Chaos and Order: The Divine Battle Between Disorder and Peace in God's Creation

The supreme battle in the universe is between Satan—who because of his nature is characterized as the ruler of darkness, destruction and disorder—and Jesus, "the light of the world" (John 8:12,44, 9:5, 10:10; Eph 2:2, 6:12). Chaos conveys the idea of disturbance, confusion and turmoil. In contrast, the Bible declares, "God is not a God of disorder but of peace" (1 Cor 14:33). Under God's rule, disorder and chaos are replaced with order and peace. The testimony about Jesus was, "He does all things well," correcting physical ailments in people (Mark 7:37; Luke 13:16).

The Original Creation and the Introduction of Chaos

"In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void…" with light created to drive back the darkness of chaos (Gen 1:1-4). This original chaos was not evil; God created everything and called it "good" (Gen 1:10,21). Chaos became evil when Adam and Eve rebelled against God and this destructive force invaded all of God's good creation, for it is when boundaries are breached that chaos takes over. God's judgment resulted in expulsion of the first humans from the Garden, with more chaos affecting every interaction and activity of life as we know it, ultimately ending in physical death (Gen 3:16-19,23,24). In His sovereignty and love, God sought to restore back to wholeness what He had created, with a special emphasis on the pinnacle of His handiwork—humanity, with whom He desires intimate relationship.

Human wickedness continued to spoil God's creation. The sovereign God removed His restraining hand, allowing the corrupted world to return to chaos with a huge flood destroying all but a remnant in the ark with the righteous Noah (Gen 6:13). Again, soon after, humanity rebelled against God's mandate to "fill the earth" and walk in relationship with Him (Gen 1:28, 11:4). His solution was to bring confusion through a multitude of languages so people would disperse over all the earth. He then focused on one obedient person—Abraham—and this continued down through his family and to those who would eventually become the nation of Israel.

Everytime order wins over chaos

Christ's Victory Over Chaos and Death

Jesus entered our sin-filled world and died, bearing the penalty for the sin of all who would put their trust in Him. When He was resurrected and ascended to God's right hand, this showed that He is sovereign even over the chaos of death and rules from His heavenly throne to restore order to God's creation. At the present, not everything is under His feet or in total submission to divine authority, so there is a fluctuation of cycles between "order—chaos—order" (1 Cor 15:27; Eph 1:22). However, the final outworking is when Satan and all those who live in rebellion to God's authority will be doomed forever to the lake of fire, while those who have genuinely trusted in Jesus will experience eternal life in His presence where there will be no night (Heb 12:17; Rev 20:10,15, 22:5). Death will be no more and He will make all things new, with the universe restored to God's original intention (Rev 21:4,5).

When we turn to Jesus for salvation, the old sinful life of spiritual emptiness and disarray is replaced, and it is then our responsibility to walk in the new lifestyle of being children of light (Rom 6:4; 2 Cor 5:17; Eph 5:8; 1 Pet 3:11). Furthermore, as believers we are commissioned and empowered to continue the work Jesus instigated by His death on the cross of releasing sinners from the bondage of sin and introducing others to our Saviour (Matt 28:19,20; Mark 16:15-18).

God always has been, and always will be in total control

Living Orderly Lives in a Chaotic World

Like the rest of humanity, as believers because we are living in a world seriously affected by sin, we are not exempt from experiencing chaos, but our attitude and response should be a witness to those observing. Through every ordeal we should be developing Godly qualities (Gal 5:22,23). Are there areas of chaos in my life that I should be addressing? Do not be so busy and involved in too much so that your life gets out of balance and reverts to chaos.

The Christian journey involves a constant tension between the chaos of the fallen world and the order of God's kingdom. Through Christ's victory and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, believers are called to be agents of order and peace in a chaotic world, reflecting the character of the One who brings order out of chaos.

What God does ends in order, not chaos

Reflection and Application:

Consider areas of your life where chaos may be dominating and pray for God's order to be established
Reflect on how Christ's victory over death and chaos applies to your daily struggles
Evaluate whether you're living as an agent of God's order in a chaotic world
Remember that God is sovereign even when circumstances appear chaotic and confusing