Genesis 1:1-25
{Prayer}
Ever sit back and just soak in the creation around you and be like … “Wow, this is just absolutely amazing?” Whether it’s the fiery or soft tones of a sunrise or sunset, the brightness of the stars shining in the dark night sky, the first steps of a newborn animal, or the sound of rustling leaves from a gentle breeze, the sounds of waves washing up and down along the lakeshore, or the smell of a freshly tilled field, freshly mown grass, or the rain as it approaches and comes down … whatever it is … the creation around us … it’s intricate, it’s precious, it’s complex, and yet it’s simple and it’s absolutely breathtaking.
“In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1). In the absolute form, berasheet, the Hebrew word for “in the beginning”, simply means “from the absolute beginning of anything”. So before anything was made, before the mention of the earth being formless and void, there was God. There is no speck, there are no random pieces of anything floating around, there is only God. In the beginning there was God. Period. End of sentence. End of statement.
Bara Elohim, is Hebrew for “God created”. Again, not the collision of two specks, not a big explosion from two rocks or particles, not the collision of absolutely anything. God, the One who says at the end of the Scriptures, “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End” (Revelation 22:13),He created. And every single time the word bara is used in the Bible, the subject, the one doing the creating is God and only God.
Now we need to understand something about God creating. God creating is not like a potter making a vase or a bowl. You see, not only does the potter have to come up with an idea, but they have to get the clay, the already created clay comes from somewhere. Then they take that clay, kneed it, wet it, spin it, form what they want to make, and then dry it. After it’s dry they trim it and clean it up. Then it goes into the kiln. Then it’s glazed, and put back into the kiln. If you have ever worked with a pottery wheel, you know that it takes a lot of practice to make something stable that looks good.
Now, when God baras, when God creates … He is doing it out of nothing. As we heard from the creation account in Genesis 1, on day one, God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light (Genesis 1:3). Day two, God said, “Let there be an expanse between the waters to separate water from water” (1:6). Day three, God said, “Let the water under the sky be gathered into one place, and let dry ground appear. … Let the land produce vegetation” (1:9, 11). Each day, when God speaks, when God says the word, whatever He says, it happens, it’s created and created perfectly. God didn’t have to practice at it, He didn’t have to try to perfect it before He was satisfied with the final product. No, God spoke. It came to be, it was created. He saw and He said, “It was good.” God’s word has power.
The words you and I speak, our words, they too have power. Now obviously there is a big difference between God’s words and our words. When was the last time you spoke and created something, created anything brand spanking new out of absolutely nothing? It was probably about the same time it happened for me … which would be never.
So while our words don’t have the power to create anything new out of absolutely nothing … they do have power. Proverbs 18 says that “the tongue has the power of life and death” (18:21). The tongue, the words that come out of mouths, out the mouths of others, out of your mouth … those words … they have power. They have power to create life or to kill someone. Not in the literal sense, but words absolutely do have the power to build someone up who is depressed and struggling. And words have the power to cut someone down, to make them feel absolutely miserable.
We’ve all heard the phrase, “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.” We also know that this phrase can’t be any farther than the truth. The amount bullying, the amount of cyberbullying that is going on among the youth and even among the adults is absolutely unreal. With 90 percent of teens between the ages 13 and 17 having cell phones and unadulterated access to the Internet and the world, it’s no wonder our youth are experiencing a mental health crisis. With the use of social media, whether it is TikTok, Instagram, X, or even Facebook for us “older” people … harmful words become more and more visible and more hurtful as hundreds of people are able to see what is said and add their two sense. Once something is said, some people feel that they need to hop on the ‘bandwagon’ and add their comments. These comments are added without any regard what it may do to the person and without any regard to the 8th Commandment. You know, the commandment that says that we should not bear false witness, the commandment that means that we should fear and love God so that we do not tell lies about our neighbor, betray him, slander him, or hurt his reputation, but instead we should defend him, explain everything in the kindest way. “The tongue has the power of life and death” (Prov. 18:21).
But it isn’t just the words posted online that bring a person down. The words from a doctor saying you have cancer, the words from a police officer saying that a loved one has been in an accident or has died, the words from a manager saying that you’ve been let go, the words from the bank saying that you have defaulted on your loan, the words from your spouse saying your marriage is over … these words and others, they can cut someone down and make them feel absolutely miserable and worthless.
In his letter to the Ephesians, Paul says, “Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen” (4:29). Helpful words, words that build others up, these words have power too. These are the words that should be said. Words can and should bring about life. But think about it for a moment … how many of us can remember the words someone said that pushed us past something we were dealing with, or said words that encouraged us, or said words that sparked creativity, or said words that gave us confidence? It is a lot of easier for us to remember the unwholesome talk that comes out of someone’s mouth rather than the positive words. Research has actually shown that an individual has to hear about five positive statements to combat against one negative statement.
In a world full of a constant dishing out of harsh and negative words, wouldn’t it be nice to have some noise canceling headphones? With noise canceling headphones, we could cancel, we could block out all the unwholesome talk that comes out of people’s mouths. With noise canceling headphones, we could block out all the unwise, ungodly words. With them, we could block out all the destructive and damaging words.
But here’s the thing … we do have noise canceling headphones. But the question is … what are those headphones blocking out? Are they blocking out all the negativity, all the destructive words or … are they blocking out the only words worth listening to. Our headphones should be canceling out everything but the precious and powerful word of God.
We tune our ears to hear the words that aren’t idle but active, words that aren’t informative but performative. God says in Isaiah 55, “The rain and snow come down from the heavens and stay on the ground to water the earth. They cause the grain to grow, producing seed for the farmer and bread for the hungry. It is the same with my word. I send it out, and it always produces fruit. It will accomplish all I want it to, and it will prosper everywhere I send it” (55:10-11 NLT). God’s words are not empty words, they are not inactive … they are alive and active and full of promise.
We see this in the creation account. God speaks and something happens. We see this in our gospel reading from John 1. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it” (1:1-5). In the beginning was the Word. In the beginning was Jesus, the living and active word of God. That Word became flesh and dwelt among us. In Jesus, in the living Word, you and I have life. Through this living Word, through the blood Jesus shed on the cross, God made peace with everything in heaven and on earth. You and I as corrupt and sinful creatures, by the Word of God, by Jesus, have been made a new creation.
God’s Word was living and active barasheet,in the beginning, at the creation of the world. Hebrews 4 tells us that God’s Word today is still living and active. It is sharper than any double-edged sword (4:12). Engage in this Word. As the old prayer says, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest this Word. This Word may not grant you and I earthly success, but it does reassure us that the Creator and Sustainer of the world is with us. It gives us the promise that, we are redeemed, we are forgiven, we are a new creation through Christ, the living, active, and powerful Word of God. Amen.
The peace of God, which surpasses all human understanding, guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus our Lord, now and forever. Amen.
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