What Happens When Creation begins to Create

Artificial Intelligence is no longer science fiction—it’s shaping how we think, work, and even create. But what happens when creation begins to create?
In this thought-provoking episode, Rev. Dr. Jeff Skinner explores the spiritual and ethical questions surrounding AI through the lens of faith. Drawing from Genesis 1:27, he reflects on what it means to be made in the image of a Creator who gave humanity reason, imagination, and moral responsibility.
You’ll discover:

• How the biblical image of God shapes our understanding of creativity and technology
• Why holiness restores God’s image rather than replaces Him
• The difference between creation that serves and creation that seeks control
• Practical ways to discern God’s purpose in a rapidly advancing digital world

Join the conversation as Dr. Skinner asks the deeper questions of our age: If humanity reflects the Creator, how should creation reflect us? And where does God still hold the center?

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Echoes Through Eternity Guiding church planters and pastors to plant seeds of prayer, holiness, and courage that outlast a lifetime. contact [e-mail]

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Marcus Aurelius said, what we do in life echoes through eternity?
What is your life echoing through eternity? Welcome to Echoes
through Eternity with doctor Jeffrey Skinner. Our mission is to inspire, engage,
and encourage leaders from across the globe to plant missional
churches and be servant leaders. So join us and hear

(00:22):
the stories of servant leaders reverberating lives as God echoes
them through eternity. Brought to you by missional Church Planting
and Leadership Development and Dynamic Church Planning International.

Speaker 2 (00:41):
Welcome into Echoes through Eternity. I am your host, Doctor
Jeffrey D. Skinner. What is God echoing through your life today?
I have entitled this episode what happens when Creation creates faith?
In Nai, we built machines in our image? What does
that say about God? You and I are living in

(01:03):
a time when human imagination has finally outrun human wisdom.
Artificial intelligence can write, paint, diagnose, predict, and even mimic emotion.
But beneath all that code lies a question older than Genesis.
What happens when creation begins to create? Every invention before

(01:27):
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the lines between thought and limitation, soul and simulation, and

(02:12):
we must ask where does God fit into this story today?
I want us to slow down, take a breath, and
think spiritually, without fear, without hype, about what this moment
reveals about us and about God. The image of God

(02:33):
Jesus is one twenty seven says God created mankind in
his own image. That verse means our creativity, our reasoning,
even our desire to build, reflect God's on nature. Humans
create because we were first created. But being made in
God's image doesn't give us the right to replace him.

(02:55):
It calls us to reflect him. When we build, we
echo that impulse towards order and beauty, But holiness restores
the image. It doesn't compete with it. No machine, no algorithm,
can capture the breath of the spirit. AI can compose
a symphony, but it can't worship. It can describe love,

(03:18):
but it can't feel it. It can explain truth, but
it can't embody truth. Because love and truth are relational,
they require presence. Presence requires soul. So when we marvel
at machines that mirror our intelligence, we should remember every

(03:39):
reflection shows both brilliance and brokenness. This question isn't what AI.
The question isn't when AI reveals about technology. It's what
it reveals about us free will and control. Some of
the smartest engineers warned, don't build super intelligence until you

(04:01):
control it. That sounds familiar, doesn't it. God creates humanity
knowing we could choose rebellion. Love without freedom isn't love
is programming. Control may produce obedience, but never affection. From
the beginning, God chose relationship over domination. Grace does not force,

(04:22):
it invites, Truth does not crush, it redeems. When we
create AI, we struggle with that same tension. We won't progress,
but we fear the loss of power. We won't innovation,
but we also won't control humanity's deepest fear is not failure,

(04:42):
it's being out of control. Yet the Cross shows us
a God who let go of control to demonstrate love.
That is the difference between human power and divine power.
God can redeem what he does not control. He invites
what he could command, He advised what he could command.

(05:04):
He loves what he could discard. Maybe our unease about
AI is really about ourselves. We see in these machines
a reflection of our own unpredictability, our ability to create
good or evil. And still God looked at his creation
and said, it is very good. That is grace, truth, being,

(05:28):
freedom with love. When creation forgets its creator, We're almost
one twenty five warns they exchanged the truth about God
for a lie and worshiped and served created things rather
than the Creator. Our technology often exposes our idols speed, efficiency,

(05:51):
self importance. We believe innovation will save us, but salvation
has never come from machines. It comes from mercy. The
problem is not AI, it's the human heart forgets its source.
When creation forgets the creator, creation turns against itself. Think

(06:12):
about the Tower of Babel story. It wasn't an architecture
that offended Heaven it was arrogance. Let us make a
name for ourselves. They said that sentence still drives a
lot of innovation today. What is an influencer but making
a name for him or herself. AI is not a

(06:32):
tower of Babel, but it carries the same temptation to
reach for heaven on human terms, to pursue knowledge without humility.
The moment we think we no longer need God, we
stop being creative and we start being destructive. Fire was
a gift until it was used for war. Code is

(06:55):
a tool until it becomes an idol. Knowledge is beautiful
until out paces is creator. So we have to ask
not just can we, but should we? And why are
we doing this at all? If our motives begin with
self glory, our creations will end in self destruction. But

(07:15):
if our work begins with gratitude and reverence, it can
become an instrument of grace full disclosure. I use artificial
intelligence in the creation of this podcast. I use it
to produce it. I use it to help edit scripts.
I use it to record. I use it to edit

(07:37):
after the fact in recording the videos. I use it
to spell check things. I don't use it to do
the entire thing, but I do use it as a
tool to help make it better, and I think that's
a good use of artificial intelligence grace in the age
of algorithms. So how do we live faithfully in a

(08:00):
world where even machines learned? Snow was falling outside just enough,
the trees were dusty, and to make the world quiet inside,
the lights from the Christmas tree flickered across the room.
Lisa was pouring cocoa into the mugs while I stirred
the fire, watching it glow. Hayden and Blaine were home

(08:23):
and stretched out on the couch and matching pajamas, laughing
and sneaking extra marshmallows, like the little kids again, and
for a moment, everything slowed down. No rushing, no deadlines,
just peace. I remember thinking, this is what matters. Lisa
had wanted this Christmas to feel different, less noise, more meaning.

(08:45):
The kids were growing up and we knew that time
was fleeting with them, so she said, let's give something
that feels like rest, and she found it in Cozy Earth.
When everyone opened their gifts, the room got quiet in
that good way. The bamboo sheet set wasn't just another present,
It was a promise of calm. Lisa smiled and said,

(09:07):
A silent night stars with the right sheet starts with
the right sheets. We all laughed, but the truth hit home.
Those sheets didn't just feel like feel soft, They felt
like peace. I opened the men's stretched nip bamboo pajama
set and Lisa got the women's long sleep set. Hayden

(09:28):
and Blaine slipped into theirs right after. Within minutes, we
were all cozied up, half talking, half dozing by the fire.
Blaine mumbled the best Christmas gift ever, right before falling
asleep on the couch. He loves sleep. Lisa looked at
me and whispered, this is what I wanted. She was right.

(09:48):
It wasn't about the gifts, it was about the stillness
they created. Cozy Earth somehow turned comfort into something sacred.
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(10:11):
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mention that you heard about Cozy Earth from Mechos through eternity.
Because the gifts aren't wrapped in paper, They're wrapped in warmth,

(10:34):
peace and love. Cozy Earth wrap the ones you love
in luxury. First, anchor your identity in God, not technology.
You are not a profile or a statistics You are
a person formed by divine hans. The data can measure

(10:55):
your habits, but only God knows your heart. Second, Let discernment,
not fear guide you. Fear makes us hide. Discernment calls
us to shine. The goal is not to avoid artificial intelligence,
but to use it redemptively. That's what I was talking
about earlier when I said I use it in the

(11:18):
creation of this podcast. Use it to share truth, to
serve others, to speak hope into the digital noise. Again,
That's what I'm doing here when I use artificial intelligence. Third,
use new tools for new tools for a holy purpose.
Let the light of Christ travel through screens and circuits,

(11:39):
tell stories that heal, create spaces that restore human dignity.
Every advance in human knowledge holds a spark of divine potential,
but it's up to us whether that spark refines or consumes.
We can choose to redeem what the world distorts. We

(11:59):
can choose to reflect God's character in our creations instead
of bowing to them. Holiness today means being set apart
within the digital world, not removed from it. I remember
in my own denomination when movies were first beginning a
big thing, and our denominations stood against them. No, you

(12:22):
shall not go to a movie. They made it like
an eleventh commandment out there, and so the pushback from
the younger generation myself was well, what if we just
don't go to the bad movies, see our braid movies. Well,
you can't guarantee that money won't be used for something else.
Well then Coca Cola became the owner of Columbia Pictures,

(12:42):
and so, okay, you're not gonna buy coke snel. Okay,
that's fine. Well you're not gonna buy orange juice either,
because minute made as a Coca Cola product. And so
we get into trouble when we start trying to separate
ourselves from the world as opposed to set ourselves apart
in how we live in the world. We get into
trouble that way, Jesus did not walk in, did not

(13:06):
stay away from the scary spaces. Jesus did not avoid
sinful people. Jesus went into dangerous places and made them holy.
He touched unclean people and they became clean. The same
is true for us when we're using the artificial intelligence.

(13:27):
It means that we are shaping culture with integrity and mercy.
It means our algorithms should never outrun our prayers. Our
innovation should never exceed our humility, and our progress should
never outshine our deepest our dependence on grace. Maybe the
next revival won't start in a tent or a church,

(13:50):
but in how believers use technology to honor the image
of God in every person they reach. We built machines
in our image, but God is still forming us in his.
That's the real story. The question is not whether AI
will surpass us. The question is whether we'll remember who

(14:12):
we are. Will we keep chasing control or will we
choose communion. Will we measure ourselves by what we create
or by how we love? The future won't belong to
the most intelligent creation, but to the most surrendered, to
those whose hearts still echo make me more like you.

(14:36):
Maybe the real test of creation isn't what we can make,
but what we allow God to make of us. You've
been listening to Echoes through Eternity. If this episode spoke
to you, share with someone who's wrestling with faith in
the future, and remember your story still that goes through eternity.