Westminster Project 1.1

Although the light of nature and the works of creation and providence show the goodness, wisdom, and power of God so much as to leave people inexcusable, yet are they not sufficient to give that knowledge of God and his will which is necessary for salvation. Therefore it pleased the Lord, at various times and in diverse ways, to reveal himself and to declare his will to his Church. Afterwards, in order to better preserve and propagate the truth, and to more surely establish and protect the Church against the corruption of the flesh, the malice of Satan, and the malice of the world, it pleased the Lord to commit this wholly into writing, which makes the Holy Scripture most necessary, those former ways of God’s revealing his will to his people now being ceased.
(WCF 1.1)

I once had the great privilege of visiting the Louvre in Paris—an amazing experience, to say the least.

As I walked through the vintage halls and beautiful rooms, I was struck by the sheer brilliance of the many artists whose work was on display. Though I’m not an art critic by any stretch, I think I understood something fundamental: I was never tempted to say, “Wow, look what nature gave us.” Why? Because the truth was staring me in the face—the art on display was clearly the creation of a creator.

This is precisely what section 1.1 of the Westminster Confession of Faith begins with: nature reveals God—creation reveals that there is a Creator—and thus all people are without excuse. In other words, God has left enough of His fingerprints in and on His work to render everyone “inexcusable” when it comes to understanding their place in the grand scheme of things. We should be able to look at the stars, the animals, the plants—even at what makes us human—and declare with the Psalmist, “I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well” (Psalm 139:14).

However, and most unfortunately, that is not the anthem of creation most of the time. No, many instead sing the chorus of the skeptics, echoing the agnostic antagonism of figures like Richard Dawkins and Brian Cox, who declare, “We don’t know how we got here, and neither do you.” Why are we like that? Because sin has not only blinded all creation—it has rendered us spiritually dead to our Creator’s good nature. As a result, rather than worshipping Him, humanity has turned inward and worshipped what He created instead (Romans 1:19–20). It’s as if we’re walking through an old museum saying, “Wow, look what nature gave us.”

Now, that’s not to say one can’t come to the conviction that we are created (through general revelation) or recognize the order in creation (through common grace). We can. However, that doesn’t mean someone can come to a saving knowledge of our Creator through creation alone (1 Corinthians 1:21; 2:13–14). It would be like saying you're now related to Van Gogh and share a deep friendship with him simply because you’ve seen his paintings. No—while you might admire or even study his work, that doesn’t mean you truly know him, or understand what was going through his mind as he created.

That’s why God had to (and wanted to) give us more than His creation to know Him—He gave us His Word, the revelation of His will, what we call “special revelation.” This special revelation came in many forms: dreams, visions, angelic visitations, and so on. But it was most clearly and finally expressed in the “Word made flesh,” Jesus Christ, and has now been “committed wholly unto writing” (John 1:1–3; cf. Hebrews 1:1–2).
Science may explain the what, how, when, and where—but revelation explains the why. It reveals that our Creator made the world so we might know, worship, and imitate Him in it (Genesis 1–2). Yet, because we rejected God, we died spiritually and became blind (Genesis 3; cf. Romans 5:12–14). Instead of serving and loving Him, we now serve and love ourselves in countless ways. Doesn’t nature itself teach us that?
The good news, however, is that we don’t have to wander in the dark. Our Creator has reached into His world once again—becoming man, becoming a sacrifice, becoming our Savior (Philippians 2:6–11).