6 And God said, “Let there be an expanse[a] in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.” 7 And God made[b] the expanse and separated the waters that were under the expanse from the waters that were above the expanse. And it was so. 8 And God called the expanse Heaven.[c] And there was evening and there was morning, the second day.
The first 'place' that God created was heaven. Some other translations use 'sky' instead of heaven. So I'm going to read this as God created the sky, because to be completely honest I don't know if heaven was part of God's creation of the earth or something else entirely different.
I wonder why God created the sky the 2nd day. I know this is going very deeply into your Word Father, but I wonder if this too reflects our recreation.
You created the surrounding area to better glorify the light. For what does the sky do but show the radiance of the light? What is the sky without light? Nothing! But with the light the sky is suddenly a painted canvas. We sigh at the beauty of the sky as the sun rises and sets. And just look at a rainbow. Water droplets transformed into a spectrum of colour when the light shines through them.
I guess this is, in some way, what God does with us. He gives us His light and then he starts to repaint our canvas using his light. He changes our colours, creating fresh paint strokes in new directions. He is repainting us. And all of this would have been impossible without Christ's death. For without Christ God would have seen my void and crushed it - and rightfully so. An eternity of punishment is what I deserve. But in Christ, clothed in his bright righteousness and blazing glory, God sees the picture of his Son and is pleased.
He is pleased even before he starts the renovation of this tattered portrait. But He knows a better me. A me that He intended and so he has begun another masterpiece. I'm so excited for the day that I get to stand before God, finished and complete with the Son at my side. Until then I get to enjoy seeing the new colours and contours God creates in my soul through his Holy Spirit.
For a while I struggled with understanding how I could still be me and yet be everything a woman is called to be in Christ. Several words ascribed to women, 'meek', 'gentle' and so on just didn't sit right with me. I am often boisterous, clumsy and abrupt. And I kept wondering, does my personality have to change? Do I have to lose that part of who I am?
Now I realise 'Why WOULDN'T I want to lose that?' Are those parts of me worth hanging on to? Certainly not. I believe God creates us all individually and He loves me for who I am with all my quirks. But I also know that there are some parts of me that are totally okay to be painted over. Because God is a greater artist of souls than I could ever imagine. Thank you Lord for the work you do in us.
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