Genesis 1:1-31
God Creates the Heavens and the Earth
1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
2 Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.
3 And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light. 4 God saw that the light was good, and He separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light "day," and the darkness he called "night." And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.
6 And God said, "Let there be an expanse between the waters to separate water from water." 7 So God made the expanse and separated the water under the expanse from the water above it. And it was so. 8 God called the expanse "sky." And there was evening, and there was morning—the second day.
9 And God said, "Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear." And it was so. 10 God called the dry ground "land," and the gathered waters he called "seas." And God saw that it was good.
11 Then God said, "Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds." And it was so. 12 The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. 13 And there was evening, and there was morning—the third day.
14 And God said, "Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark seasons and days and years, 15 and let them be lights in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth." And it was so. 16 God made two great lights—the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars. 17 God set them in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth, 18 to govern the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that it was good. 19 And there was evening, and there was morning—the fourth day.
20 And God said, "Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the sky." 21 So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living and moving thing with which the water teems, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 22 God blessed them and said, "Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the water in the seas, and let the birds increase on the earth." 23 And there was evening, and there was morning—the fifth day.
24 And God said, "Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: livestock, creatures that move along the ground, and wild animals, each according to its kind." And it was so. 25 God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.
26 Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground."
27 So God created man in his own image,
in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them.
28 God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground."
29 Then God said, "I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. 30 And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds of the air and all the creatures that move on the ground—everything that has the breath of life in it—I give every green plant for food." And it was so.
31 God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day.
Matthew 6:28-30
God and Nature
28 See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith?
Romans 1:20-21
Divine Nature
20 For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.
21 For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened.
God created the heavens and the earth and Mother Nature...The nature and beauty of the world was seen by God -and He saw all that He had made, and He stated that it was very good...I can easily believe that the beauty of the Garden of Eden was spectacular, with all the flowers, the blossoms, the trees, and all the colors -it would have been Paradise...Nature today is still beautiful....Jesus said that even the splendor and beauty of the lilies of the field could not be passed by even the colors of Solomon's wardrobe...How God clothes Mother Nature is grand, as we look at the oceans, the skies, the sun, and what it all around us...The design of the plants, the animals, and the very nature of earth -speak volumes about our LORD...
Four other intelligent men believe in both God and saw that God was in nature...C. S. Lewis said "I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen: not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else."...Galileo said that "God wrote the book of nature in the form of the language of mathematics...He was convinced that God has given us two books: the book of Sacred Scripture and the Book of Nature...And the language of nature - this was his conviction - is mathematics, so it is a language of God, a language of the Creator."...St. Paul even calls the Divine Nature that God created an invisible qualities that speaks of God and His eternal power -and that men can believe in Him because of these beautiful things around us...And our Greatest Teacher of all mentions the simple, yet magnificent beauty of the lilies of the fields...
These men had their own ideas how God relates to nature...Nature helped Lewis see God in a better view...It helped him see everything else that God created and does...Galileo tells us that Nature is a Book, God's Second Book...In nature and its design, its symmetry, and its laws brings us physics - interlaced with the language of mathematics...By God creating Nature it shows us another side of God, a Father that likes science -and is not against science...An nature is being more revealed to us by science, each year...St. Paul, in a sense, is telling us we that cannot ignore Mother Nature, while studying God, believing in Him, and reading our Bibles...He created all these things...If we neglect this Book of Nature that Galileo speaks of we neglect a part of God...And Jesus knew if God spent such a great amount of detail in working with nature, how much more energy and involvement did He spend with the creation of man and women...
No doubt our Father likes the colors of nature that He created...The greens, the blues, the whites, the yellows, the reds, and all the other colors we get to see in nature...Genesis teaches us that God hands were completely involved in creating nature...Nature speaks of God...And God sees that Nature (as well as the other things He created) is good...Nature gives us an extravagant beauty that we see each day...We take a walk, drive through a place during a beautiful autumn weekend, smell some roses, trim a symmetrical tree -we and can sense a glimpse of God in these things...We enjoy a slice of Him and His glory in the Nature, the Second Book that He wrote...