For the Christian, this comforting premise is deepened by the image of creation as the cooperative work of a relational, Trinitarian God. The account of creation in the Gospel of John runs parallel to the creation accounts of the book of Genesis, except that John makes it clear that the Father was not acting alone. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people” (John 1:1-4). Paul similarly describes the Son’s involvement in creation to the Colossians, referring to Jesus Christ as “the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation; for in him all things in heaven and on earth were created, things visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or powers--all things have been created through him and for him. He himself is before all things, and in him all things hold together” (Colossians 1:15-17).

The New Testament writers unapologetically affirm the Old Testament understanding of our total dependence upon the maker of heaven earth. But they add to this affirmation the admission that all creation--from the beginning until now--is further seen through the light of Jesus Christ. Christ is the Word of God, existing with God at the beginning. He is the one who called forth the heavens, the one who holds all things together, the one who sustains the universe by his word even now. Here also, like the Son, the Spirit is affirmed in Scripture as present at the beginning and sustaining of all creation: “By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, and all their host by the breath of his mouth” (Psalm 33:6). Scripture clearly illumines the relational work of God from the very beginning, affirming that the work of creation is the creative work of a divine relationship. In the words of Jürgen Moltmann: “Creation exists in the Spirit, is molded by the Son, and is created by the Father. It is therefore from God, through God, and in God.”(1)

In this image of the fullness of life in the Trinity, creation is affirmed not as emerging from any lack in God, but from God’s abundance. It is for this reason that creation is affirmed as good throughout Scripture. For the work of creation comes at the hands of a good, imaginative, and relational creator. After each command that beauty and order come forth out of nothing, God declares that it is good--indeed, that creation in this way bears the image of its creator. This is why Augustine argued that there is a trace of the Trinity in every creature. The outpouring of Trinitarian abundance into the work of all created things shows God’s covenantal relationship with all creation. From the very beginning, Father, Son, and Spirit have bound themselves to the world. God has freely and purposely created the world out of this loving abundance of the Trinity. Leaving this mark, making humanity in their image, God shows the covenantal relationship a loving creator not only intended for the world but continues to work to restore.

This is indeed a comforting premise. The goodness of God can be seen in the daily activities of an immense and amazing world. Into this good picture of God’s creation, we are called to participate, to “taste and see that the Lord is good,” to glorify God as maker of heaven and earth, and join in the fellowship of a creative Trinity. Today and from the beginning, we are neither alone nor without purpose. We were made and we are being remade by the Father, the Son, and the Spirit, the maker of heaven and earth.

Jill Carattini is managing editor of A Slice of Infinity at Ravi Zacharias International Ministries in Atlanta, Georgia.