Out of Nothingness
Opening Prayer
Thank You, Lord, for Your Spirit hovering over my life, the same Spirit who spoke creation out of nothingness.
Read Genesis 1:1-25
[1] In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. [2] Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. [3] And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. [4] God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. [5] God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.” And there was evening, and there was morning-the first day. [6] And God said, “Let there be a vault between the waters to separate water from water.” [7] So God made the vault and separated the water under the vault from the water above it. And it was so. [8] God called the vault “sky.” And there was evening, and there was morning-the second day. [9] And God said, “Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear.” And it was so. [10] God called the dry ground “land,” and the gathered waters he called “seas.” And God saw that it was good. [11] Then God said, “Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds.” And it was so. [12] The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. [13] And there was evening, and there was morning-the third day. [14] And God said, “Let there be lights in the vault of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark sacred times, and days and years, [15] and let them be lights in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth.” And it was so. [16] God made two great lights-the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars. [17] God set them in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth, [18] to govern the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that it was good. [19] And there was evening, and there was morning-the fourth day. [20] And God said, “Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the vault of the sky.” [21] So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living thing with which the water teems and that moves about in it, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. [22] God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the water in the seas, and let the birds increase on the earth.” [23] And there was evening, and there was morning-the fifth day. [24] And God said, “Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: the livestock, the creatures that move along the ground, and the wild animals, each according to its kind.” And it was so. [25] God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. Scripture taken from the THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION, NIV Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Reflect
What does God speak over creation?The opening chapter of Genesis tells us that all of creation was spoken out of nothingness by God. It tells us seven times – the Hebrew number of perfection – that the creation is good, and pleasing to its Maker. The teaching of Plato has led to a tendency to view the physical world as inferior to the non-material, leading to a careless and destructive use of the earth’s resources. In Genesis, God’s love for his creation is clear. At its height, we can see God honoring what is physical in the incarnation; Jesus taking on flesh was a once for all declaration of the goodness of the material world, and we know we will be in a physical New Jerusalem when the current order, with its brokenness, comes to its end.We can also learn much about God from this account, particularly in the ways it contrasts with other ancient creation stories. God existed before anything, is without beginning or end – an eternal, self-sufficient being, rather than being given birth to along with the rest of creation. God is the only God, the God to whom all created things are subject – planets, weather systems, oceans and living creatures – rather than one among many gods worshipped in the Ancient Middle East.The opening chapter of Genesis tells us that all of creation was spoken out of nothingness by God. It tells us seven times – the Hebrew number of perfection – that the creation is good, and pleasing to its Maker. The teaching of Plato has led to a tendency to view the physical world as inferior to the non-material, leading to a careless and destructive use of the earth’s resources. In Genesis, God’s love for his creation is clear. At its height, we can see God honoring what is physical in the incarnation; Jesus taking on flesh was a once for all declaration of the goodness of the material world, and we know we will be in a physical New Jerusalem when the current order, with its brokenness, comes to its end.We can also learn much about God from this account, particularly in the ways it contrasts with other ancient creation stories. God existed before anything, is without beginning or end – an eternal, self-sufficient being, rather than being given birth to along with the rest of creation. God is the only God, the God to whom all created things are subject – planets, weather systems, oceans and living creatures – rather than one among many gods worshipped in the Ancient Middle East.
Apply
Think about what you can do today to be a steward of God’s magnificent creation.
Closing prayer
Creator God, You have shown Your majesty and creativity in the world. Let me do my part to be a good steward.
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