I’ve been studying Genesis 1:1-2:3 for the last couple of days now and have gleaned lots of eye-opening stuff! It’s still a little odd to be spending so long on one passage without the end goal being a sermon produced. In the past that’s been the only reason I’ve studied the Bible before – to prepare talks for Church. And so it’s refreshing, studying without the emotional cocktail of adrenaline and anticipation lurking in the background.

I’m separating my findings across several posts because 1) you’re in a hurry and 2) I don’t want to rush through typing up my notes. I have a feeling they will be useful to me later down the line.

This chapter (and a bit) of Genesis is very familiar to most people, even people who’ve not read the Bible before. It’s the 7-day creation story, when God makes the universe, the earth along with it’s inhabitants – including humanity. We see God actively creating in this passage.

But God isn’t just creating.

When I was reading I took note of all the things (that I saw) God doing:

God sees, God determines goodness, God makes, God names, God positions, moves, gathers and separates. God blesses, He gives away responsibility and delegates. He provides. God finishes, rests and ‘makes holy’. Oh yes, He also speaks! …It seems that have an active God.

Of all these actions, I chose the three that were most important to me and brought them to God in reflective prayer and then praise.

1) God Positions, Moves, Gathers and Separates

In this story God does a lot of positioning, like an interior designer (of the cosmos!). He separates the waters (into sea and sky), he gathers the sea together and the land. He positions the sun, moon and stars, so that they can determine days, months and seasons. It is like God is orchestrating creation to work, positioning each component to play its part with maximum effectiveness.

The positioning of the cosmos, reminds me that God has deliberately positioned me in life for a purpose, it reminds me of the encouragement Mordecai gives Esther: ‘who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this’ (Esther 4:14).

This act of God also reminds me that God is able to put me in the path of other people, and other people in my path, for His purposes. (A thought particularly encouraging with the work I am doing writing a book at the moment!) A friend of mine once told me how God had used a chance encounter with one of his hero’s (Pete Grieg) to remind him that God is able bring these encounters into our life as easily as anything. God positions.

2) God Blesses

God does a fair amount of blessing in Genesis 1. From blessing plants, animals and humans to “be fruitful and multiply”. And blessing the Sabbath to “make it holy”. It is super interesting to me that God doesn’t do nothing on the Sabbath, on the day of rest, instead He ACTIVELY blesses. That is the kind of God we serve!

I consider the promise in Ephesians, that God ‘has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ’ (Eph 1:3). God delights to bless, and as people made in His likeness we are to bless and be a blessing to the world (Gen 12)! How can we bless our colleagues, local church, family & friends? How can we be a blessing to creation itself? Let us ask these questions.

3) God Finishes

In a world of distractions and novelty, it’s easy to start things without finishing them. Believe me I know this to be true, there are so many projects I’ve started in life that I’ve not finished, or had to restart from the beginning because I gave up halfway through.

Fortunately though, we have a God who finishes what He begins. May I seek to become more like that. May I be encouraged and comforted by the fact that:

He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus – (Philippians 1:6)