This post is about my reflection on my honeymoon to Queenstown, New Zealand. For those that does not know about Queenstown, here are some pictures about Queenstown, and some are taken by my mobile camera (forgive my lack of photography skills):
The rest about Queenstown, you can look it up on Google. It is indeed a beautiful city i should say, and i really recommend you to go there at least once :) When I saw such beauty, i recall some bible verses speaks about God’s beauty in creation. The psalmist said that The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Unbelievers may not be able to see God in creation, but we the believers are given an eye to see so that we can glorify God through it. Look once again to the image above: a beautiful panoramic view is reflected on a still water, a view of cliff with the blue lake in the middle, mountains that stands solid, giving a majestic impression to its creator, and a bright and clear blue sky, giving such a peaceful impression. What a wonderful scenic view isn’t it? If i may repeat what Psalmist says 104:24 - he said: O Lord, how manifold are your works! In wisdom have you made them all; the earth is full of your creatures. Paul in Romans 1:20 also said: “For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse”. Man has no excuse, that there is God behind all this wonderful thing. Oh, the wonders of God’s creation. This can’t be a random evolution. It is perfection and it displays the creative nature and design of a God who created this world and all that is in it. It is a choreography of mountains, sky, lake, water, weather, birds, trees - everything together in unison that is nothing short of spectacular.
I would also like to quote what John Piper once said: “God means for us to be stunned and awed by his work of creation. But not for its own sake. He means for us always to look at his creation and say: If the work of his hands is so full of wisdom and power and grandeur and majesty and beauty, what must this God be like in himself!
These are but the backside of his glory seen through a glass darkly. What will it be to see the Creator himself! Not his works! Not even a billion galaxies will satisfy the human soul. God and God alone is the soul's end.”
There is another point though that i would like to stress on, that God has given us the ability to perceive such beauty. Without that, all of those wonders will not make us amaze at all. Some people may appreciate and amaze with things because their eyes can see something beautiful in what they see. That “eyes” itself is God’s blessing. When you saw a good picture taken there are at least 3 wonderful gift that God has made: the object of the photo (say the nature itself), the skills of the photographer, and the tools (camera lens) that a photographer used, and combined it would make a beautiful picture. Now in all of this, do you have an eye to see that God is there when you see through His creation? Truly, God hides himself in creation.
In this life, we can’t see God face to face, and so God the creator made the whole creation so that we can see Him: the whole creation, that beauty i saw in Queenstown, is a mask of God. The whole creation is for His glory, but that statement alone i think has a deep meaning in itself. How can this whole creation is for His glory? Firstly, i think that God has created such thing with His great wisdom so that we human can understand the beauty; and so we need to understand that all of this wonderful creation was also designed and intended for us, His dearly beloved children. Everything was made especially to perfectly satisfy the exact needs of our bodies and souls. Who would know better than God Himself what we require? He made us! He understands every single facet of all of the mysteries of what makes us work! And that was all there because He loves us, and wants us to enjoy His perfect creation: He wants us to be happy, healthy, and fulfilled in every way. In providing every good thing for us, He wanted to show us constantly how much He loves us and that He is ever tenderly looking after us. After all, we are His children, created by Him, in His own image! He loves us with a Father's love: tenderly, compassionately, and endlessly. And so, we should not stop at looking at His creation only. My mentor Jeane Ch. Obadja often says: “Let us not love the gift more than the Giver”, and that is true - that is the purpose of all these beautiful scenery. Martin Luther in his commentary said that when a greedy man, who worships his belly, hears that "man does not live by bread alone, but by every Word that proceeds from the mouth of God" (Matthew 4:4), he eats the bread but fails to see God in the bread; for he sees, admires, and adores only the mask. He does the same with gold and with other creatures. He puts his trust in them as long as he has them; but when they forsake him, he despairs.
I praise Him, for He has allowed me to see Him through His wonderful works in creation; and not just that, the moment He has provided to me, supports me to see and stand in awe to Him. I was there not alone, but I’m with my wonderful wife to enjoy His beauty. It would be different if i was there alone without no one to share and cherish the day, but God has provided me someone for me to share the entire of my life, someone to have and hold, to cherish and honor, someone that i could call my very own, my helper, that together we can support each other to see Him more and more.
Lastly, such word and praise that i have written above, will not be there in the first place, just like what i have mentioned above, if we are not given an “eye” to see then we can’t see. Now in particular, i can enjoy Him, i can praise Him, because He has firstly through all His creation, there is only 1 creation that God would sacrifice himself, and that is us “human”. He has made a plan - “salvation” for us so that we can live enjoying Him day to day , glorifying Him more and more, to the point we realise we would like to meet Him because we enjoy Him so much. I prayed to myself and to all of us His children so that God would change and shape our heart to long for Him, and His wonderful love.
~ Paul Hartono
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| Shotover Jet |
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| Lake wakatipu , and Mt. Remarkable |
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| This image is not inverted. The mountain is reflected on the water surface because the water is very still. |
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| At Glenorchy |
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| another view at Glenorchy |
The rest about Queenstown, you can look it up on Google. It is indeed a beautiful city i should say, and i really recommend you to go there at least once :) When I saw such beauty, i recall some bible verses speaks about God’s beauty in creation. The psalmist said that The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Unbelievers may not be able to see God in creation, but we the believers are given an eye to see so that we can glorify God through it. Look once again to the image above: a beautiful panoramic view is reflected on a still water, a view of cliff with the blue lake in the middle, mountains that stands solid, giving a majestic impression to its creator, and a bright and clear blue sky, giving such a peaceful impression. What a wonderful scenic view isn’t it? If i may repeat what Psalmist says 104:24 - he said: O Lord, how manifold are your works! In wisdom have you made them all; the earth is full of your creatures. Paul in Romans 1:20 also said: “For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse”. Man has no excuse, that there is God behind all this wonderful thing. Oh, the wonders of God’s creation. This can’t be a random evolution. It is perfection and it displays the creative nature and design of a God who created this world and all that is in it. It is a choreography of mountains, sky, lake, water, weather, birds, trees - everything together in unison that is nothing short of spectacular.
I would also like to quote what John Piper once said: “God means for us to be stunned and awed by his work of creation. But not for its own sake. He means for us always to look at his creation and say: If the work of his hands is so full of wisdom and power and grandeur and majesty and beauty, what must this God be like in himself!
These are but the backside of his glory seen through a glass darkly. What will it be to see the Creator himself! Not his works! Not even a billion galaxies will satisfy the human soul. God and God alone is the soul's end.”
There is another point though that i would like to stress on, that God has given us the ability to perceive such beauty. Without that, all of those wonders will not make us amaze at all. Some people may appreciate and amaze with things because their eyes can see something beautiful in what they see. That “eyes” itself is God’s blessing. When you saw a good picture taken there are at least 3 wonderful gift that God has made: the object of the photo (say the nature itself), the skills of the photographer, and the tools (camera lens) that a photographer used, and combined it would make a beautiful picture. Now in all of this, do you have an eye to see that God is there when you see through His creation? Truly, God hides himself in creation.
In this life, we can’t see God face to face, and so God the creator made the whole creation so that we can see Him: the whole creation, that beauty i saw in Queenstown, is a mask of God. The whole creation is for His glory, but that statement alone i think has a deep meaning in itself. How can this whole creation is for His glory? Firstly, i think that God has created such thing with His great wisdom so that we human can understand the beauty; and so we need to understand that all of this wonderful creation was also designed and intended for us, His dearly beloved children. Everything was made especially to perfectly satisfy the exact needs of our bodies and souls. Who would know better than God Himself what we require? He made us! He understands every single facet of all of the mysteries of what makes us work! And that was all there because He loves us, and wants us to enjoy His perfect creation: He wants us to be happy, healthy, and fulfilled in every way. In providing every good thing for us, He wanted to show us constantly how much He loves us and that He is ever tenderly looking after us. After all, we are His children, created by Him, in His own image! He loves us with a Father's love: tenderly, compassionately, and endlessly. And so, we should not stop at looking at His creation only. My mentor Jeane Ch. Obadja often says: “Let us not love the gift more than the Giver”, and that is true - that is the purpose of all these beautiful scenery. Martin Luther in his commentary said that when a greedy man, who worships his belly, hears that "man does not live by bread alone, but by every Word that proceeds from the mouth of God" (Matthew 4:4), he eats the bread but fails to see God in the bread; for he sees, admires, and adores only the mask. He does the same with gold and with other creatures. He puts his trust in them as long as he has them; but when they forsake him, he despairs.
I praise Him, for He has allowed me to see Him through His wonderful works in creation; and not just that, the moment He has provided to me, supports me to see and stand in awe to Him. I was there not alone, but I’m with my wonderful wife to enjoy His beauty. It would be different if i was there alone without no one to share and cherish the day, but God has provided me someone for me to share the entire of my life, someone to have and hold, to cherish and honor, someone that i could call my very own, my helper, that together we can support each other to see Him more and more.
Lastly, such word and praise that i have written above, will not be there in the first place, just like what i have mentioned above, if we are not given an “eye” to see then we can’t see. Now in particular, i can enjoy Him, i can praise Him, because He has firstly through all His creation, there is only 1 creation that God would sacrifice himself, and that is us “human”. He has made a plan - “salvation” for us so that we can live enjoying Him day to day , glorifying Him more and more, to the point we realise we would like to meet Him because we enjoy Him so much. I prayed to myself and to all of us His children so that God would change and shape our heart to long for Him, and His wonderful love.
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