Creation (Genesis 1)

Biblical Views of Creation

There are 3 categories of thought on how we are to understand Genesis 1-2.

Theistic Evolution-

Believes the earth is billions of years old

That God created the universe through the big bang theory

God guided the process of evolution as science has discovered/

After millions of years, humans came to our current shape and God essentially stamped His image on these evolved humans.

They see the Genesis story of creation as poetic and not literal, and let science guide there interpretation of Genesis 1 and 2.

This is a very comfortable view of Genesis 1-2, but it starts from feeling the need to compensate for science.

Old Earth Creationism-

Believes the earth is billions of years old.

Views the Genesis account as 2 separate creation stories, Genesis 1:1 and then a gap between 1:2. So the 6 days of creation came after a long process of creating the earth.

They don’t believe humans evolved as Darwinism explains, even though there has been a process of evolving over the years.

Some also explain the word “day” in the account to be an “age” or “season” not a literal 24-hour day.

They hold science and the biblical account as not in conflict, God is the creator and science allows us to understand how He created.

Young Earth Creationism-

Believes the earth is 8,000-15,000 years old.

The Genesis story is literal in that God created the universe in 6 24-hour days as recorded in the text.

They believe the scientific understanding of the origin of the universe is flawed and in opposition to science for a few reasons:

The universe appears to be billions of years old, but we are created beings looking at creation. How old would Adam and Eve had looked seconds after God created them.

Genesis 3 records the rebellion of humanity and the consequential curse that dramatically and holistically affected all of creation. We see the created world through sin-cursed lenses, not as it was originally created.

There was a worldwide flood where water came from inside the earth and from the sky that would have greatly affected how we see the earth and calculate its age.

They believe the bible must be the starting point and not science in our understanding and explanation of creation.

There are lots of variations of views that fall somewhere within these 3 major categories.

There are committed Christians that fall into all three of these camps, though the first view is not the most faithful to the bible and is the most heavily sympathetic to secular science (or the nontheistic understanding of the origin of the universe).

I lean YEC, but am sympathetic to some of the theories in OEC, especially the gap theory.

I share these with you because I want you to know that there are some very intelligent, biblically faithful, and articulate people who have invested themselves in science and the bible that have allowed us some very reliable and logical reasons trust the Word of God for our origin story.

It is not ignorant or uninformed to be a Christians and believe God created the universe.

Important Themes of the Text

Regardless of which view we take of creation, the Gen. 1:1-2:3 is rich with purpose and full of meaning.

Everyone get out your phones or bibles and turn to Genesis 1:1.

In your groups, read Gen 1:1-2:3 and I want you to look for 3 major themes that are found in the repeated words and phrases in these verse.

What are the 3 most repeated words and phrases in this passage?

God said...

There was morning and there was evening...

God saw that it was good...

What do they teach us about God and creation?

God’s Word is powerful as it brings everything into existence out of nothing.

There is order to creation, not just unguided chaos.

God created everything good and purposeful. We can see the creation around us as good, though distorted by sin.

Why are these repeated words and phrases important for us?

Image Bearers of God

The 6th Day is the day God created mankind. This account is unique in a few ways:

God says let US create man IN OUR IMAGE, according to OUR LIKENESS.

Humans are the only part of God’s creation that were made “like Him”

That doesn’t mean that God looks and acts like us, or that we look or act like God.

Rather it means that we share aspects of the character of God and share likeness to His attributes.

We reflect the person in of like a mirror reflects our own likeness.

We have intelligence, the ability to love, to decipher right from wrong.

We desire justice, are creative, can communicate, and learn and develop.

Humans are also given dominion over the whole earth.

We are uniquely given stewardship and authority over all of God’s creation.

That doesn’t mean we can do whatever we want with is, but that we have responsibility over it.

Finally we are given responsibility/work to do.

Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth- This is both in procreation and in occupation.

We are to make babies, do work, build things and grow things.

We are also to subdue the earth.

This is the work of spreading God authority over the earth.

This is also about occupation. Our work isn’t a result of the fall, but God created us to create, expand, invent, and grow.

What does is mean to be created in God’s Image and why is that significant for us?

How does it change the way we view ourselves and/or others when we know we were created in the Image of God?

Why is it important to understand that we were given authority over God’s creation?

How do we fulfill God’s command to “Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, and subdue it?

The Importance of Rest

The last day of the creation story is the 7th Day, the day of rest.

Rest is a biblical theme that keeps coming up throughout the bible.

God rests on the 7th day as an example to us that we should and must rest from our work.

He also rests to give us an example of what we should trust and value in life.

We can’t trust work and money to meet all our needs so that we sacrifice ourselves and our families in order to make more money and be more successful. We need to rest and trust.

We also learn the value of work that leads us to rest. If you work hard, you ought to rest. But if you don’t work hard, you might be living a life of rest, not a day of rest.

Read Mark 2:27, what is Jesus saying about the Sabbath in this passage?

The disciples had been picking grain off the vine as they walked through a field and some religious people got mad that they were working on the Sabbath.

Jesus responds with this, a redefining of the purpose of the Sabbath.

It isn’t and never was about pleasing God, but about caring for our own bodies and souls.

Rest is symbolic of heaven, the absence of suffering.

Even in creation, God was promising His people, us, rest from pain, suffer, death, and sin.

One day we will rest.

How has this discussion helped you better understand creation?

What questions do you have?