Context No. 3681 of 4322 · Genesis

Genesis 1:6-13: in context

6God said, “Let there be an expanse in the middle of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.” 7God made the expanse, and divided the waters which were under the expanse from the waters which were above the expanse; and it was so. 8God called the expanse “sky”. There was evening and there was morning, a second day. 9God said, “Let the waters under the sky be gathered together to one place, and let the dry land appear;” and it was so. 10God called the dry land “earth”, and the gathering together of the waters he called “seas”. God saw that it was good. 11God said, “Let the earth yield grass, herbs yielding seeds, and fruit trees bearing fruit after their kind, with their seeds in it, on the earth;” and it was so. 12The earth yielded grass, herbs yielding seed after their kind, and trees bearing fruit, with their seeds in it, after their kind; and God saw that it was good. 13There was evening and there was morning, a third day.

The creation account continues with God separating and ordering: the waters above from those below, the sea from the dry land, and then filling the earth with vegetation, plants and trees each bearing seed after its kind. And through it all runs a refrain: God saw that it was good.

God is not only able to create but delights in what he makes, pronouncing it good. Two things stand out. First, God works by bringing order out of chaos, separating, gathering, arranging, so that the world is not random but ordered and full of purpose. And second, his creation is good, made to flourish and to reproduce, the plants bearing seed to bring forth still more life. The world we live in is not an accident but the ordered, good work of a God who delights in it. Even amid the brokenness that sin would later bring, we can trace everything back to a creation God called good, made by a God who orders chaos and delights in life.

Do I see the world as the ordered, good creation of a God who delights in what he makes, and does that shape how I regard the life and world around me?

Sources

Genesis 1:10: "God called the dry land Earth, and the gathering together of the waters he called Seas. God saw that it was good."
Genesis 1:11: "Let the earth yield grass, herbs yielding seeds, and fruit trees bearing fruit after their kind."
Genesis 1:12: "The earth yielded grass... and God saw that it was good."