The Pulpit Commentary — Hebrews — Section 328

universe is neither self-originated nor the product of chance. On this point Arch bi~bnp Tillotson forcibly observes, "How often might a m;in, after he had iumbled a set of letters in 11. bag, fling them out upon the gronnd before they would fall into an exact poem? How long might one sprinkle colourd upon canvas, with a careless band, before they. would make the exact picture of a. man ? How long might twenty tboueand blmd men, who should be sent out from the remote parts of En~Jand, wander up and down before they would all meet on Salisbury plain, and fall into rank and file, in the exact order of an army? And yet this is much more easy to be imagined, than how the innumerable blind parts of matter should rendezvous them- selves into a. world." 3. The universe was absolutely created by God. He not only formed and arranged its materials into order and beauty, but he created the materials themselves. As to the alleged impos~ibility or dilliculty of creation in this absolute sense, Cudworth has well said," It may well be thought as easy for God, or an omnip,,- tent Being, to make a. whole world, matter and all, i~ obrc tf11n,11, as it is for 118 to create a thought or to mpve a. finger, or for the sun to send out rays, or a. candle light, or, lastly, for an opaque body, to produce an image of itself in a. glass of water, or to project a shadow; all these imperfect things being but the energies, rays, images, or shadows, of the Deity. l!'or a substance to be made out of nothing by God, or a. Being infinitely perfect, is not for it to be made out of nothing in the impossible sense, because it comes from him who is all.'' II. 'l'HE VAST EXTENT OF THE CREATION. "The worlds were framed by the word of God." Not simply our world, but all worlds. It is stated that in our sky there are one hundred millions of stars visible by the aid of a telescope, each of which is the centre of a cluster of tributary stars, making together "a l!reat multitude which no man can number.'' All these worlds were created by the Almighty. And the pro- bably far more numerous host of worlds as yet undiscovered by man he created.. How amazing is the extent to which the creative energy of God has been exercised! III. 'fHE BEAUTIF!JL ORDER OF THE CREATION. "The worlds were framed, n or arranged, or adjusted by the word of God. How perfect are the relations of the worlds to each other I Carlyle says, "A star is beautiful. . . . It bas repose; no force dis- turbs its eternal peace. It has freedom; no obstruction lies between it and infinity." May we not say this of all stars? How beautifully and beneficently are all things framed and ordered in our world! The earth upon which we tread, and from which we derive our subsistence, has been fashioned in infinite wisdom a.nd goodness to the natures and necessities of the creatures which dwell upon it. In its structure it is not only useful but beautiful. It ministers to the needs of both our physical and our spiritual natures. It stimulates thought; it awakens admiration, etc. IV. 'l'BE DIVINE INSTRUMENT OF CREATION. "The worlds were framed by the word of God." "God said, Let there be light; and there was light." "By the word of tbe Lord were the heavens made," etc. "He spake, nnd it was done," etc. This mode of expression is suggestive of the ease with which creation was effected. There was no painful effort in the production of the universe; no struggle to overcome difficulties in framing the countless hosts of worlds. God has but to utter his command, and that command at once becomes an embodied and beautiful reality. The continuous activities and developments of nature illustrate and confirm the fact that the creative acts of God are accomplished with sublime ease. All the forees of nature work without friction, with regularity and order, with highest efficiency and deepest repose. Now, these truths concerning God and bis creation are not the discoveries of human reason, but the disclosures of Divine revelation. F. W. Robertson says, "Man may tell us of the development [of the world from the theistical or 11tbeist.ical point of view, but the simplest antl most religious way is to look at this world a.s the expression of the will of God. It is sufficient if we feel that the light reveals to us something of the will of the Eternal; enough if the beauty of nature can speak to us of the mind of Go<l ; if the blue heaven above and the green earth below tell of our Father's home; if day ancl niuht, liubt nnd darkness 1 are symbols of the word God bas spoken out of himself in the cr:ation°of the world." And these nspects of the visible universe we apprehend by faith. We credit the Scripture testimony," In the beginning God created the heaven nud the earth.'' Thus " by faith we unJ~rstaud that the worlds were framed by the word of God," etc.-W. J,  320 THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS. [err. xr. 1-40,