Abundance, Variety and Order

Technology and innovation are remarkable. But they are nothing in comparison to the things designed by God. He has created a world filled with extravagant abundance, variety and order. Have you ever stopped to ponder, as you cleaned the seeds from a pumpkin, how many pumpkins might be produced from that single one? And how many such seed-producing pumpkins might grow on a single vine? The same principle holds true for wheat, and apples, and blueberries.

And did you ever wonder why God did not just create one type of everything—one type of tree, or even one type of apple? Why should there be endless types of things—of fruits or flies? And isn’t it remarkable that God’s design should not be diminished, but in fact enhanced, the more closely a thing is examined? One could spend a lifetime studying the properties of leaves, or roots or cells (those endless arrays of engines, neatly arranged and delicately sustaining all living things).

That God is a God of order is seen everywhere. Precision and pattern are strands woven into all His works. The curve of a seashell is mirrored in a flower. The same mathematical formula operates in the curve of fingerprints, hurricanes, and galaxies. And yet within these ordered principles lie the vast abundance, variety, and uniqueness of every created thing.

Look! And look again! For therein may be seen some wonderful quality of God.

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 men are without excuse. (Romans 1:20 NIV)