Today marks the First Day of classes for everyone in the greater Clemson community - everyone from my niece who is starting kindergarten at Clemson Elementary School to the over 4,000 freshmen starting classes at Clemson University. Needless to say, it is a day filled with great expectation and nervousness, not to mention lots more traffic than normal!

 

Thoughts of the "The First Day" around here brought to mind THE first day that we find in Scripture. These verses from Genesis are some of the most familiar in all of the Bible, especially those from the old King James. There's something about those expressions "without form and void" and "moved upon the face of the waters" that I miss in our newer translations.

 

What was THE first day like? Are there any lessons from THE first day that might be helpful on this "first day" in the year of our Lord 2007?

 

No matter how you choose to read the creation stories from Genesis 1 and 2, God appears to do more creating prior to the end of that first day than in all the other days combined. Sure, thousands of different species (including our own) are created after THE first day in Genesis 1, and I've dissected enough animals and studied enough cellular biology to appreciate the vastness and majesty of God's plant and animal kingdom. But prior to the end of THE first day, the Israelites believed that God above all gods had created all the heavens and the earth - the Milky Way and all the galaxies beyond - from scratch. From nothing. Creatio ex nihilo or "creation from nothing" is the term that theologians and philosophers call it. The Psalmist would later describe it in this way, "By the word of the Lord were the heavens made, their starry host by the breath of this mouth" (Ps. 33:6). Even later, the Apostle John would reaffirm this same claim in the prologue to his Gospel, "Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made" (Jn 1:3). The Triun God breathes and speaks, and planets, stars, moons and atoms are created. From nothing.

 

But the claims made in these first few verses of Genesis about the power and nature of God do not end here. The One who creates everything that is seen and unseen, the Author of our universe, then surveys all that has been created at the end of that first day and announces for all time, "This is good. This is very good." And this goodness of God's creation is reaffirmed at the end of the next five days as God creates every single living creature that inhabits planet earth. Not only is God powerful enough to create the heavens and earth by simply speaking them into existence, but God is loving and gracious enough to label all that has been created "Good." No seconds. No rejects. All of God's creation receives a thumbs up, a five-star rating from the only One worthy of judging: the original Manufacturer.

 

How might these lessons from THE first day encourage those beginning a new phase of their lives today?

 

For starters, I have always found it reassuring to know that I am not God, but simply one of God's creatures created for good. It is not my role to judge. It is not my role to label others "good" or "bad." It is not my role to create or to redeem. As one of God's beloved creatures, I am simply called to trust that the same God who created all things from nothing has the power to do amazing things in and through my life as well. Can I rebel? Might I choose to worship other gods? As the next few chapters in Genesis teach us, those temptations are ever present, and especially on today's college campuses. But I know that God, the One who daily breathes the breath of life into me, has created me for good. I will always hold onto that - no matter what the bully on the playground or the fraternity or sorority who rejects me might say. I am one of God's children. I am beautiful. I am loved. And you are too.

 

In addition, these verses from Genesis remind us that the God who created us makes a habit of bringing order, light and life from chaos, darkness and death. No matter how broken, how messed up or how hopeless our lives may seem, we worship a God of new possibilities, of second chances, of new life. Just as God was powerful enough to create the heavens and the earth from nothing, God is always powerful enough to rescue and raise us from the depths of sin and despair. Now that's Good News.

 

May the Spirit of God be with all parents who are having to let go a little today, and may that same Spirit be with all of God's children who are experiencing their First Days in strange, new worlds.

 

In the Light and Love of God,

lane

 

Rev. C. Lane Glaze

Director - Clemson Wesley Foundation

Campus Minister - Clemson UMC

PO Box 1703 Clemson SC 29633

864-207-9135 (c) or 864-654-5547 (o)