Fill The Earth

In the beginning . . . the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep.

 - From Genesis 1

When you read the first chapter of the Bible, you are struck with the urgency of all of it. 

In the very beginning . . . our beginning, the only beginning that matters to us in this age, there was, essentially, nothing. We have God, and something called "earth" that was a blank canvas. It had no color. Darkness covered it. 

God is present. He occupies the vast emptiness of space, before there was anything. But then you read about a stirring wind from Heaven, like the "sound" of a wind that filled the place where the Apostles were, on the first Pentecost. And once things are kicked into action by God's Word . . . or by "wind" sent by God, if you will, ("wind," "breath," "word;" They all describe the basic action taking place) we see one thing after another being added to the loneliness of it all. In rapid succession, sky, oceans, plant life, animal life . . . humanity. 

It doesn't really matter how long it took, from a human purview. The point is that God was ready to get it all underway. It seems that He couldn't wait to set things up for the advent of a creature that would be like God Himself! Humans, made in God's image!!

In the blink of an eye . . . from God's view, it was done. All was in readiness for humanity. And to the first humans, God gave a command: fill the earth. 

The command is counter-intuitive to modern humanity. We have so much Science arguing this or that, about the problems of population and its growth. The very idea has become a point of political contention. When you think about it, population is the very hub of our biggest global problems.

Yet, in creation, the Creator can't wait for humanity to expand. There was, after all, an endless universe to explore, once the earth was filled!

What a simple act of faith it took, even in the first generation of humans, to match God's urgency, actually to fill the earth!

The point of my comments is not to argue a side in the debate, one way or another. But rather, to redirect our thoughts to an empty lonely place, and a Creator that understood everything, expressing a desire that His newest creation expand . . . and quickly.

The world, and the universe, is magnificent enough. What about the full expression of humanity reaching it's full and perfect potential, simply by making sure the creative genius of our race is maximized, through sheer population growth? 

It's a fanciful thought. I wish the reader to consider it as you would a statement by me, along the lines of "Imagine having a slice of the best cheesecake, every day, for ten years." It's a "what if," not a "why not".

Somewhere in God's first command, voiced at a point of His deepest loneliness and most ardent wishes for our well-being, came that command to "multiply and fill." We failed in doing that . . . eons ago. Our own war-likeness made it impossible within a generation of Adam and Eve. 

I suspect that, one way or the other, with or without our willing participation, God will get to enjoy, one day, the pleasure of witnessing what his children, un-tethered and without boundaries, are truly capable of.