Sunday 22nd January
Read Genesis 2:4-7
“This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created, when the Lord God made the earth and the heavens.
5 Now no shrub had yet appeared on the earth and no plant had yet sprung up, for the Lord God had not sent rain on the earth and there was no one to work the ground, 6 but streams came up from the earth and watered the whole surface of the ground. 7 Then the Lord God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.” (NIVUK)
When we consider creation from the ‘earth’ up, the biblical author mirrors that patterns of Genesis 1 except that the entire story is told from the perspective of humanity. Vegetation and agriculture when viewed from the ‘earth’ are not spontaneously fertile and productive for the rains had not yet formed and ‘there was no one to work the ground’ (v5b). The author is signalling that care for creation, care for the earth, is something for which man is responsible.
This is also signalled in the language around humanity. We are ‘adam’ (human) and we are formed from ‘adamah’ (ground). When water and ground are brought together with the creative will and breath/spirit of God then we become a living being – sometimes unfortunately translated as ‘soul’. The sense we are given by the author in this second reflection on the creation of humanity is that we are quite literally ‘of the earth’ and ‘of the waters’. We are born from below but granted or gifted life from above, by God’s spirit.
When we grasp this teaching, we are better able to better grasp Jesus’ conversation with Nicodemus – and to a certain extent share His surprise that Nicodemus failed to grasp such a foundational teaching.
“Jesus answered, ‘Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit.6 Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit.7 You should not be surprised at my saying, “You must be born again.”8 The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.’” (John 3:5-8) (NIVUK)
Each day we should thank God that He has lifted us from the earth and granted to us life in the Spirit. Full and joyful life!
