Over the weekend I took some time out to watch my beloved North Melbourne (the AFL Team) play the reigning premiers, Melbourne, who have renamed themselves Narrm for the Sir Doug Nicholls Indigenous rounds which is a lead into Reconciliation Week.
Unfortunately, the poor ol’ Roo Boys lost again! But I was particularly intrigued by North’s Indigenous jumper and the story behind its design. The story was able to explain all the various elements that were used to create the design as well as how each of these elements come together. This prompted me to look up the AFL’s website to see the Indigenous designs for the other 17 teams and learn about the elements of each design and how these elements come together to tell their own story.
As I was looking through the various jumpers, it occurred to me that the creative talents that helped to create these jumpers all began with our creative God.
From the opening pages of the Bible, a narrative is told of how creative our God is and how He creatively brought all the different elements of our world together as part of His grand design of making it possible for you and me to live, explore and enjoy His creation and to flourish and know His love.
As it says in the first book of the Bible, “First this: God created the Heavens and Earth - all you see, all you don't see. Earth was a soup of nothingness, a bottomless emptiness, an inky blackness. God's Spirit brooded like a bird above the watery abyss. God spoke: "Light!" And light appeared. God saw that light was good and separated light from dark. God named the light Day, he named the dark Night. It was evening, it was morning - Day One. God spoke: "Sky! In the middle of the waters; separate water from water!"
God made sky. He separated the water under sky from the water above sky. And there it was: he named sky the Heavens; It was evening, it was morning - Day Two.”
Genesis 1:1-4 (The Message)
As we read the Creation Story in the Bible, it must be said that a thrilling discovery we can make is to see the way in which God shows Himself to us is through these events, and each event reflects a different one of God’s titles/names. As we come to understand these various titles/names, it helps us to have a deeper appreciation for Him and allows our love for Him to grow deeper and stronger.
The Old Testament in Bible, where the Creation narrative is found, was originally written in Hebrew. It contains words and ideas that can sometimes get lost in translation, and this is true in with the titles/names of God. When we look at those Hebrew names in detail and use them as a lens to examine the nature and character of God, we find such majesty, creativity, power and love.
From the opening verse of the Bible, it focuses our attention on one of the significant names of God. When it states, “First this: God created the Heavens and Earth - all you see, all you don't see.” The Hebrew word for God in this phrase is “Elohim”, and points to the One who possess all divine powers.
Imagine for a moment if the Bible didn’t start this way and didn’t focus us on God as the Almighty Creator. Ponder if the opening sentence was: ‘In the beginning was the heaven and the earth, which came together of their own accord’. This opening would be a spine-chilling thought just as if a ice-cold hand was placed on all of our hopes and endeavours. It has the same impact as if we had a sense of cosmic loneliness! If there was no Creator behind the universe, then I cannot be sure that life has any cosmic backing; it would be as if we were working meaninglessly alone with no one to back our work or even care for us. How sad this would be if this was all that life has to offer?!
Life can only be meaningful when it has meaningful focus. By knowing our Creator God is very much present, all of life takes on a new and wondrous meaning.
How blessed are we as a community, having come to understand life in its fullest of meaning because we have come to know and understand that God’s name of ‘Elohim’ is true. He is the Creator God, of not only this world, but also of our community.
As we continue to journey together, celebrating our 40th year, let us continue to be a community that recognises, honours and glorifies our Creator God and the meaningful life He gives to each of us.
Blessings,
Ross Grace
Executive Principal