Genesis 1:1-2
I spent a term in university studying the first eleven chapters of Genesis in Hebrew. I remember the professor saying he believed in creation ex nihilo – that God created the universe out of nothing – but that you can’t draw that belief from this text. (You can combine it though with, say, Ephesians 1:3-4, which celebrates that God knew us before the creation of the world!)
I believe the professor was right on both points. To believe that these verses give us that teaching would require us to take verse 1 leading chronologically to verse 2. More likely verse 1 is a kind of title, or summation in advance. The writing comes from a faith community which already had rich experience of the sovereignty of God over the elements (e.g. Exodus 15:1-21), and his exercising of that sovereignty for the building of a community that would be focused on him and be the means of witness to the world.
Make no mistake, we can stake our lives on the truth of these words, but they are neither history nor science in the way we usually understand those things. So the next few weeks will in many ways be an explanation of the previous sentence (some of you are saying, “You’d better explain it!”).
To God be the glory.
Prayer:
God, with relief and joy I celebrate that you specialize in bringing beauty and life out of chaos and darkness. The slightest breeze of your Spirit makes a huge difference in favour of life. The darkness stirs so easily within, yet is no match for your welcomed Spirit, or the slightest beam of your light. I know I will get what I truly desire. May I prefer your beauty over the chaos of my own making. Through Christ. Amen.
Wednesday, August 30, 2006
Tuesday, August 29, 2006
Resuming
Through my time away from work I finished going through John and I re-read Philippians, since it is the Scriptural basis of the Beta study group that has carried on through the summer. Now I think I’ll work through Genesis.
That will begin with the next entry. Now just let me briefly finish off commenting on John.
What comes after the last part I commented on in John is the appearance to Thomas. This section (John 20:19-31) contains the basic theme of John: “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed” (verse 29). John conveys that it is just as possible for us to believe as those who walked with Jesus. This is possible because of the gift of the Holy Spirit (verse 19). That gift laid on the disciples, then and now, the joyful imperative of being midwives for others to new life in Christ, as the next chapter with its fishing scenes underlines, along with demonstrating the reality of the fellowship of the risen Christ with the disciples, even though he was transformed.
I recommend some time soaking in the poignant scene of the restoration of Peter in chapter 21, along with considering what a great mission he had for him.
On another note (pardon the pun), I spent a good chunk of my vacation time finishing off some recording, finally getting Melissa to record one track, which has been heard on Life 100.3’s Praise and Worship Sunday. I’m already plotting out the next project, with lessons learned from the long time working on this one. I’ve learned a lot technically, and, I think, about what will make something commercially viable. It’s tempting to go back and rework much of what we’ve done but I think I’ll let this project stand for what it is and apply the lessons to the next project – e.g., get Melissa on lead for more of it with more ‘stand-out’ vocals, get hold of a for-real recording mic, and generally just get more edge to everything (the test will be if our boys really want to listen to it!). So Mondays will be for working on that. You can hear three of our tracks on the Knox website (“Turn a Life Around” is the one that’s been on the radio).
See you next entry and we’ll plunge into Genesis!
That will begin with the next entry. Now just let me briefly finish off commenting on John.
What comes after the last part I commented on in John is the appearance to Thomas. This section (John 20:19-31) contains the basic theme of John: “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed” (verse 29). John conveys that it is just as possible for us to believe as those who walked with Jesus. This is possible because of the gift of the Holy Spirit (verse 19). That gift laid on the disciples, then and now, the joyful imperative of being midwives for others to new life in Christ, as the next chapter with its fishing scenes underlines, along with demonstrating the reality of the fellowship of the risen Christ with the disciples, even though he was transformed.
I recommend some time soaking in the poignant scene of the restoration of Peter in chapter 21, along with considering what a great mission he had for him.
On another note (pardon the pun), I spent a good chunk of my vacation time finishing off some recording, finally getting Melissa to record one track, which has been heard on Life 100.3’s Praise and Worship Sunday. I’m already plotting out the next project, with lessons learned from the long time working on this one. I’ve learned a lot technically, and, I think, about what will make something commercially viable. It’s tempting to go back and rework much of what we’ve done but I think I’ll let this project stand for what it is and apply the lessons to the next project – e.g., get Melissa on lead for more of it with more ‘stand-out’ vocals, get hold of a for-real recording mic, and generally just get more edge to everything (the test will be if our boys really want to listen to it!). So Mondays will be for working on that. You can hear three of our tracks on the Knox website (“Turn a Life Around” is the one that’s been on the radio).
See you next entry and we’ll plunge into Genesis!
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