Both and?
Reading Time: 6 minutes
“Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.”
Genesis 1:2
Here, we find ourselves at our verse: the second verse in the Bible. The earth was formless, empty, and dark. In Hebrew, the word translated as “formless” is also translated as “desolation, desert, a worthless thing”, or “in vain”. The word for “void” is also translated as something in “undistinguishable ruin.” The word for “darkness” is also translated as “misery, destruction, death, sorrow or wickedness”. Basically, the world was dark, in chaos, and looked like there was no sign of hope. There wasn't a visible chance for anything positive, but the Spirit of God was there.
I have a friend who explained this idea in an interesting way. The Bible is full of extremes to let us know that God is big enough to handle whatever problem we throw at Him. We have stories of God resurrecting long-dead bodies to remind us that our sickness is nothing to Him. We have stories of God using insecure nobodies to remind us that our doubt, fear, and lack of pedigree don't disqualify us. We have stories of God setting up elementary kids as kings and giving birth to nations through 100-year-old people to remind us that age doesn’t deter Him. We have stories of time stopping, cells regenerating, and the laws of physics pausing to remind us that nothing, not even space, time, and matter can stop Him from what He is trying to do. No matter how confused and overwhelmed we may be, God is still level-headed and ready to fix this. It will work out for our good.
Still, there is another extreme here that points out a truth we should take with us. The earth is broken. There is nothing: no sign of life, no hope, no vegetation. There is no organization, rhyme, or reason. It looks a lot like how some of our lives may look. Dark, lifeless, and in disarray. You may see no signs of hope, but what we see as stagnant places are not always absent from God's moving hand. What we see as dark spaces are not absent from God's light. The Spirit of God was still there. To us, this situation looked like nothing, but to God, it was a project.
Here’s some more Hebrew: the conjunction is translated as “and”, yet it could also be translated as “but”. These readings make me want to shout for different reasons. “The earth was formless, empty and dark… and the Spirit of God…” reminds me of the “both/and” nature of life in Christ. You can both be born in sin and shapen in iniquity, but also at the same time be a masterpiece seated with Christ in heavenly places (Psalm 51:5, Ephesians 2:10, Ephesians 2:6). This journey of Christianity isn't all roses. Jesus says you must take up your cross and follow Him. He said this to a group that would’ve seen a cross not as resurrection, but as a symbol of bloody, gory, embarrassing death. But, Jesus also said He came to give life and life abundantly! Jesus said following Him would make the world hate you like it hated Him, but also said that if you lift Him up all men will be drawn unto Him. There’s a both/and nature of Christianity we need to be honest with. Your life can suck, but God can still be moving. We just may need to wait to see what God makes happen. We need to make sure we are honest about how testimonies come with a test.
Lebron is my favorite NBA player. Something that solidified him as the best ever was coming back from 3-1 to beat one of the best teams ever, the 2016 Golden State Warriors. In basketball, you have to win 4 out of 7 games to win a series. He led the first team to come back 3-1 in the finals. That’s how rare and impressive this was. What made this win so special is that Lebron came back from such a long way behind against such a good, no-great team. The Warriors had multiple Hall-of-Famers on their roster and boasted the best regular season record ever at 73 wins and only 9 losses. This was arguably one of the best teams ever. Still, we give Lebron so much credit simply because he beat them. Notice how Lebron's testimony is emphasized by how much of a test he went through. You cannot have a testimony without a test.
So many of us are stiffing the greatness of a testimony of what God has done by forgetting about the test. Resurrection means nothing without death. Light isn’t appreciated without darkness! Being saved loses its sting when you don't acknowledge how lost you were. We have to be honest with ourselves. Life was dark, and the Spirit was moving. We can tell the whole story. And rejoice that the hope brought by the Spirit won out!
The other way of reading this would be with a “but”. “The earth was dark and formless but…” I love the word “but” in the Bible because there is always good news attached to it. A few of my favorite examples are, “You deserve death, but…” and “You shall not perish, but have everlasting life!”
We know how this story ends. The world starts formless but God has a plan. The world starts dark but God brings light. There is resurrection after death. There is freedom after bondage. There is joy after mourning. There is dancing after weeping. Your life isn't over no matter how dark, empty, formless, broken, or desolate it looks. The mere fact that the Spirit is still present in our situation gives hope, no matter how dark our world seems. God will never leave you, that means new life is always around the corner. No matter how bad it looks, God has a knack for working with extremes. He will create a masterpiece out of something you were ashamed of. He will create a safe haven from a broken family. He will turn abuse into a platform for healing. I want to remind you of one main thing from this little text. Your world may be dark... but.
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