Vision and order
This week's verses are on Genesis 1:1-5:
I was reading through one of my old theology textbooks the other day and a phrase leapt out to me from one of its dry paragraphs: "Order is the first law of heaven." I thought to myself, "Can that really be true?" And then I thought of the creation story in Genesis.
It's similar to the secular creation story we are taught in school. "At first there was nothing, but then something happened. And then things multiplied and more things happened. But now it's falling apart." In the world's creation story, everything happens on its own. In our secular world view, chaos begets chaos and is its own form of order. The only evil is mankind's attempt to impose his own order on the universe, which of course can only be atoned for by mankind imposing disorder on the parts of the universe he has already imposed himself on, in a futile attempt to erase himself, and thereby erase his self-declared sin. This is basically the story we are taught in school and in the media. We are taught that the universe was happy before we showed up, and that the best thing for the universe would be if we crawled off somewhere and died.
The difference in the Bible's creation story is that in the Bible things don't create themselves. Order doesn't naturally form from chaos. Without someone to impose order on it, the world is chaotic and empty. In the beginning, God creates a canvas (the heavens and the earth) on which to paint his desires. To the modern eye, that is a horrible, imperialistic thing for him to have done. ("Surely there are other beings out there who wanted something different, like Satan for instance.") And yet without it, none of this would exist.
God hovered over the surface of the dark waters and began to set things in order according to his vision for what would happen. An artist doesn't paint the whole painting at once onto the canvas, but in stages. In God's creation, each stage builds on the other stages until God has created man. Then, for the first time, God asks man to collaborate in his creation, naming the animals and ruling over what is there. Instead of being this unwanted thing that gets in the scientists' way, we are a vital component of the universe.
Chaos is a curse. When mankind is driven out of a region and it reverts back to nature, that is not God's blessing on nature, but his curse on the people who lived there. In the Old Testament, there are quite a few prophesies warning Israel to get their act together or wild animals will be grazing in what were once their cities. When God allows disorder, it is typically to punish mankind. It's as if he is saying "I made this for you, and if you don't appreciate it, let me show you what life would be like without it."
So it is interesting that God starts in the Bible by putting everything into order. Over the six days described for creation, things slowly come into focus. Rather than an explosion or chain reaction, it's quite the opposite. Scattered meaningless things slowly come into their intended forms, not by chance, but by design. There is a purpose and an intended result.
God imposes his order on the universe, but for some reason he often seeks our collaboration. Because we have his spirit and are created in his image, we too have a creative vision and a sense of order, even though we're not gods. In being filled with the Holy Spirit, we are given authority over the world around us like Adam and Eve, not just physically but spiritually as well. That makes us attractive targets to someone like Satan who wants to destroy or redirect what God has created.
God's creation is perfect because he is perfect. We are not perfect, so we are subject to being "hacked" by demonic forces, bad doctrines, and false religions like the secularism of our modern day. Our creative power then produces chaos, and not something in harmony with God's perfect creation. So what do we do?
To use our powers for good, we have to get to know God's perfect vision for our lives. Some of that is really digging into the Bible and understanding God's prior work, but most of it is simply just being in contact with God in prayer and observation. If you were an artist commissioned to paint a fresco in a palace, would you just create something having no idea who the owner was, or what the palace architecture was like? No! You'd find out everything you could beforehand so that your original work would perfectly match the architect's original work and be pleasing to the vision of the person who owned the whole thing. You'd check in with him as often as you could, to make sure what you were painting was something he'd want to see. That's how you get praise and repeat business.
Some people spend their whole lives trying to figure out who they are and what they want. In with that, we should also be figuring who God is and what he wants. He is both architect and owner of the world we live in, and his vision is the most important piece of information we can have if we want to do things right.
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
Now the earth was without shape and empty, and darkness was over the surface of the watery deep, but the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the water. God said, “Let there be light.” And there was light! God saw that the light was good, so God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light “day” and the darkness “night.” There was evening, and there was morning, marking the first day.
I was reading through one of my old theology textbooks the other day and a phrase leapt out to me from one of its dry paragraphs: "Order is the first law of heaven." I thought to myself, "Can that really be true?" And then I thought of the creation story in Genesis.
It's similar to the secular creation story we are taught in school. "At first there was nothing, but then something happened. And then things multiplied and more things happened. But now it's falling apart." In the world's creation story, everything happens on its own. In our secular world view, chaos begets chaos and is its own form of order. The only evil is mankind's attempt to impose his own order on the universe, which of course can only be atoned for by mankind imposing disorder on the parts of the universe he has already imposed himself on, in a futile attempt to erase himself, and thereby erase his self-declared sin. This is basically the story we are taught in school and in the media. We are taught that the universe was happy before we showed up, and that the best thing for the universe would be if we crawled off somewhere and died.
The difference in the Bible's creation story is that in the Bible things don't create themselves. Order doesn't naturally form from chaos. Without someone to impose order on it, the world is chaotic and empty. In the beginning, God creates a canvas (the heavens and the earth) on which to paint his desires. To the modern eye, that is a horrible, imperialistic thing for him to have done. ("Surely there are other beings out there who wanted something different, like Satan for instance.") And yet without it, none of this would exist.
God hovered over the surface of the dark waters and began to set things in order according to his vision for what would happen. An artist doesn't paint the whole painting at once onto the canvas, but in stages. In God's creation, each stage builds on the other stages until God has created man. Then, for the first time, God asks man to collaborate in his creation, naming the animals and ruling over what is there. Instead of being this unwanted thing that gets in the scientists' way, we are a vital component of the universe.
Chaos is a curse. When mankind is driven out of a region and it reverts back to nature, that is not God's blessing on nature, but his curse on the people who lived there. In the Old Testament, there are quite a few prophesies warning Israel to get their act together or wild animals will be grazing in what were once their cities. When God allows disorder, it is typically to punish mankind. It's as if he is saying "I made this for you, and if you don't appreciate it, let me show you what life would be like without it."
So it is interesting that God starts in the Bible by putting everything into order. Over the six days described for creation, things slowly come into focus. Rather than an explosion or chain reaction, it's quite the opposite. Scattered meaningless things slowly come into their intended forms, not by chance, but by design. There is a purpose and an intended result.
God imposes his order on the universe, but for some reason he often seeks our collaboration. Because we have his spirit and are created in his image, we too have a creative vision and a sense of order, even though we're not gods. In being filled with the Holy Spirit, we are given authority over the world around us like Adam and Eve, not just physically but spiritually as well. That makes us attractive targets to someone like Satan who wants to destroy or redirect what God has created.
God's creation is perfect because he is perfect. We are not perfect, so we are subject to being "hacked" by demonic forces, bad doctrines, and false religions like the secularism of our modern day. Our creative power then produces chaos, and not something in harmony with God's perfect creation. So what do we do?
To use our powers for good, we have to get to know God's perfect vision for our lives. Some of that is really digging into the Bible and understanding God's prior work, but most of it is simply just being in contact with God in prayer and observation. If you were an artist commissioned to paint a fresco in a palace, would you just create something having no idea who the owner was, or what the palace architecture was like? No! You'd find out everything you could beforehand so that your original work would perfectly match the architect's original work and be pleasing to the vision of the person who owned the whole thing. You'd check in with him as often as you could, to make sure what you were painting was something he'd want to see. That's how you get praise and repeat business.
Some people spend their whole lives trying to figure out who they are and what they want. In with that, we should also be figuring who God is and what he wants. He is both architect and owner of the world we live in, and his vision is the most important piece of information we can have if we want to do things right.
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