*Scripture: Genesis 1:1-19 (NKJV)* 1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. 3 Then God said, "Let there be light"; and there was light. 4 And God saw the light, that it was good; and God divided the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night. So the evening and the morning were the first day. 6 Then God said, "Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters." 7 Thus God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament; and it was so. 8 And God called the firmament Heaven. So the evening and the morning were the second day. 9 Then God said, "Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear"; and it was so. 10 And God called the dry land Earth, and the gathering together of the waters He called Seas. And God saw that it was good. 11 Then God said, "Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb that yields seed, and the fruit tree that yields fruit according to its kind, whose seed is in itself, on the earth"; and it was so. 12 And the earth brought forth grass, the herb that yields seed according to its kind, and the tree that yields fruit, whose seed is in itself according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 13 So the evening and the morning were the third day. 14 Then God said, "Let there be lights in the firmament of the heavens to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs and seasons, and for days and years; 15 and let them be for lights in the firmament of the heavens to give light on the earth"; and it was so. 16 Then God made two great lights: the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night. He made the stars also. 17 God set them in the firmament of the heavens to give light on the earth, 18 and to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. 19 So the evening and the morning were the fourth day.
*Devotion* The first verses of Genesis fill us with wonder at the creative power of the Word of God. The Lord speaks and His will is accomplished. His Word does what it says. The refrain "and God saw that it was good" teaches us that what God speaks is good. His creation behaves as it is created to do. The elements obey His voice and separate and divide as the Lord orders them. Light and darkness separate to form day and night. Waters separate to make firmament, sea, and dry land. The creation worships its creator by acting according to His Word. But this is not the case with humanity. Adam and Eve fall into sin. While the sun, moon, stars, and the rest of creation obey God's Word, humanity, at the temptation of Satan, does not. Adam and Eve's sin lives in each of us so that we too would live our lives according to our own word of imagination and opinion rather than God's Word. But God's Word still does what it says. God provided a Gospel Word to Adam and Eve, promising them the Messiah and salvation from sin. That Word of Gospel was used by His Spirit to create faith in their hearts and make them righteous before God. To you and me, the Lord's absolving Word of Christ crucified still is spoken loudly in the Divine Service and by the pastors who hear our sins confessed. That absolving word of God does what it says. By it your sins are forgiven before God in Heaven. As Lent begins, examine whether you are listening to God's Word or your own word, and repent so that you might hear and believe His absolving Word.
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