Scripture Daily

Context No. 4233 of 4322 · Genesis

Context · Reflection

Genesis 1:20-25: in context

20God said, “Let the waters abound with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth in the open expanse of the sky.” 21God created the large sea creatures and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarmed, after their kind, and every winged bird after its kind. God saw that it was good. 22God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.” 23There was evening and there was morning, a fifth day. 24God said, “Let the earth produce living creatures after their kind, livestock, creeping things, and animals of the earth after their kind;” and it was so. 25God made the animals of the earth after their kind, and the livestock after their kind, and everything that creeps on the ground after its kind. God saw that it was good.

As the creation unfolds, the waters teem with living creatures, birds fill the sky, and the land brings forth animals of every kind. And a refrain runs through it all: God saw that it was good. Again and again, as God brings forth the living world in its variety, he looks on what he has made and pronounces it good. Creation is not a grudging or careless work but something God delights in and calls good.

What stands out is this divine verdict of goodness over the created world. The seas full of creatures, the birds, the animals, all of it, God declared good. He made it with care, in rich variety, and he took pleasure in it. The living world is not an accident or a mere backdrop but the good work of a good God who delights in what he has made.

The world around us, the living creatures, the teeming seas, the birds and beasts, is God's good creation, made with care and pronounced good by its Maker. This calls us to see the created world not as something to be despised or merely exploited, but as good, a gift reflecting the goodness of God, worthy of our gratitude and care. When we behold the richness of the living world, we can join the Maker's verdict: it is good.

Do I see the living world around me as God's good creation, made with care and pronounced good by its Maker, receiving it with gratitude and treating it with care, rather than despising or carelessly exploiting what God delights in?

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