The Two Creations
“In six days the Lord made heaven and earth.” — ExODUS
XX. II.
“If any man is in Christ, there is a new creation.” — 2 Corinthians v. 17 (R.V.).
The narrative of the first chapter of Genesis repeats itself, I believe, in the sphere of the Spirit. It is a revelation of how God always creates. What the Divine Spirit did when it brooded on the face of the waters it is doing again when it broods over the chaos of the soul. There were six days of the natural creation. On the first, the Spirit moved. On the second, the distant firmament appeared. On the third, there was silent growth. On the fourth, there was a division of times. On the fifth, there was the life of instinct. On the sixth, there was the life of reason. So, methinks, is it in the new creation — Christ’s re-creation of the soul. There, too, I recognise six mornings — and they repeat the first six mornings. The Spirit begins by simply moving — quickening into life. Then comes the sense of distance — the firmament; I begin to feel that I am in a far country. Then follows a stage of silent growth — the plant life of the soul. Next, there is a division of time — certain days are set apart as sacred days. Then break forth the impulses of religious emotion — the Divine instincts of the heart by which it pants for the waterbrooks. At last, faith becomes reason; religion runs through all my life, and permeates every pore; God says to the Spirit, “Let us make man!”
Lead me up the stair, O Christ — the stair of Thy new creation! Step by step let me rise — from the movement to the man! Doubtless there will be moments of gloom — moments when I seem to make no progress. The quickening of Thy Spirit will give me pain; the distance of Thy firmament will make me humble; the silence of the underground growth will cause me to say, “I am falling back’* But ever as I climb let me see the
p 2 climax! Help me to remember it is the ascent to man, nay, to the Son of Man — to Thee! When the struggling Spirit pains me, let me remember I am mounting to Thee! When the distant firmament appals me, let me remember I am mounting to Thee I When the slow growth disconcerts me, let me remember I am mounting to Thee! Ever as I ascend, let me see in the east Thy star! My week of days must needs be a Passion Week. The darkness and the voidness and the chaos have long had possession of the field; they cannot be dispossessed without my pain. Not even the special religious seasons of my fourth day will dispossess them; I want religion for all my days, for all my hours, for all my moments. But I shall find it in Thee. My Sabbath rest is coming at the top of the stair. There I shall meet the day without an evening. There shall my worship be an eternal service. There shall every house be a temple, every deed a sacrament, every thought a depth of devotion. Thou hast said from the beginning, “Let there be light;” but I shall only see the light when I reach the top of the stair.