Creator's signature

Where is it that we find God doing His most amazing (creative) work? Is it with the really smart people, or those who are the best managers,  or those who really have their act together"? Does God do His best work in the well lit halls of academia, or in those churches with such gifted leaders that many flock to hear their "annointed preaching"?  God surely does work in all of these situations. But what I'm asking is, where does He do His best work?  Where do you think He really enjoys doing His stuff the most?  What really gets His creative juices flowing?

Consider the very first recorded work of God in Genesis 1:1-2.  Most carpenters will tell you that they prefer to build a house from scratch.  To have to remodel a ramshackle place that has fallen into disrepair is such a pain (depending, of course, on how bad the condition is) because before you can even start on the construction part you have to tear down and clear out the broken and decayed parts first. If God thought like us I'm sure He would have preferred to start creating from scratch too. But did God really create this world 'ex nihilo', out of nothing, as most theologians will tell us? Well, maybe He did in Gen. 1:1, but what's with the next verse?  "Now the earth was formless and void, darkness was over the surface of the deep."  I had always assumed (and was probably taught) that Gen. 1:1 ["In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth."] was like a heading, or a summary, of what was to follow.  But I know of one Bible teacher who believes that a catastrophic event occurred between verses 1 and 2 that Scripture simply omits.  His basis for this interpretation are the adjectives used in verse 2 to describe the "materials", as it were,  that God had to work with in the beginning.  The words translated "formless and void" are words that typically would be used to describe the aftermath of a great battle where complete devastation has occurred.  So this commentator has posited the idea that between Genesis 1:1 and 1:2 something very traumatic, like a cosmic battle, has occurred, leaving God with an earth that was "formless and void" to begin this most amazing creation that we are presently a part of.

If this seems a bit far out, fast forward to an even more incredible, out of the box, work of this most amazing God.  It's what we call the work of redemption, most eloquently prophesied of by Isaiah in chapter 53.  This was so far out of the box that Jesus' own closest disciples didn't get it even though he told them straight up and had spent 3 years preparing them for it.  When Jesus died all their hopes died with him.  They were convinced it had all been for naught.  They had no hope whatsoever that God could turn this greatest of catastrophes around.  It was Genesis 1:2 all over again.  "Formless and void" would be a good description of how they felt then.

Years later, in his letter to the Corinthians, Paul reminds them of this most creative way that God works.  It was his signature in the beginning, at redemption, and continues to be in His dealings with humankind.

   We preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles . . . For the
   foolishness of God is wiser than man's wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man's
   strength . . .
      Brethren, think of what you were when you were called.  Not  many of you were wise by human    standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth.  But God chose the foolish
   things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the     
   strong.  He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things - and the things that are
   not - to nullify the things that are . . . (I Cor. 1:23-28) 

It is time for us to wake up to this most amazing truth.  We have been lulled into a spiritual stupor by a religion that says all the right things but is devoid of the power that those words point to [The picture that comes to mind is the king of Rohan in The Lord of the Rings who has been stupified by his "counselor" who has been adding a poison to his drinks little by little.].  Like Robert the Bruce it is time to wake up to the devastation the enemy has wrought all around us and in us and say, "No more!  I will stand up and do whatever it takes to take back my rightful inheritance, to be the king I was called to be!"  It is time to follow the example of Francis of Assissi, who said, "Preach the Gospel at all times;  when necessary, use words."  Our leader, Jesus Christ - Yeshua Hamashiac - began his ministry with these following words, and he bids us to do the same:


   The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD [YHWH] is on me, because the LORD [YHWH] has 
   annointed me to preach good news to the poor.  He has sent me to bind up the brokenheartened,      to  proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the    LORD's [YHWH's] favor . . . to comfort all who mourn, and to provide for those who grieve in 
   Zion - to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning,
   and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair.  They will be called oaks of righteousness,
   a planting of the LORD [YHWH] for the display of His splendor."
                                                                                     (Isaiah 61:1-3)