GOD IS A GOD OF ORDER by D. T. Bourdeau

The Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Dec 31, 1861

GOD IS A GOD OF ORDER.

By D. T. Bourdeau

FROM the first chapter of Genesis we learn that God was six days in creating the heaven and the earth, and all that in them is. On the first day he created the heaven and the earth, and made the light. On the second day he made the atmosphere, or the air we breathe. On the third day he gathered the waters together, and caused the dry land to appear, and to bring forth trees, grass, and all kinds of vegetables. On the fourth day he appointed the sun, moon, and stars, to divide the day from the night, to give light upon the earth, and to be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years. On the fifth day he caused the waters to bring forth fishes, and made the fowls of the air. On the sixth day he made every living creature that moves on dry land, and created man in his own image, to have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth. When God had thus completed his great and glorious work, he looked upon every thing that he had made, and behold, it was very good.

We behold beauty, wisdom, and goodness, in the order that God followed in creating heaven and earth, and the sea, and all the things that are therein. First, God made the light before he made man, and all those animals that are blessed with the faculty of seeing. When the beasts of the field were made, they could see, and associate with each other, and select such food as was adapted to their wants. And so it was with the fishes of the waters, and with the fowls of the air. And when man was created, he could rejoice in contemplating the handiworks of his Creator, and in beholding all the things over which he was to have dominion.

Again, God made the atmosphere before he made the vegetable kingdom, and all those creatures that depend on air for life. God gathered the waters together, and then he made the fishes. And when God had caused the dry land to appear, the earth could bring forth the herb yielding seed, and the fruit-tree yielding fruit after his kind. God made the air, and then he made the birds of the air. God fitted every element for its animals. Every element contained food for those creatures for which it was designed. God prepared food for man before he was created. He prepared meat for every living creature, and supplied the wants of every living thing.

We see that everything that God made has a time, a place, and a function. God is a God of order; and without order all things that God has made could not exist. God made man in his image, and after his likeness, and designed that he should follow perfect order; but the enemy has brought confusion and sin into the world, and has so weakened our faculties that nearly all we do is marked with imperfection.

We see imperfection and confusion in children. Many children seem to neglect order in nearly all they do or say. If they take up an article, they neglect to put it where it will be safe; and if they hear grown people speak about matters that demand much attention and study, they are sure to mix in with them, and make their remarks first. Follow these same children to the house of God, and you will see that they are the very agents that Satan uses to bring in confusion, and distract God's people. And what an annoyance such children are to their parents, and to those who love order.

We also see confusion in grown people; and there are not a few in the church who seem to delight to leave things in a confused state. But we have a perfect order laid down in the word of God. The law of God shows us what we should do to do right, and Christ offers us the good Spirit to enlighten and rectify our faculties, and all the graces we need to do what is right.

My dear readers, let us pray the Lord to give us his holy Spirit, that we may be enabled to lay aside all sin and confusion, and follow that order that shines out so gloriously in the works of creation, and in God's holy law.

D. T. BOURDEAU.