And God said: let the wriggling, swarming things in the water wriggle and swarm, and let the flying things fly in the expanse of the sky.
Genesis 1:20 (literal and whimsical)
It sounds like Dr. Seuss!
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.
Genesis 1:2 (NIV)
But God is there. And the next verse is blessed hope.
Anyhow, God told the fish the same thing (Genesis 1:22).
“Increase” is said three times. Still the fish and humans, but with this word, the birds are included. They can multiply, but not be “fruitful.”
Birds are problem in the text.
Why? I don’t know. It is a mystery.
God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.” And there was evening, and there was morning–the first day.
Genesis 1:5 (NIV)
But the pattern of Genesis 1 actually says something different:
It was dark, but God made it light.
First Evening, and then Morning.
The land was barren, but then plants emerged.
Genesis is giving us a story about the human condition, and it’s giving us a message of hope: God will bring us through it.
“I will fix this” is a message for those who know brokenness.
Light makes sense in the context of darkness.
But this is not the same as “first, know you are a sinner.”
Genesis 1, which sets up the proper order of things, doesn’t blame the creation for its own darkness, or the land for its barrenness.
It simply acknowledges that it is. And then God fixes it: Light and Life.
He adores us.
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. 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. And there was evening, and there was morning.
Genesis 1:11-13 (NIV)
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, and let them be lights in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth.” And it was so. 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. God set them in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth, to govern the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the fourth day.
Genesis 1:14
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.
And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.
Genesis 1:1-3 (NIV)
Genesis 1:1-3 is the foundation of my entire theology: There is darkness, but God brings light into it and drives the darkness out of us. In as much as we are the light of the world, bearing His image, God drives out the darkness through us.