What Does the Bible Say about Creativity?

What does the Bible say about creativity? Randy Alcorn says that God gave creativity to humans before sin entered the world. When we sinned, creativity was distorted, but we still have the gift of creating in many different ways. God has left many signs in the Bible.
Creativity begins with God

The Father is creative: He designed and gave life to the whole earth, with all its features and creatures, and only after He “created man in His own image, in the image of God created He him; He created them male and female” (Genesis 1:27). He also experienced joy—for “the Lord saw all that he had made, and behold, it was very good” (verse 31).

The Bible presents many examples of people who are God’s people and who made beautiful things such as clothes and buildings or created exquisite music.
Psalm 150:4 exhorts God’s people to “praise him with timbrels and dances; Praise him with strings and reeds!” God loves worship music, joyfully performed by those who worship Him.

God designed his people to be creators: “He gave them skill to do any kind of work that an engraver or a designer or an embroiderer with blue and purple and scarlet thread and fine linen, or a weaver – by Every kind of craftsman or skilled designer has filled” (Exodus 35:35).

Painting, writing, dancing, and singing are typically things we associate with an artistic person, but carpentry, cooking, and other occupations also include art. In fact, every time a person makes something, he is creating, although it only feels creative when done in a spirit of joy.

“Do you see a man who is skilled in his work? He will stand before kings; He will not stand before unknown men” (Proverbs 22:29).

No matter what profession a believer is engaged in, he is working to the best of his ability, honestly and with a spirit of gratitude, he is working for the King and creating something, just like his heavenly Father. God was the first and best creator, but since we are created in his image, we also create.

A creative worshiper based on the Bible

Randy Alcorn points out that the first person mentioned in the Bible as a creative person, Bussalel, was neither a painter nor a harpist. “God blessed Boss Lail and called him to be a skilled worker, a master craftsman, an artist who glorifies God.

Society has put popular artists on a platform – people who write and perform popular music become secular idols for the beauty of their work. Bestselling authors may live in mansions, while famous actors attract adoring fans for their efforts.

But the Bible focuses our attention on those who not only create something beautiful, but also bring attention to the glory of God and teach others.

Randy Alcorn argues that “those who think of spirituality as something abstract and invisible—unrelated to our physical skills, creativity, and cultural development—misunderstand the Bible.”

They don’t see how many beautiful and subtle details are included in God’s instructions for building a dwelling, for example.

Buzasleel made the ark of the covenant and many other good and important features of the tabernacle, including the holy oil (Exodus 37).

Together with his assistant Ahiliab, he made “the basin of brass and its base of brass from the mirrors of the serving women who served at the entrance of the tent of meeting” (Exodus 8:38).

Examining all that Bussalel and Ahiliyab accomplished, both themselves and as supervisors of the work of others, reveals a vast inventory and a deep attention to detail. “The master designer goes into great detail in his instructions for building housing.”

Alcorn reminds us. There was no way they could do it all by themselves, but whatever they got was “according to what God had commanded Moses.”

By following these instructions, “the people of Israel had done all the work. And Moses saw all the work, and behold, they had done it. As God had commanded, they had done. Then Moses blessed them” (Exodus 39:42-43).

Alcorn reminds us that creativity is not a closed circle of closely guarded secrets held by someone with intense pride and greed in order to produce something that gives them personal glory; God-given creativity invites others to learn according to their gifts to serve joyfully in ways that please God, serve worship, and build others up. Divine creativity refers to Jesus Christ.

A legacy of faith

While for some the arts are unnecessary and, if indulged, potentially hedonistic, the arts play an important role in God’s present purposes for us.

Maybe you forget the name of an artist who wrote a song for church that you even hum in the car, or a song that has a Bible truth on it that allows you to remember a verse better, but that song has served you well. Is. You remember that song was designed to teach you something about Jesus.

“Let the word of Christ dwell in you abundantly, teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, sing hymns, psalms and spiritual hymns, sing to God with thanksgiving in your hearts” (Colossians 3:16).

This is not a small thing, but a help for spiritual nourishment. In a time when there were no printers or duplicating machines, when not everyone could read and oral transmission of information was essential, singing the Word of God helped people to memorize it.

And these songs, as Paul says, touched the heart of the listener and encouraged “thankfulness.” This is the key part of turning creativity into worship: if what we invent or build or perform is satisfying and beautiful, all credit goes to God; We thank him for the inspiration that led to our creativity.

Note also that Paul says the Word is not only imparted but is a living being – “dwelling abundantly in” a person. There is a creative force behind everything that lives, and a creative force behind educational methods that enable people to hear, learn, remember, and spread the message of hope—the Good News, which is the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Creativity gives physical form and substance to information about God’s heart, something that can be seen and heard in the actions of His followers, as well as in the buildings, paintings, and sculptures they create, and in the songs and stories they share.

After all, Joseph, Jesus’ godfather, was a carpenter, a “builder,” as Alcorn reminds us. “God is the creator. […] God created us, his own imagers, to be creative. We never stop building. “When we die, we don’t leave behind our creativity, but only what hinders our ability to glorify God through what we create.”

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