In this chaotic world, rest in our Sovereign God who created all things good.
Genesis 1 (NIV)
1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.
3 And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. 4 God saw that the light was good, and he 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.
6 And God said, “Let there be a vault between the waters to separate water from water.” 7 So God made the vault and separated the water under the vault from the water above it. And it was so. 8 God called the vault “sky.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the second day.
9 And God said, “Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear.” And it was so. 10 God called the dry ground “land,” and the gathered waters he called “seas.” And God saw that it was good.
11 Then God said, “Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds.” And it was so. 12 The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. 13 And there was evening, and there was morning—the third day.
14 And God said, “Let there be lights in the vault of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark sacred times, and days and years, 15 and let them be lights in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth.” And it was so. 16 God made two great lights—the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars. 17 God set them in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth, 18 to govern the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that it was good. 19 And there was evening, and there was morning—the fourth day.
20 And God said, “Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the vault of the sky.” 21 So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living thing with which the water teems and that moves about in it, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 22 God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the water in the seas, and let the birds increase on the earth.” 23 And there was evening, and there was morning—the fifth day.
24 And God said, “Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: the livestock, the creatures that move along the ground, and the wild animals, each according to its kind.” And it was so. 25 God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.
26 Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”
27 So God created mankind in his own image,
in the image of God he created them;
male and female he created them.
28 God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”
29 Then God said, “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. 30 And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds in the sky and all the creatures that move along the ground—everything that has the breath of life in it—I give every green plant for food.” And it was so.
31 God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day.
Listen to passage & devotional:
Belgic Confession of Faith, Article 12: The Creation of All Things
We believe that the Father
created heaven and earth and all other creatures
from nothing,
when it seemed good to him,
by his Word—
that is to say,
by his Son.
He has given all creatures
their being, form, and appearance,
and their various functions
for serving their Creator.
Even now
he also sustains and governs them all,
according to his eternal providence,
and by his infinite power,
that they may serve man,
in order that man may serve God.
He has also created the angels good,
that they might be his messengers
and serve his elect.
Some of them have fallen
from the excellence in which God created them
into eternal perdition;
and the others have persisted and remained
in their original state,
by the grace of God.
The devils and evil spirits are so corrupt
that they are enemies of God
and of everything good.
They lie in wait for the church
and every member of it
like thieves,
with all their power,
to destroy and spoil everything
by their deceptions.
So then,
by their own wickedness
they are condemned to everlasting damnation,
daily awaiting their torments.
For that reason
we detest the error of the Sadducees,
who deny that there are spirits and angels,
and also the error of the Manicheans,
who say that the devils originated by themselves,
being evil by nature,
without having been corrupted.
Summary
Throughout my time in school, whenever I entered my next class of the day, I always had a certain way my desk was set up. Whether it was high school, college, or seminary, I had a particular way I liked my desk set up. Now, it wasn’t the same setup for each class. My setup for math class looked a whole lot different from my setup for Bible class or English. I loved having my desk nicely ordered, everything in its place for the best optimization.
As we take a look at Genesis 1, we read throughout that at the end of each day, “God saw that it was good” (ESV), and culminating at the end, we read: “And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good” (v. 31 ESV). Not only do we see that creation was made good, but we see that God placed things into order. He created various light holders (e.g. stars, sun, and moon) to “be for signs and for seasons, and for days and years” (v. 14 ESV); He separated the sea from the sky, and the sea from the land. As the Belgic Confession puts it: “God has given all creatures their being, form, and appearance and their various functions for serving their Creator.
"Even now God also sustains and governs them all, according to his eternal providence and by his infinite power, that they may serve man, in order that man may serve God.” We see that the creation God made is both ordered and good.
Dig Deeper
However, as we take a look at the world around us, it can sometimes be difficult for us to catch a glimpse of the goodness in God's creation. As we take a look around, we see crime, wars, poverty, hunger, famine, natural disasters, and all sorts of other things that would seem to contradict a good and ordered creation.
However, these are not an original part of our God's ordered and good creation; rather, they come about because of mankind’s fall into sin, which we’ll explore in a couple of weeks. Even in the midst of all these things that give us a sense of chaos, disorder, and evil, our Sovereign God is still in control, sovereignly upholding His creation.
God is not far off; He did not create, get the world spinning, just to let it go. No, as the our Confession reads: “God also sustains and governs them all, according to his eternal providence and by his infinite power.” Even when all around us seems chaotic, and disordered, we can rest knowing that our Sovereign God is still in control, for He has defeated sin, death, and the devil through Christ’s life, death, and resurrection, and we can find comfort that one day He will make all things right, that He will make all things new.
ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father, who created all things through His Son;
ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Thank God for His good creation and pray that you will remember He remains in control even when things seem so chaotic;
ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED:
Read the New Testament in a year! Today: Galatians 6
