Genesis 1:31 says, ”And God saw everything that he had made, and, behold, it was very good…”
Years ago, my wife Donna and I were visiting our best friends, Lawrence and Virginia. Brandon, their little boy, brought Donna a book for her to read to him. “What does the cow say, Brandon?” After some thought, he came up with, “Moo.” “Very good, Brandon,” Donna said with a little hug. They looked at some more pictures together. “What is this animal, Brandon?” Quickly, Brandon responded with, “Pig!” “And what does the pig say?” No answer. Brandon didn’t know. Donna said slowly, “Oink, oink.” Brandon replied, “Very good, Donna.”
In Genesis chapter one, six times God paused and saw that His work was good. After creating man in His image, blessing them, commanding them to be fruitful and multiply, to replenish the earth, to subdue it, to have power over the animals, and seeing that they had food to eat, God, looking at the whole picture, saw that it was not just good, but “very good.”
When God created the light, He could have stopped there and said, “Very good.” It was good, but not the complete work that God intended to do.
When we are born into this world and take our first breath, we are actually a work in progress. God has already formed us in the womb. At this point, our parents, grandparents, and family members may say, “Very good.” I believe God would say “Good, but not complete.”
When we realize that we are in the image of Adam (like Seth, Genesis 5:3), and not in the image of God (like Jesus, Hebrews 1:3 and John 1:14), and that we will surely die, we hesitate to say, “Very good.” By the grace of God, through faith in Jesus’ work on the cross, and repentance, we are born again. Now can we say, “Very good?” I think not. Physical death still looms ahead. We must deal with death just as Jesus dealt with it. He chose death of the body, to be resurrected to a spiritual body. We of the new birth must also choose to die—we are called to die to self. We must choose to be crucified with Christ. Paul said in Galatians 2:20, “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himseIf for me.”
When we stop short of God’s work in us and choose to live in incompleteness, and say, “That’s good,” we find ourselves in trouble. God could have had a world of light, water, grass, animals and not man—and saw that it was good. He wanted man and a relationship with him before things were very good.
God plans for this world to pass away and a new world to take its place, where righteousness will dwell (I Peter 3:11-14). Plan to be there. It will be very, very, very good!
Very good! 🙂