Read Genesis 1:1-2:3 (or have someone in the congregation come and read it clearly)
We’ll spend the next few weeks in and around this text.
We’re going to learn so much from it, but we’re going to learn what it has to teach us about God and life. Instead of trying to get what we want out of it, we’re going to let the creator lead us into his creation poem.
1. God gives structure to our world
- Starts with chaos and ends with structure
- Spirit of God hovers over the waters
- Hebrew people were not sea-farers (Sea of Galilee only mentioned once in OT, did not inhabit the Mediterranean coast)
- Saw water as chaotic – Tohu va-vohu “wild and waste” or “formless and empty”
- God’s creative acts takes the chaos of wild and waste and formless and empty and gives it all kinds of structure
Structure in Genesis 1:
- Day and night
- Sea, sky, and land
- Vegetation of various kinds
- The universe from the grandest heavenly bodies to the smallest atomic sub-particle – science is just the discovery of God’s ordering
- The sun and moon give us years and months
- The fish, bugs, birds, and animals – all according to their kind → structure/order
- Finally people – Who are given instructions and order
- The week is also structured by this poem – 6 days of work and 1 day of rest
- What does this tell us about God?
- He created a world for us with structure and order so that we could thrive
- His intent is not for us to live in chaos and the insecurity of uncertainty
- What does this tell us about ourselves?
- We’ll all have times of craziness but we should examine areas of our lives that are chaotic, unstructured, lacking order
- Practical: Designed in God’s image, we are also creators. We are in charge of our lives. Are we building lives that reflect the structure and order that we were created with or are our lives turbulent waters?
- Face so many distractions in our lives that pull us in many directions.
- Where does your life lack structure?
- Not trying to become robotic or overly efficient
- But examine cycles of chaos
2. God fills our world
- Another thing we see in this text is God’s desire for his world to be full. Begins empty/void but the things that God creates are made to fill up creation.
- Fills the world with light
- Barren ground with vegetation
- Sun and stars don’t just shine but rule the day and the night
- Waters swarm
- Birds fly across the expanse of the heavens
- Told to “Be fruitful and multiply.”
- God makes humankind and tells them to “be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth…”
What does this tell us about God?
- He desires fullness. He wants his creation to teem with life – to overflow.
- And he knows how to fill emptiness
- What does this tell us about ourselves?
- God wants us to live full lives
- He doesn’t want you to live an empty life, a boring life, a lonely life, an average life
- He wants you overflowing, filled up (not chaotically but with meaning and purpose and joy)
- Practical: What are we filling our lives with?
- Does your daily, weekly life reflect the heart of God for fullness?
- Are you overflowing with the good? Bearing fruit of all kinds?
- Or are there empty practices in your life?
- Is there a void that is being filled with things that lead to death instead of life?
- What would an abundant life look like?
3. God sees the good
- Another theme on the very first page of scripture is God’s pleasure when he looks upon what he has created
- After each day, God reflects and declares what he’s done and its result are “Good.”
- On the sixth day, after creating humankind, he doubles down and declares that it is “very good.”
- What does this tell us about God?
- He takes the time to step back and look upon what he’s created
- At the end of every day God ponders his work
- And he doesn’t look at it with insecurity like we might – he nods his head affirmatively and says, “This is good.”
- What does this tell us about ourselves?
- We should intentionally take the time/posture to step back and look at God’s creation – and we should look for the good
- We should step back and look at our lives and look for the good – so easy to be negative (God even saw the beauty in mosquitos)
- We are a part of God’s good and very good creation – we can become pretty negative about ourselves but it’s so important to remember that God didn’t mess up when he created you. It’s always been his plan that there would be a you – and he looks at you and he’s so pleased. He’s so filled with love for you.
- Practical: What good do you see in God’s creation all around you? What good do you see in you?
- This week’s Family Thread addresses this – you won’t want to miss it
Conclusion Ideas: Revelation 21:1-4
Go from beginning to end to show that God’s heart for his creation is consistent.
In Revelation 21 we’re given a picture of God’s creation restored and there is a detail that doesn’t make sense at first. It says there will be no more sea. What does God have against the sea?
Remember the Hebrews viewed the waters as chaotic, formless and empty. This is one of the reasons why Jesus walked on the water and calmed the storm – those miracles send the message that God is greater than the chaos.
From beginning to end and at every point in between we serve a God who is more powerful than the chaos, emptiness, and negativity of our world.
Let’s live in this restored reality of creation. Let’s give the world a taste of what we were created to be and of what’s to come when we see the world through God’s eyes.
New Thing Challenge:
This week intentionally notice Beauty/Goodness/Fullness/Structure – look for the sunrise behind the clouds in your family, at your job, in the church, and even in yourself.