Reading the Bible Together

The Passage for the Day

1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 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 . . .

24 And God said, “Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: livestock, creatures that move along the ground, and wild animals, each according to its kind.” And it was so. 25 God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.

26 Then God said, “Let us make human beings in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move 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.

28 God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”

29 Then God said, “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. 30 And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds in the sky and all the creatures that move on the ground—everything that has the breath of life in it—I give every green plant for food.” And it was so.

31 God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day.

Points of interest:

• ‘In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth’—I imagine that those of you who are reading come from a variety of perspectives on when and how the world came into existence; I don’t intend to get into that topic very much here.  My point in including this verse in our study is simply to start at the beginning of the story.  Over the next six weeks, we’ll be following what the Bible has to say about all people, all over the earth.  I thought it would be worth setting the scene a little before we begin that story.  And here’s what we see when it all starts: just God, and a completely empty world.
•  ‘the sixth day’—you’ll notice that we’re reading here about the sixth day.  For brevity’s sake, I decided to skip several days.  Between verse 2 and verse 24, God creates light, darkness, oceans, dry land, the sun, the moon, the stars, fish, and birds.  It all happens more or less in the same way he creates the animals here in verses 24 and 25. 
• ‘Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds’—I get two things from this account of God’s creative work: God dislikes emptiness, and he likes variety.  God finds an empty world, and immediately begins to fill it.  And God doesn’t just fill it with a lot of one thing, but with an abundance of many kinds of things.  As the Bible tells it, God is happy to see the earth filled with an amazing diversity.
•  ‘Let us make human beings in our image’—God takes a more direct hand in the creation of humankind: not the land, as with the other creatures, but God’s own effort forms them.  I don’t know how to square it with anthropology or evolutionary theory, but this idea that the creation of humans was separate and different resonates with me.  And it seems simultaneously astounding and true that, in forming us, God modelled us after God’s own self.  We’ll soon be reading about peoples, nations, and cultures spread throughout the earth.  Here we see one important thing that’s the same among all of those various people: every single one of them is made in the spitting image, as they say, of God.
•  ‘Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it’—we are created not just to look like God, but to act like God as well.  God finds a formless and empty world, and immediately begins to bring shape to it and fill it.  Upon creating humankind, God commissions us to do the same.  We are God’s emissaries or God’s partners in the grand project of bringing order, abundance, and variety to what started as an empty mess.

Taking it home:

• For you: God likes you.  When God looks at you, God sees a ‘chip off the old block.’  How does it feel to know that, fundamentally, God takes a great deal of pleasure in you?  If you’re having a hard time believing it, ask God to help you see yourself through God’s eyes.
• For your six: Ask God to bless the work of your six today.  Pray that in their work they would contribute to God’s project of bringing more and more goodness to the world.  And ask God to give them satisfaction, like his own, in the work they do.
• For America: In this passage, we see that abundant variety is one of the things God most wants to bring to the world.  We’re fortunate to live in a place that enjoys a great deal of both abundance and diversity, in its natural resources and in its people.  Be on the lookout for signs of God’s abundance and variety as you go through your day, and when you see them take a quick moment to say, ‘Thanks.’

Jesus Changes Water into Wine

¹ On the third day a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee. Jesus’ mother was there, ² and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. ³ When the wine was gone, Jesus’ mother said to him, “They have no more wine.”

⁴ “Woman, why do you involve me?” Jesus replied. “My hour has not yet come.”

⁵ His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.”

⁶ Nearby stood six stone water jars, the kind used by the Jews for ceremonial washing, each holding from twenty to thirty gallons.

⁷ Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water”; so they filled them to the brim.

⁸ Then he told them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet.”

They did so, ⁹ and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine. He did not realize where it had come from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew. Then he called the bridegroom aside ¹⁰ and said, “Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till now.”

¹¹ What Jesus did here in Cana of Galilee was the first of the signs through which he revealed his glory; and his disciples put their faith in him.

¹² After this he went down to Capernaum with his mother and brothers and his disciples. There they stayed for a few days.

¹¹ Both the one who makes people holy and those who are made holy are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters. ¹² He says,
“I will declare your name to my brothers and sisters;
in the assembly I will sing your praises.”

¹³ And again,
“I will put my trust in him.”
And again he says,
“Here am I, and the children God has given me.”

¹⁴ Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might break the power of him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil— ¹⁵ and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death. ¹⁶ For surely it is not angels he helps, but Abraham’s descendants. ¹⁷ For this reason he had to be made like his brothers and sisters in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people. ¹⁸ Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.

¹⁰ When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the LORD your God for the good land he has given you. ¹¹ Be careful that you do not forget the LORD your God, failing to observe his commands, his laws and his decrees that I am giving you this day. ¹² Otherwise, when you eat and are satisfied, when you build fine houses and settle down, ¹³ and when your herds and flocks grow large and your silver and gold increase and all you have is multiplied, ¹⁴ then your heart will become proud and you will forget the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. ¹⁵ He led you through the vast and dreadful wilderness, that thirsty and waterless land, with its venomous snakes and scorpions. He brought you water out of hard rock. ¹⁶ He gave you manna to eat in the wilderness, something your ancestors had never known, to humble and test you so that in the end it might go well with you. ¹⁷ You may say to yourself, “My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.” ¹⁸ But remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your ancestors, as it is today.

¹⁹ If you ever forget the LORD your God and follow other gods and worship and bow down to them, I testify against you today that you will surely be destroyed. ²⁰ Like the nations the LORD destroyed before you, so you will be destroyed for not obeying the LORD your God.

A psalm of Asaph.

¹ The Mighty One, God, the LORD,
speaks and summons the earth
from the rising of the sun to where it sets.

² From Zion, perfect in beauty,
God shines forth.

³ Our God comes
and will not be silent;
a fire devours before him,
and around him a tempest rages.

⁴ He summons the heavens above,
and the earth, that he may judge his people:

⁵ “Gather to me this consecrated people,
who made a covenant with me by sacrifice.”

⁶ And the heavens proclaim his righteousness,
for he is a God of justice.

⁷ “Listen, my people, and I will speak;
I will testify against you, Israel:
I am God, your God.

⁸ I bring no charges against you concerning your sacrifices
or concerning your burnt offerings, which are ever before me.

⁹ I have no need of a bull from your stall
or of goats from your pens,

¹⁰ for every animal of the forest is mine,
and the cattle on a thousand hills.

¹¹ I know every bird in the mountains,
and the creatures of the field are mine.

¹² If I were hungry I would not tell you,
for the world is mine, and all that is in it.

¹³ Do I eat the flesh of bulls
or drink the blood of goats?

¹⁴ “Sacrifice thank offerings to God,
fulfill your vows to the Most High,

¹⁵ and call on me in the day of trouble;
I will deliver you, and you will honor me.”

¹⁶ But to the wicked, God says:
“What right have you to recite my laws
or take my covenant on your lips?

¹⁷ You hate my instruction
and cast my words behind you.

¹⁸ When you see thieves, you join with them;
you throw in your lot with adulterers.

¹⁹ You use your mouth for evil
and harness your tongue to deceit.

²⁰ You sit and testify against your brother
and slander your own mother’s son.

²¹ When you did these things and I kept silent,
you thought I was exactly like you.
But I now arraign you
and set my accusations before you.

²² “Consider this, you who forget God,
or I will tear you to pieces, with no one to rescue:

²³ Those who sacrifice thank offerings honor me,
and to the blameless I will show my salvation.”