This morning I walked down to the waters edge with my nephew and asked him what his favorite Bible verse was. He replied, "Genesis...one!" So, we decided to read it together and envision the creation account. We started reading...
1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 Now the earth was formless and empty,
Me: "Hey buddy. Can you imagine what that must have looked like!?"
Nephew: "Woah. I can't even imagine."
We figured it was like a ball of mush. Liquid like.
darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.
Here we decided the earth was like a floating ball of water.
3 And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. 4 God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.
6 And God said, “Let there be a vault between the waters to separate water from water.”
N: what's a vault? I think of a safe.
U: I have no idea buddy. I never noticed that word there before! Let's look at another version of the Bible... AHA! Expanse.
N: What's an expanse?
U: dunno. Let's keep reading...
7 So God made the vault and separated the water under the vault from the water above it.And it was so. 8 God called the vault “sky.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the second day.
U: aha! There is it bud. The vault is the sky! Isn't that cool. The context answered it.
N: yeah (smiles).
9 And God said, “Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry groundappear.” And it was so. 10 God called the dry ground “land,” and the gathered waters he called “seas.” And God saw that it was good.
U: just imagine all this ground just popping up from under the water. Pretty cool stuff.
N: yeah that's pretty cool.
11 Then God said, “Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds.” And it was so. 12 The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. 13 And there was evening, and there was morning—the third day.
Here, we just kept looking left and right at all the vegetation around us. God bless Paradise!
14 And God said, “Let there be lights in the vault of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark sacred times,and days and years, 15 and let them be lights in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth.” And it was so. 16 God made two great lights—the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars. 17 God set them in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth, 18 to govern the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that it was good. 19 And there was evening, and there was morning—the fourth day.
20 And God said, “Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the vault of the sky.”21 So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living thing with which the water teems and that moves about in it,
At this point we looked over and saw some crabs crawling between the rocks!
according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 22 God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the water in the seas, and let the birds increase on the earth.” 23 And there was evening, and there was morning—the fifth day.
24 And God said, “Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: the livestock, the creatures that move along the ground, and the wild animals, each according to its kind.” And it was so. 25 God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds.And God saw that it was good.
26 Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness,
U: Do you know what it means to be created in the image of God?
N: No, what?
U: What makes us different than Siopao and Benny (my dogs)?
N: Um... I dunno.
U: Well, does a dog get embarrassed when he makes shee shee in public (i.e. pee pee)? Are they ashamed to be naked?
N: No.
U: That's right. They don't care. But we do. In fact, we care what brand clothes we wear. Kinda silly isn't it, that we care so much about the color of our shirt and the brand.
N: Yeah.
U: So that's one way we're different than animals. We have emotions that make us different. We are also different because we Worship God. Animals don't get together and go to Church.
N: Oh yeah.
U: And we were created to have relationships with one another. We need each other to build each other up and encourage one another when we get down. That's how God created us... for community.
so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals,[a] and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”
N: Wow. that's cool. We're over all the animals!
U: Yeah, isn't that cool! We're supposed to take care of the animals.
27 So God created mankind in his own image,
in the image of God he created them;
male and female he created them.
in the image of God he created them;
male and female he created them.
28 God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”
29 Then God said, “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. 30 And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds in the sky and all the creatures that move along the ground—everything that has the breath of life in it—I give every green plant for food.” And it was so.
31 God saw all that he had made, and it was very good.And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day.
-------------------
Aloha ka aina o ke Akua! (Blessed be the land of God!) What a cool morning to be on "God's side" of the Island just enjoying creation while reading the creation account with my nephew.
No comments:
Post a Comment