Jason Martin

Thank you for checking out my site! Look around to see the things I have drawn and read the things I have written. Please check out my Etsy page to purchase some of my artwork or feel free to contact me for original drawings and illustrations!

I am a husband and father of 8. I write, draw, sing, teach and pastor in Beaver Falls, PA.

The Work God Started

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When God Separates and Gathers in the Creation Story

[This is Part 2 of “God Fills the Space He Creates” – As in Part 1 of this series, there are devotional questions at the end of the writing. I encourage you to utilize them in for your own study and to interact with one another in the comment section. Thanks!]

I’ve entered the stage of parenthood when you visit your kid’s living spaces and are given the responsibility of building and fixing things.

This is mostly laughable considering that for the first 24 years of our marriage, Elisa and I have relied heavily on the handy-man skills and fix-it abilities of our respective fathers.

Those dads know how to do things.

They know when to go to The Home Depot and know where to look for the items they need. They return to the house with all the acquired parts and a good plan to complete whatever project Elisa has put on their list. And with very few exceptions, they have the ability to carry out the plan to finish the job.

I can only relate to that scenario in that I know where to find The Home Depot.

And, though I don’t know how to do most things, what I do know is important.

I know how to open the box and pull out the parts and separate them from one another. I know how to gather what I need in order to get an idea of what the project is supposed to look like when I am finished. After I have done these things—the separating and the gathering—I am better prepared to build what is needed for my kids.

I don’t mean to be arrogant, but this is kind of like what God does.

In Peter Leithart’s survey of the Old Testament, titled “A House For My Name,” he begins at the very beginning and describes how God, in creation, has created a space to fill. The more we look at what is written in the first chapter of Genesis, we see what God is doing as He separates and gathers what He has spoken into existence.

For all that is said about the creation story, we should be able to agree on this. The creation story is an ancient and beautiful tale of God’s voice—separating and gathering the elements He’s brought about—to build and establish the good that He desires for His children.

The creation story is an ancient and beautiful tale of God’s voice—separating and gathering the elements He’s brought about—to build and establish the good that He desires for His children.

From the very first day, we see God create space by separating light and darkness.

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