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“In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth”
Genesis 1:1
Everything Begins With the CreationBefore constructing an over-all view of the Bible, using the “master
diagram”, we need to put in place the foundation. The first 3 chapters of
Genesis form the necessary presupposition for all that follows in the Bible. The
above verse, Genesis 1:1, resumes for us the basic truth of God and his
creation, without which all that follows cannot be understood.
The Bible is above all a moral and spiritual guide. There is no firm
foundation for morality without the belief in a sovereign God, who has the full
wisdom and right to counsel and command, because of who he is and what he has
done in giving existence to all things.
To show how the moral imperative of the Bible springs from the truth of its
picture of God, let us examine a few of the ways in which it links divine
creation to morality.
Creation and Ethics1. The basic responsibility of man to God is to realize that he
exists and that, as the author of our own existence and that of the world in
which we live, he should be recognized, worshipped and obeyed. God should be
recognized by man to exist by the viewing of the marvellous things he created
(Rom 1:18-23). The whole human race went astray by putting its affection on
things that God has created instead of on him, the author and cause of all.
They worshipped what he made rather than thankfully recognizing its Maker (Rom
1:19-25). On the other hand, the created beings in heaven are said to repeat
the refrain: “You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honour and
power, for you created all things and by your will they existed ...” (Rev.
4:11). The Eternal (Deut. 4:5) created the world from nothing, (Heb. 11:3;
Rom. 4:7; Ps. 33:6,9), so he only is to be adored.
2. Since we are the creations of a good God, he can rightly, in his
goodness and wisdom, give us instructions and commands (Gen 1:28; 2:15-17) and
hold us responsible to keep them (Gen 3:8-13). He can judge us is we refuse to
do so (Gen 3:16-19; 18:25).
3. God, having created the earth and all that is in it, put man, his
most intelligent creature on it, in charge (Gen 1:26 -28; 2:15; Eccl. 1:13).
Man should therefore govern the world wisely.
4. Each human being, knowing that God created other similar beings,
should naturally respect God's work equally in them (Gen 9:6; Mal. 2:10).
Love to one's neighbour logically follows from belief in a common creator.
5. Since God created the human couple to become one (Gen 2:18-24),
marriage is good, and divorce is not good (Matt. 19:3-6; Gen 2:18-24; Mal.
2:15). Since he made all food for mankind, men do not have the right to forbid
its intended use (Gen 9:3; 1 Tim. 4:1-4). Pain is also necessary, to teach us
not to do our body harm.
6. Since a loving, all-powerful God created us, we may reject
discouragement (Isa. 40:26-31) and fear (Isa. 43:10), and accept whatever
suffering he wisely imposes on us (1 Peter. 4:19). We may expect great things
from him (Jer. 32:17) and should not question his judgments (Rom. 9:19 - 21).
7. It would seem a perfect God would not create the world without a
final purpose to make it perfect, and he promises that he will one day deliver
it from its imperfection and from its ruin by man (Rom. 8:19-22; Col. 1:20).
God wants us, as creations of his affection, to live again after death (Job
10:8,9) and cherishes the good features of his creation, intending to
incorporate them in a coming new creation (Isa. 65:17-25).
The above picture of God's work has to be completed by the negative aspects
of reality. Although what God made was good (Gen 1:4,10,12,18,21,25,31), it was
nevertheless capable of being improved. That is seen, first of all, in that man
was called upon to "subdue" the earth (Gen 1:28). That must mean there was a
resistance to God's purposes inherent in it. Romans 8:19, 20 teaches us that
"the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God" and
that God "subjected it (to futility) in hope". It is not said here that the
subjection of the creation to futility was because of man's sin. Man's failure
came later, with all its ill effects. It was made imperfect so that God,
through man, could make it better, just as the world was first created waste and
void so God could improve it.
The creation "will be set free from its bondage to decay" (Rom 8:21).
Vegetation dies every winter, microbes feed continually on living matter,
carnivorous animals devour flesh. None of those things began with man's sin.
Tyrannosaurus Rex existed long before men.
Things that Genesis Does Not Teach About CreationThis leads to the enumeration of a number of common misconceptions about the
account of creation, comparable to the idea many of us once had as children,
based on Genesis 2:21,22, that men have one less rib than women. Here are some
things that the Scripture does not hold us to believe about Genesis, chapters 1
and 2:
1. That the six days of creation were only 24 hours long. For it was
on the fourth "day" that "days and years" were created (Gen 1:14,19). Thus the
word "day" must have another meaning than 24 hours, even in this verse. In the
next chapter as well, the whole seven day week is called a "day" (Gen 2:4). Are
God's days like man's days (Job 10:5)? James 1:18 affirms that with God there
is no "shadow cast by variation" (such as is caused by the daily rotation of the
earth).
2. Nor must we believe that God's day of rest was of 24-hour
duration. Nor did he get tired and need rest (Isa 40:28). Rather, he stopped
creating species after finishing the creation of all things (Gen 2:2) and that
Sabbath rest still continues (Heb 4:3-5). The Sabbath was not made for all
humanity but rather was given only to Israel, as a sign of her election (Ezek
20:12).
3. Nor is it true that there was, or would have been, no death in the
world without man's sin. If that were so, the eating of the fruit of the tree
of life, to maintain life, would not have been needed (Gen 2:9; 3:22). Animals,
commanded to constantly multiply (Gen 1:22), would soon have used up all the
resources of the earth. They were given vegetation to eat, but it is not said
they were all limited only to that (Gen 1:30). Carnivores helped keep the
vegetation from being all eaten up. Tyrannosaurus Rex was never a vegetarian.
4. It is not necessary to think thorns and thistles were created
after the fall. For God "ended his work" of creation on the seventh day (Gen
2:2).
5. Nor must we believe that snakes once could talk and had legs,
or that childbirth would have been painless if Eve had not sinned (Her suffering
was "multiplied" by the fall). Pain is necessary for living things, to keep
them from unknowingly wounding themselves.
6. Nor can we be sure to what extent the "kinds" God created are
identical with species as we classify them (Gen 1:21,24). Genesis 1 does not
describe the universe as telescopes have now discovered it, but as Adam and
Moses saw it. God's word had to be understandable to all generations of
history, not just to scientifically literate moderns.
> Click on Next to move on to the Bible Reading Guide
Introduction.
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