The Creative Power of God

Jim:

Genesis 2:4-25
Verse 7 says, “then the Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and the man became a living being.” It was not until God “inspired” his new creature that the man came to life. The same was true on Pentecost, when God shaped and formed the disciples into something new, breathed the Holy Spirit into their midst, and called the church to life. God continues to breathe into God’s people, leading them to create things of beauty, acts of worship, communities of hope and caring, forms of outreach, all types of hospitality. God’s creative and “inspiring” breath is at work constantly changing the ordinary stuff of our world into something new.

Hebrews 1:1-14
Verses 1 and 2 refer to another way that God creates. “Long ago God spoke to out ancestors in many and various ways by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by a Son…” God’s word, as shared by prophet or Son, has the power to address the ills of society and to hold persons responsible, the power to create or draw out righteousness and justice. Jesus Christ was the ultimate expression of God’s Word, and in Jesus Christ a new creation has sprung into being, a new relationship with God. So God creates thorough breath and through word.

John 1:1-18
And then John beautifully ties it all together. This section of John is called the prologue to the gospel and it offers us a cosmic view of creation and the presence of the Word. Verses 1-5 show the interrelatedness of God’s creative power or “inspiration” and that Word with which God creates. “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 came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.”