The Creator Revealed

Seeing Beauty in the Creation

Three Angels Broadcasting Network

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Series Code: TCR

Program Code: TCR180007B


00:03 Welcome back to The Creator Revealed.
00:05 If beauty is in the eye of the beholder,
00:08 it is certain that our next guest
00:10 sees the beauty of God's creation
00:14 and expresses it ever so well.
00:17 I would have to agree with you.
00:20 Nathan Greene is really one of the premier
00:25 Christian artists of our age.
00:27 And if you have an image in your head
00:31 of what Jesus looks like,
00:34 it could well have been painted by Nathan Greene.
00:37 So we're delighted to have him with us.
00:40 Absolutely.
00:41 And I'm hoping that we're going to be able to see...
00:44 Oh, yes, in fact, we can see some of these paintings
00:47 that you've been working on.
00:48 Welcome, Nathan. Thank you.
00:52 So we've be talking about the beauty
00:57 that's present there in the creation
01:00 and the encouragement that the Bible actually gives us
01:03 on obviously the biblical worldview
01:05 to actually see that beauty
01:08 and gain joy from it.
01:13 But what I'd like to ask you is,
01:17 as an artist, you know,
01:18 somebody who really appreciates beauty
01:20 and produces beautiful things yourself,
01:23 how is it that the creation
01:26 inspires the work that you do?
01:30 Well, you know, when you think about it,
01:32 artists study a lot of the same things that scientists study,
01:37 chemists, physicists, mathematicians,
01:40 they study things like symmetry, and harmony,
01:43 and perspective, and proportion,
01:45 and economy of design.
01:47 These are all things that artists study well.
01:50 And for me, in particular, as a Christian artist,
01:54 I look at nature and I see all these things.
01:56 I don't know, I'm not a mathematician,
01:58 I don't necessarily define things
02:01 or study things in terms of equations and numbers,
02:04 but I see symmetry and harmony in balance in nature.
02:07 And so it's evident to me that there is a designer
02:11 and a master artist involved in creating the world for us.
02:16 Yes.
02:17 Well, I have to admit
02:19 that I'm fascinated by these paintings
02:22 that you have up behind you,
02:25 and I'm wondering if you can tell us
02:28 a little bit about them.
02:29 I see that there's one that looks fairly complete,
02:32 that would be over your right shoulder.
02:36 So tell us, is this a series that you're working on
02:38 or where are those coming from?
02:42 Well, my agent and one of our clients,
02:45 our patrons who prefers to remain anonymous,
02:48 they came up with the idea of creating a new series
02:51 of paintings depicting the seven days,
02:53 seven literal days of creation from the Book of Genesis.
02:57 I'm almost done with the project.
02:59 The paint you see over my right shoulder
03:02 is day one of the creation series.
03:04 Okay, so this would be, "Let there be light," then.
03:07 Yes, let there be light.
03:09 And the Spirit of God hovered over the waters.
03:11 And so you see Christ the Creator standing,
03:15 really floating over the waters that were on the earth.
03:18 And you might notice in the background,
03:21 there are many equations
03:22 representing the laws of nature,
03:25 and other designs and things
03:28 that God truly had in mind as He completed our world.
03:30 I think I might see...
03:31 I think I might be able to see some DNA in there, am I right?
03:34 There is definitely DNA, there is photosynthesis,
03:39 there's many equations like Maxwell's equations,
03:42 Einstein's field theorems, and E=MC square,
03:46 there is the golden mean,
03:47 this ratio that is found often in nature, in many things
03:52 that is thought to be kind of an ideal proportion,
03:56 found in things like the nautilus shell,
03:59 the rose petals, the way they're aligned on a rose
04:04 are lined up according to that ratio.
04:07 It's even thought that that ratio
04:09 appears in the human form and human face.
04:12 And something that artists have been aware of for a long time.
04:16 You know, one of the things that I like about artists,
04:19 and I have a number of friends who are artists,
04:21 is really a point that you raised which is,
04:25 artists are trained to be observers,
04:29 and scientists are trained to be observers,
04:34 and yet we really are coming at things
04:39 from very, very different angles.
04:44 What I would be interested in is,
04:47 how you think the art
04:53 that you do would be different
04:55 if you didn't believe the Bible,
04:57 if you didn't believe that in the creation,
05:01 let's say, would things be different?
05:03 Would you be choosing different subjects,
05:05 painting in a different style?
05:07 That's an interesting question because I have many friends
05:10 who are artists that some are believers and some are not.
05:14 And even those that are not believers,
05:16 they often find the greatest enjoyment,
05:19 I think, in painting landscapes and wildlife
05:23 and things that are nature,
05:24 that are reflection of what God has created.
05:27 I think people, you know,
05:29 the idea would be for everybody to have faith and confidence
05:33 that there is a Creator and a Designer
05:36 for the world around us.
05:37 But even people who don't believe that seem to see
05:39 and appreciate the beauty that is there.
05:42 But I think because I was born and raised in a Christian home
05:47 and recognize the importance of this,
05:49 I see a Creator in everything around us,
05:52 and I believe that the beauty, and design,
05:54 and all the laws of nature
05:57 which are also reflecting beautiful design
06:00 are evidence of God as the master artist
06:03 and as the master designer of our world.
06:08 I'm looking now at the painting that's immediately behind you,
06:13 and I can see that that one's not complete yet,
06:16 but it looks to me like you're actually depicting God,
06:21 I'm guessing,
06:24 creating Adam, shaping Adam, actually working as,
06:29 essentially, a sculptor in there.
06:32 Yes.
06:33 Yeah, this is day six of the creation series,
06:36 it's the last one.
06:37 I actually went ahead and did day seven
06:39 before finishing day six.
06:40 So this is my last one, and this depicts Christ
06:44 as the Creator forming Adam from the ground
06:48 and there'll be a glow over Adam,
06:50 almost like a supernatural glow,
06:52 and it was on day that land animals,
06:57 mammals were created.
06:58 And several days after all botanical life was created.
07:02 So this is kind of a flourishing
07:04 Edenic environment where Adam was first created.
07:10 You know, Nathan,
07:12 there's undeniable beauty and symmetry in God's creation.
07:16 And I see it everywhere,
07:18 but I wished I could look through your eyes.
07:20 I'm always so interested in a composition of your artwork.
07:25 It's beautiful.
07:27 God's given you a true gift.
07:30 Thank you.
07:31 One of the things that I do see in that particular painting
07:33 that jumps out at me as a biologist
07:36 is that tiger down there.
07:39 You know, I grew up in,
07:41 particularly during the time that I was a child in Malaysia.
07:45 If there was one thing I was taught to fear,
07:48 it would be tigers.
07:50 You know, you didn't go wandering off into the jungle,
07:52 for some reason or other, cobras were okay,
07:56 but those tigers could really get you.
08:01 So tell me a little bit about your thinking
08:04 in including this interesting collection of animals
08:10 along with God creating the human being?
08:15 Yes.
08:16 Well, to me, the design of the animals themselves
08:19 are remarkable and beautiful,
08:22 and to my mind they're evidence of the Creator.
08:26 The tiger is especially amazing to me.
08:29 I mean, we have house cats
08:30 that are a little hint of what a tiger is,
08:33 but just the thought of such a massive animal
08:35 and the fact that they are becoming
08:38 more and more endangered
08:40 is the reason why I wanted to show
08:43 one of the original tigers in my painting here.
08:46 But also a variety of life and not just North American,
08:49 but from other continents, got an elephant,
08:53 I got what I'm calling a gazelle.
08:56 I'm not from Africa.
08:57 I'm not sure exactly what species,
08:58 but I gave it a name Gisele the gazelle.
09:03 By the way, tiger reappears in day seven as well.
09:08 I guess it's just the tiger fell in love with Adam
09:11 and want to hang around for day seven.
09:14 There you go.
09:15 You know, when I was a little boy,
09:17 I had a pet monkey.
09:19 My mother didn't think much of that pet, I'm afraid.
09:24 But he was fantastic.
09:25 And, but I have to admit, I have to admit that
09:30 there was a desire
09:36 and the fear when it came to tigers.
09:40 I would love to have a pet tiger.
09:41 Yes.
09:43 And you'll get to in the new earth.
09:44 And this is one of the truly beautiful things about these...
09:48 You know, I'm sorry, we can't be showing the tiger right now
09:50 because we are having some Skype issues.
09:53 This is what technology is, right?
09:55 This is what technology does, yeah,
09:57 but...Oh, that's beautiful.
09:58 Oh, isn't that wonderful? This would be day five.
10:01 Yes.
10:02 I think that the thing that kind of strikes me
10:08 at an emotional level
10:10 with these paintings is in fact seeing...
10:14 Oh, what a beautiful tiger.
10:15 Yeah, that's the Sabbath there. Oh, that's beautiful.
10:18 It is seeing these beautiful creatures
10:23 that unfortunately,
10:26 in the current world, are problematic,
10:31 really problematic.
10:32 So I can still hear Nathan,
10:34 unfortunately we can't see him anymore,
10:36 but I want to thank you so much for sharing your art with us
10:40 and with the rest of the world, Nathan.
10:42 And it's greatly appreciated.
10:46 Thank you.
10:48 Thank you, Nathan, so much.
10:49 I have a beautiful picture.
10:51 Everyone always tells me that I have the heart of Mary,
10:54 I love to sit at the feet of Jesus and learn,
10:57 but I live in a Martha world.
11:00 So Nathan did a beautiful picture of Jesus,
11:03 Mary and Martha, and Mary sitting at His feet,
11:06 Martha's rattling the pots and pans,
11:09 and I feel like a blend of the two.
11:11 You know, I see these sorts of things
11:13 and I wonder whether I haven't done
11:14 something wrong with my life.
11:16 Maybe I should have succumbed to that temptation
11:19 to be an art major in college.
11:22 But there is so much beauty out there,
11:24 so much, so much that really glorifies God.
11:28 And it's fabulous
11:31 to see artists sort of worshiping God
11:35 through the work that they do.
11:37 And you do that with your photography.
11:39 With my photography.
11:41 But also I like to imagine with the work that I do in general,
11:44 you know, every one of us
11:46 no matter what it is that we do in life,
11:49 each one of us is called to worship the Creator
11:54 and that's not something that we do just
11:56 when we're in church.
11:58 That's something that we can do in our everyday lives
12:01 as we share the Creator with others.
12:03 Amen.
12:04 And I just want to encourage you
12:07 that when it come next Sabbath,
12:09 go out into God's creation after church
12:13 and look at what the Lord has done for us,
12:17 worship the Creator.


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Revised 2019-03-28