“God Created”
Genesis 1:1-6, 26-28 – June 11, 2023
With June, everything is blooming! All kinds of trees, plants, flowers and leaves are growing and blossoming, and it’s just like that song from the great American songbook, “June is Busting Out All Over!” We can easily see how much joy God took in creating the heavens and the earth, with how green and verdant all of nature appears, outside.
And, God not only created the plants and growing things. The Lord created a whole lot more! As Genesis 1 tells us, God created all living things on the earth, sea and sky, and all the heavenly bodies in the universe, too. A mighty act of creation, for our mighty God!
This act of creation comes at the very beginning of things, in the very beginning of the Bible. Genesis chapter 1. “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 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.”
We are starting our summer sermon series today, Re-imaging God. This series will highlight different ways of thinking about and naming attributes of our God. In this series, we will work on stretching ourselves! We will try to enlarge our image of our God.
The words we use are important – not only the words we say, but the words we read on the printed page. The words of Scripture are all important, too. Let us take a closer look at how verses 1 and 2 describe our God. Verse 1 (the summary statement for this chapter) says that “God created.” God created the heavens up above and the earth beneath. Verse 2 describes the Spirit of God as “hovering over the waters.”
This lean, spare description is marvelous! Can you see it? The dark heavens and the earth, formless, empty, just waiting for something to happen.
I don’t know whether you are aware, but different languages use different articles for nouns. In English, we all say “the cat” and “the dog,” and by the article “the,” they could be either male or female animals. However, many languages are structured differently.
In German or Italian, Spanish or Greek, different nouns are gendered. It’s a “male dog,” or a “female cat.” The article “the” in front of the noun changes with the word. Plus, the gender of the verbs must agree with the gender of the nouns! Any native English speaker who learns one of these languages in school struggles with the gender of the nouns and matching the proper articles and proper gender of verbs with the nouns!
It’s the same way with the Spirit of God. In the original language of the Hebrew Scriptures, “Spirit” is feminine. What’s more, the Spirit of God hovering or brooding over the waters is – according to the Hebrew language – a feminine Spirit. This verb “hovering” is also mentioned in Deuteronomy 32, where the mother eagle is protective towards her young in the nest. The “hovering” of the Spirit is a mothering activity! Here in Genesis, the Spirit of God, the Ruach ha Kodesh, is a protective, nurturing presence over the still formless waters. [1]
Just so we do not get lost in the weeds of different languages, here’s the highlight I want us all to focus on. Whether Scripture is in Hebrew or Greek, “both masculine and feminine verbs are used for God, masculine for God, feminine for the Spirit. [And as we will see,] God’s human creation will reflect their creator as female and male.” [2]
Seeing the nurturing, mothering nature of mammals, of dogs, cats, and humans – these mental images of puppies, kittens and babies can bring to mind gentle caring, loving encouragement, and supportive love. These are exactly the kinds of things that describe the activities of the Spirit of God! Plus, God the Father is caring, loving and supportive, too!
And what about the Good Shepherd? That’s Jesus, I want everyone to know. Remember how Jesus cares for His sheep, and how in several places in the Gospels Jesus is described as a loving, supportive Good Shepherd who guards, guides and protects His sheep.
Isn’t it wonderful to see God as a mothering, nurturing God? Not only mighty and strong – a just, even stern, protector. Yes, God is all of those things. And, mothering and nurturing, caring and loving, too! Both/and – not either/or.
Let us continue with verse 26: “Then God said, “Let us make humankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” God has created humans male and female. We, as humans, are created in the image of God! And, this whole chapter of Genesis 1 follows the same pattern, using pronouns of both genders.
“We forget that Genesis 1 is a chapter brimming with goodness and blessing. In fact, God pronounces blessing on the created order three times. [God] calls creation “good” and “very good” seven times.” [3]
We can see how the earth – the world – the universe was lovingly, joyfully created by God. And, whether we think of the feminine Spirit of God or the almighty Lord, or the Word that was in the beginning (from the Gospel of John), the preincarnate Son of God – however we consider the Triune God – all we can do is lift our hands in worship, thanksgiving and praise.
What will you and I do with this fresh understanding of God? This understanding that transcends gender? “The creation story insists that God’s mark is imprinted on my very being. I might ignore or distort it, but the mark is always there. Whether I acknowledge it or not, I reflect something of God’s joy, God’s intentions, God’s love, and God’s beauty just by virtue of existing on the earth. I am His, and so He is mine.” [4]
We can go out into the world, knowing that the Creator God made each of us, all of us, in the image of God. Male and female we are made, and each is in the image of God. Just as Psalm 139 tells us, “I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.”
Our loving, caring, nurturing Creator God created the heavens and the earth; God created all humanity, and that includes you and me, too. Praise God! Alleluia, amen.
(Suggestion: visit me at my other blogs: matterofprayer: A Year of Everyday Prayers. #PursuePEACE – and A Year of Being Kind . Thanks!
[1] van Wijk-Bos, Johanna, W.H., “Reimagining God” (Westminster John Knox Press: Louisville, KY, 1995), 72.73.
[2] Gafney, Wilda, “A Women’s Lectionary for the Whole Church” (Church Publishing, New York, NY, 2021), 142.
[3] https://www.journeywithjesus.net/Essays/20140609JJ.shtml
[4] Ibid.
Pastor, Preacher, Pray-er 