| |
1 In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.
And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.
And God said, “Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.” And God made the expanse and separated the waters that were under the expanse from the waters that were above the expanse. And it was so. And God called the expanse Heaven. And there was evening and there was morning, the second day.
And God said, “Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear.” And it was so. God called the dry land Earth, and the waters that were gathered together he called Seas. And God saw that it was good.
And God said, “Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind, on the earth.” And it was so. The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed according to their own kinds, and trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening and there was morning, the third day.
And God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night. And let them be for signs and for seasons, and for days and years, and let them be lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light upon the earth.” And it was so. And God made the two great lights—the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night—and the stars. And God set them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth, to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening and there was morning, the fourth day.
And God said, “Let the waters swarm with swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the heavens.” So God created the great sea creatures and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarm, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. And God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.” And there was evening and there was morning, the fifth day.
And God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures according to their kinds—livestock and creeping things and beasts of the earth according to their kinds.” And it was so. And God made the beasts of the earth according to their kinds and the livestock according to their kinds, and everything that creeps on the ground according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.
Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”
So God created man in his own image,
in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them.
And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” And God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food. And to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the heavens and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so. And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.
(ESV)
In his book, The Good Book, author Deron Spoo gives us perspective on what we should treasure about Genesis 1. In his opinion, the primary purpose of this first chapter is to affirm that we are more like God than anything else in creation.
We bear His image.
“When we read Genesis 1, it’s easy to become sidetracked from this truth by focusing on lesser ideas. For instance, people have long debated the age of the universe. If it were essential to our faith to know the exact date of creation, I suspect God would have share it with us. He didn’t. Nevertheless, many modern readers and heavy thinkers dig into Genesis 1 and immediately debate the age of the cosmos. Answers range from billions of years to a mere six thousand. Entertaining such theories will distract you from the wonderful truth in the first chapter of the first book of the Bible: you bear a striking resemblance to your Creator.”
-The Good Book, Deron Spoo
This is such a refreshing angle. It’s sad to think about how we spend a lot of our time focused on questions we can’t answer instead of absorbing what God is actually communicating through His Word. God made us in His image. The characteristics we possess are not random. In fact, even angels take on the “appearance of man” when they come to Earth. Our bodies are the perfect vessel to contain the spirit of our being, all fashioned by an infinitely creative God.
The Hebrew word for image is ‘tselem’ which actually means “to shade.” When the first man (Adam) had his son (Seth), the Scriptures use this exact same term. It’s fascinating to consider this same word is used to describe the idols (images) fashioned out of wood that served to draw humans away from God. Think about this. God created man in His image and we worshiped Him. After sin, man created images of little gods and worshiped them instead of the Creator.
But the focus here in Chapter 1 centers around God’s prized possession. There is incredible variety and complexity that exists within creation. Think over the details of His universe and let it lead you to awe and wonder. Then, once again consider that you are a unique part of His creation that distinctively bears His image. Even on our worst day, we are more like our Creator than anything else on the planet.
When we realize God is our creator and sustainer, we are able to set ourselves free from the temptation to control our own lives and fashion our own false images. If we were made according to God’s design, we are surely made with a purpose. Our future is securely in His hands. Trying to figure out God and reduce Him to a controllable, completely understandable Being only breeds more stress and anxiety that we weren’t made for. Standing in awe and wonder at His amazing creation and believing that we are the most treasured of everything postures us to receive from Him what we long for the most. We were created for relationship and purpose!
It is my opinion that the Bible should be interpreted according to its original context and that means first reading it through the lens of the original audience. Instead of imposing an interpretive context from our modern minds, let’s just allow the Bible to speak for itself. If we do this, we will gain a deeper and more accurate understanding of what it meant to the original readers so that when we apply our application, it is guided by that original context.
I am not a literalist when it comes to Genesis 1 because I believe that when you study all the other ancient Near East creation stories, you find similar vocabulary and similar motifs. If God’s purpose had been scientific accuracy (with Genesis 1), we wouldn’t be able to understand it. If modern-day science had everything figured out, then we might have a chance of understanding it, but science is far from accomplishing that feat. The point I’m making here is that we must utilize the tools we have to understand the context in which Genesis 1 was written.
“Our modern evangelical contexts are alien to the Bible. Frankly, any context other than the context in which the biblical writers were moved to write is foreign to the Bible.”
–Dr. Michael Heiser
I believe Genesis 1 is more of a literary description of creation and less of a literal scientific description of creation. Don’t hear what I’m not saying. I believe Genesis 1 is making historical claims about authentic (literal) space and time events, but I believe they are being described using the language and the metaphors of their time (in the ancient Near East context).
“…as you read Gen 1–2 in the light of broader ancient Near Eastern ideas, it insists that God is sovereign and supreme. He has no rivals, and that’s utterly unique in the ancient Near East, where the creation stories talk about multiple gods who are fighting with each other for supremacy. God is sovereign and supreme.”
-Tremper Longman III
Genesis 1 reveals to us the nature of God, the connection we have with Him, and the plan that God has for His creation.