![]() ![]() We should admire the wisdom of God manifested in each particular kind of creature, whether it be a tulip or a worm. The world presents us with a harmonious whole, because God is first of all in harmony with himself. The result is that we can see that God knows what he is doing. The plants created on the third day serve as food for the animals and for mankind (v. The sixth day provides inhabitants for the dry land. The fifth day provides inhabitants for the sea and the heaven. The fourth day has heavenly lights, which are to be associated both with the spatial region of heaven and with the temporal succession of light and darkness. On days four to six he creates specific creatures who belong with these regions. In the first three days God creates major regions of the world – the “regions” of light and darkness on the first day, and then the spatial regions of heaven and earth, sea and dry land on the second and third days. We can see aspects of this plan in the organization of the six distinct days and their creative acts. But it is religiously profound, because it shows how everything relates to God who made it.Įach created thing displays the care and wisdom of God, because he has thought through its specifications.Įach created thing fits into a larger world, created according to God’s comprehensive plan. It describes ordinary things that people can observe. Look at the ants crawling on the sidewalk. God made particular things, and particular kinds of things. This distinction of things is something to be celebrated. Each plant reproduces “each according to its kind” (v. The different kinds of plants are distinct from each other. The dry land is distinct from the seas (vv. The waters above the expanse are distinct from the waters under the expanse (v. The light is distinct from the darkness (Gen 1:4). The things in the world are not only distinct from God, but also distinct from one another. Rather, the world is through and through creaturely, distinct from the Creator. His speech specifies the things he created, and at the same time his speech has divine power to bring about the creation of what he specifies (Psa 33:6 2Cor 4:6).Ĭonsequently, the whole world and everything in it is a product of God’s mind, of his purposes, and of his word.īy the word of the Lord the heavens were made,Īnd by the breath of his mouth all their host (Psa 33:6).īut the world is not identical with God’s mind. God created by speaking, such as by saying, “Let there be light” (verse 3).Evil is a later intrusion into an originally good creation.The Lord rejoices in his works (Psa 104:31). It is good in matching his specifications. God evaluates his own handiwork as good.The things that God made offer him no resistance, no competition, because all things are completely in accord with his specifications.God is one God, in contrast to the polytheistic views of many ancient peoples around Israel.The scope of the account in Genesis 1 underlines several things about the created world. But at an early point, in Gen 1, the Bible focuses on the visible things, which are most accessible to us as human beings, and which vividly illustrate God’s wisdom, power, and goodness (Rev 4:11 5:13). The Bible indicates that God created invisible things as well–angelic beings (Col 1:16). He made land animals and mankind (the sixth day). He made the sea creatures and the birds (the fifth day). He made the heavenly lights (the fourth day). He made the sea and the dry land (the third day). ![]() “God created the heavens and the earth” (1:1). According to Colossians 1:16, “by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities.” Among all the things that God created, let us focus particularly on visible things. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |