Day 1 | Creation

Read Genesis 1:1

Have you ever heard of the phrase “Shelf-tember?” It’s a made-up word that merges “shelf” and “September.” According to my wife, this concocted holiday was invented to clear out the shelves and get creative with meals. What amazes me most about this is how my wife takes seemingly no food and makes something out of it. I look at the shelves and see zilch, a barren wasteland. But she sees fertile ground for a gourmet meal. She creates out of nothing and makes something amazing! This is the exact picture we get in the very first chapter and book of the Bible: Genesis.

Life miraculously bursts forth from a moment in time by a Divine Igniter. God marvelously creates out of nothing the light and dark, water and sky, plants and trees, animals and birds, and of course, the pinnacle of all God’s creation: humans. The distinction the Bible makes with humans is “God created human beings in His own image” and put them in charge over all creation. Genesis tells us that God directly and intimately addresses His image-bearers: “Look! I have given you everything that has life.” God astonishingly made humans to reign over creation on His behalf. Paradise is all about an all-powerful God empowering His imagebearers to live out His purpose and will.

Now, if you read much beyond Genesis 1, you quickly realize paradise is lost. Yet, two thousand years ago, God again created from nothing. God came to Earth in the flesh, showed us what it means to be human, and was killed. But the Father took the dark matter of death and three days later burst forth with life! With the resurrection of Jesus came life, the new creation, and paradise regained once again. When we come to believe in this good news – the Holy Spirit fills us, taking our dead nature and bursting forth new life deep within us. We are to be God’s agents that bring Heaven to Earth by living God’s Kingdom of peace, hope, kindness, patience, and love. Will you join in on His Kingdom to bring life today?

Pray for 10 Minutes