Devotion for Podcast Episode 1: “In the Beginning” Part 1
“In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” Genesis 1:1
When I think of the beginning of time, before the earth is the way we know it now, I envision sitting down to piece together a large puzzle. You start with a big, empty space in front of you. You sort out all your pieces and, of course, you find the edge pieces first. You fit those edge pieces together to form the outline of your puzzle, because that creates order to the mess of various pieces you have in front of you. Your puzzle now has structure. There’s a place for the rest of the pieces to fit together.
Think of that blank space as what the very beginning was like. The Bible says darkness was everywhere. God’s spirit was hovering over the surface of the waters. GOD WAS THERE. He was present in the darkness. Right away, we can take a key point from this very first verse. Just as God was there before anything had form, so He is with us now, this very day.
“The earth was formless and empty. Darkness was on the surface of the deep and God’s Spirit was hovering over the surface of the waters.” Genesis 1:2
The Very First Day
Let’s take a minute to explore what God did that very first day. The heavens and the earth lay in a confused chaotic mess (pretty much like that puzzle when you dump all the pieces out!). There was no order, no structure. Our God brought order and created a masterpiece.
The very first thing He did was create light and make day and night. Have you ever been outside at night, in the pitch dark? Or maybe in your room with the door shut and no flash light? You can’t see anything. There’s a feeling of being lost. The minute a light is turned on, everything makes sense and comes to order. God brought order when He spoke those words, “Let there be light.” And He saw that it was good! That light shows us a part of God’s character. God’s presence creates faith in us. God turns the Light on in our hearts!
God’s Perfect Order
God continued with His Master Plan on the second day by separating that huge expanse of waters. He created the sky, the expanse! We call it the atmosphere, the space between the earth and the heavens. And that’s exactly what God called it – the heavens.
And on the third day, he added more to His puzzle by creating dry land. God saw that the dry land needed to be filled so He said, “Sprout plants and trees!” This is what we call vegetation. Now the world was prepared for God to fill it to His perfect plan.
Think about it. God didn’t create the birds and the fish before he created the land and waters. Why? Because where would the fish swim? Where would the birds fly? They couldn’t! God’s order is perfect. God created what we need before He created people and animals.
God is Always There
While our brains can’t ever totally understand what it was like before God created the heavens and the earth, we CAN understand this – GOD IS ALWAYS THERE! When you’re sad, He is there. When you feel alone, God is by your side. When you are struggling with something, God is right there to help you. God’s Spirit is even right inside of you.
We also need to remember that Jesus was always there. Jesus is the Word. The Apostle John calls Jesus the Word in his Gospel and we read in Scripture that He is True God and True Man, here since Creation. Jesus was there to love and save His creation – you and me – from our sins.
Closing Prayer
Dear Heavenly Father,
Thank you for creating all we need.
Thank you for always being there.
And for sending Jesus
To save us from our sins.
Amen.
Note: Donuts and Devos Podcast
This devotion can be used with the Donuts and Devos Podcast for kids (Episode 1) or on its own as a personal or family devotion. Free coloring pages and activity sheets for children are available to download and print. Please share with other families to help bring God’s Word into homes in a fun and engaging new way! If you have a specific Biblical topic you’d like us to talk about on Donuts and Devos, we’d love to hear from you! Leave a comment or email us at info@donutsanddevos.com.
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