It Was Very Good

 

So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” And God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food. And to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the heavens and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so. And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day. (Genesis 1:27-31 ESV).

 

Ethel Waters, the iconic vocalist, originated the quote, “I am somebody cause God don’t make no junk!” I remember hearing her sing at the Billy Graham Crusade we were a part of in Tyler, Texas in the early 70’s. She sang her signature song, “His Eye Is on the Sparrow.” It was my first experience with mass evangelism and couldn’t have been better. Her brief testimony before her solo performance was amazing as she reiterated her worth by simply pointing to God.

 

When our reading speaks of God creating the heavens and the earth, it does so by describing a pattern of six days. And several times in the process we read, “God saw that it was good.” God took joy and satisfaction in the things he created. God saw that the world was good and beautiful. God made the world to be beautiful: the light, the sky, the land, the sun, the fish, the animals. God called all of these things “good.” And when God created human beings, God created them in his own image. Men and women are all created in the image of God, beautiful like their creator.

 

If you are ever tempted to doubt your own worth as a person, remember that the creator of the universe made you in his own image. Remember that God looks on his beautiful creation, including you, and calls you “good” and beautiful. If you are ever tempted to think of others as somehow “less than”, remember they too are God’s perfect work and seen as “very good.” Knowing the worth of others as God values them as His creation ought to make a difference in how we conduct ourselves toward them. Our differences should never make us devalue others. These are the things that ought to cause us to glorify our mutual Creator!