Chaos just repels. Whether it’s my son’s jumbled bedroom floor or the drug addict’s shattered life, my heart cries for harmony. Maybe yours, too? I think it’s been that way since the beginning. Literally.
Eugene Peterson’s translation of Genesis 1:2 calls the beginning “a soup of nothingness, a bottomless emptiness, an inky blackness.” Other versions describe it as “formless and void” or “formless and empty.”
That’s chaos. But there was hope, for the spirit of God was hovering, about to act.
To the ancient Hebrew, this account showed how God shattered chaos, bringing order where there had been none. Even the days of creation illustrate the structure of God’s hand. He formed time from nothing, order from disarray.
There’s no other way. The soup of nothingness doesn’t coagulate into gardens and rivers by itself. God’s Word was the catalyst, for he spoke harmony into being. From chaos came order.
That concord only lasted until Eve took the fruit in the garden, but it was God’s plan and we still yearn for his order. The story of the Bible is the account of God's plan to restore order to our lives, plucking us out of our chaos.
From turmoil can come harmony, as God’s Word works. That’s good news for my son’s bedroom but even better news for the addict and the mourning and the captive.
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.
Gen 1:2
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6 comments:
The whole order to chaos is a mighty big thought. I'm still chewing on that wondering how to put that thought in to visual form. Should be interesting to see what God provides me with!
I'm anxious to see what you and God come up with. The more I look for order in the Bible, the more of it I see! Thanks for posting!
Kathy,
I am adding to your comment above. I am working my way through Luke right now and what has caught my attention more than anything is the order. The way one story builds on an the previous one. The way Luke's words catch the ripples of Jesus' ministry...starting small and ending with His deliberate confrontations of the leaders. All the while from beginning to end marching toward the cross and redemption.
This post like all your others is thought provoking.
Kate
Yes! Luke is a great example of just what you mentioned, the journey to the cross and redemption. In Luke, you have to see the bigger movement - not read each story by itself but see it in the context of a chapter, or even more sometimes. It definitely builds - and is even more interesting to remember that it flows into Acts, which Luke also wrote. The story starts with the birth of Jesus and flows into the birth of the early church. The center of the two books - the turning point - is Jesus' death and resurrection. Thanks for sharing! I really appreciate your insights.
Beautifully said as always, Kathy. Good insights from everyone--I love thinking of the book of Luke that way--that's what our redemption is all about!!I love what you said about the good news for the chaotic among us. May we pray and minister as we can, and perhaps be instruments in His hand to shatter the chaos around us and tell the "even better news."
I love your prayer, Maxine. May we be instruments in his hand to shatter the chaos around us! You can see that lack in a world that's confused. We have the ministry of reconciliation. Thanks for sharing.
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