This week we will be meditating on the creation accounts given in the first three chapters of Genesis. We will consider how our origins illuminate who we are called to be in Christ. The central idea is that we were created to be in harmony with God, with the rest of creation, and with ourselves. But we have fallen into disharmony. The work of prayer is letting God restore us to that original blessedness.

Today’s Bible reading

Read Genesis 1-2

More Thoughts for Meditation

There are two accounts of creation in the first few chapters of Genesis. The first begins with verse 1:1 and outlines the classic “seven day” creation. The second begins at 2:4 and forms a continuous narrative with the rest of the book of Genesis. The evidence of the text definitely suggests that they were composed in different places by different people in different centuries. One obvious difference is a shift in language for how the the Creator is named. The first account uses the word elohim, translated ‘God;’ the second uses the name yahweh elohim, usually translated ‘LORD God.’

There are other interesting differences as well, but I want to talk about what unites them. In the first account, God commands the world into existence. It is written in a stately, sober manner, emphasizing symmetry and hierarchy. In the second, the LORD God plants a garden, sculpts Adam out of the dust, and breathes into him the breath of life. In both instances, God brings form to formlessness. Clock-maker, gardener, artist, conductor – whatever we call God, He is the Great Giver of Form, the shaper of all things, who calls us into existence and makes things into what they are.

Existence is that which has been given form. To be alive, to exist, is to be part of the form of reality. There is a wholeness to creation that binds everything together. Each thing exists as part of that wholeness. Scripture also speaks of unity as a future orientation – that good and final end toward which all things in creation are moving. The central revelation of Christianity is that God has gone to the very depths of hell in order to preserve the wholeness of His creatures and His creation. Thus Paul writes, “With all wisdom and understanding, he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and on earth.”

Suggestions for Action

See if you can find a dark place to sit in for a while. Maybe light a candle, and simply let yourself be. Take as long as you need.