01: Formational Spirit
"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 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."
(Genesis 1:1-2 NIV)
Date: 1445-1405 BC
Writer: Moses
The Context
God creates the world.
The Book
In Jewish tradition, the practice of naming the Bible's first five books by their opening words is based on ancient custom. Thus, the book of Genesis is called "Bereshit," which means "in the beginning." The book contains the initial statements about God, His relationship to creation, His relationship to humans, and His character. The story arc covers creation, Adam and Eve, the Garden of Eden, the Fall, the Great Flood, restoration of humanity, and God choosing Abraham to lead His people At the end, Joseph, son of Jacob, ends up ruling in Egypt. Overall, Genesis answers the ultimate question of, "Where did we come from?"
Throughout the entire book of Genesis, the words "bless" and "blessing" occur 86 times. It is an "act of recognition and affirmation and entails the promise of a good future." Blessing comes from being created in the image of God, and is jeopardized when humans attempt to be like the world, as we see in Genesis during the Fall. As the story unfolds from there, God is at work to restore both creation and humanity.
The Text
On the first two days, God creates domains to separate the chaos. On the next two days, God creates the sky and sows the land. On the last two days, God creates creatures and animals. And finally, He creates man. Whilst God said that all other creation was "good," for man, God said "very good."
The Relevance
This text is a guiding light within the formational journey because it provides insight into the early stages of the process.
First, God created = we are created in his image.
Next, the earth was without form and void = here is a bit of deconstruction to the formational process.
Third, the darkness was over the deep = some parts of the journey are dark, in that we might not be able to readily see or feel what God is doing.
Next, the Spirit of God moved over the waters = God is with always moving, and always with us.
Overall, it is interesting to note that God spoke everything else into creation, but God shaped and formed man.
The Witness
The beginning of my formational journey was dark, and at the time, I didn't even know that I was embarking on a formational journey. I had just closed my business, become a mother, sold property and moved home. And, I was confused, because I thought I had done all of the things that I was supposed to do, yet I ended up somewhere I never expected. And, to top it off, I now had a precious little life to love and take care of. So, I had alot of big questions for God. Who am I? What am I here for? I thought I had done everything right, yet I ended up in this dark place. It wasn't "dark", as in unhappy, just "dark" in that I couldn't really see where I had landed after life's spin cycle tossed me in an unexpected direction. Oftentimes, in the middle of the night, I would wake up, get on the floor and just lay before God. I had alot of questions. I kept asking, seeking and knocking. Then one day, God saw fit to start to answer some of those questions, and things started to unfold from there. But, there was a bit of a deconstruction process first. Life felt formless and empty and void. One chapter had closed, another chapter had not yet opened, and I couldn't see through anything. I just knew God was doing something. I also got very quiet. One of my closest friends thought I was depressed, but I wasn't. All I could say was, "God is doing something." I could feel it. The spirit of God was hovering over my life.
Resources
Attridge, The HarperCollins Study Bible
Gaventa, The New Interpreter's Bible One Volume Commentary
Harrelson, The New Interpreter's Study Bible
Powell, The HarperCollins Bible Dictionary