Why did God create an unformed and unfilled mass of earth first (Genesis 1:1-2)? Why was Stage One at the beginning of day one a watery wilderness and wasteland? Why not create it all with one word, heaven and earth and creatures and man? For that matter, why create with only one man and woman? He created forests of trees and swarms of birds, why not create with a full population with full cell coverage and free smart phones for all?

One reason we can observe in Genesis 1 and from 6,000 years or so of history is that God enjoys the process. The process is His idea. He invented helpless babies. It is a selling point, not a glitch, that they have to grow up into maturity, physical and spiritual. He thought organizing should take a while, more Snow White whistling while working and less Mary Poppins snapping to make the work magically disappear. He instituted seeds and photosynthesis and buds budding and fruit fruiting and doing it all over again next year. Not only did He declare these things to be good, He decided that these things were the best for showing His glory.

Seeds grew into grain for bread and grapes for wine. But it doesn’t stop there. As we eat and drink at the communion table by faith, we are being refined. He is growing us, increasing our love for Him and likeness to His Son. He continues, week by week, to make us less of a mess. We were unformed and unfilled. Now He put His law in our hearts and sheds His love abroad in there, too. It’s a God work of new creation, and by His Spirit He is making us into something the world can use.