way as God created only good things and out of love for man, man has to work well and out of love for God. But trying to do it that way requires effort and offering the work to God. BRUEGEL, Pieter the Elder The Corn Harvest 1565 Oil on wood, 118.1 x 160.7 cm Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

6. God maintains and governs the world Without the providence of God things would disappear and return to nothing. God governs the world with laws He has imprinted them in nature, while respecting the freedom He has given to men as one of His great gifts. In order to make things last, we have to take care of them doing repairs, oiling machines, preserving things from cold or heat, etc; otherwise those things are not useful anymore. We can imagine what it must be the maintenance of the universe, because without God things would disappear and return to nothing. God governs the world with laws He has imprinted them in nature, while respecting the freedom He has given to men as one of His great gifts.

7. To offer our daily work and to show gratitude to God At the beginning of each day we should offer to God what we are going to do. We could use a prayer like the following: "I adore you my God and I love You with all my heart. I give you thanks for having created me, for having made me a Christian and guarded me this night. I offer you all my works and I ask you to prevent me from committing any sin and to free me from every evil. Amen". At the beginning of each day we should offer to God what we are going to do. We could use a prayer like the following. “I adore you my God and I love You with all my heart. I give you thanks for having created me, for having made me a Christian and guarded me this night. I offer you all my works and I ask you to prevent me from committing any sin and to free me from every evil. Amen.” We Christians, to behave as such, pray before and after meals. We could use a prayer like the following. “Bless us oh Lord and these your gifts, which we are going to receive from Your bounty, through Christ our Lord”. And after the meal, we could pray: “We give You thanks, Almighty God, for all the benefits we have received from Your goodness, through Christ our Lord”. But our thanks should extend to our whole life, because life is a gift of God.

8. Trust God Knowing God’s providence over everything and everyone of us, should lead us to put our confidence in Him, as the source of our peace, safety and joy. Knowing God’s providence over everything and everyone of us, should lead us to put our confidence in Him, as the source of our peace, safety and joy.

Resolutions for Christian life

Resolutions to move forward To do the morning offering when getting up everyday. Oh my Jesus, I offer you my prayers, works, joys and sufferings for this day. For all the intentions of Your Sacred Heart, in union with the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, being offered throughout the world, in reparation for my sins, for the intentions of my family and friends, and in particular for the intention of the Holy Father. To get used offering to God your study and your work, and doing them as good as possible.