This is a Write 31 Days post.
Engaging Genesis must absolutely start at the beginning. Verse 1: “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” In the first two chapters, God reveals fundamental things about himself, the world, and our place in it.
First Things First
Sadly, even though I’ve taught the creation account more times than I can count, I still can’t quickly remember what God created on each day without a prompt.
What does help me get close is the idea that God made habitats on the first three days and then filled them on the second three.
So, without looking,
- Day 1 – Light
- Day 2 – Sky/Sea
- Day 3 – Land/Plants
- Day 4 – Sun, Moon and Stars
- Day 5 – Birds and Fish
- Day 6 – Animals and (grand finale) Man
- Day 7 – Sabbath
Let me go look up how I did. Be right back… Okay, that’s right. Go me!
Noticing Genesis 1–2
Of course, there’s much more to these chapters than just being able to recite the days of creation. Here’s some of what has stood out to me:
That God made everything. God made it. Invented it. Totally went from nothing to actual things. As in…ferns didn’t exist until he thought them up. And the sun and the composition of water and the speed of light. All of it. God made it.
That God made everything with a word. He spoke it and it happened. The power of God’s word, God’s words. And then he filled an entire book with more of those words and I somehow doubt they’ll be very effective. But the Word of God is powerful. It was then. It is now.
That all the big things he created reveal other things that matter, too. Like God spoke – first words ever – and not only made light appear but with those first words, he created sound waves that he then created our ears just so that we could pick them up. At the same time, he created language. Grammar and syntax and vocabulary and the ability to connect with someone out through words…they’re all inherent in that first single sentence.
Even more, he established that meaning was a fundamental characteristic of the universe. It isn’t random. The words he spoke were particular and resulted in a particular outcome. Light doesn’t mean trees; it means light. Our universe, our lives, our relationship with God all exist within a context of meaning and purpose.
Most of all …
That God created. And we, who are made in his image, still long to do the same. We waste so much time on devices and meaningless things, but his creative impulses still drive us. To write a book. To create computer code or a painting. Maybe to bring order to the disarray of our kitchens and our toy rooms and our minivans.
Because he created, we are made to create. And not just things … meaning.
We cannot escape the urge to live our lives for more than the mundane. We binge-watch shows about meaningful lives, but we forget to do it in our own. Because it’s easier to cry over the latest episode of This is Us than go and cry with our actual neighbors, in our actual towns, with our actual families. But that’s what we’re meant to do.
God created. He created me. He created you. And he made us for connection. With him and with each other. It’s a fundamental truth of Genesis 1–2.
