Genesis 1:31 God saw all that He had made, and it was very good.
You will be reading from Gen. 1 for a few posts, though perhaps interrupted by comments on current events. When you read it, what do you think of first? You may be thinking of the creation-evolution controversy. The chapter has long been central to this dispute.
My purpose is different today. We want to begin our journey by celebrating the goodness of God’s creation. The chapter tells us about the goodness, the beauty, the value of the physical world around us. Five times are we told "God saw that it was good." Then the sixth time in verse 31, we read "God saw all that He had made, and it was very good."
Please note that these pronouncements concern the physical universe especially. The whole chapter deals with the creation not of spiritual beings or values first of all, but of very physical things like animals and plants, water and land. These are the things described as "very good."
It is good for us to remember that in God’s eyes, the things of this world are not evil in themselves. Too many people think that God does not value the world of physical things very much, that He prefers spiritual things and truths. Nothing is farther from the truth. God, the Creator, declares them to be "very good." For us to despise them is, therefore, wrong. It is to despise what He Himself has made and declared good. To put it even stronger, to have some sort of spiritual contempt for His world is to have contempt for Himself. A major emphasis in this blog will be a positive approach to God’s world.
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