A Christmas Carol: W1 - TUE
Even though He knew the risk Genesis 1:1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 The earth was formless and empty, and darkness covered the deep waters. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters. 3 Then God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light…26 Then God said, “Let us make human beings in our image, to be like us. They will reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, the livestock, all the wild animals on the earth, and the small animals that scurry along the ground.”
27 So God created human beings in his own image. In the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.28 Then God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth and govern it. Reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, and all the animals that scurry along the ground.”
Genesis 2:9 The Lord God made all sorts of trees grow up from the ground—trees that were beautiful and that produced delicious fruit. In the middle of the garden he placed the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil…15 The Lord God placed the man in the Garden of Eden to tend and watch over it. 16 But the Lord God warned him, “You may freely eat the fruit of every tree in the garden— 17 except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. If you eat its fruit, you are sure to die.”
Genesis 1:31 Then God looked over all he had made, and he saw that it was very good! And evening passed and morning came, marking the sixth day.
One of my favorite storied versions of Creation comes from C.S. Lewis’ series, The Chronicles of Narnia. In that version, Aslan the lion creates the world through song. The song begins in darkness, but as he sings, the world and universe come to life all around him. This is how I’ve imagined the creation story, as if I’m in the middle of darkness, when all of a sudden I hear His voice and I watch creation unfold around me.
I can’t imagine how beautiful it all was; the stars in the sky, the lakes and streams and waterfalls, the songs of the new birds, the thumping of the new animals as they raced to and fro, and then God’s ultimate masterpiece, humanity. Oh how he had waited for this day and here it is.
As we talked about yesterday, God loved us so much that he gave us what we call, freewill. This means we could either choose to love and follow God, or, choose not too love and follow Him. It was the only way to guarantee that our love was genuine, because true love always gives a choice.
In all the abundance of this beautiful creation, God only had one rule. He gave us dominion, invite us to participate with him in the joy of creating, and blessed us with more blessings than we could ever count. In this place of beauty and perfect, the only ask was that we not eat from one tree, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. There were countless other trees to choose from, so all we had to do was stay away from one. He even told us what would happen if we do to help us make the right choice, should we ever be tempted.
We know what happens, but let’s deal with that tomorrow. For now, let’s linger in what it must have been like to walk with God in the garden in the cool of the day, explore all that he had made for us, enjoy the relationship between man and woman and God. Before we knew God by any other name, we knew him as Creator, and for a time, we simply got to enjoy all that he had made.
He enjoyed it too; so much so that he would look over all that he had made, us included, and exclaim, “It was very good!”
27 So God created human beings in his own image. In the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.28 Then God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth and govern it. Reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, and all the animals that scurry along the ground.”
Genesis 2:9 The Lord God made all sorts of trees grow up from the ground—trees that were beautiful and that produced delicious fruit. In the middle of the garden he placed the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil…15 The Lord God placed the man in the Garden of Eden to tend and watch over it. 16 But the Lord God warned him, “You may freely eat the fruit of every tree in the garden— 17 except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. If you eat its fruit, you are sure to die.”
Genesis 1:31 Then God looked over all he had made, and he saw that it was very good! And evening passed and morning came, marking the sixth day.
One of my favorite storied versions of Creation comes from C.S. Lewis’ series, The Chronicles of Narnia. In that version, Aslan the lion creates the world through song. The song begins in darkness, but as he sings, the world and universe come to life all around him. This is how I’ve imagined the creation story, as if I’m in the middle of darkness, when all of a sudden I hear His voice and I watch creation unfold around me.
I can’t imagine how beautiful it all was; the stars in the sky, the lakes and streams and waterfalls, the songs of the new birds, the thumping of the new animals as they raced to and fro, and then God’s ultimate masterpiece, humanity. Oh how he had waited for this day and here it is.
As we talked about yesterday, God loved us so much that he gave us what we call, freewill. This means we could either choose to love and follow God, or, choose not too love and follow Him. It was the only way to guarantee that our love was genuine, because true love always gives a choice.
In all the abundance of this beautiful creation, God only had one rule. He gave us dominion, invite us to participate with him in the joy of creating, and blessed us with more blessings than we could ever count. In this place of beauty and perfect, the only ask was that we not eat from one tree, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. There were countless other trees to choose from, so all we had to do was stay away from one. He even told us what would happen if we do to help us make the right choice, should we ever be tempted.
We know what happens, but let’s deal with that tomorrow. For now, let’s linger in what it must have been like to walk with God in the garden in the cool of the day, explore all that he had made for us, enjoy the relationship between man and woman and God. Before we knew God by any other name, we knew him as Creator, and for a time, we simply got to enjoy all that he had made.
He enjoyed it too; so much so that he would look over all that he had made, us included, and exclaim, “It was very good!”
- What do you think you would have enjoyed most in God’s new creation?
- Can you see God smiling upon you as he exclaims that what he has made is very good? How does that make you feel?
- You can always linger with God among his creation. If you have a moment, close your eyes, take some time, and linger now.
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