The book opens with the Spirit of God hovering over the waters of chaos, the dark and unformed abyss. The Hebrew word "ruah" translated as "Spirit of God" can also mean "breath, breeze, wind, zephyr." When the waters begin to stir, the breath of God is upon them. Then He speaks: Light! Be!
And light was! God saw how good it was! God separated the light from the darkness -- and He named both for what they were -- He called the light: Day! and the darkness He called: Night!
Whenever I read this chapter, I cannot help but see it as the pattern of our spiritual lives. The Breath of God hovers over what in the Hebrew reads as tohu va-vohu, meaning "emptiness." And the waters of our soul begin to stir. God sends the Light by the Word of His mouth, and He separates the light from the darkness, naming both for what they are.
John's Gospel begins with the same words as the Book of Genesis: In the beginning....., but then he says was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. That "Word" first spoken over the emptiness of chaos was "Light! Be!" And so it was.
John goes on to say, "In him was life, and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood/ comprehended/ grasped/ overcome it....the true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world.
In the beginning was the Creator, the Word, and the Ruah/ the Spirit. All three created the heavens and the earth, not all at once, but gradually unfolding the fullness of life. In the first three days, the spaces were made, separating the waters for the earth, the heavens, and the sea. Only after space was made for new life did the new life begin to appear: the land produced vegetation; the heavens were filled with the sun and moon; the sea teemed with living creatures, and the sky with birds of the air.
Our spirits grow with the same progression -- first comes the Light of the world, separating in us the light from the dark. As we begin to follow the light, our "earth" is filled with good things, from "glory to glory."
Our world gradually becomes more and more ordered and orderly, making sense as the chaos is pushed back. The light grows stronger and stronger, and the darkness can no longer overcome us.
Like all of creation, we develop and come to perfection under the action of the Creator, the Light, and the Spirit -- the Breath of God. All that is required is that we continued to look up, to allow Him to breathe into us, to send His creative Word into our souls: Light! Be! As long as we do not walk back into the darkness and embrace the chaos, His creation in us continues.
But He created man to "rule" over the work of His hands. If we choose, we can also refuse the Creator, the Light, and the Breath and decide to 'become as gods,' knowing good and evil. (In Hebrew, "knowing" means experiencing, or embracing wholly.) When we do that, we confuse, or mingle the light with the darkness, eventually bringing about chaos, where there is no longer a separation of light and dark. Again, the waters threaten to overwhelm us.
Fortunately, though, the work of God did not end with the beginning. It is forever ongoing and active. Each day it begins again, and it is the same as it was in the beginning: The Spirit of God hovers over our chaos, the Light once again enters into our darkness, and the Creator does a new thing -- can you not perceive it?
Behold, I will create new heavens and a new earth.
The former things will not be remembered,
nor will they come to mind.
But be glad and rejoice forever
in what I will create....(Is. 65:17).
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