A poetic picture of God’s completed creation
Daily Scripture
Genesis 1:14-2:3
14 God said, “Let there be lights in the dome of the sky to separate the day from the night. They will mark events, sacred seasons, days, and years. 15 They will be lights in the dome of the sky to shine on the earth.” And that’s what happened. 16 God made the stars and two great lights: the larger light to rule over the day and the smaller light to rule over the night. 17 God put them in the dome of the sky to shine on the earth, 18 to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. God saw how good it was.
19 There was evening and there was morning: the fourth day.
20 God said, “Let the waters swarm with living things, and let birds fly above the earth up in the dome of the sky.” 21 God created the great sea animals and all the tiny living things that swarm in the waters, each according to its kind, and all the winged birds, each according to its kind. God saw how good it was. 22 Then God blessed them: “Be fertile and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and let the birds multiply on the earth.”
23 There was evening and there was morning: the fifth day.
24 God said, “Let the earth produce every kind of living thing: livestock, crawling things, and wildlife.” And that’s what happened. 25 God made every kind of wildlife, every kind of livestock, and every kind of creature that crawls on the ground. God saw how good it was. 26 Then God said, “Let us make humanity in our image to resemble us so that they may take charge of the fish of the sea, the birds in the sky, the livestock, all the earth, and all the crawling things on earth.”
27 God created humanity in God’s own image,
in the divine image God created them [Heb has singular him, referring to humanity],
male and female God created them.
28 God blessed them and said to them, “Be fertile and multiply; fill the earth and master it. Take charge of the fish of the sea, the birds in the sky, and everything crawling on the ground.” 29 Then God said, “I now give to you all the plants on the earth that yield seeds and all the trees whose fruit produces its seeds within it. These will be your food. 30 To all wildlife, to all the birds in the sky, and to everything crawling on the ground—to everything that breathes—I give all the green grasses for food.” And that’s what happened. 31 God saw everything he had made: it was supremely good.
There was evening and there was morning: the sixth day.
2 1 The heavens and the earth and all who live in them were completed. 2 On the sixth [or in other ancient manuscripts, seventh] day God completed all the work that he had done, and on the seventh day God rested from all the work that he had done. 3 God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all the work of creation [Or from all his work, which God created to do].
Daily Reflection & Prayer
Genesis showed God completing creation with poetic symmetry. On Day 4, it said, God put two great lights in the heavens (though there was “light” on Day 1). On Day 5, it said God caused the sea and the dome of the sky, brought into being on Day 2, to “swarm with life.” Day 6 brought creatures to live on the dry land, whose plant life was the main part of Day 3’s creative work. And verses 26-27 crowned it all by adding human beings, “male and female,” and by God “resting,” satisfied with the results.
- In ancient Israel’s world, many people deified the sun, moon, stars and other natural objects. (Many scholars think Genesis 1 said “lights,” not “moon” and “sun” because other nations viewed those bodies as gods.) Does this passage sound more like a science textbook or a poem to you? What would it have said to sun and moon worshippers? What natural things do people you know tend to “worship” (informally if not formally) instead of the God who made them?
- Pastor Hamilton said, “The first Creation story is… like a hymn, a creed, or a liturgy declaring that God exists, that God is the Creator of the world, that Creation is a good and beautiful gift from him, and that human beings are created in his image…. Genesis 1 is not meant to teach science; it is meant to make a powerful theological statement about God and a terribly important affirmation about God’s will for humanity.” * How does trying to conform what science knows about our world to Genesis 1’s details obscure that theological truth?
Prayer
Lord Jesus, mountain lakes or ocean waves, fall colors or spring flowers, so much about this world is still beautiful even after the worst we humans can do. Thank you for the beauty your creative power put on this planet for me to enjoy. Amen.
GPS Insights
Denise Mersmann
Denise Mersmann serves as the Care Coordination Director for the churchwide Care Central department at Church of the Resurrection.
As neither a scientist nor a theologian, the question of where God’s absolute creation of the world intersects with a “big bang” that set everything in place is far beyond my range of knowledge.
To have light separated into two forms, the vast and wildly different animals, plants, bugs, people, and all the other things that are so distinct and unique, yet so completely interwoven and connected, is both fascinating and overwhelming to me. I can’t answer or even provide intelligent insight into where God and science come together, if they do, in the creation of all that exists in our world.
That said, I know this for sure. . . when I am standing on a mountain or by the ocean, I feel as close to God as I do anywhere in the world. The vast expanse and indescribable beauty of nature are beyond anything that I think could be conjured up by human imagination. Sorry to all those inventors, artists, and engineers out there!
Through his creation, God shows me that he is always there for me, in my best and worst moments. He was there when I wasn’t connecting with him regularly, waiting for me. In those times he provided me with reminders–a perfect snowflake, a breathtaking sunset, a gentle breeze, a friend–of his presence.
I can’t tell you how it all came into being, and I guess to me the “how” is secondary. You see, when I look at creation I feel God. I feel his love.
As long as I am able, I will care for his creation. I will do what I can to protect animals, save forests, clean oceans and streams. I will love his people and do what I can to help them feel his presence.
And I hope, in doing that, God will feel my love for him.
© 2025 Resurrection: A United Methodist Church. All Rights Reserved.
Scripture quotations are taken from The Common English Bible ©2011. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
References
* Hamilton, Adam, Making Sense of the Bible: Rediscovering the Power of Scripture Today (p. 193). HarperCollins. Kindle Edition.
