A God Who Creates Good Things

Click here to read the creation accounts

God saw everything he had made: it was supremely good.

The Creation accounts are one of the many things that split us as people of faith. Are they real? Are these events that actually happened? Are they newspaper accounts? If not, some will say, how can we trust any of it? If they are then, well, there are other questions. Things having to do with dinosaurs and prehistoric man and so on and so forth.

I’m not particularly invested in these arguments myself. It seems like dinosaurs probably existed and I believe God created everything that is. I also believe that there wasn’t anyone around to witness it to write down these details. There weren’t any people for the first 5 days for goodness sake.

I also happen to know that the Hebrew people were not interested in history the way we are. They didn’t tell history through a process of meticulous discovery and fact-finding. They told history through using poetic language and imagery- in such a way as to connect with history- not merely to recite information about it. Frankly, it would be silly to them to think that there would one day be court cases about how to present the Bible in schools. It was never about knowledge- it was about communicating something about God.

What do these stories tell us about God?

Well, many things.

• God is a craftsman.

• God took great care in each aspect of creation and seems to respect his creation. All things- high and low.

• God recognizes his creation has needs- needs he might not have even anticipated. Like the need for company.

  It might also help to know that Christians aren’t the only ones that have accounts like these from this time period. There are quite a few, in fact. Part of the reason why different religions tell their own versions of these stories is to demonstrate what is unique about their religion.

  What is unique about this God?

  In most of the Ancient Near Eastern (the part of the world where we first find God’s people) creation accounts- God is angry. He reluctantly interacts with his creation. He wants to punish his creation, send it away. He battles his creation. Or, in the midst of some giant power struggle, creation occurs.

  In the Biblical account- God takes painstaking care to bring something from nothing. We can almost imagine him enjoying the process- just as we might enjoy the process of making something out of clay, or out of wood. Or, hell, the process of fixing a car engine. And he each step of the process he stops and acknowledges his creation, “It is good.” It doesn’t say perfect. It doesn’t say mistake-free. It doesn’t say moral. He says it’s good. The very fact that it exists pleases Him.

  Now, many of you know what’s to come. The people are eventually thrown out of the garden. We assume, as this point, that things change. That things are no longer “good.” But scripture never says that. Things become more complicated, there are certain consequences, and so on. But there isn’t a point where God’s creation stops being good.

  I’d imagine he still looks down today and says, “This is good.” Perhaps it might, one day, be even better. But for now- I suspect it’s still good. Yes, there is war. Yes, there is conflict. Yes, there is food and water insecurity. And yet- there are people making food for those who need it. There are peacemakers attempting to end conflicts. There are acts of mercy. There are acts of kindness. There are attempts to write wrongs. There are efforts made to change our lives. And this is good.

  It’s also unique. The God of the Bible is not a good who creates out of conflict. He creates out of a desire to create. And he loves what he makes. For no reason at all. And this is the best news that there is. If he loved us because we were good- well, there will likely come a day when we do something bad. If he loves us because we’re smart, there will come a time when we do something stupid. If he loves us because we’re obedient, there will come a day when we disobey. If he loves us because we’re selfless, there will come a day when we do something selfish. What would happen on that day?

  Instead- the God of the Bible loves us because he loves us. And that’s how we know it’s not going anywhere.