I have a seven-pound male Yorkie poo named Teddy. I got him when he was seven weeks old and his world revolves around me! 

He is the most affectionate dog I have ever had. He loves to give me kisses and if I am sitting in my recliner, he is right there, laying between my legs usually. He has never met a stranger and 

if you show him any attention at all, he will “demand” even more by going to get one of his balls for you to throw to him. Most of my guests love him and accommodate his demands!

Someone said dog is God spelled backwards! I do think the number one reason God created these animals was for companionship. Some dogs have within them certain traits that can be useful to their human such as herding other animals or protecting their charge against predators. Some breeds are so intelligent they can be trained to do many different services for their handicapped human. 

Most every (if not all) breed of dog is naturally responsive to human love and affection. It is grievous to me to see animals bred and trained to do destructive things. Certain breeds are known for their aggressive behavior as a result of breeding and training but I don’t believe the Lord created them that way.

I wonder every once in a while what it must have been like in the Garden of Eden when creation was in complete harmony. God gave Adam the privilege of naming all of the animals and I believe there was likely the ability to communicate with them on some level. 

When Adam and Eve fell, everything changed. We do not know the specifics but the Bible is pretty clear about their expulsion from their garden home. They had to labor for their food and for survival. Creation became less responsive to them as that gap widened and man had to work by the sweat of his brow from then on.

One thing the scriptures state is that all of creation is “groaning for a manifestation of the sons (and daughters) of God to take their rightful place that they held before the fall.” Even the most pristine places on this earth have felt the effects of the fall. 

None of us alive today can begin to fathom what it was like before the fall. I have traveled a good bit and seen many amazing and even breathtaking landscapes. Capturing them on film (or digitally now) captures the essence of the scene but cannot compare to the experience of being in that particular place.

I remember one time during the years I was serving as a mission administrator in Belize having a guest spend several days with us. He was a trained biologist who also discipled young men whom he took with him into the many jungles, rain forests and places of interest to him. 

His particular field of expertise was cactus (if my mind serves me correctly). He had discovered a number of new varieties and they were actually named after him. He told me that there were still probably hundreds of varieties yet to be discovered that had never been seen by a human eye. 

Then he asked me, why would God “waste” such beauty — no one could see and appreciate this part of His creation. I have heard similar stories about animals that have not yet been seen or categorized and sea creatures that live so deep in the ocean that they have never been seen by the human eye. I pondered that question and then he said he believed God was that extravagant and it wasn’t just about us seeing and discovering but for His own pleasure that He created all of this.

My mind has since expanded to see this same profound mystery in both the micro universe and the macro universe that is still expanding at an amazing rate of speed. Things happen in both of these universes that continue to boggle the mind. Pictures and descriptions of some of these things absolutely take your breath away for the beauty and summitry, the complexity and simplicity of all that our Creator God has formed and fashioned for His own pleasure. 

Some of the mysteries that science is discovering only further confirm that divine intelligence is undeniable. For you science buffs, the whole science of quantum is beginning to open an even greater perspective of the absolute brilliance of our amazing God that will probably continue to unfold throughout eternity. 

I could go on but the picture I am trying to paint today is that the God who created all of this mystery and magnificence is the same God who formed a plan in eternity past to bring redemption to His fallen creation — the man who He made in His own image and likeness — through His only begotten Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.

The greatest mystery by far is that this Creator of all things would humble Himself and take on the incarnate life so that He could pay the price for our redemption and restoration. He was the Lamb slain before the foundation of the world, but He came into the realm of time for us — for you and for me. He came to do what only He could do — live a perfect life and take upon Himself the sins of the whole world once and for all making a way back to the Father. 

Amazing grace, fathomless love — beyond our understanding or comprehension! What an amazing God we worship!