It Was Good
“In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, the earth was formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters. Then God said, ‘Let there be light’; and there was light. And God saw that the light was good… God saw everything that he had made, and indeed, it was very good.”
Genesis 1:1–4a and 31, NRSV
This morning, I was sitting down to attend to emails and prepare various things, when I looked out the window and saw yet another glorious view over Matagorda Bay. I felt a nudge to step outside and be present in this particular corner of God’s creation, so I went. As I looked out, I saw the sun piercing through the clouds upon a far out section of the water, a divinely created spotlight. I sat cross-legged on our deck and thanked God for this reflection and glimpse of His glory.
Genesis 1 is a beautiful retelling of God’s making of the whole cosmos. In contrast to other ancient myths, we hear that God created with a Word and by His Spirit (not from the corpse of another god slain in battle), that creation is
good
and from the will of God (not a solution to problems in the heavens), and that it was made to bring order and peace to the formless void (not the chaotic result of a petulant pantheon). Before the encroachment of sin, creation reflected God’s glory, and God’s proclamation was that each element of creation is
good
and the sum of the parts is
very good
.
Over the years, I have been guilty of missing not just the beauty, but the wisdom in observing God’s created world. A perfect example of this is when Steve and I were driving through a particularly beautiful area of the Hill Country and I slept through the whole thing! I’m hopeful that since then I’ve begun really learning to open my eyes to the goodness of the world around me, to stop and see its magnitude in comparison to my life and human existence, which is just one small part of God’s vast cosmos. Yes, sin has tainted the picture, but it is still a world where that original beauty persists, and God still invites me (and you) to see His glory in its life and to hold out hope that one day it will be restored (Romans 8:19–23).
The Rev. Dr. Suse E. McBay
Associate for Adult Christian Education and Prayer Ministries
