Order and Chaos
—Creation, Flood, and Today
We have all experienced chaos, and we have all experienced order. We have seen order change to chaos, and chaos change to order.
A Bible example of order and chaos is the destruction of Jerusalem, the holy city (AD70). Its beautiful temple, the glorious epitome of order, was left ruined in chaos. Jesus said, "Truly I tell you, not one stone here will be left upon another. Every one will be thrown down." (Matthew 24:2).
The Bible has many other examples of order and chaos. In this lesson we will consider these opposites at work in the creation, the flood, and the Christian era.
1 Order and Chaos in the Creation.
Genesis chapter 1
God is always creating order, putting to rights things that are without form. This is seen clearly in the Bible's record of creation. "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was on the face of the deep" (Genesis 1:1-2 NKJV).
When God first made the earth, it was formless, covered in darkness and the deep. Then in stages, day by day, God spoke and his word brought order out of chaos. He provided...
- (1) light, dividing day from night;
- (2) air and sky;
- (3) land and seas, plant life on the land;
- (4) sun, moon and stars in the sky;
- (5) creatures of the sea, birds of the air;
- (6) creatures of the earth.
Then in God’s image God created man both male and female.
There are three things repeated over and over in Genesis chapter 1...
"And God said..."
God spoke; he created the heavens and the earth, and set earth in order, by the power of his word. "The worlds were framed by the word of God" (Hebrews 11:3)
"And it was so..."
"For God spoke and it was done; He commanded and it stood fast" (Psalm 33:9)
"And God saw..."
"And God saw everything that he has made, and behold it was very good" (Genesis 1:31).
David acknowledged this goodness. "I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Marvelous are Your works, And that my soul knows very well" (Psalm 139:14 NKJV).
Chaos is not evil. Yes, I know the devil causes chaos where order should reign. Nevertheless, in God’s creation there is both chaos and order, and both are good. Furthermore, what appears to be chaos in God’s creation, is not without purpose and is subject to laws.
2 Order and Chaos in the Flood
Genesis chapters 6-9
Following the Genesis record of creation, there is a record of the flood over all the earth. Before the physical chaos of the flood is described, we are told of the moral and spiritual chaos that was in the world of that time.
The record says, "The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually" (Genesis 6:5).
The Bible names only two men who walked with God before the flood. There was Enoch who "walked with God and he was not, for God took him" (Genesis 5:24). Then there was Noah who "found grace in the eyes of the LORD... a just man perfect in his generations. Noah walked with God" (Genesis 5:8-9).
Following God’s word, Noah built an ark of meticulous order that could shelter his family and all the animals taken into the ark.
What a contrast between the order of Noah’s ark and the chaos of the great flood! What a contrast between the righteous order in Noah's heart and the moral chaos of the human society of his day!
3 Order and Chaos in the Christian Age
Romans chapter 1
Now we leave ancient history and come to the time of Christ onwards until now. We still see moral, spiritual, and intellectual chaos in the wide world. People have abandoned God’s order.
Paul says, "For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness" (Romans 1:18 NKJV).
Paul goes into detail about this chaos. Below are some of the accusations that he makes (Romans 2 NKJV).
- "they did not glorify Him as God"
- "nor were [they] thankful"
- "[they] became futile in their thoughts"
- "their foolish hearts were darkened"
- "Professing to be wise, they became fools"
- "who exchanged the truth of God for the lie"
- "[they] worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator"
- "God gave them up to vile passions"
- "they did not like to retain God in their knowledge"
- God gave them over to a debased mind"
- "being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness; they are whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful"
Paul said these things near the beginning of the church. However this chaos is still seen everywhere in our world today.
But what of God’s order? Is it lost? No, it is available to all who are in the world.
At the beginning of his letter to Rome, Paul makes the following statement...
Romans 1:1-6
¶“1Paul, a bondservant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated to the gospel of God 2which He promised before through His prophets in the Holy Scriptures, 3concerning His Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who was born of the seed of David according to the flesh, 4and declared to be the Son of God with power according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead” (Romans 1:1-4 NKJV)
¶“5Through Him we have received grace and apostleship for obedience to the faith among all nations for His name, 6among whom you also are the called of Jesus Christ” (Romans 1:5-6 NKJV).
Notice some of the elements of order that Paul mentions...
- Paul was called to be an apostle and bondservant under his Master’s orders and discipline.
- Paul was separated to the gospel which he later calls "the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes" (Romans 1:16). Paul himself ordered his life by the gospel, no more by the customs of the Pharisees which led to chaos.
- Promises spoken by the prophets were made according to an orderly unfolding of revelation. Christ would be born of the seed of David according to an orderly genealogy.
- Christ would be raised from the dead, and ascend to be glorified in heaven, his flesh saved from corruption which is a kind of chaos.
- Paul preached obedience to the faith which produced an orderly life. Through the preaching, Christ called people to be saints, called out of the worldly chaos into the orderly church of our Lord.
In the passage above you see the moral, spiritual, and intellectual order of the gospel ministry and the Lord’s church —as opposed to the chaos and confusion of the world of our time.
At the end of the age
The Christian age will end at the second coming of Christ. Then there will be order in heaven and chaos in hell.