"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” Genesis 1:1
"Today, if you hear his
voice, do not harden your hearts." Hebrews
4:7
What
does the account of God making the world have to do with my life on Monday?
Here’s how.
Let’s
say that Kathy and I decide we want to build a house.
We build it and you’re curious about how we did it.
You want to know the story of our house building.
My
answer might be “You should have seen it, we bought this land, it was a great
site, and then these guys came in with big machines and cleared it.
Then others came in and dug a hole. After
that others laid the foundation and then built upwards, floor by floor until
they got to the roof. And my
explanation would continue from there.
I
would be describing the building of the house, the physical structure.
At
that point Kathy jumps into the conversation and she says, “Actually we
started with the second floor balcony off our bedroom, because at this point in
our lives we want to wake up with our coffee, go out on the deck with our
Baileys French Vanilla creamer and sit in delicious conversation taking in
God’s beauty.”
Kathy
is describing the building not of a house, but of a home.
Was
an actual physical structure built? Yes.
Was Kathy’s explanation correct? Yes.
Was her description of the building process out of sequence?
Yes, if you are describing the actual sequential construction of a house.
No, if you are starting with a conceptual plan of the home.
Did her description match my description?
No. Were both accurate?
Yes.
Christians
agree that Genesis one describes both the building of a house
and home. Even though they
don’t agree on how God built it (the
“house”) they do agree that God
did it and why.
What God did in creating the heavens and the earth was more
than creating a house
God
was creating a home.
Actually
the Hebrew word for “created”
carries the same meaning as creating a
work of art, not referring to the creation of the canvas or brush or
paint, rather making with those things something beautiful.
That Hebrew word is also translated as make or made.
The
meaning then is similar to my making the bed in the morning.
I get up in the morning, look at the bed and see that it’s a mess
(chaos, Genesis 1:2) pillows and sheets everywhere and I then make the bed into
a thing of beauty. (Yes, it is
me who does this every, single, morning of my entire life!)
I
didn’t construct or manufacture the bed, rather I arranged into a work of
beauty (just a slight stretch).
God
is making, creating, designing and building a home for Himself to dwell in, a
home teaming with life, a home prepared for a huge family to flourish and thrive
in, a home in which God and we can thrive in loving relationship.
This
is what we read in Genesis one and two. God
making a home. God the Great
Homemaker builds, makes and occupies every square inch of this home he has made,
and inhabits every split second of every day that it exists.
Why
does this matter? Because you and I
are “on Holy Ground” at every moment and in every place.
God is where you are and that’s where you meet him, not where you are
not. His blessings and
love and guidance and safety and presence and purpose for you are available to
you right where you are.
When
I get up tomorrow morning, God is right there in the bedroom with me cheering me
on, believing in me, encouraging me. I
can start my day by saying, “Thank You Lord”.
I love being your son, daughter,” I can smell the fresh air and be
grateful for food to eat for breakfast.
That’s what homemakers do, isn’t it, they give you what you need to
start your day.
I
can then go to work and God is there too, coaching me, guiding me, warning me,
giving me strength, training me in godliness, all the while He’s in my corner
and He’s got my back. If I
fall he will pick me up. If
I can’t find him He finds me. If I rebel and I’m mad at him, he’s not mad
at me. If I sin He forgives me.
If I experience anger, hate, lust or avoidance He knows all of that and
if am aware at all of my sin, it’s because He loves me
enough to show it to me.
If
I suffer, it’s his love that lets me suffer.
Why? Sometimes so that I can
see what my sin does to me and to others. Sometimes
because he has a greater purpose for the situation I’m in.
Sometimes He wants to make you stronger.
But
always He’s the great Father and trainer and coach and yes, homemaker, the One
who made your section of his home specially for you.
He teaches you never to settle for the lie that rest can be found
somewhere other than in himself, that there is no other home, that rest, joy,
peace, purpose cannot be found apart from Him.
And
none of that ever, ever, ever happens tomorrow.
It only happens today.
For
more:
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