CREATION

Genesis 1:1, “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” God of His own free will and absolute power called the entire universe into being (Psalm 33:6,9; Psalm 102:25; John 1:3). We accept these things by faith (Hebrews 11:3). Only two chapters are devoted to the subject of creation.

            “In the beginning,” those words God’s sovereignty, majesty and His oneness are seen.

The following occurred: Day 1—Light; Day 2—Heavens; Day 3—Earth, edible vegetation; Day 4—Luminaries (sun, moon, starts); Day 5—Fish, birds; Day 6—Land animals, man; Day 7—the Sabbath. Days one to six, God called good. However, on the seventh day, God blessed and He sanctified that day. Note that there is silence before creation and after.

The theological themes in Genesis are the following: (1) God’s oneness. There is no other gods. (2) The distinction between God as creator and humankind as creature. We know within Genesis that God is divine. Genesis is a divine inspiration account of the beginning. God proclaims, “For I am God and not man, the Holy One in your midst” (Hosea 11:9). (3) God is plural in nature. Genesis 1:26, “Then God said, Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thig that creeps upon the earth.” Those words direct us to know that God, Christ Jesus and the Holy Spirit were present. Again, in John 1:1, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God.” Christ Jesus is the Word. (4) God is moral and holy. Even in the Garden of Eden there were laws. God told Adam what he could eat and what he could not. This was a moral demand. (5) The fifth truth is God’s sovereignty and majesty. In the process of creation God never encounters resistance in His work.

Also note Genesis 1:2; “And the earth was formless and void and darkness was over the surface of the deep; and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters. This is the Holy Spirit of God. This was the foundation of our moral and ethical precept. This was God’s goodness, mankind’s beginning point of perfection in the world before Satan—the Spirit of the earth. There is a mystery surrounding the creation. In fact, the Bible is filled with mysteries. Mysteries are revealed throughout the New Testament with the presence of Christ Jesus. Paul speaks about the Spirit of God, God’s wisdom as a mystery and God revealed through the Holy Spirit.  in 1 Corinthians 2: 1-16. This is why I want you to make note of the term Spirit of God from the time of creation to present.

            Genesis 1:26, “Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image according to Our likeness and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth. John 1:1 states, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” Lord Christ Jesus was present at the creation. I believe this to be the triune (God, Christ Jesus, and Holy Spirit) and the New Testament revelation of Christ Jesus has yet to be revealed. There are several other interpretations: God is speaking to His creation and is a partner with God in the cycle of creation; God is speaking to the angels; and God speaks of Himself in the plural.

Please note that God is referred to as God (Elohim) in the beginning scriptures. However, that changes when man is created. God is referenced as Lord God (Yahweh Elohim)- Father God which is a more intimate reference.

            Genesis 2:7, “Then the Lord God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and man became a living being.” From that moment every human has the breath of God within him. The breath of God is also referenced as the soul or life which is connected to mankind’s heart. Some scholars look at mankind as only body and soul but there is also thinking, feeling and purpose. God gave us free will, consciousness, and affections.

            Genesis tells us that mankind is made in God’s own image and likeness. Mankind is set apart from the rest of the creation. Upon seeing Eve, Adam states, “This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh” (Genesis 2:23). Affirmation of not only kinship but loyalty as in commitment. This is seen in Genesis 2:24, “For this cause a man shall leave his father rand his mother and shall cleave to his wife and they shall become one flesh.” This is a coveted commitment.

            So, God has ordained boundaries and laws within the first two chapters in the Bible. This is the first covenant with mankind is through Adam. Man is put in the garden to work. Adam and Eve are given access to the Tree of Life and the Tree of Knowledge (Good and Evil). Adam is told not to eat from the Tree of Knowledge—Good and Evil (Genesis 2:17). The Tree of Knowledge you will die if you eat from it. This also leads us to the fact that Satan has been thrown from Heaven since Good and Evil are known within the Garden. So, perhaps the cosmic force of what we call Satan is present.

The Fall

           Why was Eve tempted first rather than Adam? Perhaps it is because God told Adam directly not to eat the fruit. Eve found this out from Adam perhaps. We are never told directly in the Bible (Genesis 2: 16-17). Adam would most likely had been resistant to defy God. The cosmic force knew about the forbidden fruit. The cosmic force was under God’s sovereignty to obey all God ordained. The animal was beneath Adam and Even yet here we have an animal tempting Eve.

            This temptation is two-fold. First, the temptation raises questions in Eve’s mind about the integrity of God. However, God knew that their happiness lay in enjoying what he had permitted and abstaining from what he had prohibited. The cosmic force distorted this and this event is antagonist to God (Rev.12:9, 20:2). Adversaries to God (Num. 22:22, 32, 1 Sam.29:4, 2 Sam. 19:22, 1 King 5:4, 11:14, 23:25, Psalm 109:6).

            Second, the temptation encourages Eve to declare autonomy from the guidance of God. From this point forward, mankind will decide what is best for himself. This can be compared to Christ Jesus in the wilderness when tempted by Satan. Adam and Eve acquiesced to temptation. Christ Jesus was obedient to His Father’s will.

When Adam and Eve eat from the forbidden tree, God then cast them from the Garden. Genesis 3:22-23, “Then the Lord God said, Behold the man has become like one of Us, knowing good and evil and now lest he stretch out his hand and take also from the tree of life, and eat and live forever. Therefore, the Lord God sent him out from the garden of Eden to cultivate the ground from which he was taken.”  This created shame. God then speaks to Satan (Gen. 3:14-15), then to Eve (Gen. 3:16), and then to Adam (Gen. 3: 17-19). God’s compassion is shown in His grace toward Adam and Eve without their death.

With this knowledge of good and evil, mankind has free-will, conscience, and moral authority. Mankind begins to decide for himself what is good and what is evil. Adam and Even become their own god in a sense. Because of their actions God lays down the law and a means of redemption. God did not kill them but He did make them garments of skins. Therefore He (God) had to kill animals to provide for their clothing. The blood is spilled for the redemption of Adam and Eve. This was the first good news.

This covering provided to Adam is an immediate atonement (Genesis 3: 15). This is an Christological interpretation—the seed of Adam and Eve—will bring redemption through Christ Jesus to all mankind—This is the first promise of salvation. God states that the seed of the woman would bruise the head of the serpent—the dispute is at an end—the whole human race. Eve will increase the family of the human race. Christ Jesus will overpower Satan in the end. The victory will be the believers in Christ Jesus. This gives Eve hope and prevents her from giving way to despair. They became a bond slave to Satan with dominion over their mind and body. Satan will never fully oppress or vanquish believers—they can recover themselves within the grace of God. The Kingdom of God and Christ Jesus was started with this first sin. As stated in Galatians 4:4, “But when the fulness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law. The justification is set through Christ Jesus to mankind. We can trace Christ Jesus’ ancestry back to Adam and Eve who were under the Law then as Christ Jesus born to Mary under the Law. It is God who justifies the ungodly through Christ Jesus (Rom. 3:26, Gal. 2:16). “For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, But the righteous man shall live by faith” (Romans 1:17). “For since the creation of the world, His invisible attributes, his eternal power and divine nature have been clearly seen, being understood though what has been made so that they are without excuse (Romans 1:20). Essence of God that was shown at creation is the same as is today—the triune—God, Christ Jesus, and Holy Spirit. Christ is not said: To have been made by a woman, but of a woman (Gal.4:4). Christ Jesus lineage was through Abraham to David. “The first man is of the earth, earthy; the second man is the Lord from heaven” (1 Cor. 15:47).

So, when Adam and Eve were removed from the garden there is emphasis on redemption. Their reentry is blocked by cherubim and flaming sword (Gen. 3: 22-24). They are sent to till the soil (Gen. 3: 23). Man was created to care for the Garden of Eden. Now he will continue what God had planned for him to do. Even with the disobedience and punishment, the blessing given with the act of creation remains intact. Mankind who is now removed from the intimacy of God but is always blessed by God.

Mankind will always be blessed by Father God.