I’m wondering if either of these thoughts have ever crossed your mind?
- How can the Bible have any bearing on my life right now?
- Parts of the Bible seem so hard to understand!
Me, too! I’ve thoughts like those before.
If you’re new to exploring your faith, I adamantly believe that you are precisely where you are meant to be in your spiritual walk with God! I also firmly maintain that the best place to get to know Him better is in His Word as revealed to us in the Bible, so you are in a great position to take your next step in cultivating a relationship with Him!
On the other hand, even if you’ve read the Bible cover-to-cover and are more seasoned in your faith, you’re also in the right spot! You know that intricately complex movie that you watch again and again, yet notice something new every time? The Bible is the same way.
The Holy Spirit speaks to us through its pages. We can read the same verse hundreds of times and glean something new each and every time. Read a commentary by a great theologian or two? Even more is revealed. Read in an entirely different season of life? Verses previously skimmed over can morph into wisdom-rich lifelines.
For me, the Creation Account in Genesis is like this. It’s one of those stories that many are familiar with: believer, agnostic, or otherwise. Its multi-faceted layers appear to hint at no end in sight. Just for reference, here’s a summary of my exposure to Genesis over the years:
- An illustrated children’s bible showing Adam and Eve covered in leaves
- Memorizing the days of creation for a religion test every year in grade school, only to forget by the time I had to memorize the 10 Commandments
- As part of a Literature class on great books, along with the Divine Comedy, Paradise Lost, and The Odyssey as an English Major
- As a Philosophy and World Religion Major delving into Judeo-Christian traditions
- As a new believer, every time I started a Bible-in-a-Year plan, with the sincerest of intentions to “finish this time”
- As I read references to it in books related to God’s design for marriage while I was struggling in my own
- As I read references to it in books related to the need to create a margin for sabbath as I wrestled with burnout
You get the idea. Lots of surface-to-moderate level exposure throughout different seasons of life. Nonetheless, this past year, it was as though I read Genesis for the VERY FIRST TIME! Here’s what I learned: Order in terms of what was created when may not seem like a huge deal, but it really is extraordinarily important! As it turns out, among other reasons, God’s character, forethought, and intentions are revealed in the established order of Creation.
The lesson in a nutshell? What God Creates, He Fills. I don’t know about you, but the older I get the more I appreciate easily absorbable information which can be recalled with little-to-no effort. For information to be useful to me it needs to be able to come out of my brain as easily as it can take up residence in my brain. It’s even better when this info is based in the grounding truths of God! What God Creates, He Fills is a neat and tidy message I can get behind!
Now, let’s see what I mean. Grab your Bible or click here to read the Creation Account in Genesis 1.
Notice that what God created during the first three days of creation, He proceeded to fill, in the same order, over the next three days. So, what He created on days 1, 2 and 3, He filled on days 4, 5 and 6, respectively. For example, God made light and dark on day 1, and He filled those empty spaces with the sun, moons and stars on day 4.
Here’s a graphic for all the visual learners out there!
What He creates, He fills! Isn’t that amazing?! Go ahead, and read the creation account again, but this time specifically focus on the create/fill correlations.
Next week we will delve into this teaching a bit more and find out what truth it can hold for us!
Pray:
Father God, thank you for revealing yourself in Scriptures. Trends, culture, and relationships shift over time. It can can be challenging to know fact from fiction, especially when the fiction is delivered by people with good intentions using seemingly harmless words. But, with the help of your Spirit, I am learning that the only real truth is what you chose to reveal in Scriptures. What a gift! By turning to your Word, I can how I ought to act in any situation. Do you know what else is incredible? That while your Word reveals new insights time and time again, it also remains absolutely unchanging. I know it is always true no matter when I turn to it for guidance or comfort. Thank you! Continue to open my eyes and soften my heart as I seek out the wisdom contained in your Word.
In Jesus’ Holy and Precious Name,
Amen
Living Simply With God 