What if God had said, "It is Bad"?
In the beginning God created the world. He created the sea, the land, the fish, the birds, the mammals, the reptiles, the plants, the livestock, and the people. And when God finished, he said, “This is no good. I don’t like it at all.”
Of course, this is not what Genesis tells us that God concluded about his creation. But what if it was? What if God didn’t say “It is good,” but rather, “It is fine,” or worse, “It is bad?” What would that tell us about God? What would that tell us about us?
Well, first, it would tell us that God is either:
Not so good at creating, or
A bit overly critical of his beautiful work.
And if that was the God in whose image we were made, we would be pretty sorry artists and/or critical judges!
Gratefully, Genesis chapter 1 tells us that God said, “It is good” over and over again! That means that God is an excellent Creator, an artist par excellence. He can make things up to his own God-standards. And more than that, he’s a Celebrator of beauty. Instead of being difficult to please, God delights in his creation. He looks at it, takes it in, and says, “Wow...now this, this, is very good!”
Genesis 1 also tells us that this is the God in whose image we were made. That means that we are all creators! We have the capacity to create beauty in a variety of forms, from drawing and painting, to poetry and dance, to music and architecture, and so much more. We have been given an identity as co-artists with God in creating this world.
And more than that, we were created to celebrate beauty. We were made to delight. To recognize the beauty around us, to smile, to laugh, and to say, “It is very good!”
To live into this identity a bit more this week, try writing down or posting about one thing every day that you notice and delight in as beautiful. It could be a flower, a song, a conversation, a building, or anything in God’s incredible, beauty-filled, very good creation.