The Personal Touch

Genesis 1:4 (ESV) … “And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness.”

When we teach the familiar Creation story, it’s important for us to adopt the attitude of the psalmist. The psalmist acknowledges God as Creator. He knows the story of the seven days. But as the psalmist meditates, his thoughts are not drawn off to speculations about, “How?” Instead, the psalmist moves quickly beyond the “scientific” questions that so attract us to focus on the central message: All that exists is the work of a Person. Everything around us has been carefully and thoughtfully designed. Creation is a mirror, placed to reflect our thoughts and our worship back to the Person whose image Creation enables us to see.

This is the central message of Genesis 1. Our attention is directed not to the world, but to its Maker. The psalmist, recognizing this, exults, “I will sing to the Lord as long as I live. I will praise God to my last breath! May He be pleased by all these thoughts about Him, for He is the source of all my joy” (Ps. 104:33–34, tlb).[1]

[1] Richards, L. O. (1987). The teacher’s commentary (pp. 19–20). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.