Day Thirteen – Seeing creation

Then God looked over all he had made, and he saw that it was very good! And evening passed and morning came, marking the sixth day.

Genesis 1:31

The first chapter of Genesis is a liturgical poetry, showing us the beauty of each element of creation: the firmament, the oceans and all biological organisms, humans, all species of plants and animals: each has its own ecological niche, and each is declared beautiful and good in the eyes of God. The poetic refrain "God saw that it was good” anchors the creation story, culminating in the declaration of “very good” on the sixth day.

God's first response - seeing - can also serve as a starting point for us today. As astronaut Bill Anders said about circumnavigating the moon in 1968, "We came all this way to explore the moon, and the most important thing is that we discovered the earth.”

Seeing the earth today means opening our eyes to see its beauty and also its vulnerability - the devastation humans are causing to God's good creation. God sees each element of creation as "good.” By calling each element good, God initiates an ongoing relationship of love with the earth and with each of its elements. For God, earth's ongoing creative ability is "good.” With amazing scientific insight, Genesis describes the earth as a partner with God in creating more life forms. Beginning with the creation of plants on the third day, the earth itself becomes a co-creator with God, bringing forth creatures of its own—"The earth brought forth vegetation" (Gen 1:12). This is repeated on the sixth day with the emergence of animals and humans, and God calls this entire process good.

We must remember that creation was not just made for the human race - "good for humans" is not what God says. If we look closely at each day's creation we see that God declares each element as good for their own sake, quite apart from any usefulness to humans.

Perhaps most importantly, goodness also means interconnectedness, an ecological principle. God declares the entirety of creation to be “very good”. This superlative on the sixth day is not reserved for humans alone, as some interpretations have claimed. Rather, it is when God saw everything, and how the whole creation works together as an interconnected living ecological system, that God declares everything to be very, very good.

Prayer

Lord, make us people who recognise, nurture and act towards a more sustainable world for the benefit of all who draw life from this planet. Raise up campaigners who will speak out for wisdom, restraint and compassion. And teach us to partner you in protecting this precious world and the lives of our most vulnerable global neighbours. Amen

Tearfund “Hope for Creation” prayer

(Adapted from an article: And God Saw That It Was Good: Reflections on Theology of Creation by Barbara R. Rossing)