The God of Order

(Image by Greg Rakozy on Unsplash)

Ian Wilson (G)

It’s easy to get hung up on the details of Genesis while missing the deeper meaning – that our God is a God of order. He is a God who places everything in it’s proper place, who sets a limit for the season and calls the stars by name. He is a God who calls forth order out of chaos, and brings harmony out of discord. He brings meaning and value to confused, chaotic matter.

“And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.” Genesis 1:2 KJV

The words “without form and void” are better translated as “chaos and emptiness”. The Spirit of God (the Holy Spirit) is said to hover over the face of the waters. It is the Holy Spirit that gives words of prophecy. The Holy Spirit brings life and power.

“And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.” Genesis 1:3 KJV

I John 1:5 says that God is light and in Him there is no darkness. Light is the ability to distinguish. Light is knowledge. Light is goodness. Darkness obscures and confuses. Darkness causes fear.

“And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.” Genesis 1:4 KJV

By dividing the light from the darkness, God clearly distinguishes the light, putting an end to confusion and chaos. There is no “gray area”. Here God lays out what He is about to do. By contrast Satan is the author of confusion and ambiguity. He brings obscurity to things, so that we cannot rightly tell light from darkness. We’ll speak more on him another time. God is the author of order and clarity.

“And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so.” Genesis 1:11 KJV

God alone is the life-giver. No one else can bring life out of dead matter; only God can do that. Life itself is a gift, bringing meaning and value to the material world.

“And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years:” Genesis 1:14 KJV

The lights in the heavens exist to bring further order by determining times and seasons. We order our lives by the lights in the heavens. All of creation acts in accordance with these lights. This is for our good, and gives us order to live and work by.

And after creating land, light, plants, animals, fish, birds and all other living things, God made humankind:

“And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.” Genesis 1:26 KJV

God created man to rule over the earth, to be His representative priest-king over the created order. Man is made in God’s image; the breath of Heaven and the dust of Earth, bringing meaning to matter. No other living creature has the breath of God. God created man to bring further order to the world which He has created. Man was to bring the knowledge and wisdom of God to the physical realm.

“And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.” Genesis 1:28 KJV

With all of this in mind, let us ask ourselves these questions: