God at Work

In the beginning God created...

The Bible begins with these famous words. God, like an artist, fashioned a universe. How can we grasp the grandeur of this?

Michelangelo, perhaps the greatest artist in history, may help us to understand. He painted Rome's famous Sistine Chapel to retell Genesis' story of creation. His experience proves one thing: creativity is work.

An Exhausting Effort
Michelangelo had 6,000 square feet of ceiling to cover - the size of four average house roofs. Anyone who as painted a ceiling with a paint roller has caught a hint of the physical difficulty of such task. But Michelangelo's plan called for 300 separate, detailed portraits of men and women. For more than three years the 5'4" artist devoted all his labors to the exhausting strain of painting the vast overhead space with his tiny brushes.


Sometimes he painted standing on a huge scaffold, a paintbrush high over his head. Sometimes he sat, his nose inches from the ceiling. Sometimes he painted while lying on his back. His back, shoulders, neck and arms cramped painfully.
In the long days of summer, he had light to paint 17 hours a day, taking food and a chamber pot with him on the 60-foot scaffold. For 30 days at a stretch he slept in his clothes, not even taking off his boots. Paint dribbled into his eyes so he could barely see. Freezing in the winter, sweating in the summer, he painted until at last the ceiling looked like a ceiling no more. He had transformed it into the creation drama, with creatures so real they seemed to breathe. Never before of since have paint and plaster been so changed.


The Miracle of Life
But, as Michelangelo knew very well, his work was a poor, dim image of what God had created. Over the plaster vault of the Sistine Chapel rose the immense dome of God's sky, breathtaking in its simple beauty. Mountains, seas, the continents - all these, and much more, are the creative work of God, the Master Artist.
God's world, so much bigger and more beautiful than Michelangelo's masterpiece, is the product of incomparably greater energy. As author Eugene Peterson has written, "The Bible begins with the announcement, 'In the beginning God created,' not 'sat majestic in the heavens' and not 'was filled with beauty and love.' He created. He did something. "

In the beginning, God went to work...

(Introduction to the Book of Genesis, which I committed to study again)

Painter of Light

I went to Placerville, California several years ago and while I was strolling down the streets, going in and out of stores, I came across this painting gallery. Something about the name of the artist that rang the bell in my mind. I watched an interview in TBN while I was in Jakarta about this unique and talented man.




The Artist
Thomas Kinkade is America's most collected living artist. Coming from a modest background, Kinkade emphasizes simple pleasures and inspirational messages through his paintings. As a devout Christian, Kinkade uses his gift as a vehicle to communicate and spread inherent life-affirming values.

It was while growing up in the small town of Placerville, California that these important values were nurtured. It was also during this time that Kinkade began to explore the world around him. He spent a summer on a sketching tour with a college friend, producing the best-selling instructional book, The Artist's Guide to Sketching. The success of the book landed the two young artists at Ralph Bakshi Studios to create background art for the animated feature film Fire and Ice. It was also during this time that Kinkade began to explore light and imaginative worlds with abandon.

After the film, Kinkade earned his living as a painter, selling his originals in galleries throughout California. In 1982, he married his childhood sweetheart, Nanette, and two years later they began to publish his art.

Painter of Light
During my visit to his gallery in Placerville, I noticed one thing. There were light switch near most of those paintings. The guide in that gallery showed me how to switch on the lights and played with the different brightness and saw how those lights effected the paintings. It was interesting.
During the interview in TBN, Paul Crauch asked Mr Kinkade of how he would want to be known. Mr. Kinkaid said that he want to be known as The Painter of Light.



How interesting to hear that. I am amazed of the unique talent of this man who could put lights in all his paintings capturing the best colors nature can offer.

Yet, to think of Thomas Kinkaid, The Painter of Light, I can't help to wonder in amazement of The Great Artist, The Master Painter, Who does His paintings and stroke His brushes, applying the beautiful colors by the words of His mouth. God has in his painting studio, all kinds of brushes...big and small. The way He strokes is always gently and loving.

When I look at the night sky and see the work of your fingers—
the moon and the stars you set in place—

Psalm 8:3

See, God is busy with His brushes... putting all kinds of 'lights' the the painting He's creating.


And as He said, I know the plan I have for you... plan of peace...to give you hope and a future...

Yes, like Mr Kinkade, God my Great Painter has a finished painting in mind of my life... He strokes His bright colors to bring light in my dark and gloomy days. With Him by my side, all my days are full, warm and bright...