Genesis 1:1-2:1
How it All Started
Genesis 1 is one of the most beautiful, most carefully crafted sections of scripture. It’s kind of a mixture of poetry and prose. And its intent is clear: to show that God alone is creator of all. I heard about this one atheist scientist who came to God and said, “We've figured out how to make a man without you.” God said, “OK, let me see you do it.” So the atheist bent down to the ground and scooped up a handful of dirt. But God stopped him and said, “Oh, no you don't. Get your own dirt!”
Certainly, people have argued over the creation story: are these literal days or periods of time? And did God really speak it all into being? Today, I would ask that you merely trust that God has this passage here for a reason. And look for the simple, yet vital messages it has for us. Consider three I found. First,
1. God brings order out of chaos.
In the creation account, all you see at first is God’s Spirit hovering over the mess of creation, a chaotic mess. Nothing can live there. It’s not good. But God is not done. As God speaks into being each element of creation, he does so in a very purposeful way. God designs a planet upon which humans can not only survive but thrive. God creates food for the humans. God creates a livable habitat. God brings order out of the chaos.
Now if God can do that with all of creation, I wonder if he can do it with my little corner of the world? Or how about yours? Everybody’s life falls apart at the seams at some time or another: disease, relatives that are hard to get along with, pesky neighbors, financial strain, problems at work, and if no other crises, certainly the aging process brings its challenges. Can God speak order into our chaos? Yes! God the creator can create good out of your bad, if you will but let him. Isn’t that what Romans 8:28 is all about? That incredible promise states, “In all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”
I was talking with a Veteran who came to my Bible study Friday. We’ll call him “Stan.” He has just recently been drawn into an active personal relationship with God. His cancer has returned, he looks frail, and he’s about to undergo a second round of chemotherapy and radiation. As he shared this with me, we talked about how his life belongs to God, his healer, and God will either heal him of this cancer now or bring Stan to his heavenly home in a perfect healing. As I shared this with him, I could tell he was already there. He said, “I know, Chaplain, and I’m ready either way.” Stan found order out of his chaos. That’s one thing God does, and secondly,
2. God creates good.
Notice how many times in this beautiful creation account, God assesses things and says, “And it was good.” God created it ... and it was good. And at the end of all his creative work, including the first humans, he pronounces, “And it was very good!” As the old saying goes, “God don’t make no junk.” God made it all good, and that includes you and me and this world in which we live. Jackie Hill Perry said, “Something revolutionary happens in the heart when you recognize that every single person you will ever meet is made in the image of God.” God made everything and everyone good.
Now has the creation fallen? Sure! Adam and Eve rebelled against God, as each of us have since. And their sin affected the natural world—the plants and animals and the globe and universe itself—just as much as their sin affected their relational world. Sin permeated the entire world. In the first chapter of the book of Romans, Paul writes about how the creation has fallen. Yet, one day God will make a new heaven and a new earth, and he will make it all good again, with no more sin to ruin things.
Until then, our role is to be good stewards of this great world God has given us. Why? Because God made it all good, every person and all of creation. And God put us in charge of the rest of creation. He gave humans “dominion” over the earth. Christians of all people should be most opposed to littering, to wasting resources such as water and food. Christians should be excited about alternative energy sources and conservation and recycling. Christians should be quick to forgive, quick to reconcile when possible, quick to make the peace. Because God made it all good. God brings order out of chaos. God creates all good, and lastly,
3. God has your best in mind.
God purposefully set up an environment in which we could thrive. You’ll only see God’s evaluation of, “It was good,” start on the third day, as at that point he designed a livable habitat for human life.
Even then, we know the rest of the story. We know our first parents were tempted by Satan and rejected God, deciding they knew best, to their own detriment and to the detriment of the world. But what if—even in this most cunning of devilish attacks—God was still at work to bring about your best?
That’s what the gospel message is all about. Way back in Genesis 3, when we see the ugliness of the fall of humanity and the fall of creation and the beginning of death, we also see a glimmer of hope. In verse 15, God tells the devilish serpent, “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.” Who is the “he” who is going to crush the devil’s head? The offspring, of course! Maybe your Bible says, “seed.” The important point is that the word is singular. There will be a specific member of Adam and Eve’s offspring, one of their kin, who will stomp the devil. Satan is going to strike at his heal, but—get this—he will deliver a lethal head blow to Satan. You can live with a wounded heal, but you won’t survive a crushed head. Even in the opening pages of the Bible, God had our best in mind.
I’ll close with a story about tragedy, guilt, and forgiveness, all played out in God’s magnificent creation. Pastor Duane Miller in his teen years was on a canoe trip in Canada’s Algonquin Provincial Park, when three buddies died in a tragic drowning. Many years later, Miller took a group of his own church teens there, canoeing and camping. He showed them the exact spot of the accident and shared how the Lord had helped him grieve and work through his guilt at having survived. That night, around the campfire, the teens reflected on the week and all that God was doing in their lives. Afterwards Miller and a few others headed down to the lake. He writes, “We stood in silence looking out over the water at one of the most spectacular sights I have ever seen. There was no moon, no clouds, and absolutely no breeze. I felt like I was standing on the edge of space gazing out at the universe. The water, smooth as glass, perfectly reflected the stars.”
He quietly slipped into a canoe and drifted onto the water. He said, “I felt like I was floating in outer space. Everywhere I looked I saw stars. As I attempted to take all this in, the peace of God’s presence filled my heart, and I became overwhelmed by the realization that the God who simply spoke words to create all of this truly loves me. Here I am, a tiny speck of dust on Earth in the expanse of all of creation, yet He knows me personally and is active in my life. God loves me so much that He allowed His Son, Jesus, to die for my sins so my relationship with Him could be restored. All I had to do was reach out in faith and receive the gift of eternal life.” [Duane Miller, “God Used My Tragedy,” Discovery House excerpt from Survivor: A Story of Tragedy, Guilt, and Grace, 2017]
This is the God of creation, who made it all, made it for our good, and wants the very best for us, a relationship with himself. Let us pray:
Thank you, Creator God and Abba Father. You do all things well. May we grow in our trust of you as we marvel at the wonderful intricacies of the world around us. And may we remember, in our times of chaos, that you are there, working behind the scenes, to bring order. May we remember in our worst moments of life that you can bring good out of any situation. May we recall, even if you discipline us, that you always have our best in mind. Help us to choose you by choosing Jesus as our Savior, his sacrifice the counter weight to our sinful rebellion, that we might know you and be known by you, forever and ever, amen.
