Introduction Many of us can recall the details of creation. A few of us might even be able to list the events of the six days structure of Genesis 1. Many of us can tell the story of David and Goliath, or Daniel in the Lion’s Den, or recount the bravery of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. If we were asked about the details of the story of Noah and the Flood, we could probably give at least a basic summary of the plot. But what would you say if you were asked to tell the story of the Old Testament? We know the many stories of the Old Testament, but have you ever stopped to consider the bigger story that they are collectively telling? Or how they are fulfilled in Jesus? I wrote this devotional because I believe that many of us know the stories of the …show more content…
How do you imagine the conversation would go? Is God smiling at you? Or glaring? Laughing? Staring you down? Are you enjoying yourself, or is it uncomfortable? Maybe God is telling jokes and stories. I’ll bet they’re hilarious. God probably knows all the best jokes. Have you ever wondered about the personality of God? What would it be like to sit across from Him in a coffee shop? What would He say to you? The creation story of Genesis 1:1-2:3 has often been used to answer questions like why and how, but it also has a lot to say about who. Who is this God? What is His personality, and what does He do? The opening words of Genesis 1 begin to answer those very questions for us. “In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, the earth was a formless void” (NRSV). The words that have been translated as “formless void” are the Hebrew words “tohu va bohu,” which literally mean chaos and desolation. In the beginning, the earth was chaos. In the beginning, the earth was desolate. It was a wasteland. It was turmoil, pandemonium, disorder, madness, disarray. Chaos and