Out of the ground the LORD God made every tree grow that is pleasant to the sight… Genesis 2:9

As the supreme artist, God filled the world with masterpieces that reflect His beauty and glory—fiery gemstones, delicate flowers, spectacular panoramas, and stirring melodies. The universe itself is an architectural wonder, with its solid foundation, mighty mountain pillars, and vaulted ceiling attesting to the wisdom and immovability of its builder.

Of all God’s earthly creatures, only Adam and Eve and their descendants had the ability to appreciate the art and architecture of God. With God’s beauty and wisdom as their standard and God’s Spirit as their Guide, they too would create art. Through music, metalwork, carving, engraving, painting, weaving, dancing, drama, and literature, they would reflect the beauty they saw in God and His creation. They would also imitate God as they built houses and bridges, and constructed works that were firm and lasting.

Future generations would build on their legacy, creating more skilled and beautiful art, constructing new and better buildings. As artists and builders copied the true Artist and Builder, the earth would increasingly mirror the glory and permanence of heaven and mankind would increasingly reflect the beauty and wisdom of God.

Every house is built by someone, but He who built all things is God. Hebrews 3:4

Amber Palace, near Jaipur, India — Neuschwanstein Castle, Bavaria, Germany

Shooting photos for an article in National Geographic’s Traveler magazine, I was determined to reach a hard-to-find and harder-to-get-to viewpoint that overlooked Bavaria’s famous Neuschwanstein Castle. Scouting for two days, I was frustrated again and again as every promising trail led me to a dead end. Then on the third morning, I was sure I’d found the correct route, but it required me to strap my camera bag and tripod onto my back and free climb up the face of a very steep cliff. As I reached the top and pulled myself over the edge, a startled and wide-eyed German photographer exclaimed, “Where in the world did you come from?” After we shot together for a couple of hours, he then led me down a simple and well-worn path to the base of the mountain. So much for my research!

A thousand years in Your sight are like yesterday when it is past. Psalm 90:4

Pont du Gard, Provence, France — Great Wall, China — Roman Aqueduct, Segovia, Spain

The two-thousand-year-old Pont du Gard was built by the Romans to enable the aqueduct from Uzes to Nimes to cross the canyon of the Pont River in what is today southern France. At 160 feet above the ground, it is the highest bridge the Romans ever built.

Another first century Roman marvel is the ninety-two-foot high, 2,665-foot-long aqueduct in Segovia, Spain, which was built with twenty thousand interlocking granite blocks.

Begun in 220 B.C., the Great Wall extends more than four thousand miles across the landscape of northern China.