Handmade
This last weekend I got to chaperone a middle school church retreat of like 500 students in Minnesota. The speaker for the whole weekend was Eric Samuel Timm, a Christian speaker and artist (go look up his website!). One of the many points that I took away from his speaking was this reminder, “God spoke the world into existence but He created you by hand.” He kept talking after this statement and continued on, but my mind held onto this profound yet simple statement. I have been following God for several years and I know that I am created in His image, but I never thought about how I was designed in comparison to the rest of the world. I won’t add the whole first chapter of Genesis to this blog post, but I encourage you to read through it this week. Notice how many times the words “God said” is used in the first couple verses alone. God is using His voice to make the light, water, plants, animals, sky, earth, everything.
Genesis 1:1-3 “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.”
Think about how many times you speak throughout the day. Phone calls, checking out at the store, meeting up with a friend, work meetings, ordering food, giving a presentation, etc.
“Assuming that you have a job where you work with other people, the number of words you speak every day ranges from 7,000 to 20,000. Assuming you’re just using a chatty tone and aren’t an auctioneer, you probably spend 18 to 180 minutes a day talking.” Quoted from an article called How Fast Does the Average Person Speak? I know that is quite a range of words being spoken, but sometimes a simple word goes a long way. God said “let there be light” and it just happened. Four words created light in a place where there was none. After everything God created, He used three words to describe His work: “It is good.” I love the simplistic yet powerful phrases God uses. He knew the purpose for each plant, animal, and season He created. He knew what impact it would have. God spoke everything into existence and said it was good. Then in verse 7, the Creator of the universe does something different than what He has done so far. The Lord doesn’t say, “let there be man” he does something so much more personal than that.
Genesis 1:7, “And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.”
No words needed to be spoken. I like to think that God was concentrating on what He was doing. Usually when I am talking I cannot multitask very well and mess up on whatever I should be focusing on. God formed a human out of the dust of the ground. FORMED not spoken into existence. He had to shape, design, construct, build, craft a human from dust. God could have done what He had been doing up to this point and just commanded a human to exist. He instead took His time forming a human with His hands. AND THEN breathes life into the human! Like whoa! God did not breathe life into anything else in creation up until this point. We literally have the breath of God in us and have been handmade by the ultimate Creator. After God created man (Adam), He decided that Adam should not live in the world alone but should have a partner.
Genesis 1:21-22 “ And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof; And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man.”
This is so crazy to me! Again, God could have said the words “let there be woman” and it would happen, but He FORMS a woman (Eve) from Adam’s bone. The amount of purpose and design behind the creation of humans is unmatched by anything else in creation.
Genesis 1:27 “ So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.”
I enjoy creating things and tackling DIY projects because I am taking my time to build something I love and feel proud about the work I accomplished afterwards. God is so proud of His creation. When you walk in the woods, take in everything you see. Those details in the moss. The veins in the leaves. The deer are eating nearby. The birds flying above you. The blueness of the sky. All of that is there because God spoke four words: “Let there be________.” After your hike, go take a look in the mirror. I know it’s awkward to just stare at yourself, but take it all in. Just like you were looking at everything in the woods, look at your facial features. Observe the details of the colors in your eyes, the hairs on your head, the lines in your skin when you smile. All of that is there because God formed it. He handmade you. God set you apart from the rest of His creation by not using words, but by using His hands.
