“Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.” – Genesis 1:2
“By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. 3 Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.” – Genesis 2:2-3
The world today is now undergoing a serious threat to revert to chaos. Ecologically, scientists are divided as to the reality of global warming. Many believe that it poses a serious danger to humanity. Economically, many economists increasingly acknowledge the instability of existing monetary system. Geopolitically, the crisis in Ukraine triggers a tension between US and Russia and the dispute over South China Sea that involves China, Vietnam and the Philippines is also becoming a source of tension between US and China. If trends like these will continue, its logical end is nothing but war. And war results to death, economic loss and chaos.
This is unfortunate. This shows how far humans have departed from the path that God laid down in the beginning. God gave humanity the perfect world in the beginning, which is a pattern how we ought to live our lives. In this article, I would like to share the fundamental features of this perfect world.
I. GOD’S PERFECT WORLD IS THE EXACT OPPOSITE OF CHAOS, 1:1-2
In Genesis 1:2, Moses describes the original condition of the earth as “formless” and “empty”. It was in total chaos. Many Bible scholars believe that these words are related to a picture of a desert or wilderness where people find it hard to survive. Using these words to describe the original condition of the earth would mean that the earth was uninhabitable and hostile to life.
This message was so important for the Israelites during Moses’ time. We read that the Pharaoh of Egypt oppressed them with forced labor. Egypt was no longer friendly and hospitable to the Jews. The new politics was hostile to them and their life in Egypt was one of economic slavery. In the language of Genesis 1:2, it meant that the life of the Jews in Egypt during Moses’ time was one of chaos, without order and empty.
We find similar picture in the New Testament. The apostle Paul describes the life of those without Christ:
“As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath” (Ephesians 2:1-3).
In Greek word “flesh” refers to the sinful condition of humanity that is hostile to the Spirit of God. This tells us that human life apart from Christ is in chaos; it is without order and empty. And it is the exact opposite of what God planned for humanity. God wants us to live in cosmos, not in chaos; to live a life that has form and order, not disorderly, lawless, and anarchic; to live a life that is full and has meaning, not empty and meaningless.
Moses understood this message. He knew that the only hope for his generation was liberation from a life of chaos, of religious polytheism, of political oppression and economic slavery through the word and the Spirit of God. We also need to understand and to be fully convinced that our life in Jesus is a life of liberty, joy, order, and purpose through the Holy Spirit and the word of God. And this new life entails a responsibility.
In our days, we see nations whose religious, intellectual, political, and economic affairs in chaos. We also know individuals whose lives are in ruin; people who no longer find meaning in life and thinking that death is the only escape. Christian responsibility entails dependence on the power of the Spirit as we faithfully proclaim the whole counsel of God. This is the only hope for our time. Legislation and education cannot do it. Inward transformation through the gospel’s power resulting to social reformation is our path.
II. GOD’S PERFECT WORLD IS A RESULT OF HIS CREATIVE ACT, 1:3-31
Both the Spirit of God and the word of God are active in the creation of the perfect world. In Genesis 1:2, Moses describes the Spirit of God as hovering over a formless and empty world. Moses also repeatedly used the phrase “And God said.” This shows that the perfect world is an outcome of both the activities of the Spirit of God and his powerful word.
God’s word brought order and fullness to a formless and empty world. During the first three days when God made light, expanse, and separate land and seas, he created order out of formless. Beginning day four to six, God made the sun, moon, stars, birds, sea creatures, animals, and man to bring fullness to an empty world. That’s how God made a cosmos out of chaos.
Again this message was so important in Moses’ time. By showing that God created the perfect world out of chaos, Moses wanted his generation to believe that their deliverance from Egypt was actually a call of God to freedom from a life of chaos characterized by oppression and slavery. Furthermore, their possession of the Promise Land was an act on the part of God for them to experience order and fullness. This is the reason why the Promised Land is a picture of abundance and fertility, a land flowing with milk and honey. In a way, we can say that the Promised Land reminded the Jews of the life in paradise.
God too has a glorious destiny for his people in Jesus. Christ’s first coming was not just an ordinary event. From the side of God, the coming of His Son was actually a kind of putting a chaotic world into order. A world destroyed by sin and meaningless and empty lives can now experience order and fullness in Christ. This is simply because when Christ came into this world, God dwelt among men. And living with God is actually the essence of life in paradise. Jesus opened the way back to paradise, to the perfect world simply because he is The Way. But men and women refused to believe in him and repent of their sins and thereby deprived themselves of such opportunity to live a perfect world.
The apostle Paul said, “if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” In other words, in Jesus, God was setting the world free from chaos, from darkness of sin and death. In Jesus, anyone who believes in him will become part of a new realm, a new creation, a perfect world.
III. GOD’S PERFECT WORLD ENDS IN REST, 2:1-3
After God was finished in creating his perfect world, rest followed. In Genesis 1:2, we see here both the Spirit of God and a world that was formless and empty. During the first six days, the Spirit of God created order out of formlessness and fullness out of emptiness. God was pleased with the perfect world that he made. And then he rested on the seventh day called the “Sabbath.”
The Sabbath was an indication that God was finished and satisified with his creation. It was also an indication that there was nothing lacking in his work, meaning it was perfect. And so the perfect world of God and Sabbath are closely connected.
We read in Exodus 20:8-11 that the reason for the keeping of the Sabbath was the fact of God’s creation; in Deuteronomy 5:12-15, it was their slavery in Egypt. This message was very important for them in their journey from Egypt to the wilderness, and finally into the land of promsie. For the Jews, Sabbath could only be fully enjoyed through the possession of the Promised Land. It is as if Moses was saying that just as God had brought the world from chaos to Sabbath, he was also bringing Israel from a chaotic life in Egypt into rest in the Promised Land. That’s why Moses told them, “But you will cross the Jordan and settle in the land the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance, and he will give you rest from all your enemies around you so that you will live in safety” (Deuteronomy 12:10).
In the New Testament, the author of Hebrews tells us about Gospel rest: “There remains, then a Sabbath rest for the people of God; for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from his own work, just as God did from his” (4: 9-10). This means that we should stop relying on our own works to earn the favor of God. Instead, we should fully trust that what God did in Jesus is complete. It is perfect, and there is nothing more we can add to it. Only by totally relying on the finished work of Christ on the Cross, can a man find this kind of rest that the Gospel freely provides.
However, this gospel rest does not mean you can do anything you like. No, it is not like that. Enjoying this rest in the gospel is to live a life of obedience to the law of God. Without obedience, the person denies that he has already entered this rest in Jesus.
The word “rest” is strange to many people today, and I think especially here in South Korea. “Work” is number one in the mind of most Koreans, and almost no time is given for rest. It is wrong for it is violation of God’s command. The Bible says “Six days you shall work, but on the seventh day you shall rest.” All work without rest makes you restless; and all rest without work is laziness. God does not like both. The first one is characterized by too much dependence on human work without leaving the time for worship, prayer, play, and contemplation. The second one leads to poverty.
Conclusion:
God showed us the path to live our lives by creating for us a perfect world. This world is the exact opposite of chaos, a product of God’s act, and leads to rest. Many people in this world still live in chaos, a life that is disorderly and meaningless, a life that defies the law of God, a life that does not know how to rest. Only in Jesus that people can find order, meaning, fullness, and rest. The Gospel of Jesus, his death and resurrection is the only hope for our time. Amen!
Note: The idea in this article was taken from Dr. Richard Pratt of Third Millennium Ministries, but rewritten in the language that I consider suitable to a particular community in the Philippines. .
Only By Grace 