Genesis 2:4-25
“The Wonderful Things God Made” (A short message that was part of an interactive intergenerational service for Creation Sunday.)
Well, that was fun, being God in the Bible story. I got to imagine myself forming a human being out of the dust of the ground, and then making all the plants and animals and creatures of the world. I don’t think I would have the imagination to come up with all the different things that God made.
Of course, we know that God made cats and dogs and mice and maple trees and salmon and blue jays, and lots of other things that are pretty nice. But God also made some very strange and wonderful plants and animals. For example…
Axolotl: A smiling salamander that never grows up! It keeps its feathery gills, lives underwater its whole life, and looks like it’s always happy. Why it’s fun: It reminds us that God makes creatures in all kinds of shapes and stages.
Baobab Tree: A giant tree from Africa that kinda looks like it’s upside‑down— its branches look like roots reaching into the sky. Why it’s fun: It shows that God’s imagination can turn things upside‑down and still make them beautiful.
Leafy Sea Dragon: A sea creature that looks exactly like floating seaweed. It has tiny fins that are almost invisible. Why it’s fun: It reminds us that God gives some animals amazing camouflage to stay safe.
Shoebill Stork:A huge bird with a giant shoe‑shaped beak. It looks like a mix between a dinosaur and a cartoon character. Why it’s fun: It shows that God’s creatures can be both majestic and silly at the same time.
But did you notice what God made first in the story? God made a human person, which makes me think that God thought the person would be quite important. Or maybe it’s just because a person wrote the story about all the things that God made, and people tend to think that we’re the most important.
In the first Creation story that we didn’t read today, God made the people last actually. But God said that the people were quite special because God made us in God’s own image and likeness.
The Bible doesn’t really say what that means to be made in God’s image. We don’t LOOK like God because God is invisible and we are not. But perhaps we can THINK deeply like God does. And maybe we can learn to LOVE like God does.
And today’s story makes me think that perhaps being made in God’s image means that we can be CREATIVE like God is. Did you notice how God gave the person the job of naming all the creatures God made? That would have taken a lot of creativity, wouldn’t it?
And maybe the most important way that human beings are LIKE God is that we have RESPONSIBILITY to look after Creation. God made a beautiful garden for us to live in, and God said, “People: Your job is to take care of this garden.”
Have we done well with that job that God gave to us? Not always. But here’s an example of some kids taking seriously the job that God gave them:
At St. James Church in Toronto, some of the kids and youth noticed something that made them sad. Behind their church was a ravine—a place with trees, birds, and a little stream. It used to be beautiful. But over time, people had dropped garbage there. Plastic bags were stuck in branches. Cans and bottles were scattered in the grass. Even the stream looked tired.
One Sunday, the kids said, “This is God’s creation. We should help take care of it.” So they formed a group and gave themselves a name: The Eco‑Warriors.They put on gloves, grabbed bags and buckets, and headed into the ravine. They picked up trash. They sorted recycling.
They laughed and worked together. And every time they found something strange—like a rubber duck or a broken umbrella—they held it up and said, “Why would someone leave this here?”
Soon, grown‑ups joined them. The church helped buy more supplies. Neighbours walking by stopped to say thank you. And the ravine began to look alive again.
Then the Eco‑Warriors did something even more amazing. They planted flowers that bees and butterflies love. They made posters to teach people about caring for creation. They even asked their church to use fewer plastic cups and bags—and the church listened.
By the end of the year, the ravine was cleaner, brighter, and full of birds again. And the kids said, “We didn’t just clean a ravine. We helped God’s creation.”
I wonder if you noticed in the Bible story today that God didn’t stop after making just one human person. God knew that one human person alone wouldn’t be good. How could one person look after the whole garden? How could one person tend and care for God’s Creation all alone? And God knew that the human person would be lonely too.
So God made another human person to be a partner with the first one. God makes us human beings to love one another, and to enjoy being together in families and communities, and to work together to care for God’s Creation.