In the beginning …
Those words are like an invitation to a fresh start. God started fresh when He began this world. There is minimal information about what preceded the earth, other than that when it all began, it was formless and void. Devastation and ruin and in the mist of that time where the Spirit was at work, brooding. The Word was preparing to move out into action. The Bible does not give us any description of potential other beginnings; it says, THE beginning. This was the time when God created the heavens and the earth.
All God had to do was speak and things happened. God is awesome!!
God said, “Let there be light, and there was light.”
Simple. Everything you see is light reflected or refracted through the universe, or perhaps an immediate revelation of Jesus as The Light Himself.
God is light, so the first thing God did was make light. What he spoke was accomplished exactly as He spoken. Precision. Beauty. Excellence. Good. Sun, moon, stars, and later rainbows and snowflakes are all excellent presenters of light. If you are in Jesus, you too are the light of the world. If the King of Glory shines in your life, the worldd will see you and reflect on the goodness of God.
Okay, light, but there was also life: plants were formed on the third day, later birds and fish on day five. The Life of God grows and spreads and multiplies. The life of God reaches the depths. The life of God soars on the heights. The life of God moves across the earth. The life of God reproduces after its kind.
In the DNA of every living thing, is the message of that creature. The message of human life is contained not only on the 23 strands of DNA in our bodies. The 24th strand of DNA is the revelation of Scripture. It serves to correct the mutuations of our sinful and cursed lives. The Scriptures were sent to bring blessing.
Indeed, humans were blessed in the beginning. Male and female were made to love. Light, life, and love. This community is something that governs the world. How? Simply by receiving and reflecting the love of God in creation. The male and female parts of the human race speak of the giving and receiving that take place between God and man, the Lord and Israel, Christ and His church.
Throughout the ages, there is interwoven, a mysterious dance of duty and delight we meets in the the Divine-Human encounter. The glorious mystery is hidden with Christ in God.
Notice that throughout Genesis one, there remain differences and distinctions, male and female, varying kinds, different days, etc. Yet despite all of that, it is very good in the end as all obeys the command of God. Obedience and conformity bring blessing when Christ is the shape of our soul.
God said, Let us make man in our image, in the image of God he made him. Male and female He created them. And He blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and rule over the birds of the air, over the fish of the sea, over the beasts of the earth and over every living creature that moves on the face of the earth and order it. He gave them every green plant and every seed bearing plant for food … and God said, It is VERY GOOD!”
Order is good.
Family is good.
Food is good.
The goodness in the world is best enjoyed when people, male and female, live to reflect not on their own glory, but to reflect the glory of God. Family must follow the divine pattern of male and female meeting on the basis of the image of God and in graceful respect and loving-kindness. Only then will order, family, and the meals we share be very good.
God rested.
At the end of it all, God is not just wanting to create stress. God is wanting to bring about a walk in the park. God desires for people to parade in his presence, not in pride, but in perfect purity and meekness. Instead of strutting, we must acknowledge that all our strength is in Him.
Then, we will find peace.
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