FOREWORD

Holy Scripture and the great hymns of the church are filled with verses praising God for His loving creation of man and earth. For the hands that formed the world and molded Adam from its dust also gave us a reverence for its beauty and a desire to praise Him who made it.

Thus linked by a common origin, we feel a kinship with nature that increases our awareness and understanding of God. As a masterpiece opens a window into the mind of the artist who made it, so the universe reveals much about its Creator. Indeed, so clearly is God displayed in nature that if all Scripture were lost, we could still know something of His character by carefully studying the works of His hands. From its tiniest details to its most majestic vistas, the whole earth points us to the sovereign God of the Bible.

Yet the splendor of the earth is only part of God’s creation, and to view it by itself is to see it dimly. For mirroring the perfect world of God is the perfect Word of God, which reveals the perfect love of God in Christ, who is the true foundation of all things. Hence, by the brilliant light of His Word, God has graciously illuminated His creation so that all may see and know and enjoy Him in it.

As a landscape photographer I am blessed to work in “nature’s gallery,” where the art of God is on permanent display. There I have enjoyed many worshipful hours contemplating the splendor and purpose of His creation and the words of Isaiah 6:3: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of His glory” (niv).

The Art of God was born in the spirit of that worship—to share my joy in experiencing the world He has made, to encourage us to see and glorify Him in it, and to faithfully obey His mandate to care for it.