What is God's relation to heaven and earth?
God is Creator, Sovereign, and Preserver of all things.
Catechism for the Global Methodist Church, question 5
1In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2The earth was formless and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep, and the spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. 3And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light. 4And God saw that the light was good, and God separated the light from the darkness. 5God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day. 6And God said, "Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters." 7And God made the expanse and separated the waters that were under the expanse from the waters that were above the expanse, and it was so. 8And God called the expanse heaven. And there was evening and there was morning, the second day. 9And God said, "Let the waters under the heavens be gathered into one place, and let the dry land appear," and it was so. 10God called the dry land Earth, and the gathering of the waters he called Seas. And God saw that it was good. 11And God said, "Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit according to their kinds, with seed in them, upon the earth," and it was so. 12The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed according to their kinds, and trees bearing fruit with seed in them according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. 13And there was evening and there was morning, the third day. 14And God said, "Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night, and let them be for signs and for appointed times and for days and years." 15And let them be lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light upon the earth, and it was so. 16And God made the two great lights, the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night, and the stars. 17And God set them in the expanse of the heavens to give light upon the earth. 18And to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. 19And there was evening and there was morning, the fourth day. 20And God said, "Let the waters swarm with a swarm of living creatures, and let birds fly upon the earth across the expanse of the heavens." 21And God created the great dragons and every living creature that creeps, with which the waters swarm, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 22And God blessed them, saying, "Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth." 23And there was evening and there was morning, the fifth day. 24And God said, "Let the earth bring forth living creatures according to their kinds: livestock and creeping things and beasts of the earth according to their kinds," and it was so. 25And God made the beasts of the earth according to their kinds and the livestock according to their kinds and everything that creeps on the ground according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 26And God said, "Let us make man in our image, according to our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the animals and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth." 27And God created the man in his image; in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. 28And God blessed them, and God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth." 29And God said, "Behold, I have given you every vegetation yielding seed that is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree in which is fruit of tree yielding seed; it shall be for you for food." 30And to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the heavens and to everything that creeps on the earth, in which there is the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food, and it was so. 31And God saw all that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.
39Know therefore today and take it to heart that the LORD is God in heaven above and on the land beneath; there is no other.
23And he said, "O LORD, God of Israel, there is nothing like you as God in heaven above and upon the land beneath, keeping the covenant and the kindness to your servants who walk before you with all their heart."
6You are he, the LORD, alone; you made the heavens, the heavens of the heavens, and all their host, the earth and all that is upon it, the seas and all that is in them; and you give life to all of them, and the host of the heavens bows down to you.
1O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth, you who set your splendor upon the heavens.
9A man's heart devises his way, but the LORD directs his steps.
24Thus says the LORD, your Redeemer, who formed you from the belly: I am the LORD, who does all things, who stretches out the heavens by myself, who beats out the earth: who was with me?
24The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made by hands.
28We know then that all things work together for good for those who love God, for those who are called according to his purpose.
11Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created.
The creed confesses God as "maker of heaven and earth," and this question asks how God stands toward what he has made. The catechism answers with three titles from Article I of the Confession of Faith, which names God as "Creator, Sovereign and Preserver of all things visible and invisible." Article I of the Articles of Religion says the same, calling God "the maker and preserver of all things, both visible and invisible." Both standards teach that God's work with creation continued after the sixth day.
Creator is the teaching of the first chapter of the Bible, where "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth" (Genesis 1:1), and where God speaks each part of the world into being and pronounces it good, until at the end "God saw all that he had made, and behold, it was very good" (Genesis 1:31). Isaiah stresses that no one helped: (Isaiah 44:24). The elders in heaven sing that "by your will they existed and were created" (Revelation 4:11).
Sovereign means that the Creator remains Lord over what he made. Moses tells Israel to "take it to heart that the LORD is God in heaven above and on the land beneath; there is no other" (Deuteronomy 4:39), and Solomon prays at the dedication of the temple that "there is nothing like you as God in heaven above and upon the land beneath" (1 Kings 8:23). Paul told the Athenians that the God who made the world is "Lord of heaven and earth" (Acts 17:24). Even human planning falls under this rule: "A man's heart devises his way, but the LORD directs his steps" (Proverbs 16:9). Preserver means that God keeps his creation in being from moment to moment. Nehemiah prays that God made "the heavens, the heavens of the heavens, and all their host" and adds, "you give life to all of them" (Nehemiah 9:6).
A Methodist lives inside this doctrine every day. The same God who set his splendor upon the heavens (Psalm 8:1) directs the steps of a farmer and a child, and Paul's promise follows from it: "all things work together for good for those who love God, for those who are called according to his purpose" (Romans 8:28). Grace before a meal and thanksgiving at harvest are the ordinary ways the church confesses God as Preserver.