God is good! Everything He created, He declared, “It is good!” When He created and formed you, His masterpiece, seeing the very image and likeness of Himself, He said the same thing. Can you hear the wondrous delight in these simple words, “It is very good!”

Since everything created was good, Genesis 1:2 raises a question. It says, “And the earth became formless and void and great darkness was over the face of the deep.” There are different theories about the meaning of this verse, but I want to give a “sod” to ponder. Sod is the Hebrew word for “secret” and it speaks to the hidden mysteries of the Word of God . . .

Adam and Eve were created as glorious beings who were placed in a beautiful garden on Earth—”Eden,” which means “pleasure.” In the beginning, they had no awareness of separation from God. They were only filled with the knowledge of their perfect union with Love Himself. They walked in a realm called “the cool of the day,” which was all about the rest of abiding in the love of the Trinity. Their identity was not under scrutiny by themselves or anyone. Certainly not God!

After the decision to eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, everything changed. Suddenly, they saw themselves disconnected from their union with “I Am.” They now embraced an “I am not” awareness (“not holy, not right, not good, not loved”). From there, they acted according to these skewed mindsets and sin entered the world. The study notes from the Mirror Bible give an interesting take on the root meaning behind sin:

“The word for sin, ‘harmartia’ in Greek, comes from ‘ha’ (meaning ‘negative’) and ‘meros’ ( meaning ‘portion’ or ‘form’). Thus, sin is to be without your allotted portion or without form. It points to a disoriented, distorted or bankrupt identity… Sin is to live out of context with the blueprint of one’s design; to behave out of tune with God’s original harmony.”

This understanding of sin connects with the idea of Adam and Eve’s skewed perceptions. Though they were created “very good,” Adam and Eve began to perceive themselves differently. They saw themselves as without the form, image, and likeness of God. Perhaps this is where Genesis 1:2 comes in: “The earth became formless and void and darkness was over the face of the deep.” Maybe the Scriptures are talking about the awareness of the earthly minds of Adam and Eve who had now embraced a fallen mindset. Thus, darkness prevailed in the minds of people until Christ came as the Light of the world to enlighten every single person (John 1:9). His light reveals the truth of who we have always been. It thus shows us the way to see our true identity, which is revealed in His own face. He is the Word of God and thus the Light that was spoken out over the formless “earth” of our beings.

“And God said, let there be light and there was light!” (Genesis 1:3)

The phrase “deep calls unto deep” connects with all of this as well. It speaks of the deep places within our spirit . . . and the Spirit of our Father calling deep within us for fellowship with Himself. I feel these Scriptures reveal a hidden “sod” and mystery where mankind went from the “cool of the day” (the place of rest) to hard work and heavy labor. Rest was forfeited as we felt the need to attain back to a place of “form” ourselves. (It’s interesting to note that the Hebrew word for “evil” can also be translated as “hard labor!”)

Thankfully, Jesus brought us back into the rest of God where we can now labor with all of His might from a place of peace. This comes as we see our true form in Christ. The light of His truth banishes every lie of separation and brings us back into alignment with our true selves. Let there be light!