Advent, Day 1

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FIRST THERE WAS LIGHT
In the beginning, there was God. God reigned from his eternal place. He needed nothing. He had everything because He was everything. He existed in perfect loving community—Father, Son, and Spirit.
God was Lover, Beloved, and Love.
He was fullness and community, dancers and dance. He was all there was, and there was no pain or want.
It was light there because God is light. He could see everything. Nothing was hidden. He could see every possible story that could have been written. He knew of every possible universe He could make. He considered within himself and decided this world, Earth, would become the focal point of his Love. God decided He would make this universe, this Earth, even though He knew it would bring him so much pain. It would be dark there. God looked into the darkness and surveyed its depths. He knew that pain would invade his good world, but He wasn’t afraid of pain. He saw that pain could be defeated, though it would cost him dearly. He knew that an incredible light would someday dawn—a light that would make sense of everything, and put the whole creation back to right. So God spoke down into the darkness, and He brought light.
God filled the universe was joyous beams of radiance. He breathed and made the stars. He summoned them by name, set each one in its place, and they obeyed him. He hand-selected all the laws that creation should obey—laws that said heat should rise, and ice should float, and gravity should pull down rather than push sideways. God filled the world with life. He created life that would create more life, that would create more life, so that life would be everywhere. He loved all that He made, and He said it was good.
Most of all, God loved the humans He had made, and He appointed them to a special place. God made them similar to himself in some beautiful ways, and He gave them special authority. God knew it would be very costly to love these humans because when you love something or someone, you feel its pain—that’s part of what love is. God knew that these humans would cause much pain and that He would feel it all because He loved them more than they even loved themselves. Their pain would fall chiefly upon him. But He was not afraid of pain. He breathed his life on them and placed his love on them. They bore his heart—come what may…
DAILY SCRIPTURE READING
In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.
– Genesis 1:1-5
Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.” Then God said, “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds in the sky and all the creatures that move along the ground—everything that has the breath of life in it—I give every green plant for food.” And it was so.
– Genesis 1:26-30
REFLECTION QUESTIONS
– Do you agree that when you love someone, you feel their pain? What are some examples of when you have experienced this?
– Read Isaiah 63:9. Reflect on what this says about God and his people.
– What are some ways God made people similar to himself?
– What are some ways you wish you could be more like God? Conversely, what are some attributes of God that are reserved for him alone?
PRAYER
Father, thank you for bringing light to darkness. Thank you for creating this universe, and choosing from before time to set your love upon us. Thank you that you know the whole story, and that means that no twist or turn or mistake or accident or failure could possibly catch you off guard or cause you to change your mind about us. Thank you for creating this beautiful world. Please help us steward it well, because it belongs to you. Where we fail, please forgive us and intervene to protect and renew the creation.