February 6

“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 1:2

In the beginning, darkness was over the surface and earth was formless. On the first day, God separated light from dark and made morning and evening. The second day He separated water from water and created the expanse in between, which He called ‘sky’. The third day, He gathered the waters below to one place and made land appear. Earth was given form, and God gave life to earth, filling it with all kinds of vegetation. Over the next two days, He gave the sun, moon, stars and seasons; every kind of winged bird, and creatures to swarm the seas and roam the earth. On the sixth day, He created human beings in His image and gave them dominion over every living thing.

It was from formlessness to form to fullness that God created. Psalm 19:1-2 says, “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge.” The knowledge displayed in creation reveals God’s power, wisdom and sovereignty, but it also reveals the way in which He works. We can safely say that God has not been creating since the sixth day, but generation after generation He’s been recreating, and that recreation is found in every Christian. “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” (2 Corinthians 5:17). The pattern of God’s creation; the formless taking form and receiving fullness is the same principle in the working of God in our lives.

We are all born separated from God, which is a condition of spiritual death. Alienated from God, we are in a formless position, but by coming in humble repentance to Christ, God now has a form into which He brings life. Sadly, many Christians stop at day three of God’s creative work. The light comes; they understand they need saving, but don’t move to day four and five where the love and life of God is worked in us and through us. If we stop at the form, we fail to experience the fullness. 

God is capable of anything at any time, but He chooses to follow a process; first creating form, and by His Spirit, working His moral character into that form. Paul says, “We are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord” (2 Corinthians 3:18). We can stop at day three and have nothing to proclaim but ourselves, or we can go beyond day three, and live in intimate union with Christ. That is the fullness in which our lives proclaim the work of His hands and the glory of God is revealed.

PRAYER: Dear Father, bring me past day three and fill me with your Spirit so that I may increasingly reveal your glory. Thank You, Lord.

TO REFLECT UPON: Have I stopped at the form or entered into the fullness of Christ?