Spirit and Word

Wednesday 28^th December

Read Genesis 1:1-3

“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. ² Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.

³ And God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light.” (NIVUK)

We may sometimes fall into the trap of thinking that creation was an act of the Father alone. These first few lines of scripture remind us that it is folly to think thus. For at the very beginning the Spirit was hovering (v2), intimately involved in creation and a Word (v3) was spoken and light sprang forth. Paul wrote of the Son, in language that demonstrates familiarity with John’s great matching prologue (John 1:1-3), that Jesus was the very Word and agent of creation.

“The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. ¹⁶ For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him.” (Colossians 1:15-16) (NIVUK).

Creation is an act of God, Father, Son and Spirit. The Spirit and the Word working together to effect transformation and life. Indeed, the work of the Word and Spirit to transform is nowhere better illustrated in the life of the Christian – a new creation.

“For God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ.” (2 Corinthians 4:6) (NIVUK).

It is no wonder that when Paul describes how he prays for the Colossian church he draws on the language of creation and new creation to draw them closer…spend some time today praying for those in our church in the same way.

“For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you. We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives, 10 so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, ¹¹ being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, ¹² and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light. ¹³ For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, ¹⁴ in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.” (Colossians 1:9-13) (NIVUK)