THE STORY

Reading for Sunday, September 25     THE STORY, Chapter 1 (Genesis Chapters 1 thru 4, 6 thru 9)

Creation                            

"Then God looked over all he had made, and he saw that it was very good! And evening passed and morning came, marking the sixth day." Genesis 1:31(NLT)
 
3 Key Words

"Good"
The word God appears 30 times in the Bible’s first 31 verses. The Bible is about God. This 1st creation story (Genesis 1:1-2:3) tells us that God made everything. It also tells us that everything he made is “good”. All that is evil or bad is good having gone wrong. You live in a God inhabited, good world.  

"That"
Genesis 1 is not a science book. It tells us that God created, not how. When we bicker over the “how” we can devolve into “adventures of missing the point”. Although not written as a science, however, the Bible is the foundation for all scientific inquiry. It tells us that we live in an ordered, good world, that it is God’s world, and therefore is worthy of study. In doing science we get to know God.

"Evening"
In Genesis “day” starts with nightfall, when humans are asleep (at least used to be). The point is that we live in God’s world where God is present and active and when we wake up, we wake to God and to God’s activity and purposes and Grace. When I wake up it would be good to remind myself that my problems are not the big thing that I am waking up to. I am waking up to God and what He’s doing.

Prayer  
“Lord, I believe. I believe that this world is good, that you are at work, that nothing, absolutely nothing can remain unredeemed or unhealed. I will not let myself miss the point that you are the competent creator, sustainer and healer of all things. It is to that world I will awaken tomorrow. Amen”