Thought for the Month - February 2021
"What a day!" by Barry Adair
If you have read any of the previous "Thought for the Month" articles, you may have noticed that I often refer to God as our 'creator God'. I still find the subject of the creation of the whole Universe (and us in it) to be absolutely fascinating. I just wish that many more people would know that everything was created by an infinitely loving and powerful God.
I think I mentioned before that on my daily walk I can see God's hand all around. I see His designs in nature, in the sky and in the people and animals I encounter. Although I am comfortable with the idea that God's initial creation has changed over the millennia, I still can't fathom how you could believe that our Universe and everything in it (including us) could have come about as a result of a massive cosmic fluke. The truth is that anything which shows some form of design has to come from a Designer!
I should also mention that my understanding of the Creation Story may differ from others in many Christian fellowships. I am a big believer in reading and studying the Bible for ourselves. Like the Bereans of old, I think it is always good to check what is being preached and taught from the Word of God…
Now the Berean Jews… received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true. (Acts 17:11, NIV, partial verse)
However, I do realise that you need to be careful in interpreting Scripture, especially if your understanding differs slightly from conservative evangelical thinking!
With that caveat in mind, can I take you to the Creation Story in Genesis chapter 1? Now we know that this account was given to Moses by God (i.e., verbal inspiration). God told Moses what He was doing during the creation of our Universe. As I read the start of Genesis, I now read it with this truth very much in mind. Oh, and ignore those Bible verse numbers too, they weren't in the original manuscripts. God started the creation account by telling Moses that He created the heavens and the earth (the Universe) on the very first 'day'…
In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form, and void…
What a day!
From absolutely nothing, God creates the whole Universe.
And cosmologists estimate that there are 2 trillion (2 million million) galaxies containing some 1 billion trillion stars!
What a day!
There are other Bible verses which mention the Creation Story too and I love the expressions that God "created the heavens and stretched them out" (Isaiah 42:5) and that He "stretches out the heavens like a curtain" (Isaiah 40:22). Of course, we now know and can observe that the Universe is still being stretched and expanded to this day.
The next part of the Genesis creation story is very revealing. It lets us know that God was present on the early earth when He was making if fit for habitation…
The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.
Yes, God the Holy Spirit was moving over the surface of a dark and watery world - no light coming through yet and no dry ground yet either.
Then God said "let there be light" and of course there was light. If you remember, God was on the surface of the earth and the earth was still in darkness. To me, it doesn't say that God 'created the light' because the sun would have been created on the first 'day'. I now believe that God allowed the light of the sun to strike the surface of the earth for the very first time - perhaps removing a thick layer of cloud which was stopping the sunlight from getting through.
The next few 'days' are all about God continuing to transform the initially formless earth into a habitual planet with dry land and oceans. And also, of course, to create all the plant and animal lifeforms, culminating in the creation of the first human couple. Genesis talks about a 'day' but the word in Hebrew (yom) can also be translated as 'a time period of unspecified length' and I am now more content with this translation. If you read these verses, they do tend to suggest a much longer period of time than a literal 24 hours. As an example, in allowing the dry land to appear on the third 'day', Psalm 104 verse 8 tells us that "The mountains rose; the valleys sank down to the place which Thou didst establish for them". This describes what happened on the third 'day', but if God allowed earth tectonics to accomplish this, it would have taken many years.
The important thing to grasp is not exactly HOW creation happened but specifically WHO caused it to happen. Our Universe was designed. It didn't just happen! And, if God had wanted to make the Universe in 7 seconds, then I believe that He could have! Creation shouts to us that not only is there a God, but a God who created an infinitely vast Universe from nothing. And a God who did it all for a created human race, all fashioned in His image.
For thus says the LORD, who created the heavens (He is the God who formed the earth and made it, He established it and did not create it a waste place, but formed it to be inhabited), "I am the LORD, and there is none else…" (Isaiah 45:18, NASB)
The day that we fully understand the love God has for a sinful human race is a very special day. The day that we understand who God is and what He did for us, through His Son Jesus, is a very special day. The day that we truly understand the love God has for us personally is a very special day. And the day that we first believe in God and put our trust in Him is a very special day indeed!
What a day!
Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good! Blessed is the man (or woman) who takes refuge in Him! (Psalm 34:8, addition mine)
…everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. (Romans 10:13)
And although physically absent from this world for over two thousand years, Jesus is returning again, perhaps someday soon. He will return for all those who have called on Him to save them, for all those who eagerly await His presence.
But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ. (Philippians 3:20)
One day He's coming - O glorious day!
What a day!
One day they led Him up Calvary's mountain
One day they nailed Him to die on a tree
Suffering anguish, despised and rejected
Bearing our sins, my Redeemer is He.
Living, He loved me; dying, He saved me;
Buried, He carried my sins far away;
Rising, He justified freely forever:
One day He's coming - O glorious day!
(J. Wilbur Chapman)
Until next month (DV)…
(All Bible quotations are from the ESV, unless stated)
Are you SURE that you have your place booked in Heaven? Read this if you're not!