A Twist on the Creation Account

The reading that follows may seem a little long for use in a worship gathering, but in the right moment it could provide an effective reminder of God as the source of creation. Many Biblical accounts of worship testify to the significance of recognizing the grandeur, the greatness of God. And correspondingly, the smallness of us. This passage can certainly have that affect.

For two readers:

1) In his prologue to the book of Genesis in The Message, author Eugene Peterson writes:

2) “First, God. God is the subject of life. God is foundational for living. If we don’t have a sense of the primacy of God, we will never get it right, get life right, get our lives right. Not God at the margins; not Gold as an option; not God on the weekends. God at center and circumference; God first and last; God, God, God.

1) And now, hear the story of creation as Peterson relates it:

2) First this: God created the Heavens and Earth—all you see, all you don't see. Earth was a soup of nothingness, a bottomless emptiness, an inky blackness. God's Spirit brooded like a bird above the watery abyss.

1) God spoke:

2) "Light!"

1) And light appeared. God saw that light was good and separated light from dark.

2) God named the light Day, he named the dark Night. 

1) It was evening, it was morning—

BOTH: Day One. 

1) God spoke:

2) "Sky! In the middle of the waters; separate water from water!" 

1) God made sky. He separated the water under sky from the water above sky. 

2) And there it was: he named sky the Heavens; 

1) It was evening, it was morning— 

BOTH: Day Two. 

1) God spoke: 

2) "Separate! Water-beneath-Heaven, gather into one place; Land, appear!"

1) And there it was. God named the land Earth. He named the pooled water Ocean. 

2) God saw that it was good. 

1) God spoke:

2) "Earth, green up! Grow all varieties of seed-bearing plants, Every sort of fruit-bearing tree." 

1) And there it was. Earth produced green seed-bearing plants, all varieties, and fruit-bearing trees of all sorts. 

2) God saw that it was good. 

1) It was evening, it was morning— 

BOTH: Day Three. 

1) God spoke:

2) "Lights! Come out! Shine in Heaven's sky! Separate Day from Night. Mark seasons and days and years, Lights in Heaven's sky to give light to Earth."

1) And there it was. God made two big lights, the larger to take charge of Day, the smaller to be in charge of Night; and he made the stars. God placed them in the heavenly sky to light up Earth and oversee Day and Night, to separate light and dark. 

2) God saw that it was good. 

1) It was evening, it was morning— 

BOTH: Day Four. 

1) God spoke:

2) "Swarm, Ocean, with fish and all sea life! Birds, fly through the sky over Earth!" 

1) God created the huge whales, all the swarm of life in the waters, and every kind and species of flying birds. 

2) God saw that it was good. 

1) God blessed them:

2) "Prosper! Reproduce! Fill Ocean! Birds, reproduce on Earth!"

1) It was evening, it was morning— 

BOTH: Day Five. 

1) God spoke:

2) "Earth, generate life! Every sort and kind: cattle and reptiles and wild animals—all kinds." 

1) And there it was: wild animals of every kind, cattle of all kinds, every sort of reptile and bug. 

2) God saw that it was good. 

1) God spoke: 

2) "Let us make human beings in our image, make them reflecting our nature so they can be responsible for the fish in the sea, the birds in the air, the cattle, and, yes, Earth itself, and every animal that moves on the face of Earth." 

1) God created human beings; he created them godlike, reflecting God's nature. 

2) He created them male and female. 

1) God blessed them:

2) "Prosper! Reproduce! Fill Earth! Take charge! Be responsible for fish in the sea and birds in the air, for every living thing that moves on the face of Earth." 

1) And there it was. God looked over everything he had made; it was so good, so very good!


And then you could sing any of these great songs, or many others!
How Great Is Our God

How Great Thou Art

Indescribable

Our Great God
Praise, My Soul, the King of Heaven
Praise to the Lord, the Almighty

Click on the title to connect to my favorite version (mostly) in itunes.


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