The reflections of Christ within creation harmonizes the study of any art with Himself. The Lord did not create all things apart from Himself, but rather out of the overflow of Himself. Thus Paul rightly says, “From Him, and through Him, and to Him are all things.” Everything that God made reflects His divine nature in some way. It is this reflection of the divine nature that more fully defines the nature and identity of what He created. It is also this divine reflection that provides the bridge between the created and the Creator.
Students should understand the connection between the arts they study and Christ. Indeed, the study of each art ought to lead to a deeper contemplation of Christ. Yet, in order to do so, they must unite the study of each art with God’s revelation of Himself in Scripture. For the Scriptures reveal God’s nature and can illuminate the attributes that are revealed through the creation. A child doesn’t contemplate a tree and think that treeness is God. Rather in the child’s contemplation of a tree, he/she sees various attributes of God’s nature reflected in a tree and understands God more fully.
Treeness is less about bark and leaves and more about strength, life, and regeneration. It is the divine reflections of God’s nature that principally define the tree and provide the bridge from the creation to the Creator. Every created object bears these reflections and within each class of objects, there is a similarity of divine reflections that group them together. Its these groups of divine reflections that students must see in what they study. As the student contemplates the created tree and perceives attributes of the Creator, then he/she completes the relationship between the student, the created, and the Creator. This is where harmonization happens; the student experiences the tree, perceives God’s attributes reflected in treeness, and relates to God in a more intimate and powerful way.
Practically here is what the process of harmonizing curriculum with Christ might look like. As the student observes the attributes of a thing (like the decimal system), they begin to list out specific attributes and general traits. Specifically decimals are bound by 1 and 0. Generally there is consistency in the numbers so that the order never changes. There is also a concept of infinity in that the numbers can continually be reduced, such as .99 to .999 etc. It is these general traits that bear the reflection of Christ. He is perfectly consistent and perfectly infinite. The Scriptures reveal God’s nature and enable the student match the attributes of God with the reflections of Him seen in the general traits of each created thing.
As a home educator, teacher, or administrator take a journey with your students or among yourselves. Pick something you are studying in your curriculum. Meditate on it together and tease out the general traits. Allow yourselves to observe outside the box of whatever agenda is driving the curriculum. List out some general traits for the thing you are contemplating and see which of those traits the Scriptures reveal as being marks of God’s nature. As these come to light, you will see the thing you are studying in a whole new way and it will be forever transformed in your sight. Enjoy!
