The Primacy of Word

3 Then God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light...

6 Then God said, “Let there be a space between the waters, to separate the waters of the heavens from the waters of the earth.” 7 And that is what happened...

9 Then God said, “Let the waters beneath the sky flow together into one place, so dry ground may appear.” And that is what happened...

11 Then God said, “Let the land sprout with vegetation—every sort of seed-bearing plant, and trees that grow seed-bearing fruit. These seeds will then produce the kinds of plants and trees from which they came.” And that is what happened...

14 Then God said, “Let lights appear in the sky to separate the day from the night. Let them be signs to mark the seasons, days, and years. 15 Let these lights in the sky shine down on the earth.” And that is what happened...

20 Then God said, “Let the waters swarm with fish and other life. Let the skies be filled with birds of every kind.” 21 So God created...

24 Then God said, “Let the earth produce every sort of animal, each producing offspring of the same kind—livestock, small animals that scurry along the ground, and wild animals.” And that is what happened...

26 Then God said, “Let us make human beings in our image, to be like us. They will reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, the livestock, all the wild animals on the earth,and the small animals that scurry along the ground.”
27  So God created human beings in his own image. In the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.

(Selections from Genesis 1, NLT)

There are times when I speak to my kids, but it seems like I am speaking into a strange vacuity that only exists when I, or my wife, happen to speak to them. "I need you to get ready to go to the church," I might say. A few minutes later: "Hey, you two, we have to leave in 15 minutes, time to get ready!" Finally, "HEY! GET UP OFF THE COUCH AND GET READY NOW! THIS IS THE THIRD TIME!"

I suppose every parent knows the struggle. We cannot always speak action from inactivity. At times we cannot create the desired result when people are floating around in their own "void," and what we wish we could just speak into existence often has to be coerced.

Maybe it has to do with the foundation laid. If you have not laid a foundation of love, structure, order, and vitality, you can't just expect a child to hop to it at a moment's notice.

I find the order of creation--specifically what and how God spoke things to be--to be enlightening. Consider the pattern of "filling" that God accomplishes.

• Day 1: He speaks light into existence... darkness and death are driven away (life cannot exist in what we read about, pre-creation).
• Day 4: The parallel: He speaks lights into existence, putting the activity of future living beings into order.
• Day 2: He speaks an expanse into existence... Chaos was given boundaries. Water was, to the Hebrew mind, a place of disorder and chaos and death. A space for life had to exist.
• Day 5: The parallel: He speaks the creatures of sky and water into existence, filling both with life, His Word empowering each to further fill the earth with life after its kind. Even a place of seeming "chaos and death" was filled with life.
• Day 3: He speaks land and sea into existence, further bordering off the places of apparent order and chaos. He speaks the plant life into existence, filling the earth with what would sustain the life He would soon create. Sometimes overlooked is the fact that the sea itself also contains its own kinds of vegetation that could feed the life it houses!
• Day 6: The creatures of the land are created, filling it with life, also being empowered to expand life. Mankind was created with particular purpose, to govern over the order of life God created.

All of this happens by the Word of God. Interestingly, God did not speak and mankind just came to be. Before humanity was even made, we see God filling this creation with purpose that exceeds the purpose of any other created thing.

God speaks foundations of life into existence (often speaking separation into existence to make this possible... see my earlier post, "Primacy of Separation"). God speaks into existence the life that fills these foundations.

When He speaks, God separates and fills with life and purpose!

God still speaks. I will not attempt to define the boundaries of how He speaks. I know He speaks through His Word, Scripture. He speaks His Word through Holy Spirit. He speaks through people. He speaks in dreams and visions. He speaks through thoughts. There are surely other methods I have not thought of. But He does speak!

Maybe He is speaking a "separation from chaos" into your life today. Maybe He is speaking a foundational message you need. Maybe He is speaking boundaries into your existence. Maybe He is speaking something life-giving to you.

Of these kinds of words, maybe of others, how has God spoken to you? What could He be speaking to you today?