God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good

Genesis 1 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. ² The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters. ³ Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. ⁴ God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness. ⁵ God called the light day, and the darkness He called night. And there was evening and there was morning, one day.

⁶ Then God said, “Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.” ⁷ God made the expanse, and separated the waters which were below the expanse from the waters which were above the expanse; and it was so. ⁸ God called the expanse heaven. And there was evening and there was morning, a second day.

⁹ Then God said, “Let the waters below the heavens be gathered into one place, and let the dry land appear”; and it was so. ¹⁰ God called the dry land earth, and the gathering of the waters He called seas; and God saw that it was good. ¹¹ Then God said, “Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees on the earth bearing fruit after their kind with seed in them”; and it was so. ¹² The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed after their kind, and trees bearing fruit with seed in them, after their kind; and God saw that it was good. ¹³ There was evening and there was morning, a third day.

¹⁴ Then God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night, and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and years; ¹⁵ and let them be for lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth”; and it was so. ¹⁶ God made the two great lights, the greater light to govern the day, and the lesser light to govern the night; He made the stars also. ¹⁷ God placed them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth, ¹⁸ and to govern the day and the night, and to separate the light from the darkness; and God saw that it was good. ¹⁹ There was evening and there was morning, a fourth day.

²⁰ Then God said, “Let the waters teem with swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth in the open expanse of the heavens.” ²¹ God created the great sea monsters and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarmed after their kind, and every winged bird after its kind; and God saw that it was good. ²² God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.” ²³ There was evening and there was morning, a fifth day.

²⁴ Then God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures after their kind: cattle and creeping things and beasts of the earth after their kind”; and it was so. ²⁵ God made the beasts of the earth after their kind, and the cattle after their kind, and everything that creeps on the ground after its kind; and God saw that it was good.

²⁶ Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” ²⁷ God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. ²⁸ God blessed them; and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” ²⁹ Then God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the surface of all the earth, and every tree which has fruit yielding seed; it shall be food for you; ³⁰ and to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the sky and to every thing that moves on the earth which has life, I have given every green plant for food”; and it was so. ³¹ God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.

It is important that anything that is built, be built on a solid and true foundation. That’s why there are regulations concerning the foundation of buildings and other structures. Would you want to drive on a bridge that was not set on a good foundation? In Matthew 7:24-25 Jesus says:  “Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock. Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and it fell—and great was its fall.”  As we begin this new year, seeking to build upon the strong and sure foundation of God’s word, so that no matter what comes in 2021, we will stand and not fall, it is vital for us to build upon the sure foundation of the truth of Genesis 1.

The text begins saying:  In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters. Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light day, and the darkness He called night. And there was evening and there was morning, one day.  The words formless and void could also be translated as chaos or lack of order. Right from the beginning, the theories and speculations of human science and ideology fail to build on truth. They speculate and theorize that the universe, the earth, the stars and the planets were created by some sort of explosion. Have you ever seen the results of an explosion? Explosions do not create order from chaos, they do not build, they tear down, destroy and cause chaos. Even science itself, recognizes that things naturally tend to go from order to randomness. The thermodynamic law of entropy establishes that truth. God on the other hand, because He is omnipotent, spoke to the chaos and created order. The fact that there is a well designed, intricately balanced universe, establishes that there was and is a designer and creator, rather than a series of accidents. God spoke and the Spirit responded with the power of creation.

The text says:  Then God said, “Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees on the earth bearing fruit after their kind with seed in them”; and it was so. The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed after their kind, and trees bearing fruit with seed in them, after their kind; and God saw that it was good. There was evening and there was morning, a third day. Then God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night, and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and years; and let them be for lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth”; and it was so. God made the two great lights, the greater light to govern the day, and the lesser light to govern the night; He made the stars also. God placed them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth, and to govern the day and the night, and to separate the light from the darkness; and God saw that it was good. There was evening and there was morning, a fourth day. Then God said, “Let the waters teem with swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth in the open expanse of the heavens.” God created the great sea monsters and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarmed after their kind, and every winged bird after its kind; and God saw that it was good. God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.” There was evening and there was morning, a fifth day.  Then God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures after their kind: cattle and creeping things and beasts of the earth after their kind”; and it was so. God made the beasts of the earth after their kind, and the cattle after their kind, and everything that creeps on the ground after its kind; and God saw that it was good.   Again, those who build on false human speculation would have us believe that the sun, the moon and the stars happened by random acts, that it is a fortunate coincidence that the earth is positioned exactly the right distance from the sun to support life, a little closer and it would be too hot; a little farther and it would be too cold. How fortunate that in the midst of the chaos, the earth and the sun positioned themselves perfectly to sustain all life as we know it. Also, with the plants and the animals, human speculation would have us believe that all that we see and know began as one common thing and randomly changed to become the 9-10 million animal species that we know today. One of the many problems with the theory of evolution is that there is no evidence either that it occurred and certainly none that it continues to occur. Certainly, there is evidence of adaptation, things within a species changing to function and flourish in their unique environments. But there are no apes becoming human and no reptiles becoming birds. There are no fish turning to reptiles or mammals. Instead, each one was uniquely created after its kind.

Finally, the text says: Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. God blessed them; and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” …  God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.   It is vital that we recognize that people are created in the image and likeness of God. We did not evolve to be higher than the animals, we were created in God’s image and He gave us dominion over every living thing that moves on the earth. Human speculation has so perverted the truth that many no longer accept that there is male and female, that biologically people are one or the other. Human psychology is now taking the natural order and creating chaos and confusion. Only with God can chaos be turned to order. Apart from God, what is orderly will degrade to disorder, chaos and confusion. The farther our society and culture moves from God, the more evident this becomes. When we fail to teach our children that they are created in God’s image, we see people begin to act more like animals.  

We were created in the image and likeness of God. Romans 8:28-29 says: God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren.  As we begin this year building on the truth of God’s word, may we recognize that God will cause everything that happens in our lives to work together for our good. If we respond to Him in love, we will become conformed to the image of Christ, We will be restored to the image and likeness of God, just as He intended from creation.

Thank You heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ and precious Holy Spirit for the sure foundation of Your word. May that foundation be strengthened in my life throughout the year to come.  Amen.