Creator, Father, King #25

God looked over all he had made, and he saw that it was very good!

THIS WORLD IS A beautiful place. There are so many parts of creation to marvel at and enjoy.

But sin has also marred God’s original design. Read the news on any given day, and you’ll quickly see that the paradise of Genesis 1–2 has given way to great pain, suffering, and death because of human rebellion against our Creator.

But it was not so in the very beginning. At Creation, everything was very good. In fact, it was perfect!

After each of the six days of Creation, God declared what he had made “good.” Today, we’re going to look at that phrase—“And God saw that it was good”—and discuss the meaning behind it.

What’s It Mean?

Maybe you’ve seen rating systems that ask you to rank a product or service on a scale of excellent, very good, good, fair, or poor. That is not what Scripture means here!

When Genesis 1:4 says, “And God saw that the light was good,” it’s not saying that God could’ve done one or two levels better with his creation of light. The word good in this verse—and throughout chapter 1 to describe all of God’s creative acts—denotes perfection and completeness.

God’s original creation reflected his glory. Only God is to be worshiped, but the universe he created dazzled with the radiance of his goodness and attributes. He could’ve created a bland, boring world of metal and stainless steel. But no! Instead, he designed a world of majestic rolling hills, deep valleys, and waterfalls. He created bumblebees, orangutans, swordfish, and bald eagles. He made stars, comets, and galaxies. His loving, imaginative fingerprints cover the world he created.

God’s declaration of creation’s goodness was a glorious declaration of the inherent perfection and wholeness of what he made. God is holy and completely separate from any moral impurity. As such, his original creation was wholly good and lacking anything impure. God did not create anything sinful, evil, or deficient in any way. Everything he created was flawless—exactly the way he wanted it to be.

Everything God made was very good indeed!

Now What?

Take some time to prayerfully thank God for all the goodness you enjoy in his creation each day.

Did You Know?

Many biblical scholars agree that the way the Genesis Creation account was written was, in part, to contradict prevailing Near Eastern pagan creation mythology of that era from Mesopotamia, Egypt, and other local cultures.