In The Beginning...

Although I am not yet a parent, several couples I know have recently become first-time parents, and I have come to know that the time spent preparing for a new baby can be one of great joy. Often the preparation process involves getting the baby's room ready, buying plenty of food and diapers, getting baby toys and clothes, and other miscellaneous needs for the safety and well-being of the expected arrival. This process also reveals a lot about the parents especially in regards to their character.

In the first book of Genesis, our first glimpse of God is that of an expectant father. In fact, when we first see Him He is in the process of getting the baby's room ready, making sure that their is plenty of food, and even making sure that their is a safe place for the baby to play and grow. First he installs the light bulb and flips the switch in the empty room that will become the babies (gn 1.1-5) and then installs the door in the empty doorway (gn 1.6-8). Next He installs the crib (gn 1.9-10), brings home some food (gn 1.11-13), paints the room and hangs the wind up mobile over the crib (gn 1.14-19). He even gets a fish tank to stimulate the baby’s mind (gn 1.20-23) and makes a play area in the fenced-in back yard where the baby can grow and play in safety (gn 1.24-25).

The interesting thing about this is every time I have read or heard this passage read, it is always either in an emotionless tone, or that booming voice from the burning bush scene of Cecil B. DeMille’s 1956 version of “The Ten Commandments.” But reading this again, I realized that this isn’t some booming intrusive presence staring down, pointing, and commanding “LET THERE BE LIGHT!” No, this is an excited father hooking up a light switch, screwing in the bulb, flipping on the switch and saying “SWEET! This room is gonna rock! I can’t wait!” It like that awesome moment for you men when your wife surprisingly agrees to let you build something, and when you get out those power tools and think, “rock on.” That’s what God was like when he was preparing the world for us. This was some out of touch entity dispassionately painting a picture to hang on his wall where no one could touch it. This was an excited expectant father who was eager to pull out those power tools and build something for His son.

If we are created “in His own image,” which would include our blueprint for emotions, then our reactions to things like an expected baby are what they are because that is how God would react to it. Therefore, since preparing for the arrival of a new baby, especially the first child, can tell a lot about a person’s character, the character of God can be seen all around us. The attention to detail that He put into His crafting of everything speaks for itself every time you see a breathtaking sunset, look closely at the intricacy of the veins of a small leaf, or think about how amazing and wondrous all of things that are required for the human body to function in all of it abilities. That is the character of God; not a “AND THUS IT WAS GOOD…” but an “awwwee-some! This is sooo sweet!”