Creation of the World

Formless and Empty

I would like for you to follow along in this story with the idea that you are empty and void;formless. In this passage we get the idea that before creation there was nothing worth having. The space was void.

United Methodist Revised Common Lectionary Baptism of the Lord

Genesis 1:1–5

Genesis 1:1–2 (NRSV)

Six Days of Creation and the Sabbath

(Gen 2:4b—9; Job 38:4–11; Jn 1:1–5)

1 In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, 2 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. Lets first look at the wind. In the English Standard Bible Version-the wind is replaced with the Spirit of God. πνοή-is the wind or the breath. God’s breath. Which was present over the waters.

The New Revised Standard Version Sorrow for a Doomed Nation

I looked on the earth, and lo, it was waste and void;

and to the heavens, and they had no light.

Jeremiah tells us in 4:23 that there was an emptiness on the Earth, waste and void. This verse from Jeremiah is in a form of judgement, but what would judgement have to do with creation? Lets look at it this way, when we take on new things such as a car, or a house, we assume responsibility over that object; do we not? So, ask yourself, is it possible that God stands over the whole creation, and as the creator He holds responsibility for His creation?

Genesis 1:3 (NRSV)

3 Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. This first act by God to create was a single act that is separate from all other days of the creation. We should note that after God created the light-He said it was good. This is the first time we hear God tell us something was good. We should also make a note that the darkness He does not call good. Is it possible that God separated good and evil here in the first verses of creation.

Genesis 1:3–5 (NRSV)

3 Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. 4 And God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.

God then named the light and called it day. John 11:9 Jesus answered, “ Are there not twelve hours in the day? If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world. Perhaps, God has separated these objects such as light (day) and darkness ( the opposite of Light) but they still have a place. What I mean by this is that darkness still existed after God separated them.

John 11:10 “But if anyone walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him.” Notice in this verse, a Jesus quote, that the night is associated with bad things, and that those who walk in the light will not stumble.

Maybe we should consider the separation between night and day from the first five verses of Genesis and not that each day is filled with both good and bad, or good and evil.

What should we remember about this message? How should we apply it to our lives? Jesus taught in John 11, that there are two parts to a day, and there are two kinds of people. There is night and there is day. There are those who walk in the light and there are those who walk in darkness. Today I ask you which are you? It is not possible to be the light and reflection of Jesus and also walk in the darkness. But lets add to this message. Is it possible that Jesus just wants us to know that if we walk in darkness we will stumble? Can we stumble and still live? Only by the grace of God.