The Artist & His Creator by Kevin Farley

What is art? Art is the release of creativity through an individual. When did art begin? We have to ask ourselves when did creativity begin? The Bible clearly gives us this answer. In Genesis 1:1, " in the beginning, Got created the heavens and earth." When did the actual creativity begin? Was it when God actually created the heavens and the earth or was it when God's creative thought process began?

Creative thinking is an art in itself. Since John Chapter 1 states that the Word was with God from the beginning of time and Jesus is the Word, we know that Jesus was with God and the beginning of time. Also Revelation 1 states, "that by Him all things are created." Jesus is the most creative thinker of all time. The entire universe as created by him. Our solar system was created by Him long before any scientists ever emerged to study his ingenious physics of how all works.

He made the planets, the stars, the sun, the moon, and this beautiful planet we call the earth. No one on this planet in the history of mankind could ever come close to the creative thinking of Jesus. In 1st Corinthians, Chapter 1, the Bible says, "even the foolishness of God is wiser than men." We can't even begin to come close to His creative thoughts. For example, when Jesus spit in the dirt and took the mud and put it in the blind man's eye, the man was healed of blindness. Only by the spirit of God could we of ever come close to imagining that something so unusual would work so powerfully.

Today, many artists are tapping into the creative thought process that God has given them as a gift. Occasionally we hear a musician or an artist giving credit first to God. That's wonderful! We all are so impressed that finally someone recognizes that their gift is actually beyond themselves (even though we're never quite sure of which "god" to whom they are giving the credit). Undoubtedly, we all can identify that someone so creative, so artistic, so beautiful and successful should give their credit to someone greater than themselves because no one in their own rights could be creative.

When does the artist begin to create? Is it in the dancer's first plié? Does art begin when the paint actually touches the canvas? Does the director's magic begin when the camera begins rolling? I think not.

Art begins for the Christian when he nears himself to his Creator. Nothing can be more creative for the Christian artist than for him to learn the art of spending time with the Master of masters, the Sculptor of sculptors, the Dancer of dancers, and the Conductor/Writer/Creator of all music. Time spent watching, listening, absorbing all that He was, is, and is to come can only develop in the artist's true creativity.

I can recall the scripture of when Jesus was specifically an artist. His brush was his finger and his canvas was the sand and the minds of people judging a guilty adulteress. They wanted to stone her to death right then and there. They wanted to create their own masterpiece of harsh judgement. Instead, for one brief moment, they watched the Master create his masterpiece in the sand and in his thoughts (knowing theirs also). As they watched and listened, their minds saw a much uglier self-portrait. I've heard that perhaps Jesus was writing their own hideous sins down in the dirt. No one is sure except for those who were there and received a fresh, new, life changing thought, "Who are we to judge this sinner?" When people looked or heard the creative art of Jesus, their lives were forever changed. Have you ever heard a song or gazed at a canvas resulting in your life forever being changed?

Today, most artists are devoting their time to discovering or developing an easier way to create so they can make more money. This generation of artists are forever researching current trends, fashions, music styles, and why? Artists now produce a product for the market, not so much for the individual. God's way of doing things is so vastly different than man's way.

I think of Michelangelo who labored tirelessly creating his masterpiece on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. I think of his commissioned masterpieces all of which are today priceless and invoking envy even from today's artists gleaning from current technologies making creativity easier. Artists are constantly using their creative thoughts to make creativity and techniques easier. Why not? We are constantly being reminded to think smarter, don't work harder. Would we have today's priceless masterpieces of yesterday had they thought smarter and not worked harder?

How easy was it for God to speak the universe into existence? How easy was it for Him to say, "Let there be light" and there was light? How easy was it for Jesus to say "Arise and walk" and the lame begin to walk. But that we might know His power and His glory, He taught us instead, "that you may know that I am the Son of God, I say this man's sins are forgiven." Just by a creative twist of words, Jesus painted an entirely different picture for us through this healed lame man. It wasn't that he was physically healed instantaneously, it was that Jesus had the power to forgive his sins, a much deeper spiritual need.

Why do artists create? Is the artist's creation to evoke emotions from the observer? Or is it for the artist's sake to finally relieve himself of an immense need to be like his Creator? If it is for the later reason, then truly a statement will be said that can be life changing for the observer, not just based on emotions or senses. For if the artist truly desires to be like his Creator, then the result of his art will be as life changing and reviving as His Master's.

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(c)2000 Kevin Farley. All rights reserved.