“In the beginning God . . . ” (Gen. 1:1). Doesn’t get much better than that. And with those words I start out again on my morning reading plan. Maybe some year I’ll read the January 1st readings on January 1st . . . but not this year. I usually finish up the plan before Christmas . . . so, to wait until the New Year to get back into the routine is too long. And it’s not just about the routine . . . there really is a sense of anticipation as I start out again to work my way through the Bible over the next year. I’m looking forward to rediscovering those familiar truths which God has been establishing within me over the years. I’m eager to find new stuff . . . stuff that’s always been there, but, for whatever reason, hasn’t really hit my radar in the past. And, there’s a certain amount of excitement as I anticipate again these mornings being a place where the Holy Spirit acts as my Teacher and opens my eyes and heart to God’s word. Really, there is nothing like the spiritual dynamic of interacting with God’s word.

This morning, as I read Genesis 1, it’s God’s creative nature that gives me reason to pause. Three times in this opening chapter I read that “God made” . . . and three times that “God created.” Someone recently shared a little Bible reading tip with me where, if you want to describe what God is like, you take the God “verbs” and turn them into God “nouns.” So if “God made”, then God is a Maker . . . if “God created”, then God is a Creator.

That God “made” the heavens and the earth indicates He’s a Laborer. God does work . . . He brings about an outcome . . . He puts forth divine effort and, to use a business term, produces a deliverable. And, through His labor, God also creates . . . He shapes . . . He forms. He created the heavens and earth . . . He made the firmament, the expanse that separated water above from water below . . . He made two great lights, one to rule over the day, the other, the night . . . He created sea creatures . . . He made the beasts of the earth. How amazing is our God?

And God’s products are of the highest quality. Want to describe the deliverables from the Maker and Creator? One word . . . “Good!” Over and over again in Genesis 1 you read “and God saw that it was good.” You kind of imagine the Creator standing back and admiring His creation and saying to Himself, “Nailed it!” What pleasure does God have in creating? You see the Maker beholding the fruit of His labor with a sense of satisfaction . . . all of it declaring the glories of God. And it wasn’t just good . . . “Then God saw everything that He made, and indeed it was very good” (1:31). Very good . . . that’s kind of stuff the Maker makes . . . the kind of creation the Creator creates.

And in the midst of all that He created was His masterpiece . . . that which reflected not only the labor of His hands and the genius of His creative design . . . but that which reflected God Himself . . . “then God said, ‘Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness’ . . . . So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them” (1:26-27). Ok . . . so noodle on that for a bit. Made in the image of God . . . a God who talks about “Us” creating man . . . in “Our” image . . . and “Our” likeness. As helpful as it is to take verbs and make them into nouns to describe God, how much more do we get some understanding of God by looking at that part of creation made in His triune image and likeness? Sure, it’s kind of messed up by sin . . . but the Creator has looked after that as well . . .

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new” (2Cor. 5:17). The Creator is still creating . . . new creations . . . fully refurbished . . . redeemed . . . restored . . . and re-enabled to reflect the glory of God. He made me in His likeness . . . and He is re-making me in the image of His Son. He created me for His glory . . . and He newly created me to show forth, in some measure, that glory. By His grace I am the product of the Maker’s hand . . . through His Son I’m a new creation. And God looks at me in Christ . . . and sees that everything that He made in Christ was very good . . . He stands back . . . and says, “Nailed it!” . . .