I found this card in a garden shop, of all places. It features an original photograph by a woman named Teresa Hurley and the simple scripture reference, “Genesis 1:3.”
“And God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light.” (NIV)
I didn't know Teresa Hurley, nor did I have anyone in particular to send the card to, but it sparked something inside of me. So I bought it and propped it up on a table in my office.
That was a couple of weeks ago. Then on Easter Sunday my friend Greg, who leads our praise and worship team Spash! at church, shared parts of this scripture from The Message:
The Word was first,
the Word present to God,
God present to the Word.
The Word was God,
in readiness for God from day one.
Everything was created through him;
nothing—not one thing!—
came into being without him.
What came into existence was Life,
and the Life was Light to live by.
The Life-Light blazed out of the darkness;
the darkness couldn't put it out.
The Life-Light was the real thing:
Every person entering Life
he brings into Light.
He was in the world,
the world was there through him,
and yet the world didn't even notice.
He came to his own people,
but they didn't want him.
But whoever did want him,
who believed he was who he claimed
and would do what he said,
He made to be their true selves,
their child-of-God selves.
These are the God-begotten,
not blood-begotten,
not flesh-begotten,
not sex-begotten.
John 1:1-5, 9-13
We can gain fresh insight from familiar scripture by reading Eugene Peterson’s paraphrasing, and in his notes at the beginning of John, he points out,
"In Genesis, the first book of the Bible, God is presented as speaking the creation into existence. God speaks the word and it happens: Heaven and earth, ocean and stream, trees and grass, birds and fish, animals and humans. Everything, seen and unseen, called into being by God’s spoken word.
“In deliberate parallel to the opening words of Genesis, John presents God as speaking salvation into existence. This time God’s word takes on human form, and enters history in the person of Jesus. Jesus speaks the word and it happens: Forgiveness and judgment, healing and illumination, mercy and grace, joy and love, freedom and resurrection. Everything broken and fallen, sinful and diseased, called into salvation by God’s spoken word.”
CLICK.
I can almost hear the pieces falling into place like the tumblers inside a lock click together with the right combination. God took the original picture and created a whole new masterpiece, solving the puzzle for us because there was no way we could figure it out on our own. The missing piece of the puzzle was Jesus, but the picture is still incomplete until we each add our own puzzle pieces–our hearts, minds, and souls. Then and only then will His portrait of grace be finished.
Celtic Cruciform by artist Andy Mercer. You can see more of his work here.
