Genesis 2
Have you ever looked at a beautiful sculpture and just marveled at it’s beauty? You know, you’re looking at a statue or a sculpture, realizing that at one time it was just a big block of stone or an awkward lump of clay, but now it stands as a work of art filled with amazing detail and expression. I wish I could do something like that, but I just can’t.
[Ash tray in high school story.]
But there are so many wonderful works of art out there where someone who took something without form and turned it into a work of art.
- Michelangelo’s “David”
- Rodin’s “The Thinker”
- Mount Rushmore
- My little girl’s creations
And you know what, that’s what God did when He created the earth. He took something
that was chaotic and without form and fashioned it into something beautiful. Let’s look back at the beginning, the first day of creation.
[Read Genesis 1:1-5.]
So at the end of the first day of creation God had created space, light, and a formless mass of water called earth. But over the next three days, things would start to take shape. So let’s look the second day, where:
I. The sky takes shape
[Read Genesis 1:6-8.]
So the first thing that God does with this ball of water is to create a firmament, or an expanse, or a canopy that separates the water that’s on the earth from the water that’s above the earth. It’s like a protective shield that encompasses the entire earth.
But what exactly was this firmament? Well, the actual word used here is the Hebrew word “raquiya” which literally means, “to beat out and stretch forth.” How do apply that to the text. Remember, God has only created water, space and light. So what’s the firmament made out of? Well I think it was made out of the existing water. Frozen somehow and positioned as a giant ice canopy around the entire earth. One that would be protective of the earth, but one that would be translucent enough as to allow light to pass through it to illuminate the earth. The earth was like a giant terrarium where the perfect conditions would exist for life.
You didn’t need sun block, sunglasses, ac or heat. Oxygen and barometric levels would have been increased as if we were living in a hyperbaric chamber.
[Hyperbaric chamber properties stories.]
This would account for the longevity of life back then and the enormous size of the
animals we find in the fossil record.
What an incredible idea the Lord had when He made this protective shield around His creation. And you know what, in recent years science has finally got a little glimpse in the reality of the firmament.
[Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory story.]
It’s always nice when science catches up to the Bible.
But where’s the firmament now? Where did it go? We’ll get into that when we get to chapter seven. But until then, on the second day of creation the sky takes shape.
On the third day of creation God gets to work under the firmament, where:
II. The earth takes shape
[Read Genesis 1:9-13.]
So God takes this massive ball of water and again makes distinctions. He creates seas and land to define the terrain of the earth.
It appears from the text that God only created one land, not the many continents that we have today. I believe He created one super-continent by which all the other continents came from. (And when you look at a globe, it’s pretty easy to see that they all used to fit together.) When we get to chapter ten we’ll get a glimpse at the beginnings of the separation of the land into different continents.
On this land He created all kinds of plant life that would cover the land with beauty, would provide nourishment for the coming animal and human life, and would also be able to self perpetuate forever!
[Apple and seeds demonstration.]
Isn’t that amazing?! How God would provide all of the fruits and vegetables and spices and herbs for our sustenance, and trees and grass for our shelter and comfort, and flowers that are enjoyable for their looks and their smells. And all of this would just grow, and grow, and grow! The perfect environment was created for plants to eternally perpetuate and provide! (try saying that five times really fast.)
Anyway, what a beautiful and ingenious place the earth was at the beginning. The sky had taken shape, the earth had taken shape, and then on the fourth day:
III. The universe takes shape
[Read Genesis 1:14-19.]
Obviously, the sun was created to light the day, and the moon was created to light the night. Stars were also put in place throughout the universe to help illuminate the night. They’d be able to be seen through the firmament, but their ultraviolet rays wouldn’t harm the earth.
These celestial bodies, working in harmony as we know they do, would not only illumine the earth but would also be a way of mapping time – days, seasons, years.
And I tell you what, just how beautiful are the night time skies here in Florida. You can actually see the starts here! I lived in Chicago for four years. And as soon as you thought you were seeing a start at night, it turned out to be a plane or helicopter. The pollution was so bad! But here, or out west, or in many other areas of the world you can clearly see God’s handiwork in the heavens. Handiwork that’s not only beautiful but useful.
But in harmony, the rotation of the earth on its axis, its orbit around the sun, the moon’s orbit around the earth, the other planet’s orbits, and all the fixed stars in the universe provide us with a mapping system of time and space.
When God shaped the sky and the earth and the universe He did it in such a detailed, such an intricate, such a useful and such a beautiful way. The evidence of His personal touch is all over creation.
I sometimes wonder why He did it this way. I mean, why did He take six days? Why did He create things in order like this? He could have spoke everything into existence all at once. He did that with man, why didn’t He do that with everything?
When He created man it doesn’t say that He first created the bone structure, then the nervous system, then the muscles and so on. He simply created man as a finished product. So why didn’t He do that with everything?
There could be many reasons why He created the universe in stages.
- To teach us specific origins of things.
- To point to deeper theological truth.
- Personal enjoyment.
Those and other reason could be the explanation. But I want us to focus on how the
progression of creation can point us to a deeper theological truth.
Now remember, the earth on day one was a formless, chaotic, mass of water created by God. Then, the Father took that mass and created something beautiful, something useful. You see where I’m going with this right?
You and I, created by God, in ourselves are just formless, chaotic masses of potential. But once the Father’s hand gets to work on us, a beautiful, useful creation starts to take shape. It’s like when a master sculpture goes to work on a block of solid marble. It starts out awkward and lifeless, but ends up spectacular.
[Read Isaiah 64:8, Philippians 1:6.]
Now sometimes the sculpting process can be painful. Sometimes the Lord has to cut away some pretty big chunks in our lives to shape us into who He wants us to be. That process can be painful. But without it, the shape never takes the form it’s intended to.
Sometimes the sculpting process isn’t as painful at times. Maybe just some minor sanding and smoothing and polishing in certain areas will create the effect the Lord wants.
But God will complete His work in us and sculpt us into the people He’s created us to be. We just need to get out of His way and let Him work!
[Andrew paintings in youth area illustration.]
So when you look around at the beautiful creation of the earth, let it encourage you that you as well are a creation of the Lord. One that He continues to work on every day until He brings us into His glory and the process in completed!
Listen to this poem written by Irenaues, one of the great church fathers from the 2nd century. It’s called “From God’s Hands”
It is not you who shape God;
it is God that shapes you.
If then you are the work of God,
await the hand of the Artist
who does all things in due season.
Offer the Potter your heart,
soft and tractable,
and keep the form in which
the Artist has fashioned you.
Let your clay be moist,
lest you grow hard and lose
the imprint of the Potter’s fingers.
[Pray.]
