| Starting
at the very beginning, it is amazing to step once again into the
incredible wonder of the creation story. There is so much we could learn
just from this portion and I hope to only wet your appetite for more,
as we dive into this “Original Account of the Universe.” The name of this book, Genesis, which can be translated as, “Origin, source, beginning, generation, creation, etc…” is the starting point from which all that is known began. For me, some of the most powerful words in the whole Bible come from here. The words that have meant so much to me, my whole life, are, “In the beginning God…” These words explain everything. They encompass everything. They give us a starting and an end point. Everything started with God and everything ends with God, because the only thing in the beginning was God. |
|
It is interesting however to read this verse as it is written in Hebrew. In Hebrew it doesn’t say, “In the beginning God created,” instead it says, “In the beginning created God…” This may start off sounding a little sacrilegious, but please bear with me, because the structure of this verse seems to imply that “God was created.” This we know to be absolutely not true, and yet, I would venture to say that it is truer than you would believe! Here is the reason I say this… The unfathomable, infinite, omnipotent, omniscient, transcendent, magnificent, unsurpassable, incomparable, beautiful, holy, awesome, terrible, jealous, righteous, true, loving, King of kings and Lord of lords had to “create” Himself in a way that His creation could understand Him. How can the finite understand the infinite? How can we fathom the unfathomable? How can we compare anything to the incomparable? God “created” Himself in a way that His creation could receive Him. He wanted a relationship with His handiwork so that a finite world could have a relationship with an infinite God. He created—formed Himself to be understood, that the world could comprehend the incomprehensible. In Psalm 33 we read, “By the Word of the Lord the heavens were made…” And John 1 tells us, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made…” Here in these chapters we are introduced to “the Word.” This “Word” was one of the ways God revealed Himself to His creation. Throughout Scripture we read of the “Word of the Lord” that seems almost as if it is a living entity. Known in the Targums (Aramaic running-translation-commentaries of the Torah) as the “Memra of God,” this “Word” is seen as a manifestation of God’s divine will and power, as well as God’s messenger into the world. In Greek the word would be “Logos” which is what John writes of in the first chapter of his gospel. But John doesn’t stop there; he goes on in his description of this “Word-Logos-Memra.” “In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it…” What happened in the Genesis account? Genesis 1:3 tells us that “darkness was on the face of the deep…then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light.” What was this light at the beginning of Creation? According to the Pesikta Rabbati, it describes what this light was, “For what light is Israel waiting? This is the light of Messiah as it says, “And God saw the light that it was good” (Genesis 1:4). This teaches us that the Holy One, blessed be He, observed Messiah and his deeds before the creation of the world and concealed His Messiah under His throne until his generation.” The light that God saw as good at creation was the light of Messiah according to this passage. The “Word” that became flesh and tabernacled among us is also the light of the world, who we now know is the Messiah. God’s way of “creating” Himself to be understood in His creation was by revealing Himself through what He had made. He put Himself into creation. Everything in this universe declares His Kingship and His authorship of life. As Psalm 19 tells us, “The heavens declare the glory of God…” He has invested Himself into His creation. If we look we can see His “fingerprints” all over His handiwork. He created it through His “Word.” (John 1) Colossians tells us, “All things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist.” This verse is describing Yeshua the Messiah and all He has accomplished. But even more so, it is telling us of Yeshua, who was the “Light and Word” that God promised to send to fallen mankind. We read later of this story in our portion, but the important thing to note through the whole Bible, and even until today, is how we see God “creating” Himself in different ways to have relationship with the work of His hands—the Universe and all it contains. God’s desire is to be in unity and harmony with what He has made and He desires for us to desire that unity and harmony with Him as well. |
|
As God creates
and participates in His work of creation, He has opened a door for us to
become a part of His work. He calls us out saying “…you are the light of the world…” We are part of how God works in His world today. He puts His Spirit in us to accomplish His will and to bring others to the glorious knowledge, that the Omnipotent, Omniscient, King of the Universe wants to have a relationship with all of His creatures and bring peace to all His creation. Shabbat Shalom, Samuel |
