Reading: Genesis 1:1-25

Genesis 1:2 – “The earth was without shape or form, it was dark over the deep sea, and God’s wind swept over the waters.”

In Genesis 1 and the first verses of chapter 2 we find the first creation story. This is our introduction to God and to the world that God created. What was it like before God began to act? In verse two we read that the “earth” was shapeless, just a dark, roiling “sea.” There was chaos. There was no order, no purpose. First, God’s wind (Spirit) swept out over the deep waters, becoming present. Then God began to act, to order and create.

Light came first, then the sky. Next God creates the land and the seas, then plantlife on the land. As God continues to create, the sun, moon, and stars are made, the seas are filled with life, and the land is filled with animals. After each “day” or step, God looked at all that had been done and “saw how good it was.”

What do we learn about God from this opening story in the Bible? First, God is bent towards good. There is goodness in all that God does. Second, God is creative and ordered. There is purpose and planning in the creation. One step proceeds the next because it has too. Yet God is not totally predictable nor completely understandable. There is surprise and mystery about God.

In many ways, our world today is not unlike what it must have felt like on day one. There is darkness. Things often feel chaotic. There is discord and evil, violence and injustice seemingly all around. And God continues to be present, to move, to create. There is much good in our world because God is still in our world. God is at work, shining light into darkness, bringing good to bear against the evils of this world. There is hope. Thanks be to God.

Prayer: Lord God, thank you for creating order out of chaos, for bringing good into our world. Thank you for continuing to work in our world, redeeming and restoring it back towards what you made it to be. Amen.