by Joel Lawler

Genesis 1:1-2 (NIV) "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 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."

God must have really enjoyed the creation process. He started with a formless, empty blob of nothing but darkness and formlessness. From that he crafted beauty and life. He made light. He created days so that the light would shine for a time and then fade into darkness. Every day would start with lightness replacing darkness. There is a new triumphant beginning at the start of every day.

I like to get up before light and run. There is something magical about when the sky starts to change colors. The darkness has to give way to colors and light.

We have a constant daily reminder that:

Lamentations 3:22-24 (NASB) "The LORD'S loving kindnesses indeed never cease, For His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness. The LORD is my portion, says my soul, Therefore I have hope in Him."

As the light chases the dark, God's mercy descends on us. His grace breaks through the darkness.

During the process of creation God stopped and stepped back to enjoy his work. He paused to bless it with the words "it is good."

On the sixth day God created man. He made us in his own image. At this point he paused again. This time he blessed his work with the words "it is very good."

God was not done. He allowed man to be alone without a suitable partner. What I find really hard to understand was what God did next. He did not solve the problem of man's loneliness.

God gave man the task of naming all the animals. This had to have taken a lot of time. It might have been months or even years. All the time man could not help but notice that he was without a partner. Every living creature had a counterpart. Every male had a female. He was alone. He was the only one of his kind.

In the creative process, God took man into a place of need and desire. He allowed man to experience his incompleteness. God could have created a partner for Adam at the same time he was created, but he didn't. He let Adam live without his partner.

God put Adam to sleep. While he was sleeping, God took one of his ribs and made woman from it. When Adam was awakening, He saw who God had made for him. Adam breaks into song: "This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh." Adam was complete. He had waited and longed for her and was rewarded with someone who would be his partner.

Adam and Eve were naked and unashamed. They were innocent and in a place of complete beauty and tranquility. In the cool of the evening, when darkness began to fall, they would walk with God. They would take in creation with the creator. I would love to have heard the questions they asked him.

Man was given one rule to obey. He was not to eat of a certain tree. He and his wife both disobeyed. Darkness fell on the garden. They were cursed by their own actions. They had fallen.

We inherited their nature. We are fallen.

God in his mercy has provided a way back to a relationship with him.

His mercy and grace are new every morning and they expel the darkness like the morning sun.


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