The world looks like something God had just imagined for his own pleasure, doesn’t it?
p. 174
There are other theologians who would concur.
For eternity, the Word was spoken out, telling of a God of overflowing life. For eternity, the Son was cherished, telling of a God of bottomless love. Given that this is the God we meet in Jesus, perhaps it is unsurprising that he should decide to have a creation, to unfold and spread his life and love.
Rejoicing in Christ – Michael Reeves p. 22
The creation of the world seems to have been especially for this end, that the eternal Son of God might obtain a spouse, toward whom he might fully exercise the infinite benevolence of his nature, and to whom he might, as it were, open and pour forth all that immense fountain of condescension, love and grace that was in his heart and that in this way God might be glorified.
From The Works of Jonathan Edwards 25:187. Quoted in Rejoicing in Christ p. 22
Indeed. And he imagined it for our pleasure as well. The palate of creation is beyond equal. Try as we might we cannot replicate it. From Rembrandt to Hasselblad, we have tried to capture reality. And we have not done poorly. But it is all copy, not creation. Nobody speaks beauty into existence. We are all just playing with the materials God gave us—and we should. As sub-creators, we are to continue to take the creation and till and toil beauty from raw materials. But none of us till and toil beauty from nothing.
What delight we should have that God allows us access to such beauty and such pleasure.
Lingering Over Leaves 