"To Him be glory forever": Genesis

Saturday, January 3, 2015

And It Was So

This morning one the things I read was Genesis 1. As I read it I was carried back to a memory of a Sunday several years ago. It was the first Sunday of January, 2008, which I remember because I went to church with several friends from seminary that morning. One of the readings in worship was Genesis 1, and I followed along in my Bible as the pastor spoke.

It is an exciting story. It is the biblical account of creation coming into existence, not from the hand of God, but by the speaking of His voice. God speaks and things happen. Verse 3 says,

"And God said, "let there be light, and there was light.""

Boom! Just like that! One moment there is nothing, so much nothing that we can't even say that a thing like 'nothing' even exists, and in the next moment…light!

So today I remembered that particular Sunday and the excitement I felt as the pastor read the whole chapter. The excitement of hearing creation unfold at the speaking of God's voice. But as I read this morning something else caught my attention, something in the fairly familiar story of creation that I had never noticed before.

"And it was so."

Just four words. Four words that follow some, but not all, of the segments of the creation story. In verses 9, 11, 15 and 24 God speaks something into existence and after God speaks the author ends the verse, "And it was so."

The creation story is a historical account. It tells us of something that has happened. The author writes the words of God speaking, and then follows with a statement that what God said did indeed happen.

What got my attention this morning was that in the very earliest parts of the Bible we see God say that something will happen, and then that thing happens. From the earliest parts of the Bible we begin to learn that the things God says are trustworthy. What He says will happen is something that will indeed happen. So that not only can we look back and say "It was so," but we can also know with confidence this about the promises He makes: "It will be so."

He promised His people a Redeemer and in His son, Jesus, He has provided one. He promises that all who have faith in Jesus will one day be joined with Him in eternal life. And this is a promise that is unfailing.

It was so. And it will be so. To God's eternal glory. Amen.

Thursday, October 24, 2013

This time...

My wife and I read from the Bible together each night. We are currently in Genesis. Last night we finished Genesis 29, where in the first part Jacob marries both Leah and Rachel, and in the second part Leah has children.

We also read from the Bible with our daughter each night. We are currently reading to her from the Gospel Story Bible and it happened that last night we read versions of the same story in each Bible.

To sum up the story, if you are unfamiliar, Jacob has traveled to his ancestral land to seek a wife. He works for his uncle and has agreed to work for seven years in order to have the right to marry the uncle's younger daughter, Rachel. On the wedding night he finds he has been tricked by his uncle and has married the older daughter, Leah. In return for promising an additional seven years he is allowed to also marry Rachel.

Jacob clearly loves Rachel, but Leah...not so much. We aren't told much about Leah's feelings in all of this but do know that Leah desires for her husband to love her and she believes that by providing him with children that this will happen.

So Leah has children. One son, Reuben. Another son, Simeon. Another son, Levi. In each of these cases she gives her son a name that shows her desire to be loved by her husband. But apparently to no avail.

Then she has a fourth son. And in her choosing of a name for the child we see that something has changed for Leah. She doesn't seek the love of her husband, but seeks God, saying:

"This time I will praise the Lord."

The circumstances of Leah's marriage don't appear to have changed but a change has been worked in the orientation of Leah's heart. As we read those words last night I was reminded that in all of the circumstances of life we are called to praise the Lord.

It is easy to praise the Lord when things are going well. But when things aren't going well the only thing that changed is our particular set of circumstances. The things of the Lord, such as his majesty, his power, his beauty, his perfect love...none of that has changed in the least.

I currently serve as the pastor of a mission church on a Native American reservation and every day our eyes are opened to the needs of those around us. The physical, emotional and spiritual needs. I am also a father, a husband. And a sinner.

And in whichever role I happen to fill at the moment, each time I turn to the Lord in prayer I want to begin where Leah's comment points me, to the praise of the Lord.