A New Year Begins... (Genesis 1-2)

...and already I am late on posts. But this year I am going to make a concerted effort to make comments (however brief) on our OT readings.

And so we start in the beginning with Genesis 1-2. There is a temptation to take these chapters as merely a straight account of Creation. In other words, we come to these chapters expecting to learn only how God created. To us, Genesis 1-2 is sort of a play by play account of the beginning. But in reality, these chapters are more than that. While I do still hold to a 6 day creation, I know that Genesis 1 has a lot more to teach us than that evolution is "wrong."

Think of Genesis 1 from an Israelites' perspective. Genesis was written by Moses as he was inspired by God. This probably happened as Moses shared time with God on Mount Sinai. So, Israel likely received Genesis as she was journeying to the Promised Land. With that fact in mind, Genesis 1 had to hold a great deal of interest for Israel. The account of God's creation of Eden had to powerfully remind them of their own journey to the Promised Land. In the account of Creation, Israelites would not have only seen a play by play account. They would have seen lessons about to thrive in their own Paradise.

The lesson they found in Genesis 1 is that there are blessings in the boundaries. Do not miss Genesis 1:2. That verse says that the earth was formless and empty. Thus, the rest of the chapter becomes an account of how God rectified that situation. In the first 3 days of Creation, God builds boundaries. On the first day, God creates the boundary between dark and light. On the second day, God creates sky, the boundaries between the waters above and the waters below (up until the Flood the world was apparently surrounded by a canopy of water). On the third day, God separates the land and the seas, putting each in its proper place. He also creates vegetation according to its kinds. In the opening three days of creation, the emphasis is clearly on bringing form to boundaries.

On the last three days of creation, God fills the boundaries. On day four, the sun and moon are placed in the sky. On the fifth day, the sky is filled with birds and the seas with fish. And on the sixth day, the land is filled with animals and the pinnacle of God's creation: humanity. All this rectifies the emptiness of verse 2. Now, not only are there boundaries but those boundaries are filled with wonderful and marvelous creatures.

The message here is unmistakable. Clearly, Genesis 1 teaches us that there is blessing in God's boundaries. Without the boundaries, there can be no holding of the blessings. If Israel was to enjoy the bounty of the Promised Land, they would have to accept the bounds of God's Law. Without submission to His commands, there could be no enjoyment of the blessings God planned to give. And for those of us who follow Jesus, the lesson is the same. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, we need to be obedient to God's Word. For it is in obedience that we know the fullness of God's blessing. Those who don't follow Jesus think that God';s boundaries are meant to take our fun and kill our happiness. But Scripture starts with a very different lesson. It is only in the boundaries of God that the fullness of blessing is found.