In a small group led by Jen Kincaid, we thought about how God created, at the beginning of what we know as time (Genesis 1:1), and that even now, He is still creating (Psalm 51:10). Below are the short and long versions of how I processed SMI Phillys encapsulation of that thought.
The Short Version (prose)
God has us on the potters wheel, shaping us, forming us, molding us, transforming us.
Several days at SMI, various students showered multiple times daily. Not because we were constantly covered in dirt and grime, but for a number of reasons. One reason would be to start the day. Admittedly, a second reason would indeed be to wash off subjective feelings of dirt and grime. Yet a third reason would be to wash off chlorine after being in the pool. Then if you got in the pool again after dinner, you might have been tempted to wash up a fourth time.
That perpetual cleansing reminds me of 1 John 1:9. We were reminded during SMI that God forgives us of our sin, then actually cleanses. I thought about the fact that Gods cleansing does not just clean us, it transforms us (2 Corinthians 3:18). He takes nothing and turns it into something. He takes a heart that is unclean and makes it clean. And every time we make it dirty, He cleanses us all over again. He keeps renewing us as new creatures, as new creation. Scriptures tell us that God never changes. Indeed, He is still the Creator.
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. ~ Genesis 1:1
Create in me a pure heart, Oh God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. ~ Psalm 51:10.
As He continually creates a new heart within us (2 Corinthians 4:6), He invites to take the lampshade off, to let others see the work He is doing in us, and hopefully inspire them to allow God to create a new heart in them too. God never fails.
As Steve Munz put it, I suspect that God, being the Creator, will continue to create.
The Long Version (poem: God is Still The Creator 2011 Sherry-Ann Brown)
God has a knack
For creating something
Out of nothing (Genesis 1:2).
For taking the earth
Without shape or form
And most omnipotently
Proceeding to transform
Its depths
Into land and seas
And birds and trees
And man (Genesis 1).
Then even when man
Fell from grace (Genesis 3:11)
God created a way
For man still
To seek His face (John 3:16).
And seek Him we must (Matthew 6:33),
Indeed we must trust (Psalm 52:8).
That His every deed
Ultimately
Plants a seed (Matthew 13:8)
That He waters
And allows to flourish (John 7:37, 38).
And yet
Within our heart
He sets apart
Room for Himself (2 Corinthians 1:22).
And even in
Our inner dark depths
Where our hearts
Are without shape or form
He consistently transforms
Our thoughts, ideals, and desires (Psalm 51:10),
So that we begin to conform
To standards that are higher (Romans 12:2)
That are holy, that are pure (Philippians 4:8),
That allow our Creator
To create once more:
Something
Out of nothing.
And too, in streets and alleys
Where darkness once lay
Where families and hope
Were restless and in decay
God stepped in
And proceeded to create
Life, peace, and a future (Jeremiah 29:11)
Long forgotten.
First by revealing His love
Through His Only Son begotten (1 John 3:16).
And through the blood
Of the innocent Son of Man
God has been steadily
Healing His land.
This is the land
That God created (Genesis 1:1).
The same land
That Satan hated.
The land where
God placed man (Genesis 2:15),
And jumpstarted
His masterplan.
The land that man decided
He knew how best to keep (Genesis 3:6)
The land that is now broken
And joins in as man weeps (Romans 8:22).
The land that longs
To be soaked in Gods laundry
In order to come out clean (Psalm 51:7)
The land
Occupied by man
Who prays to be scrubbed
Who prays for a snow-white life (Psalm 51:7)
Not a life stained by strife.
Not a life lived by the knife.
But a life that sets
Once-broken bones
To dancing (Psalm 51:8)
And a life that responds
To Gods commanding.
A life that will seek
For God to shape a Genesis week
From the chaos and the entropy
A life that wants to be holy.
From David and Bathsheba
God created Solomon (2 Samuel 12:24),
When offended with adultery and murder (2 Samuel 11:4,15),
God redeemed with wisdom (1 Kings 3:9)
And so God
Created us as mini-mes (2 Corinthians 3:18)
And gives us
His same Spirit.
His Spirit that transforms (2 Corinthians 4:16).
His Spirit that fills us (Acts 4:31)
With faith, instead of fear (2 Timothy 1:7),
Because there is no room for fear.
Faith to live out loud (Romans 1:16)
Faith to step out
From the cloud
To throw off the shroud (Philippians 1:21)
To step out of our
Grave clothes
That we deeply
Hold on to (Luke 17:33).
To leave the
Cemetary rags
Behind,
And walk the streets
Of this city (Luke 10:1).
In newness of life (Romans 6:4)
Offering His opportunity
For life (Matthew 28:19,20).
Offering the One
Who gave His life.
So that we
Can have eternal life (John 3:15).
But also abundant life (John 10:10)
On earth.
A life that looks a lot like His (Romans 8:29(
A life in which we give
Ourselves.
The way He did
But not quite.
Because He died that we might
Live,
And love the lost,
The forsaken, the broken, just as
He did when He
Defined Social Justice.
Blest be the ties that
Bind our hearts to His,
Our hearts to each other,
Our hearts to each city.
Even as we go and SMI begins,
Our community lives on in Him.
When we asunder part,
It gives us inward pain;
But we shall still be
Joined in heart,
And Hope to meet again.
~ Blest be the tie that binds by Fawcett, Nageli, and Mason
And so we shall
With common purpose,
Common experiences, common goals,
All created in our renewed hearts
By an uncommon God.
Sherry-Ann