GOD’S WORK IN THE BEGINNING

“…GOD ENDED HIS WORK which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from ALL HIS WORK which He had done” – Genesis 2:2b

Today, we meditate on GOD’S WORK IN THE BEGINNING: “And on the seventh day GOD ENDED HIS WORK which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from ALL HIS WORK which He had done” (Gen.2:2). Genesis 1 and 2 tell the story of God’s Work: “In the beginning, GOD CREATED the heavens and the earth” (Gen.1:1). Creation was the first work and the prototype for all work that followed. God did not dream an illusion; He created a reality. The universe that God created then provided material for human work – space, time, matter and energy. As we exercise creativity and demonstrate dominion in God’s Image, we work in creation, on creation, with creation and – if we work as God intends – for creation.

As we watch at God work, we learn how He intends us to work. God worked to create the world, by speaking: “God said…” and everything happened. This infers that God’s power is more than sufficient to create and maintain the world. We need not worry that God is running out of gas or that the creation is in a precarious state of existence. God’s creation is robust. He is in charge. He spoke and things materialised that were not there before. Creation is solely God’s act; not an accident, mistake, or chance happening. First, God brought the material world into being (Gen.1:1). The creation story emphasized the materiality of the world and how God fully engaged with it: “the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.” Later, we even see God working the dirt: “The Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground” (v.7a).

The Power of God's work is vivid in creation. He spoke worlds into existence and put Power to right and orderly use. On Day 1, God created light and separated it from darkness, forming day and night (Gen.1: 3-5). On Day 2, He separated the waters and created the sky (Gen.1: 6-8). On Day 3, He separated dry land from the sea and began to fill creation with plant life (Gen.1: 9-12). On Day 4 He created the sun, moon, and stars, for light and seasons (Gen.1: 14-19). On Day 5, God filled the water and sky with fish and birds that could not have survived without the plant life created earlier (Gen.1: 20-23). Finally, on Day 6, God created the animals (Gen.1: 24-25) and – the apex of creation – humanity to populate the land (Gen.1: 26-31).

Creating the world was work and God was engrossed in its physicality. God worked with His hands to sculpt human bodies (v.7, 21), dig a garden (v.8), plant an orchard (v.9), and – a bit later – tailor “garments of skin” (Gen.3: 21). God is the Source of everything; yet creation is not identical with God. He has literally sowed the seed for the perpetuation of creation through the ages. Creation is forever dependent on God – “In Him we live and move and have our being” (Acts 7:28) – yet distinct from Him. Similarly, our work has its source in God, yet it also has its weight and dignity. That’s why God periodically evaluated His work and scored it “Good” (Gen.1: 4, 10, 12, 18, 21, 25). With the creation of humanity, it became “Very Good” (Gen.1:31).

Finally, God crowned His six days of work with a Day of Rest (vv.1-3). That this work was finished doesn’t mean that God ceased working. No! Jesus said, “My Father has been working until now, and I have been working” (Jh.5:17). It also doesn’t mean that the creation is complete. No! God leaves plenty of work for His people to do to bring creation further along. But chaos had been turned into habitable environment, supporting plants, fish, birds, animals, and human beings. God doesn’t need to rest because He is never tired. He simply chose to limit His creation in time and space, leaving us a pattern. While creating humanity was the climax of God's creative work, resting on the seventh day was the climax of God's creative week.