And it was very good!

Sunday 16^th February – 2 before Lent

Genesis 1:1 – 2:3. A much longer reading than is usual presents an imaginative presentation of the origins of the whole creation. Most of the rest of the Hebrew scriptures is the story of one particular part of humanity – the people of Israel so it is instructive to take on board that God’s dominion and his concern is universal so the history of God’s relationship with the Jews is to be seen in that context. We are all in this together – “we” being every little bit of the universe.

Romans 8:18-25. Paul’s vision here challenges any version of the gospel that restricts salvation to human beings. All creation is to be redeemed which must surely challenge us to formulate some kind of environmental ethic. Matter “matters”. Because Paul and others contrast the body (flesh) and the Spirit, a very negative view of the body has permeated some Christian circles for ever. But Paul should be properly be understood as contrasting a life under the power of sin with a life empowered by the Spirit of God. The fact that Paul believes in the resurrection of the body should also lead us to not denigrate the human body which will also be redeemed.

Matthew 6: 25 – 34. The word translated as “worry about” carries the nuance of “make effort”, so the passage is less about what one should worry about with its overtones of neuroticism, but where one should place ones effort or drive. Strive not for worldly things but for the Kingdom of God. We may think this an unfashionable message in a time of conspicuous consumption but think how much more unfashionable it must have sounded in a largely subsistence culture of rural Palestine.

The book of Genesis imaginatively narrates the origins of everything in the whole universe and as such is majestic in its import and scope.

Genesis is not a scientific textbook, but makes the extraordinary claim that everything that exists, exists because of the will of a creator God.

That is ground zero for Christianity, Islam and Judaism.

The pinnacle of creation is humankind, which God created in His own image.

The words in verse 27 say “In the image of God he created them, male and female he created them”

The fulness of God is found in the complementary gifts of men and women acting in tandem with each other.

Genesis notes that this difference between humanity and the rest of creation is this heightened sense of being created in the image of God which can be interpreted in many ways.

We have the ability the think, feel, create, love, take responsibility, make moral judgements, on a smaller scale, but just as God does – made in the image of God.

Because of those innate qualities, that sets us slightly apart from creation we are to be stewards of the earth and have a unique place in the universe.

God has entrusted the earth to our care, to use but not abuse what has been given into our care.

The creativity of humanity is extraordinary. We can harness the power of the atom to make electricity, We build rockets that can reach the moon and satellites that travel out of our solar system, we can harness the power of water, wind and the sun. We create film, art, music, we communicate across thousands of miles through a small device that fits in our pockets. We farm the land and raise livestock to feed ourselves which reminds us that while we are special in many ways we are still of the created order that has much more elemental needs.

To eat, to drink, to procreate, to clothe ourselves.

No matter how much we create or seek out new worlds, or how complex our computerisation becomes, those basic needs do not change.

Jesus says that of course God knows you need those basics of existence, but you have an even greater need, because we are made in the image of God.

We have need of love and to come into good healthy relationship with each other, and with the rest of creation and also with God our creator.

The healthy and sound relationship we need with each other and with creation itself rests on coming into a sound and healthy loving relationship with God Himself.

“Seek ye first the kingdom of God and everything else will be given to you as well” means to me that when we know our place in the created order as a child of God, loved by God, and redeemed by God, everything will start to fall into place, environmentally and socially.

Jesus points out that the gentiles – meaning those that don’t know or recognise the creator God of Genesis – just strive after the basics of life because they don’t yet know the higher truth that we were made to live in relationship with the God of all things. We are more than just flesh and blood and instinct.

Our needs are greater. We need God in our life.