Genesis 1.1.-5
When God began to create the heavens and the earth, 2the earth was a
formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God
swept over the face of the waters. 3Then God said, ‘Let there be
light’; and there was light. 4And God saw that the light was good;
and God separated the light from the darkness. 5God called the light
Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was
morning, the first day.
The opening
verses of the Bible are from one of two creation stories that exist within the
first two chapters of Genesis. The two
stories are quite different and conflict with each other at several
points. They are from two separate
times, centuries apart. The
discrepancies between the two stories of creation, along with the overwhelming
scientific evidence, lead us to the conclusion that the stories of creation in
the Bible are not scientific accounts of how the universe was created. In fact neither story seems to be interested
in answering the question of how the world was created. So if the creation story isn’t really about
how the world was created what is it about?
Rather
than being about how the world was created, this story of creation is a story
of hope and comfort. The opening verses
begin with a great mess. The earth is formless,
void, and in deep darkness, the waters descend to unfathomable depths. It is a picture of an earth with absolutely
no possibility for life. Yet in the
midst of this uncontrollable mess we hear God speak four simple words (only 2
in Hebrew) “Let there be light.” All of
sudden the darkness disappears, and some semblance of order is found as the
light is separated from the darkness.
After the first day God continues to speak and with each sentence things
become more ordered, until finally enough order is produced to allow for
life. First there are the plants, then
the things of the sea, air, and all things that swarm. But before long we begin to see cattle and
other animals before human beings (both male and female) are created in the
image of God. For a people who were
living in an uncertain and tumultuous time, this story of creation must have
been a great source of hope and comfort.
If God
was able to bring order to this seemingly insurmountable primordial mess then
God could once again bring order to a people displaced from their homeland; a
people who had been on the wrong track for as long as anyone could
remember. It may not have been a time
anywhere near as dark and chaotic as the beginning images of the creation
story, but for the Ancient Israelites there was great hope and comfort knowing
that God, in times long past, had brought order out of chaos. Order that allowed for life to flourish, and
could do so once again. In many ways
this story of creation is also a story of creation for our time as well. We all know people who think we are on the
wrong track and have been for a while (longer than any one President or
administration) and many are beginning to wonder if things will ever get
better. Things may not be anywhere near
as dark as it was for those Ancient Israelites living in exile, in an
unfriendly and unwelcoming land, but what hope and comfort to know that God has
in times past brought order out of the darkness and can do so once again.
Unfortunately,
it is frequently difficult for us to hear God’s voice speaking the words of
creation. Too often we long to hear
words of return to the past, rather than words of creation. The stories of Creation remind us that God is
not a god of nostalgia, but is the God of Creation. When God spoke and the darkness was separated
from the light, things were never the same again, but that transformation
allowed life to flourish as never before.
God’s voice continues to create new possibilities for all of life to
flourish as never before, and we will never be the same again; Thanks be to
God!
