Last week in the sickest day of my week (I was sick all week) I had to deliver a teaching on Genesis 1:1-25. In this teaching I focused on understanding God’s ‘language’ and the intent of the inspired author. We learned that God speaks in covenants which are an agreement between God and His creation – us – humanity – his likeness. We learned that the inspired author of Genesis did not write the first chapter of the bible to spark an intense battle thousands of years later between ‘Creationism’ and ‘Darwinism’, rather it is to teach us about the purpose for which God created the world in the first place.
Tomorrow I am giving a short ‘personal reflection’ on Genesis 1:26 -31; 2:1-3. I spent the morning writing it out yesterday and feel called to share it with you today. I’m always open for your comments in the end…a good discussion is food for the soul. 😉
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Last week in preparing for the lesson and delivering the teaching one main theme stood out clearly – when God was finished he proclaimed – IT IS GOOD!
He brought order out of chaos. He created day and night, the oceans and the land, vegetation and trees, fish and birds, human beings and rest. Last week we marveled at his creation and how we can feel him in nature. I showed pictures of being at the beach and sitting on the shore, listening to the tide roll in and marveling at its power and majesty. I also showed a picture of my son and I near the peak of Mt. Elbert, the highest mountain peak in Colorado with an elevation of 14,000ft above sea level and explained how it literally took our breath away. It felt as if we could raise our hands and reach into the depth of heaven. Almost reminds me of the painting in the Sistine Chapel where David is reaching out his hand to God and God has his hand extended toward David.
We were right there.
It was GOOD.
But it’s what he made on the sixth day that I have found the hardest to receive. “God created mankind in his image; in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.” Gen 1:27 And then he blessed them and gave them everything they needed to survive. And he found it to be ‘very good’. Not just GOOD but VERY GOOD.
Obviously the simple lesson in this Genesis 1:27 and 1:31 is that God created ME and YOU and WE ARE VERY GOOD. It is so simple. It is so complete. But why is it so hard to accept?
Our security in who we are and who created us was the first target for the enemy. In reality it is the sole target of the enemy and once nicked it is like an internal bleed that spreads and covers everything else that it is hard to find the original source of the wound.
What if the bible could have ended with Genesis 1 and 2:3? What if we could live our lives singing Psalm 139:13-14 “You formed me in my inmost being. You knit me in my mothers womb. I praise you because I am wonderfully made; wonderful are your works! My very self you know.”
This verse reminds me of a talk I heard a friend of mine give at a Steubenville conference. It was one of the first years I was youth minister and wasn’t yet on the speaking team for the conferences. My friend loves this Psalm and she did an entire talk to young women about how they are ‘wonderfully made’. She would have them come up and talk about how they were going to get rid of some of their bad habits and or bad self-image and then she’d make us all say “YOU’RE A WONDER!” . Some of the girls in my group rolled their eyes at the message and it bothered me. Instead of retaining and grasping the beautiful message she was delivering they rebuffed it because they still didn’t ‘feel’ wonderful and I’it was obvious they didn’t feel ‘very good’.
Over the years as I began to work on team with the same speaker we would talk about this issue. She was not ignorant to the fact that the message she was trying to deliver wasn’t quite hitting the mark with everyone…but why? It was a great message.
Ultimately I think it comes down to what we are ‘hearing’ and that is PERFECT instead of WONDERFUL or VERY GOOD. Perfect is the nick that started the internal bleed.
Perfect means ‘entirely without flaws, defects, or shortcomings.’ Nowhere in our creation story does God say ‘it is PERFECT’. So why do we feel we need to be ‘flawless’, or without defect, or shortcomings?
In truth we are FULL of flaws, defects and shortcomings…. At least I know I am!
No, God said we, HIS CREATION, IN HIS IMAGE AND LIKENESS’ ARE VERY GOOD.
Good means – “morally excellent, virtuous, righteous, pious”. Let’s break that down a bit, what does ‘excellent’ mean? – Remarkably good – NOT PERFECT – but good. What does ‘virtuous’ mean? – Conforming to moral and ethical principles.
What does ‘moral’ mean? – Concerned with the rules of right conduct or distinction between right and wrong. Which makes sense because God was bringing order into chaos, right?
God was most concerned about His creation being GOOD – he wanted his creation to be morally excellent, to know right from wrong, to be pious. And what does ‘POIUS’ mean? – Having or showing a dutiful spirit of reverence for God.
God loved us into being to love him back.
God never wanted HIS LIKENESS to be perfect! He proclaimed we were VERY GOOD – we were excellent in having right conduct and knowing what was right from wrong and being created from HIS LOVE, LOVING HIM IN RETURN. There is not one statement or definition that says we were made without flaw, defect or shortcomings.
So say this with me “I am not perfect but I am very good.”
We are what? “GOOD!” We are, “VERY GOOD!”
God is GOOD, all the time, all the time God is GOOD = I am good all the time, all the time I am good! 🙂
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Blessings
Shannon
