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Today's Little Lift
by Jim Bullington
“And the evening and the morning were the third day.” (Genesis 1.13). Not to be monotonous, but the same can be said for the first, second, fourth, fifth, and sixth days (see Genesis 1 verses 5,8,19,23, and 31)! Concerning creation, details were omitted that pique my interest and some details were included that seem not so important to me. But, I’m not God so it doesn’t matter a great deal what I think about Genesis 1. I have, however, wondered why He said the same thing six times about the evening and the morning constituting each of the six days. Today’s message summarizes my conclusions.
First and foremost, it is likely that He simply wanted to establish the fact that the days of Creation were just what the text makes them to be – six days, each one consisting of one evening and one morning! Had He wanted to present that fact, what better way to have said it than the method He chose?
But, here’s another possible connection. Consider it with me as I attempt to unfold it. The six days were cycles; in this case, 24 hour cycles of time. There were other things in the creation account that indicated or established cycles. For instance the sun and the moon were to be used “…for signs and seasons, and for days and years.” (Genesis 1.14). Again cycles were involved, cycles of days, years, and seasons.
As God accomplished His work, He created plants, each of them having seed within itself. Later He made fowl, fish, and land creatures. In each case, He enabled the living things of creation to reproduce after its kind. Finally He created man and woman and charged them to “…be fruitful and multiply.” (Genesis 1.28). Again in these creative acts, we see that God designed cycles – cycles of life – cycles to repeat over and over again that which had been before.
The universe that God made is literally filled with cycles (orbits of moons, stars, planets, etc., etc.). It is also filled with objects which turn on themselves (circles). Planets, stars, suns, and moons seem to have circular shapes (another type of cycle). Isaiah said long ago, “It is He who sits above the circle of the earth…” (Isaiah 40.22). In similar fashion, “…He drew a circle on the face of the deep.” (Proverbs 8.27). In an extended passage that deals with cycles, Solomon wrote: “One generation passes away, and another generation comes; But the earth abides forever. The sun also rises, and the sun goes down, And hastens to the place where it arose. The wind goes toward the south, And turns around to the north; The wind whirls about continually, And comes again on its circuit. All the rivers run into the sea, Yet the sea is not full; To the place from which the rivers come, There they return again.” (Ecclesiastes 1.4-7). The circle/cycle has a significant and permeating place in God’s creation.
But the physical universe is not all that involves cycles; the spiritual realm seems to have its cyclical counterparts in the physical world. “Then the dust will return to the earth as it was, And the spirit will return to God who gave it.” (Ecclesiastes 12.7). Just as surely as there are significant cycles that permeate the physical universe, so there are cycles that fill the spiritual arena. Humans who follow God’s will are born again, regenerated, redeemed, revived, renewed, restored, and reconciled. All of these phrases deal with a cycle – man’s existence in a state of fellowship with God, man’s fall through sin, and his restoration to his previous state of fellowship.
This snapshot of our spiritual existence is the message of the Bible. Man began his existence in wonderful fellowship with Creator God, was expelled due to transgression, and can experience that relationship again through the forgiving grace of Jesus Christ. Perhaps it was God’s knowledge of our need for cycles in the spiritual universe that led Him to so prominently use them in the physical universe – a perennial reminder via the evening and the morning!
Questions:
1. What are the cycles of time that God created?
2. What are the cycles of replenishing the earth that God created?
3. How does God accommodate our need for redemption? How can this be seen as a cycle?
4. If Paradise was lost in Eden, can it be regained? When the sun rises and the sun sets, is there a connection between these events and our spiritual existence? If so, what is it?
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