Friday, January 1, 2010

Genesis 1
There were five aspects of this opening chapter of God's word that became more evident to me as I read the familiar account of "the beginning". The first can be summed in just one word as my thoughts all centered around the idea of "order". Our eternal God created all that we know from a formless empty darkness. Throughout the chapter God puts together, much like a puzzle, all of creation in a way that science still can't explain, but yet it is extremely orderly. Secondly, God's infinite power and command over all things is exhibited in the eight "Let" verses. Here we see for the first time in scripture that God is in control of everything and he can do anything according to His will and purposes. Next, God is intentional and careful about how he acts --- it's obvious in this chapter that He is not careless in the order or the purpose of each action he takes in creation. Another aspect is the sense of God's role as the provider for all creation. He doesn't just leave them without meeting their needs. He says, " I give" in verse 29 and 30 , speaking of providing for their need of food. Finally, the creation story is a great illustration that God is good. After each step of creation, we learn that God "saw that it was good". God is the source of everything good.