1. That what this is about. God said it and it did. Look at how many times in this chapter it says God Said.(9 times) The inference here is that God said for things to do something and they did. Was it obedience? No – they had no choice. They just did.
Look at this bit GE 1:3 And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. 4 V3 has often been taken to mean that God created light before he had created the sun, since not until v. 16 does the narrative speak of God making the sun. But the sun, moon, and stars are all to be included in the usual meaning of the phrase “heavens and the earth,” and thus according to the present account these celestial bodies were all created in v. 1. So again we don’t know how – but the credit in this passage is given to God. God created the capacity for light. Creation was his domain. 2. This passage displays God’s creativeness.What amazes me is the list of what God created. Right through there is images that flood into our brains and I think this is part of the purpose of the chapter. If God did this creation thing – then God is awesome. It doesn’t matter how He did, it matters that He did and we accept that. It shows us a part of God’s character that we have to react to. It confronts our image of God. How big is God how powerful is God, what is God like?
Lets stop here.What is our image of God?Is He an old fella sitting on a cloud, majestic king pompously looking at what people do and making down the errors in a big book, some form of spiritual force, a glorified clock maker that wound everything up then had an elongated Sabbath. Think about it – How do I perceive God? If you have a piece of paper write it down, if you don’t, do it at home – How do I perceive God? ZDon’t say you can’t because you do have a perception of God. Now, reflect on this passage. What do we see of God here?
- Creative power, (He did it)
- capacity to organise, (Put everything in its place)
- forward thinking (Created things so that others would be catered for when He designed them eg food before animals, food before people)
- What about God’s willingness to share himself, (Made man like Himself)
- What about God making things so they fit together (Animals within their kind)
See what we see about God? How does it fit with your view? Or does it fit with your view?
I think what we have to do is everytime we read a passage about God we need to stop and think how does this affect my view of God? Or Does my view fit this passage? If it doesn’t then we aren’t biblical – we need to change!!! One of the biggest things we see in this chapter is God’s involvement with His world. Not just involved but proactively involved. Doing for His creation, helping creation be what He designed it to be. We have to ask ourselves do we think God is still doing this???? Yep. How? This passage doesn’t tell us but others do – so go home and look at what they say. Check it out. 3. Lets go back to one phrase that I said a few minutes ago. Everything is put in its place – so that it does what God designed it to. Again we have to ask ourselves – are we in the place God wants us to be? Are we doing the things God wants us to? Are we doing what God created us to do? (EG – Pastors Role – Am I doing what God wants? Is what the church wants me to do what God wants? I have to evaluate that. On the same token – ask yourself. Am I doing what God wants?) In some ways the Old Testament is a story of people who where were God wanted them – and they got blessed, and the same story tells us the reality of life and says that sometimes we aren’t where God wants us to be and He will deal with us to bring us back. In Genesis 1 we see that God fitted it together and that man is part of that picture. In the long run – we are part of God’s creation. Let’s not just place creation as a past event. We exist in God creation. In God’s world so the question needs to be asked – how do I fit?? It is never a case of do I fit – God put you here and I believe he has a purpose for each person even for each individual thing of creation. God was meticulous about how things fitted. It doesn’t matter how you think creation happened, It is God’s design that has worked. Hang on hang on. Let’s stop it here for a second. Again we are confronted with our concept of God. Is God the great designer? Then let the design do its thing. Is God like a clock maker who makes the clock, winds it up and goes out for coffee? Or was He actively involved in what He designed? Think about your concept of God. What do you think He did? Does it line up with what the bible says? Now that is the big question. Does how God created in my mind line up with the bible? Is my view of God biblical? 4. Just in finishing, I want to look at a significant phrase from this passage. It’s good. (How many times was it good? (7 Times) Everything was good. In fact there didn’t appear to be any bad. There doesn’t appear to be any trial period, and creation testing. God said it, and it was or it is good. Unfortuntely, good is now not perceived as best. We have added excellent or very good above it. God just said good. No fanfare, just said it and good. We don’t get speech emphatics when we read the bible do we. I mean by that we don’t get the inflection in God’s voice.Did He say a blasé – good.OrAn enthusiastic – goodOr A pleased with Himself good. We don’t know do we. But we know it is good. It appears that Good is God’s ultimate standard. God made the earth to His ultimate standard – It’s good – however we say it.And we are part of the good. We are part of that creation existence, God has placed us right here, right now. So what do we do with that knowledge???
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