Today’s Reading: (Genesis 1:1-2:25)

Even when there was no shape, or at least any useful one, to all of creation, God had a plan. The opening chapters of the Bible make it clear that God, from the chaotic void, created a beautiful, useful planet. In fact, this creation was so incredible that the He called it, “Good”. While that might seem mild in our world of overstated hype, coming from Yahweh, the source of Good, that was quite a compliment.

As you enter the new year, there may be many things in your life that feel like the first few verses of Genesis, formless, chaotic, and dark. With life so out of control, it is hard to think that any “good” thing can come of it. But remember, the same God that created the universe, is working in you. This year, stay in the Word, seek Him in prayer, keep a generous heart, consecrate your life to Him, and watch out… He will work something “good” in you.
-Pastor Conley

Genesis 1:1–2:25 (MEV)

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

2 The earth was formless and void, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the water.

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

4 God saw that the light was good, and God separated the light from the darkness.

5 God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night. So the evening and the morning were the first day.

6 Then God said, “Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.”

7 So God made the expanse and separated the waters which were under the expanse from the waters which were above the expanse. And it was so.

8 God called the expanse Heaven. So the evening and the morning were the second day.

9 Then God said, “Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear.” And it was so.

10 God called the dry land Earth, and the gathering together of the waters He called Seas. Then God saw that it was good.

11 Then God said, “Let the earth produce vegetation: plants yielding seed and fruit trees on the earth yielding fruit after their kind with seed in them.” And it was so.

12 The earth produced vegetation, plants yielding seed after their kind and trees yielding fruit with seed in them after their kind. And God saw that it was good.

13 So the evening and the morning were the third day.

14 And God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night, and let them be signs to indicate seasons, and days, and years.

15 Let them be lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth.” And it was so.

16 God made two great lights: the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night. He made the stars also.

17 Then God set them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth,

18 to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness. Then God saw that it was good.

19 So the evening and the morning were the fourth day.

20 Then God said, “Let the waters swarm with swarms of living creatures and let the birds fly above the earth in the open expanse of the heavens.”

21 So God created great sea creatures and every living thing that moves, with which the waters swarmed, according to their kind, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.

22 Then God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and let the birds multiply on the earth.”

23 So the evening and the morning were the fifth day.

24 Then God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures according to their kinds: livestock, and creeping things, and beasts of the earth according to their kinds.” And it was so.

25 So God made the beasts of the earth according to their kind, and the livestock according to their kind, and everything that creeps on the earth according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.

26 Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness, and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the livestock, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”

27 So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.

28 God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and replenish the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”

29 Then God said, “See, I have given you every plant yielding seed which is on the face of all the earth and every tree which has fruit yielding seed. It shall be food for you.

30 To every beast of the earth and to every bird of the air and to everything that creeps on the earth which has the breath of life in it, I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so.

31 God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good. So the evening and the morning were the sixth day.

1 So the heavens and the earth, and all their hosts, were finished.

2 On the seventh day God completed His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done.

3 Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it He had rested from all His work which He had created and made.

4 This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created. In the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens,

5 no shrub of the field was yet on the earth, and no plant of the field had yet sprouted, for the Lord God had not caused it to rain on the earth, and there was no man to cultivate the ground.

6 But a mist arose from the earth and watered the whole surface of the ground.

7 Then the Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living being.

8 The Lord God planted a garden in the east, in Eden, and there He placed the man whom He had formed.

9 Out of the ground the Lord God made to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was also in the midst of the garden, along with the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

10 A river flowed out of Eden to water the garden, and from there it parted and became four rivers.

11 The name of the first is Pishon; it encompasses the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold.

12 The gold of that land is good; bdellium and the onyx stone are there.

13 The name of the second river is Gihon; it encompasses the whole land of Cush.

14 The name of the third river is Tigris; it goes toward the east of Assyria. The fourth river is the Euphrates.

15 The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to till it and to keep it.

16 And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat,

17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die.”

18 Then the Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone. I will make him a helper suitable for him.”

19 Out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the sky, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them. Whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name.

20 The man gave names to all the livestock, to the birds of the sky, and to every beast of the field, but for Adam there was not found a helper suitable for him.

21 So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall on Adam, and he slept. Then He took one of his ribs and closed up the place with flesh.

22 Then the rib which the Lord God had taken from man, He made into a woman, and He brought her to the man.

23 Then Adam said, “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she will be called Woman, for she was taken out of Man.”

24 Therefore a man will leave his father and his mother and be joined to his wife, and they will become one flesh.

25 They were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.