Genesis 1:1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
I just finished reading Revelation a couple of days ago, so this morning I begin all over again in Genesis 1:1. I was reminded that most of the Bible is the Old Testament. It is good to be able to come to grips with the Old Testament. It helps you understand the New Testament, and there is so much good to learn from it.
Genesis 1:1 says, “In the beginning God created…” It goes on to talk about creation. If you can accept the fact that God is the Creator, nothing else the Bible claims will be difficult for you. A person who believes that “in the beginning God created” has no problem believing that God could create a virgin birth, that Jesus could feed a multitude of hungry people, or that He healed the blind and lame.
So, “in the beginning God created.” And what you find in Genesis is the repetition of the statement, “God said.” Verse 6 says, “And God said.” Verse 9 says, “And God said.” Verse 14 says, “And God said.” This phrase organizes the entire chapter.
There are a couple of things to notice. We are reminded that all creation listens to God. God said and creation was. Do you listen to God? I will tell you that you have value today because God is the Creator. You are not just another animal. You are a creature created by the Creator. You are of value. What I make may or may not have value, but I have intrinsic value because I was created by God.
The Bible says, “God said…it was so…it was good.” That is what you find over and again in the first chapter of Genesis. What God made is good and it is good the way God made it. What a good premise for the Bible, for your day, or for your life. That is the place to begin.
Someone has said, “Every new day is a fresh start to a wise person.” When you come to Genesis, you are reminded that you have a chance for a fresh start regardless of what has happened or in what circumstance you find yourself. You have choice. You have opportunities to make the right choice in light of the fact that you are a created being. “In the beginning God created.” What God created is good.
What God created is distinct. For instance, verse 12 says, “And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind.” Not everything God created is the same. Herbs are different than animals. Animals are different than mankind. There is a distinction. You have land and sea, night and day, male and female. These are distinctions that are good because they are God-created. There is nothing better than doing what God made you to do and being what God made you to be. That is the sweet spot. That you are not an accident, that you are a creation, bears testament to the fact that God made you by design for a reason and a purpose. You can see that in distinction.
Obviously there is not just distinction in how God made you, but there is purpose in what God made you. When God created night and day He said, “Let them be for…” That is, let them be the lights for signs, seasons, days, and years to give light to rule the day. God was giving purpose even to the heavenly bodies like the stars and sun. Later He says that His creation, mankind, whom He created in the image of God, should multiply and have dominion over the earth and replenish the earth. I don’t worship nature, but I am a steward of nature, not because nature owns me, but because God does. God made me and the world in which I live.
The long and short of it is that all nature listens to God. “God said…it was so…it was good.” God made everything with distinction. God made everything for a purpose, and He made you for a reason and a purpose. Today, let me urge you to take your place as God’s creation, to own God Himself as your Creator, and to live life the way God intended, listening to Him as the Creator.