Kenyan insight into Genesis

Gerald Mwangi, a colleague from Mission Together Africa, based in Nairobi, staying at my house this week, joined us for tonight's home group meeting. We had lined up a study of Genesis 1 and frankly I was not anticipating any revolutionary new thoughts. ('Oh man of little faith'?) We were a smaller group today (you know, that 'buying a wife and marrying a cow' stuff) but we had a great discussion. The highlight for me however was Gerald's thoughts on 'Why did God rest on the seventh day?'

Kenyan synthetic thinking drew a fascinating parallel between God's resting on the seventh day of creation, after He had seen that everything He had created was 'very good', and Jesus 'resting' on the cross after he uttered those powerful words, 'it is finished, complete'. Both creation and salvation are, for God, complete and also 'very good' - even if they do still take some working out by us mere mortals. But there's more! Just before God rests in Genesis he commissions human beings to care for creation, to manage it, to bring it to completion. In a very similar way, just before salvation is completed on the cross, Jesus commissions his disciples (us!) for mission - to share in God's salvific as well as His creative work. Good thinking, Gerald - thanks!