What Is God?
In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters. Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. (Genesis 1:1-3)
The concept of God is a strange concept to many people and many cultures, even to us who are Christians. It is strange because we often are not sure what God is or who God is when we are facing with the chaos of life, when life is difficult and uncertain, or when life is good, in which we look for an answer to our life situation. When that happens, we recognize we can’t fully know God and may even be unsure about the existence of God. The creation story portrayed God in the chaos. Before the creation there is the chaos, the nothing, “the formless and void” and from the chaos, God emerged. It seems as the nothing, the chaos and God coexist together, before time and after time. In the creation God emerged and took control of the chaos and brought it to order, harmony, and peace.
The online Dictionary.com defines chaos as “a state of utter confusion or disorder, a total lack of organization or order.” In other words, the chaos is a “total mess”, without form, dark and evil. God came out of it and brought forth “light,” an order of life and goodness. From the chaos, God makes what was dark into light, what was void into form and what was evil into “very good.”
So, what is God? Who is God? The message of the Gospel is that God is good and God knows the chaotic life that we are living each day. Jesus came into this world that we may have life to the full, to bring a new beginning, a light that is an order and peace into our chaotic life. Simply put, God is the opposite of chaos and evil. God is the Lord over chaos and the lord of our life. When our life is in the state of confusion, dark, emptied, disorder, God is there to bring it to light, order, and harmony to make it right and good. I believe God is actively working to bring our world of pandemic into health and calm, our denomination future into order and clarity, and our churches and individual life into a fresh and new beginning for good. Our life may be chaotic, but God is in it to make something good out of it. This is God.
God of grace and God of power, you emerged from the chaos of the cosmos and brought forth light and order to your created world. Come and renew your created world, that order, harmony, and peace may prevail in the life of your people. Bring a fresh new light and a new beginning to your church and to those who are in need of your power and love in their life, now and forever. Amen.