Thoughts for the Day

In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters. Then God said, ‘Let there be light’; and there was light. And God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.

And God said, ‘Let there be a dome in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.’ So God made the dome and separated the waters that were under the dome from the waters that were above the dome. And it was so. God called the dome Sky. And there was evening and there was morning, the second day.

And God said, ‘Let the waters under the sky be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear.’ And it was so. God called the dry land Earth, and the waters that were gathered together he called Seas. And God saw that it was good. Then God said, ‘Let the earth put forth vegetation: plants yielding seed, and fruit trees of every kind on earth that bear fruit with the seed in it.’ And it was so. The earth brought forth vegetation: plants yielding seed of every kind, and trees of every kind bearing fruit with the seed in it. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening and there was morning, the third day.

(Lectionary, New Revised Standard Version)

Thoughts

For the next few days we shall look again at the first book of our Bible, at the book of Genesis. Christians have many views on the creation of the world:

1. Creationists believe a literal interpretation of the creation of the world - that God made the world in six days and rested on the 7th day. Most would argue for the ultimate authority of the 'word of God' as seen in Genesis, and would reject the 'big bang theory' and Darwin's theory of evolution.
2. Other Christians would see see Genesis as being written by men but inspired by God. They would argue for an allegorical interpretation of creation - that the stories are there to point to greater truths, not necessarily historical facts. God is seen as the great Designer, who initiated the start of the big bang out of nothing, and who has oversight of His wonderful creation as it continues its evolution.

Now this is put very simply and there are many off-shoot beliefs. I am not a 'creationist', but I do believe that God could have made the entire universe in an instant should He have wished. My common sense says that God inspired all our scriptures, but humans told the stories until they were eventually written down. But, whatever our views about Genesis we should be united in believing that God is the loving Creator of all things, and that one day all things will be restored, as God initially intended.

Heavenly Father,
Creator of the world,
we praise You for Your glory,
and come before You today
with grateful thanks
for our wonderful world.
We ask Your help in caring
and nurturing Your creation,
not leaving it to others,
but being responsible for
our share of the work.
Amen.