Jesus at Creation, Day 1
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Jesus at Creation
“Does anyone know what Christmas is really about?” Charlie Brown and his buddy Linus have the answer. Remember the scene? In the hullabaloo of all things Christmas, Charlie Brown gets flustered to the point of exasperation. He knows something is amiss. All that he and his gang had been trying to wrap up in the name of Christmas just wasn’t setting right, and he knew there had to be more, but what?
Linus Cues the Lights
As he begins the well quoted passage out of Luke he tells a defeated friend what Christmas is all about.
…and this shall be a sign unto you, you shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes lying in a manger…
Luke 2:12
In the Manger
It’s a pretty common first thought of Jesus in the Bible: Jesus in the manger. And why not? He is God in the flesh, and the manger is where we first see Him in this way. Much of our Christian faith is paved with this very familiar passage and its truth of Jesus born to a virgin, wrapped in swaddling clothes and set in a manger. What a beautiful picture of the day Jesus was Born; read more about that here.
Yet, that’s not the first place we find Jesus.
All in a Week’s Work
Here I sit on a day off; one dog at my feet contently snoring and another sleeping on my lap. The birds are singing outside on this beautiful day in the sun’s morning light, and a mug of freshly brewed coffee sits wafting a delicious autumn aroma.
I call that a perfect beginning to the weekend. Though my job isn’t what it used to be, I do remember the Monday-Friday and 8:00-5:00 (ish) all in a week’s work routine. And, I remember all the hope that making it to Friday, TGIF, would bring.
After five long days in the office, all in a week’s work ushered in the most exciting days of the week.
Days 6 & 7
What’s in your weekend plans? For many busy moms and wives, the usual Saturday/Sunday includes ordinary things such as taking time to clean up the house jobs that don’t get attention during the week, some laundry, and if you’re like me that means rewashing the load that you put in the washer a couple days ago, sports games or fun outings with the kids, maybe (and more often, should be, if you’re in a season of life that allows) a much needed date night, and likely rounding out the quick time off with church on Sunday morning.
In the Beginning
The Lord modeled the first “weekend” for here in Genesis. After speaking the world into existence:
- First day – He created light
- Second day – He created the sky
- Third day – He created dry land, seas, plants and trees
- Fourth day – He created the Sun, Moon and stars
- Fifth day – He created all the creatures that live in the sea (and in the sky) the creatures that fly
Unlike you and me, God’s work was done through speaking it into existence. In the Beginning God Created. Period. Yet, because God is God, and our thoughts are not like His, creation at the sound of His voice is both just that simple and yet, infinitely more to it than we usually think about.
Event Planner
I’m an event planner. If all goes well, the end result of to every contract is a picture perfect, well organized, with every detail executed according to plan so that the occasion is thoroughly enjoyed by all.
That’s what everyone sees: the picture perfect end. After all, it is the culmination of all things considered. Yet, in my absence, there is no one else on payroll that can produce the end result. Why not? Simple, they’re not the planner and creator.
Even if I took all the elements to be included and put them in a room for them to use, what I have carefully planned cannot be brought to fruition without my guiding hand. In order for that end result look like I have designed it to be, I need to do it.
When God spoke the world into being, it was CREATOR God, His plan, His ideas, His thoughts, everything GOD made His voice created exactly the world as He wanted it to be.
Saturday
Back to days five and six; our Saturday is day six. Our Saturday are usually very busy. Our Saturday is one we look forward to putting our work-work aside and concentrating on “a day off.” God’s sixth day followed a big week of work, too. So much had been done on this earth by the time the sixth day came around, but God was far from finished.
Saturday was here. All the animals, birds, sea creatures were alive and living in their habitats created thoughtfully for each of them. The sun light and moon light shone down in what must have been the prettiest place on earth, The Garden of Eden.
No weeds. No trash. No death. No “circle of life” as God created life– without impending death; have you ever stopped to think about that?
And God made the beast of the earth according to its kind, cattle according to its kind, and everything that creeps on the earth according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.
Genesis 1: 25
Death is not good. Fighting life to sustain life, isn’t good. Disease that comes from decaying carcasses isn’t good. God created life to live eternally.
Sixth Day
It was good. And God continues. His greatest creation of all -one unlike all the others and made after His own image- is about to enter the scene of life on earth. And, Creator God? He’s not alone. We often get straight to the point of God creating man that we overlook it, but please don’t miss the pronoun written in the 26th verse of the first chapter of the Bible.
Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness. They will rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, the livestock, all the earth, and the creatures that crawl on the earth.”
Genesis 1:26
Our
Our is a plural possessive pronoun in Genesis 1:26. Whose image? OUR image. Who is Our? God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Our triune God was present at creation, and that means, Jesus His Son was right there in the beginning.
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
John 1:1
Quoting the Old Testament was common in New Testament writing. We see that here in John 1:1 as John refers back to the beginning -Genesis-when talking in New Testament ways about Jesus…In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
Moving along in the book of John this time as Jesus is preparing for His death-and preparing His disciples for the same- we see again who Jesus is and we realize more clearly His unmistakable presence at Creation.
6. Jesus told them, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. 7. If you know Me, you will also know My Father. From now on you do know Him and have seen Him.” 8. “Lord,” said Phillip, “show us the Father, and that is enough for us.” 8. Jesus said to him, “Have I been among you all this time without your knowing Me, Phillip? The one who has seen Me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father? 10. Don’t you believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me? The words I speak to you I do not speak on My own. The Father who lives in Me does HIs works. Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me. Otherwise, believe because of the works themselves.”
John 14:6-10
When in Genesis we read about the creation of man in, “Our image,” and we read of the inseparability of God the Father and God the Son (as well as the Holy Spirit), we have the assurance that Jesus was present at creation.
Jesus at Creation
How exciting is this truth? Our God shows us so much in His Word as we take the time to read and meditate on it. Look again at that one verse:
Then God said, “Let US make man in OUR image, according to OUR likeness…”
Genesis 1:26
Years ago my brother visited Africa. He was in poor villages abounding with children, at one point. Some of my favorite photographs from his entire Safari included those beautiful children. If you can remember back to the days of early digital cameras, long before we had phones that have cameras on them, that’s what he took with him to capture photographs.
Knit Together
Here he was surrounded at once by curious children. They wanted to see who came to their home and know about them. Each of those faces, all different, created by The Father:
For it was You who created my inward parts; You knit me together in my mother’s womb. I will praise You because I have been remarkably and wonderfully made. Your works are wonderful, and I know this very well.
Psalm 139:13-14 HCSB
Back to Africa. Each knit together by our Father, each with a uniqueness to him/her, yet never knowing their own image. You see, they didn’t have cameras, or mirrors. Most of those sweet faces looking into my brother’s eyes had never seen their own face.
Then he pulled out his little digital camera, took a picture of them, and flipped it around. He said they were ecstatic and enthralled to see their own likeness.
Let US make man in OUR Image.
Can we consider the fact that God created man in “Our Image,” and to do so would mean that each of them also had an image already. Jesus was made flesh as Mary’s womb held Him, but His image wasn’t born on what we celebrate as that first Christmas Day, and Jesus born in a manger. No, His image was established long before.
Jesus at Creation
Now, when we think of Jesus, and we think of the manger, His life, and the cross, maybe we will remember His presence in the very beginning: Jesus at Creation. If you think about it, look how much it matters!
See you here next time where we will look at more scripture and find Jesus again.
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