genesis 1 - full notes

8/14/2019 Genesis 1 - Full Notes

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Evening On Point FULL NOTES 2009Genesis chapter 1

Genesis 1

ContentsOverview of Genesis . . . . . . . 2-3

Prologue overview . . . . . . . 4

Summary Statement: Verse 1:1 . . . . . 5-7

Mindset of the original audience . . . . . 8-9

Review and Outlines . . . . . . . 10

Verse 1:2 . . . . . . . . 10-13

Design (1:3-2:1) . . . . . . . 14-22

Pattern . . . . . . . 14-15

Day 1 . . . . . . . 15-17

Day 2 . . . . . . . 18-19

Day 3 . . . . . . . 19-20

Day 4 . . . . . . . 20-21

Day 5 . . . . . . . 21

Day 6 . . . . . . . 21-23

Connection with other creation accounts . . . . 24-26

Gods Absolute Power . . . . . . 27-29

Made in the Image of God. . . . . . 30-32

Everything God Made Was Good . . . . . 33-34

Conclusion . . . . . . . . 34

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An Overview of the entire book emphasizing the first 11 chapters

I. Titlea. The Jews call this book: Beginning based upon the first Hebrew

Word in the sentence

b. The title we use today comes from the LXX (ancient Greektranslation), which labels this book Genesis or origin

II. Three Divisionsa. Structural Division: The Hebrew word Toledot meaning These

are the generations of . . . or . . . This is the account of

i. This divides the book into 11 sections1. 1:1-2:3 prologue (does not use Toledot)2. 2:4-4:26 heaven and earth

3. 5:1-6:8 Adam4. 6:9-9:29 Noah5. 10:1-11:9 Noahs sons6. 11:10-26 Shem7. 11:27-25:11 Terah (Abraham)8. 25:12-18 Ishmael9. 25:19-35:29 Issac (Jacob)10. 36:1-37:1 Esau11. 37:2-50:26 Jacob (Joseph)

ii. In this division it is easy to see the emphasis in Genesis on

people and their relationship to God

b. Literary Division

i. The book divides into 2 main sections1. 1-11: Primeval History

2. 12-50: The accounts of the Patriarchs

a. 11:27-25:18 Abrahams Storyb. 25:19-37:1 Jacobs Story

c. 37:2-50:26 Josephs Story

ii. In this division, it is still the story of people

c. Geographic Division

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i. The book divides into 3 main sections1. 1-11 Fertile Crescent2. 12-36Israel3. 37-50Egypt

ii. This follows the general flow of the characters through thenarrative

III. Survey of the chapters 1-11

a. Creation (1-2)b. Sin & Judgment (3)c. Escalation of sin (4)d. Recreation (5)e. Sin & Escalation (6)f. Judgment (6-8)

g. Recreation (9)h. Sin judgment (10-11)i. Summary: God creates the world with man as the ultimate

creation (made in Gods image given control over Godscreation). Man rebels against God and is judged by God.Following the first rebellion, sin escalates. God symbolicallystarts over giving man a chance again through the new line ofAdam through Seth. Man rebels again. The rebellion escalates.God judges man again, but on a larger level through the flood.God saves on man and his family and begins again. Man sinsagain and God judges man again, but this time by separation

rather than destruction.

Creation Sin Judgment

Creation of heavenand earth with man ascentral focus (1-2)

Rebellion against Godthrough disobediencein determining tochose their own way(3)

Disruption ofrelationshipsGod and manMan and womanWoman and childMan and earth (3)

Symbolic beginning

for man throughAdams son Seth (5)

Rebellion against God

through wickedthoughts and actions(6)

Destruction of life

through a flood

A new beginning forman through Noahsfamily (9)

Rebellion against Godthrough a unifiedrejection of the divinemandate and bytrying to pull God

Separation of thepeople from oneanother in locationand language

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down to a humanlevel

Prologue 1:1-2:3

Verses

Title Description Text (NET)

1:1 SummaryStatement

States in asummary what thefollowing section isabout

1:1 In the beginning God created theheavens and the earth.

1:2 ConditionBefore

Design

States threeconditions that will

be transformedthroughout thedesign phase

1:2 Now the earth was without shape andempty, and darkness was over the surface of

the watery deep, but the Spirit of God wasmoving over the surface of the water.

1:3-2:1 Design Describes thevarious forms andfunctions that Godassigns to theuniverse

1:3 God said, Let there be light . . . 2:1 The

heavens and the earth were completed with

everything that was in them

2:2-3 Completion

Acknowledges thecompletion of thedesign and theholiness of the lastday

2:2 By the seventh day God finished the

work . . . 2:3 God blessed the seventh dayand made it holy because on it he ceased all

the work that he had been doing in creation

Introduction: This first chapter of Genesis is very well known, though oftenmisunderstood. Our goal in studying this passage is not answer ourquestions, but to try and understand what God wanted to convey to hispeople. What we will find is that Genesis makes a bold statement regardingthe nature of God, of man and of the universe.

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Summary Statement (1:1)

1 2 3 4

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth

Time frame Subject ActionObject

1. In the Beginning

As we ponder this little phrase, it raises questions such as, In the beginningof what? is this an abstract description of the beginning of time or space?

Is it the beginning of history? Is it scientific? Is it the beginning of matter orenergy? Is it just the beginning of the story of the Bible?

While at first glance this three word English phrase that is one Hebrew wordmay seem to have an obvious meaning, if we are not careful, we may forcean English understanding of a term on to a Hebrew word that may have adifferent nuance.

Examples

The beginning of the 2 mile trail is over there by that sign that reads

Bear Claw Trail when used this way, we are speaking of a specificpoint and if this is what Genesis means then Moses is telling us about aspecific point at which God started something. The word conveys theabsolute beginning of something like where a 2 mile trail starts.

However, we use the word in another way in English. In the beginningof our marriage, my wife and I lived in California when used thisway, we are not talking about a specific point at which somethingstarts, but rather a time period that took place chronologically beforeother things did. That statement is not concerned with May 18th 1997,the date my wife and I married, but rather a certain time period that

happened during the initial state of our marriage. If Moses means thisthen this first sentence in Genesis 1 is not so much concerned withpinpointing a moment at which God started, but might better beunderstood as something like, In the first stage of what God wasdoing, he created . . .

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This second way of using the word is more common in the Hebrew Biblewhere the reference is to an undefined period of time that takes place beforeother time periods took place such as in Job 42:12.

There are not a lot of examples of this word being used like this because the

term is actually used most often to mean something completely different, ameaning that would make little sense in Genesis 1. Most often the wordmeans the best or choicest you see this all over the Scripture when itspeaks of the first fruits, which is not a reference to the first thing pulledout of the ground so much as to the best of what the ground produces. It isthe same word.

With many modern translations and scholars, I take the word to mean moreof an initial phase than a specific point in time. As such, this first verse is notpart of the action, but rather a summary statement of what Moses is about todescribe. You might think of it as a title letting the reader know the initial

stage of Gods working was to create the universe.

2. God

This is an interesting Hebrew word: Elohim. In fact whenever you see theEnglish word God in your Bible it is the Hebrew word Elohim. As a sidenote, when you see the English term Lord it is the Hebrew Adonai andwhen you see the term LORD in small caps it is Gods name as revealed inExodus 3 YHWH or I am

There are two fascinating things to consider about the Hebrew Elohim:

a. Elohim is plural meaning rulers or divine ones or gods, but inHebrew a plural is not always a sign of more than one, rather itbecomes an intensive to mean great or majestic.

b. Even more interesting is the lack of origin for Elohim. We will comeback to this as we explore some of the ancient creation accounts, butin Genesis, it is clear that in the initial stage of creation, Elohim wasalready there without any explanation as to his origin. He simply is.

3. Created

The activity of this initial stage is creating though we must be careful aswe explore the meaning of this word so that once again our Englishcategories do not overwhelm the Hebrew meaning.

First, throughout all of the Hebrew Bible, that is the Old Testament, this wordonly has God as its subject. This describes in Hebrew thought a divineactivity as human beings are never the subject of this action.

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Second, the term is used to describe the creation of everything from peoplegroups (Ps 102:18) to cities (Ezek 21:30) to natural phenomena like wind orfire or clouds (Ex 34:10; Num 16:30) to more abstract concepts like a pureheart (Ps 51:10). What is interesting is that throughout the various uses inthe Old Testament, it never speaks about the materials that were used to

create. The emphasis in this word is not on what God created with, but moreon the role, function, or operation of the thing created.

Examples

Gen 5:2 The text could have simply said, he created humans, butinstead it emphasizes the distinction in roles. He made them male andfemale. The word might be better captured with the English termdesign because the context cares little about the materials that

God uses or even how he does it. The term is concerned with theoutcome and the specific design of that outcome.

In English we use the word in a similar way in such instances as Icreated the curriculum for 12th grade English the concern here is notthe material I wrote on or the pencil or pen or computer I used, butthat I designed a course of study for seniors in English.

Why I am belaboring this? The emphasis of this word in Genesis 1 is not onthe process or the materials so much as the outcome, especially the rolesand functions that each created thing is designed to do.

This initial summary statement lets us know something about the wholeaccount we are going to study (1:2-2:1). There are not many details ofhow God created other than he spoke, nor does the text care much aboutthe raw materials or lack of materials that God used in manufacturing theworld. The focal point of Genesis 1 is on the design of the universe as putinto place by God. This is a description of God bringing the universe intoexistence, but more importantly of establishing roles and functions for theuniverse. He is giving it form, giving it direction. In writing Genesis 1, Mosesis not so concerned with God creating out of nothing, though places likeCol1:16-17 and Heb 11:3 are clear that this is true. In Genesis, the point has

everything to do with the fact that it is God who designed the universe andthe fact that when he was done creating, everything was good. And whenwe dive into the actual creation account, we will spend time exploringspecifically that word good because it is vital for the understanding whatGenesis 1 is teaching.

4. Heaven and earth

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This final phrase means the universe. The two words function together tocover all of the known cosmos.

Summary

In the preface we are told that what follows is an account of Gods initialactivity he designed the whole universe and set everything up with itspurpose and function. This is a testimony to the sovereignty of God that wewill study in great detail over these three weeks.

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Mindset of the Original Audience

Before moving on into the actual account, it will be very beneficial to have arudimentary grasp of how the original readers of Genesis thought of creationaccounts within their culture. Imagine you came from a culture that had no

poetry or poetic type imagery and you read the following from the Song ofSolomon (NET):

- 2:3 Like an apple tree among the trees of the forest, so is my belovedamong the young men. I delight to sit in his shade, and his fruit issweet to my taste.

- 2:8 Listen! My lover is approaching! Look! Here he comes, leaping overthe mountains, bounding over the hills!

- 4:1 Oh, you are beautiful, my darling! Oh, you are beautiful! Your eyesbehind your veil are doves. Your hair is a flock of female goatsdescending from Mount Gilead. 4:2 Your teeth are a flock of newly-shorn sheep coming up from the washing place; 4:3 Your lips are ascarlet thread; your mouth is lovely. Your forehead behind your veil isa slice of pomegranate. 4:4 Your neck is the tower of David built withcourses of stones;

- 5:10 My beloved . . . 5:11 His head is the most pure gold. His hair iscurly black like a raven. 5:12 His eyes are doves by streams of water,washed in milk, mounted like jewels. 5:13 His cheeks are garden bedsfull of balsam trees yielding perfume. His lips are lilies dripping withdrops of myrrh. 5:14 His arms are rods of gold set with chrysolite.

If you read these wrong, you get a very different message from the Song ofSolomon than the authored intended. In order to really grasp the intent ofthe author and of God we must read a text in the way it was intended to be

read.

Here is where science and our American views of life and the world asinfluenced by our culture and our country can steer us away from what Godconveyed to his people through this account. For many years now, thecreation-evolution debate has hijacked the creation account and violentlyinterrogated this beautiful description of Gods work in the universe until itsaid only what they so desperately wanted (even needed) it to say. If you

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came to this study hoping to find the answer to the scientific debate overhow life came into existence, you will leave disappointed because we are notgoing there.

Why? some might ask. Because by time we are done, I hope to convince

you that what Genesis 1 is teaching is much grander and more profoundthan the creation-evolution debate. If you want to know more about that,read some of the great intelligent design thinkers like Phillip Johnson, HughRoss, or Michael Behe. However, if you want to understand Genesis 1, thenforget about those things for a moment and let the text speak in the waythat it would have spoken to those early Jewish believers who first read itbecause the message of Genesis 1 is still very relevant today and still verydeep.

With that in mind, we need to spend a little time exploring the ancient worldbecause that will be a key to understanding Genesis 1. As Christians we

might be offended if someone called Genesis 1 a myth. When we think ofmyths, we might think of things like the ancient stories of Egyptian gods orGreek gods, stories that were nothing more than just that stories. Theywere not real. They are fiction that pre-enlightened man used to try andexplain those things he could not really understand. However, myths weremuch more than that. Listen to how John Walton describes myth:

Mythology in the ancient world was like science in our modern world it was their explanation of how the world came into being and how itworked. The gods had purposes, and their activities were the causesof what humans experienced as effects . . . mythology is thus a window

to a culture. It reflects the worldview and values of the culture thatforged it (The NIV Application Commentary: Genesis. 2001, 27).

The ancient creation stories were like reading the diary of a culture. In thesestories, the people found who they were in the universe: their place andpurpose in the universe. The creation myths served as the foundation fortheir identity. What we sometimes see are silly stories of gods fightingamong each other and doing ridiculous things, but what they saw was anexplanation for why they exist and how they are to live in and relate to theworld. Genesis served this same purpose for the Israelites.

Here is what I want to show you in our study:

a. This is not about how God created. The intention is not to somehowparallel the creation story of Genesis 1 with our understanding ofscience, nor should it cause us to reject science because we cannotseem to reconcile Genesis with science. In fact if you want to reallyunderstand Genesis 1, forget about science altogether!

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b. This is about God, his world, and humankind. This is about Gods placeand purpose in the world, mans place and purpose in the world, andthe original state of all creation. Remember creation stories wereabout identity and understanding life, not chemical reactions or DNA orempirical science.

Example

Caricature Drawings . . . if you complain that the drawing does notresemble you exactly, you have missed the point. That is what it is about.It is meant to be fun, to emphasize certain characteristics, to make peoplelaugh, not to exactly replicate the person being drawn. And no one isgoing to get upset that the picture is not a perfect match, because that isnot its purpose.

Summary: In order to understand Genesis, we must understand the purpose of

God through Moses in the writing of Genesis. It tells us more about identity thanscientific creation. This will surface both in the text, but also afterward as we

explore other ancient creation accounts that help us understand Genesis better.

Review So Far

1. There is a connection between the Hebrew account of the creation ofthe world in Genesis 1 and the other ancient creation accounts of thepeoples around the Hebrews. The importance of this will be fully

explored in week 3.2. Genesis 1 is not a scientific account of how the world came into being.

The descriptions we have in Genesis 1 are better understood along thesame lines as using the word sunrise. The purpose of Genesis ismuch greater than a scientific account. In this account we learn aboutGod, about man, and something profound about this universe.

3. Verse 1 serves as a kind of thesis statement that reveals to the readerwhat the rest of the chapter is about.

4. Chapter 1 boldly declares that this world was designed by God and God

alone. This verse might read: In the first phase of Gods work, hedesigned the world (see verses 1:2-2:1).

5. Chapter 1 emphasizes that everything was given purpose and functionand form by God so that everything was good.

Outline of 1:2-1:30

1. Condition before Design (1:2)

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2. The Design Process (1:3-1:30)

3. Condition before Design (1:31)

Condition before Design (1:2)

Now the earth . . .

1. without shape

2. empty

3. dark4. watery deep

but . . . the Spirit of God

1. Now the earth

The earth as it is called here is already present as is the water and the

darkness. The raw materials exist as our account begins. This should not

bother anyone. You can find other places that God is the creator of all things

as we have mentioned already in the notes along with a passage in Isaiah

that actually uses the Hebrew word translated in our text as without shape

(Is 45:18). In this Isaiah passage we get the kind of language I have been

using to describe what is happening in Genesis, but also the fact that God

created the original substance as well.

However, as I have tried to stress all along, our account is not really about

how the materials came into existence, but about the design. This will

become even more clear as we look at the next phrase and as we witness

each day of creation. Our account begins with the materials already there so

that we will focus not on the original creation of the stuff, but on the way in

which God in his sovereignty sets up his universe.

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2. Without shape and empty

Notice the condition. The description centers on the fact that this earth

has yet to be shaped and filled with life. It is simply a mass that exists

beneath the watery deep. However, these two descriptions form the

structure of the rest of the chapter and help us see the way in which Goddesigns the universe. It is the formless, empty world that God will design on

days 1-6.

Without Shape Empty

Day 1: Light Day 4: Luminaries

Day 2: Sea and Expanse Day 5: Birds and Fish

Day 3: Earth and Vegetation Day 6: Animals and Humans

Day 7: Holiness and Cessation

A last thing to note is that some have pointed out that this phrase withoutshape and empty appears one other time in the Old Testament: Jer 4:23.Here the phrase refers to back Genesis and means a judgment that returnscreation to its form before God deigned it.

3. Darkness

Before God begins his work of designing the universe, of giving it form andfilling it, there is not even light. The term is associated with somethingnegative at times in the Scriptures: Psalm 18:28; 82:5; Ecc 5:17; Is 5:20; Jere23:12). However, as I will argue as we go through the 6 days and as weparallel the ancient creation accounts later, in Genesis 1:2 we should notread anything evil into the word darkness. It is a state of the universe thatwill be changed by God into something good, but its lack of good is notbecause of the darkness itself. Darkness will remain throughout the entireaccount while without shape and empty will cease to exist. The problem isnot the darkness itself, but the lack of form and function. The darkness doesnothing. That is what God will fix.

4. Surface of the Watery Deep

This describes a salty ocean like substance. This is the abyss, the depths.The universe is nothing right now but deep, salty water with a land massunderneath it. It is also a Hebrew word that is very close to the Babylonianterm Tiamat.

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In the ancient world watery deep represented chaos and that which was outof control. In the other accounts, it is the watery deep (Tiamat) that must beconquered and subdued because order must be established, but herein lies ahuge difference between what Genesis does and what these other accountsdo: they personify the waters into a chaotic deity while Genesis presents a

calm scene that is simply without form and empty.5. Spirit of God

The word Spirit or ruah in Hebrew is also the word for wind, and sometranslate this as a great wind came over the surface of the water. There issome evidence to support this translation. In Genesis 8:1 the word ruah isused and is clearly a wind that God sends over the waters, but in our presentpassage, the modifier of ruah supports that it is better understood as theSpirit of God.

Ruah is modified by the word Elohim which can mean great or mighty,

but we just used the word to refer to God in the previous verse and there isno compelling reason to change a verse later. The close connection hereargues for Spirit of God rather than Mighty Wind.

However, we must not immediately jump to the conclusion then that theSpirit of God here is equivalent to the Holy Spirit. That may strike some as astrange comment. If this is the Spirit of God, how can it be anything otherthan the Holy Spirit? What do we mean by the Holy Spirit? As part of theTrinity, the Holy Spirit is a person, a he not an it and is his own person,but is in every way fully God. We say: three persons, one substance.When the Old Testament refers to Spirit of God, is it making reference to the

second person of the trinity? There are some good reasons to understandSpirit of God not as the precise equivalent of the Holy Spirit, but rather as anexpression like the hand of the Lord(Exo 9:3; Jud 2:15; Is 25:10).

What does that mean? The hand of the Lord is a phrase that conveysGods power. It is not a literal hand, but an expression that communicatesan extension of Gods strength and authority into a certain situation. Thismay be a better way of understanding Spirit of God in his instance. Here aresome reasons:

a. Much of the Old Testament will concentrate on convincing theIsraelites that there is 1 God. It would seem that it would simply

confuse the issue if God then revealed himself as really 2 persons andone essence. There are no instances in the Old Testament where theSon of God is clearly seen as a separate person of the Trinity. Thatwould mean that the Old Testament really taught not so much a trinityas a binity?

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b. It also seems clear from Jewish history and Christian history that theconcept of the trinity was new what I mean is that it takes thechurch hundreds of years to fully embrace the doctrine of the Trinitybecause it is not as clear as we know it today and the Jews neverbelieve anything like it. However, if there was already the concept of

the Holy Spirit as a separate person in the Old Testament, it wouldseem that accepting the Son as the third member of the Trinity wouldhave come a lot easier than it did.

c. The New Testament never affirms a role for the Holy Spirit in creation.In the creation texts it is the Son who creates, not the Holy Spirit.

d. The role of the Spirit of God in the Old Testament and the Holy Spirit in

the New Testament (also called the Spirit of God infrequently 11times) are different. In the Old Testament, the Spirit of God comes ona person and empowers (Exo 31:3; Numb 24:2; 1 Sam 11:6) while inthe New Testament the Holy Spirit indwells and while empowering, Healso regenerates, seals, guides, confirms, gives joy and peace, andmore.

This is not to deny that God has from eternity been Triune or to say that theHoly Spirit had no role in the Old Testament, only that we must be carefulnot to read our theological categories and Gods progressive revelation intothe Old Testament. The Spirit of God may be the equivalent of the Holy

Spirit, but there are good reasons to challenge this, and if the Spirit of God isnot the exact equivalent of the Holy Spirit that does not mean that the HolySpirit was not at work in the Old Testament or did not exist. It means onlythat within the strict monotheistic understanding of God in the OT theexpression Spirit of God would have been understood as an extension ofGods power, not a distinct person within the Trinity.

Summary: The earth was an unformed mass that had no life and no functionsunk beneath a watery deep, but the power of God hovered over the waters .. .

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Pattern

As we move into the individual days, let us consider and keep in mind thefollowing.

a. This is a high structured account. There is a distinct repetition of

words and ideas along with the driving structure of without shape andempty

Each day has the following components repeated

Title Recurring words

Power behind the design And God said

Command Let there be/let it be/let it bring

Report And it was so

Evaluation And God saw that it was good

Time Evening and morning . . .Day X

b. We are looking for the ways in which God forms and fills his world.

c. We are looking for the emphasis in the text upon the function that Goddesigns for everything in the universe.

There are two things to discuss concerning this first day: 1) the formula we

just previewed above and 2) what exactly is happening on this particular dayLets start with the formula which we will see on each day, but will take thetime just this once to unpack each element.

a. God Said: the power to do all that God is about to accomplish comessimply by Gods speech. This has even greater meaning whencompared with other creation accounts where the creative act comesthrough some sort of struggle or combat or a kind of sexual act. ForGod, it is the force of his word without any need for anything else.There is also a link to John 1:1 where Jesus is called the Word of Godand how the New Testament testifies clearly that all things were made

through Christ (John 1:3; Col 1:16-17). While this is not clear witnessfrom the perspective of the Old Testament to the nature of Christ, aswe learn of the creative actions of Christ in the NT, we can see aconnection between the way in which God creates in Genesis 1 and thetitle of Christ as the Word of God.

b. Let there be: The commands that God speaks also have no relationshipto conflict or sex or even to other deities. For God his commands are

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final and behind them is his power to bring to fruition the very thingshe is commanding to happen.

c. There was: Following the commands, Moses states the outcome. WhatGod commanded came about. Again, there is no conflict, no doubt,nothing that goes wrong. When God commands, the result isfulfillment of that command.

d. It was good: Seven times in this account an evaluation will be made.There are a few things we need to know about the evaluation:

a. It is always made by God. He is the one who has the authority tomake such evaluations, which will be important as we movethrough chapters 1-3. Also, we know that we can trust theevaluation because God made. Whatever he says of the world istrue. That will also be important as we move through chapters 1-3.

b. Good does not mean what you might think it means. This is notGood in the sense of Evil vs Good. The concern is not moral orethical good. Nor does it mean something like the phrase, Itsall good. This is an evaluation of the design that God has justcompleted. Remember the purpose of designing is to assignform and function. When God calls something Good, the focus ison the object rightly fulfilling its purpose, being rightly related toeverything else, providing for life. The good is that the withoutform and empty is being rectified with form, being filled, havingfunction and purpose so that life and beauty can exist.

b. Evening and morning, day X: We will wait to discuss this part becausethis does not happen until the first act of design takes place. Let usstudy that act of design and then we will return to the evening andmorning.

Days 1-3 Without Shape

In the first three days what has no shape will be formed. God will give theworld design. Each of the following will happen as Gods gives shape to theworld:

1. Time will come into existence along with the concept of sequence2. Regions for life will be designed: sky and land. When God begins, life

cannot exist because there is no form for it to exist on. Everything iswater.

3. Provision for life: one region will be shaped into a place of sustenance

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God is molding his world so that it will go from a lifeless, formless mass intoa glorious, living world that can fully support life.

Day 1 Light (1:3-5)

Keeping in mind the formulas used in this passage, let us press on to what

took place. This passage, like much in Genesis, seems to be very simple.Everything is dark. God then creates light. God evaluates the light assomething that is good. He then names the light day and calls thedarkness night

What is the light?

Everything is dark and then God creates light . . . is it a ball of light withinthe darkness? Is everything then light and no longer darkness? If we arespeaking in spatial terms, how much of the universe was dark and howmuch became light? Did God create at this moment actual light such as

we would define in physics? What is the source? A huge lamp? A fire?There is no sun.

God calls the light day

Why does he name the light day and yet not call light day for the restof the OT? What do I mean? God calls or names the light day.Whatever it is that he created at this moment is best described by theword day. God made something then said, I will call that thing I justdesigned day.

When I see light from say a flashlight or a ceiling fan in my room, I call it

light, not day. In the rest of the OT when the Hebrew term for light isused, it is just that, light. They do not call the light from a fire by theword day. Here is the point: God is looking at something and he thissomething by the word day. Well, what is it that he is looking at? Itcannot just be light because not all light is day. You can have light inwhen it is nighttime (i.e. a candle, a fire, etc). So, what is God looking at?Remember this whole account is not so much about the materials of thecreation of things, but the design of the universe. And in the first part heis rectifying the situation that there is no shape. What God sees is aperiod of light and a period of darkness he is here establishing not lightin the sense of a physics, but the period of light we call day and then the

period of darkness we call night.

God designs time, sequence, and order

In the first act of creation God is designing time and sequence and orderin the universe. It will run on periods of time where there is light and thendarkness. And that is how God wants His universe to run. He says thisset up is good or proper.

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This also fits with what will happen on day 4 when the luminaries areplaced in the sky, which we will cover when we reach that day. You maythink How can you have day and night without the sun and the moon oreven light without the sun? I will explain that when we reach Day 4.

This all leads to another issue: what about the last part of the repeatedformulas? We must cover 2 issues here: 1) what do evening andmorning refer to and 2) how long is a day?

First, there could not be the last repeated formula without the design ofdaylight and nighttime. At the end of each where God designs, Genesisreads, there was evening and there was morning, making the ____ day.With the design of time and a way of marking time as the first act, God nowuses that to sequence the rest of the design acts. Now that there is a dayand a night, he will work within those time frames throughout the rest ofcreation.

However, we must be careful as we read what the text says. Notice thewords: evening and morning. These are different words than night and day.Night and day are both approximately 12 hour periods that make up a 24hour period of a single day. That is not the language in Genesis 1. WhatGenesis says is that there is evening and then morning. How long are thosetime periods? In the Old Testament evening was the time that the sun wentdown and morning was the time that sun came up. So our text is notspeaking of long periods of time, but really more of almost of moments. Thefocus is on the change from dark to light, which before this point had neverhappened. Remember, that God called the light day.

So what is going on? This designation is not really about a 24 hour period.The point is for the first time ever, there is shift from dark to light (eveningwhere there is no light to morning where there is). Another way of sayingday 1 would be the first period of light. Throughout the rest of the account,the point is time is working as God designed it. There was a period wherethere was no light, but God created a period for light that he called day and aperiod of darkness that he called night. Now in an orderly and consistentway, there is a period of dark (when the light fades, evening) and then aperiod of light (when the dark fades).

Second, how long is the total period of a day in Genesis? Is it a 24 hours? Is

it a period of years? Should we see each day as a millions of years long sothat Genesis would fit with science?

Arguments for a longer than 24 hour period

a. Psalm 90:4; 2 Peter 3:8

b. The word can be used like in the phrase in that day (Is 2:20) whichdoes not take the word day in a literal 24 hour sense

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c. It fits better with modern science

Arguments for a literal 24 hour period

a. Any time the Hebrew word yom or day is used with a numberelsewhere it means a 24 hour period (Gen 22:4; Exo 12:16; Lev 19:7)

b. The Decalogue bases the teaching of the Sabbath on the six days ofcreation

c. From the 4th day on there are seasons and years, normal reckoning oftime

d. If the point of the evening and morning reckoning is accurate as I haveargued, then there is no room for more than a normal day because theevening, morning indicator speaks of the alternating periods of darkand light as they transition from sunset to sunrise. In this case, to readanything about a million years per day would be utterly foreign to thetext itself.

e. There is only one reason this is even a debate. If one assumes thatGenesis records a scientific account of how God created the universe,then one must also attempt to correlate what is said in Genesis withwhat is known through science. However, if that is not the purpose ofGenesis 1, then it does not matter and we can read the text as it mostnaturally reads.

Day 2 Sky (1:6-8)

When this day opens, the success of the previous day is manifest in the veryreckoning of time; however, the world is still nothing but a mass beneath thewatery abyss. God now designs the first region that will support life in thisnew world: the sky.

The Expanse

Much has been written and debated concerning the nature of the expansein this passage. Perhaps the most creative comes out of the creation sciencemovement that has argued for many years that this was some form ofcanopy or firmament that protected the world from the effects of the sun sothat people could live much longer and the flood was a result of the collapse

of this firmament. There is one problem with this understanding: it offers apossible scientific explanation for the long ages of people in Genesis, butfinds no support whatsoever from the rest of the Scripture or the culture.

Lets back up and make two observations:

a. Everything we are going to talk about is from the perspective of theviewer, not the telescope or the scientific method. This does not make

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it wrong. Here what I mean: how many of you refer to the sun rising orsetting? Yet, that is not what happens technically. We use languagefrom our perspective to describe an event that is actually not what wecall it. The earth is rotating, not the sun rising. However, that doesntbother anyone I know. It is called phenomenological language. It is

language that defines what is seen from the perspective of the viewerirrespective of the truth. Everything we are reading here comes fromthat perspective because that is the only perspective they know.

b. Keeping that in mind, on a nice clear day when you look up, what doyou see? There is a blue dome. Look from one side of the landscapeto the other and it will seem as if you are looking at a dome coveringthe earth. And why is it blue? Well, what else is blue and so huge youcannot see the end of it? And what falls out of the sky? Water . . . thisis how the ancient understood the universe. There was a dome thatkept the water up above the world from crashing down into it. And

most creation stories explain it like this.The Sky

Now look at our text. Everything is water. So God creates this expanse anddivides the waters so that there are now two bodies of water, one below theexpanse and one above it. This is the same picture that one would getreading any ancient creation account. However, the key here is when Godcalls the expanse sky. Again, the point is not that he just created sky outof thin air (no pun intended), but that he is designing the world and hissecond act of design is to create a space where life can exist. He designsthe heavens or the skies.

One thing is missing from this account. There is no evaluation at the end.This is the only day where God does not come to the conclusion andpronounce that it is good. There could be any number of reasons for this.

a. This part of the design, forming habitable regions is not complete untilthe 3rd day. Perhaps until that was complete it was not yet good. Ifthis is true, it also suggests that there is a close connection betweensky and land such that only together are they good.

b. Moses purposefully used certain numbers that were important and thenumber 7, a holy number and in order to make sure there that the

evaluation came out to seven times, he skipped one.

c. Maybe God just doesnt like Mondays : )

The best answer is letter (a).

Day 3 Land (1:9-13)

Regions of life

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As day 3 opens, God continues his design for life by making a place now forlife to exist on the land. By the mighty power of his word, he moves theoceans back and sets boundaries for them so that dry land can exist. At thesame time he designates the waters as something new as well. The lightwas not just light, but a period of time where light shown and dark did not

(daylight) the expanse was more than a barrier dividing the waters, butwas also a livable region for air creatures (sky) the ground is more than amass of earth that is dry, but is a habitable region for walking creatures(land) the water that is gathered together is more than a mass of water,but is a habitable region for swimming creates (sea) each one God names,and for each one the purpose or function of the design is what it important.They all help support life.

We run into another element at verse 11 that is different. In days 1 and 2God designed only one thing, but now he is designing two at the same time.Likely this has to do with keeping the parallel with day 6, where there are

also 2 designs, and on day 6 it is very important that there are 2 designs sothat humans are separated from animals, which we will discuss more oncewe get there.

Vegetation

Another reason behind this is the Israelite view of vegetation. Vegetation isstill part of forming not filling because it is not separate life from theenvironment, but part of that life, so it makes sense that it would be part ofthe first series of days that deal with giving shape or form.

It is also the final part of designing habitable living regions. At this point

every living creature will be a vegetarian. What God is creating is the foodsource that is the final part of providing for life. When day 4 comes, therewill be time, regions to be filled, and provision for life to exist in thoseregions.

One note about the vegetation: God created them to be self-replicating.After all they are the food source for the living creatures. But how does thevegetation survive? They produce seeds that then produce new vegetation.It is a system that allows the vegetation to provide the needed provision forthe living creatures without the need for a source of food for the vegetation.

Day 4 Filling light and dark (1:14-19)

God has now designed or given form to the formless world and beginning onday four he is filling that world, though there is still a focus on the functionsof much of what God fills the empty world with. On this forth day, God isfilling the light he designed on the first day. That may sound strange. Howdo you fill light? But it will become clear as we explain. There are two thingsto be observed: what God created and what he designed that for.

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The Function

a. They separate day from night, not just a period of light and a period ofdark, but now these objects serve to define those periods as night timeand day time. As supervising day and night, these luminaries assurethe division between light from darkness. It should be noted that whilethese bodies give off light, they are not the only sources of light. Inthe ancient world there would be light without the sun (dusk forinstance where one cannot see the sun, but it is still light and not fullydark).

b. They are signs. When we have major celestial events such as aneclipse it can reveal something about God or what God is doing.Throughout the bible during times especially of judgment, the heavensbecome signs of Gods presence and power.

c. They designate times to celebrate religious festivals and agricultural

cycles, what the text calls seasons. The emphasis in the ancient worldwould not be so much that they tell us it is Fall or Summer, but that weknow when to celebrate our festivals and to plant and harvest.

d. Finally, they also indicators of the lunar months and solar year. Theygive us a calendar to run life by.

Filling the Light

On this day, the emphasis is not on filling the expanse, but rather filling thedaylight and dark-light as the purposes of these demonstrate. The sun,moon, and stars preside over the day and night. That is their connection is

more to the shaping done in days 1-3 rather than to their place in theexpanse. They are in the expanse, but only to govern the periods of lightand dark and to add their light to the light and dark.

The Polemic

God spoke the sun, moon, and the stars into being and then placed them inthe expanse. Moses was very careful with his wording here. Stars wereconsidered gods in most ancient cultures as was the sun and the moon.Moses places the creation of the stars last instead of first as it is in othercreation accounts and calls the sun and moon greater and lesser lights

instead of the more familiar sun and moon because those terms would soundtoo much like the ancient deities. They are also created objects, not eternalbeings. And while they are made in order to rule over the night, they arealso servants to humankind in their function, not gods who rule over people.Finally, they are under the complete dominion of God who makes them andplaces them and determines their function. It is very polemical language.

Fifth Day Filling the expanse and the seas (1:20-23)

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Swarms

On day 2, God designed the expanse and the waters and now will fill them.The text contains a number of interesting details and first time occurrenceswithin the actual creation portion of the text (1:3-2:1). It begins generically

with the creation of those creatures that live in the seas and of birds that flyin the expanse. In both cases, the Hebrew describes swarms of creatures inthe water and in the air. God is filling those regions with life.

Create

In verse 21, we have the first use of the Hebrew word create sincesummary in verse 1. He began by summarizing all of the chapter 1 as Godcreating the heavens and the earth and now in verse 21 for the first timeMoses employs that word again and he uses to describe the making of thegreat sea creatures. This is not the word for whale or shark or some other

large creature we know of, but rather means serpent of large sea monsterlike the leviathan (Ps 74:13-14; Is 27:1). This is another important elementin the polemic against the other creation accounts because in every culturethere is the giant sea monster, the chaos creature of the sea, but in theHebrew account this creature is not an uncontrolled all-powerful being, but iscreated by God and under his sovereign control as are all the creatures inthe seas.

First Times

On this day we see the first time God talks to anyone and the first time God

blesses (and it is not humanity). He has been proclaiming his will out loud(God said . . .), but never to another party. Here we have him speaking tothe creatures he has made, commanding them, designating what they willdo. However, before he gives them their place, he first blesses them so thatthey can fulfill his design and command to multiply and fill the world God haddesigned.

Day 6 Filling the land (1:24-31)

Day six coincides with day 3 where the land was designed. On day 6 thatland is filled, but we also reach the high point of the creation account with

the second act of day 6. Just as there were two acts of forming on day 3, sothere are two acts of filling on day 6.

Land Dwellers

God begins by calling forth all creatures of the land except humans. Thecategories are not the scientific ones we use to define various creatures suchas phyla or species, but what appear to be domesticated animals, animals

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near to or on the ground, and wild animals. There is no blessing offered hereand no explanation, though there is also no command to multiply andreproduce. That may mean that the blessing and command carries over toall living creatures, except man who gets his own. It could mean that sinceonly birds are in the air and only sea creatures are in the water, neither a

place where humans will live and multiple that these those living in theseregions have more room to grow. We get no reason stated.

The us in this passage

Verse 26 brings us to the pinnacle of the creation, which we will argue for atthe end of the exegesis. It begins with a controversial statement: let us.Who is the us in this passage? The following are all options:

a. It is the remaining vestige of pluralism that was part of the earlyHebrew religion. This position while popular in some more liberal

circles is not well defended because so much of the Old Testament isabout Israel having only 1 God. Even if an early version containedsomething that hinted at a past where polytheism was part of theIsraelite religion, it surely would have been removed by Moses whoclearly understood that Israel only has one God.

b. God is speaking to the earth which he makes man out of. This is alsonot defensible as it flies in the face of everything Moses has beendoing to show that the creation is not to be deified or thought of asliving in the same way that humanity is. The sun, moon, and starswere labeled in such a way as to keep anyone from viewing them asdivine. If God is speaking to the earth and collaborating with the earth,

it would fly in the face of that thought.c. Some have thought of it as a plural of majesty or a plural of self-

deliberation, or simply a plural to agree with the subject Elohim whichis plural as noted in verse 1. However, none of these can be supportedthroughout Scripture with any kind of consistency.

d. Some have argued that this represents some kind of heavenly courtwhich we do see elsewhere in Scripture (1 Kings 22:19-22; Isa 14:13;Job 1).

e. Christians have long posited that this is the Trinity. The problem hereis the author and the readers certainly did not have that mind. Thistext meant something to them and we want to know what that

something is, but the Trinity clearly was not. Also, the NT as it speaksof Father, Son and Holy Spirit, never speaks of this passage inTrinitarian terms.

So, what is the answer? I do not know. So lets move on.

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There are a number of things that make this particular creation stand outfrom the rest.

a. This is the only time that anything is designated as made in the imageof God (we will discuss this in detail later on). Its significance cannotbe overlooked as the text states it multiple times in a row. While theluminaries were to preside or govern light and dark, only humans aregiven dominion over all living things. This has some relationship tobeing made in the image of God. Humans are made in the image ofGod so that they might rule in Gods place. This is not over God or inplace of God because he is somehow incapable, but he makes themlike him so that he can assign them the role of ruling over the creationhe designed.

b. This is also the first creation to be specified as male and female. He

made male and female of other creatures, but only humans are spokenof in this way.c. There is again a blessing given and it is related to procreation. Just as

with the birds and the fish, God blesses humankind and then tells themto multiple and fill the earth.

d. They are given a second command: along with God who is filling theempty world, so too humans are to fill up the land.

e. Every living thing is vegetarian. No one eats meat. The vegetationwas created so that it could be the never end food source for the lifethat would come next.

f. Finally, he concludes with a special evaluation: it was very good.

Everything about this day, especially the later creation act conveysimportance. However to fully embrace just how deep the meaning is weneed to look deeper into both the parallels between the creation accountsand the meaning of image of God.

Summary: In six days God designed a world from a shapeless mass andfilled a world that was once empty. With everything God did, he gave itpurpose. God is the one alone who designed and set up this universe to runas it is running today.

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The Connection to Other Ancient Creation Accounts

Now that you understand Genesis 1 better and know what is happening, weneed to see how this parallels other creation accounts. This is important

because there are enough similarities between Genesis and other creationnarratives that it cannot be coincidence and we must take the parallels intoaccount when trying to understand Genesis 1. What do I mean?

Illustration

You may recall that during presidential elections, Saturday Night Livealways does these skits playfully mocking those running for office.Anyone who was paying attention during the actual debates betweenthe candidates often finds what SNL does hilarious; however, this isonly true when you recognize the parallels between the characters on

SNL and the candidates they are portraying. It is the parallels betweenthem that makes the skits work.

In the ancient world there were a number of explanations for creation,a number of creation myths. What is so amazing is how much they allshared in common and more importantly the parallels between theseaccounts and Genesis. The information between the various stories isso similar that it is virtually impossible that there is no relationshipbetween them.

Let us go back to the SNL skits for a moment. Is there anyone who

watched those and saw the great way that Tina Fey portrayed SarahPalin that thought it was just a coincidence, that Tina Fey justhappened to do her hair like Palin, happened to have the mannerismsof Palin, happened to talk like Palin . . . no the parallels between themare so stark that we know that Tina Fey was copying Palin.

Even more than that, the funny parts are where she overemphasizedsomething about Palin that our attention is drawn to because we knowabout Palin. Without our prior knowledge

Some of what we read in the ancient creation accounts is so similar to

Genesis 1 that most scholars believe there is a connection between thesestories. I want to show you some of the parallels because it is in the parallelsthat we find the depth of meaning in Genesis 1.

Of the various accounts, perhaps the closest to our own is that of theBabylonian myth called the Enuma Elish

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This Babylonian epic explains how the world began. Listen and seewhat you think. Before the heavens and the earth existed, there wasonly water. The water was known as Apsu and Tiamat, male andfemale waters. From the mingling of these two waters, the gods weregiven birth. Over time, these new gods gave birth to gods until there

was a good size population of gods. However, the younger godsbecame too noisy and rambunctious. It disturbed Apsu and Tiamatwho decided to destroy the gods. There plan was thwarted by Ea, theall-wise god. So, Tiamat sought revenge and prepared to attack thegods. The gods gathered together and requested that Marduk leadtheir fight against Tiamat. He agreed if he would be made thesupreme ruler, and all the gods agreed. He fought her and defeatedher. He slew her, separated her in half and made the top half of herthe firmament of heaven and the bottom half the foundation of theearth. Then Marduk established the luminaries and placed them in thesky. And he continues to organize the cosmos. He eventually created

man in order to free the gods from their need to work. The gods weretired of labor, so man was created as a slave to do their labor.

Lets consider the parallels between the Enuma Elish, other Mesopotamianaccounts, Egyptian accounts, and Genesis.

As in Genesis 1, the Enuma Elish began with just water; the water wasseparated into a firmament above and below; luminaries were then placed inthe sky; the rest of the cosmos is organized; and man is created last.

Without detailing other accounts, we find in both Egyptian and

Mesopotamian creation stories the following parallels with Genesis 1:Water/darkness/chaos at the beginning; Separation of waters at beginning;the image of God; a specific role for humans; and the same basic materialhumans are made out of.

Here is what I am saying. All over the ancient world, you would have foundcreation accounts that shared many details in common and Genesis wouldbe one of these. The amount of overlapping material highly suggests that itwas not a coincidence.

The real key however is not in the similarities, but in the differences. When you

really catch someones attention is when you make an alteration to the expectedtext.

Illustration God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten daughter

that whoever should believe in her might have eternal life -- we all know

that text; many have it memorized and when it begins you expect to hear a

certain thing. Now, where did your attention immediately go when I said that

verse?

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Anyone reading through the Genesis account would have tracked through much of

it because God chose to reveal himself and his relationship to creation in language

that everyone knew, and then made his points through the differences. That is

what we need to pay attention to. God was not interested in telling the ancient

Hebrews or us today the scientific way in which he created the world. He wanted to

tell us something much grander than that.

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How are the accounts different?

a. No explanation for the origin of YHWHb. No mention of other gods and no conflict or challenge to YHWHs powerc. YHWH controls every element of the universe and determines its functiond. Man is made not as a slave to do what the gods do not want to do, but made

in the image of God in order to rule over Gods creation

The following three items are main points of Genesis 1 and will explored in somedetail:

a. Genesis 1 boldly declares that God is all powerful and distinct from creation,and he alone is creator not gods like Marduk

b. Genesis 1 teaches that man is at the pinnacle of Gods creation, the onlycreated entity to be made in Gods image and the only one made to rule.Man thus has an inherent dignity.

c. Genesis 1 makes clear that God created everything good and all is underGods control

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- He had no beginning. He does not grow or age. To ask how oldGod is makes no sense. He is no older now than he was one yearago because the notion of time does not apply to him. Infinityplus one is not greater than infinity. God is said to currentlyexist in the past, present, and future all at the same time. He is

unbound by the concept of time. He will never cease to be. Godsees all of time all the time.

- However, God is aware of time and acts in time. He is alsoaware of durational sequence within his own thoughts andactions. To say that God is not bound or affected by time is notto deny that God did 1 action and then another at least from atime-bound perspective. This does not mean that God arrived ateach thought chronologically or did each action chronologicallyfrom his perspective. In fact, we have no parallel to help us

conceive of Gods relationship to durational action within himself.Knowledge (omniscience; 1 Sam 2:3; 16:7; Job 37:16; Ps 33:13; 94:9-11;

139:1-4, 15-16; Pro 8:22-23, 27-30; 15:3; Is 40:13-14, 27-28; 46:10; Rom

16:27; He 4:13; 1 John 3:20)

- At every moment, God knows of everything that ever was, nowis, and ever shall be.

- It is not just that he knows everything. It is that he is fully awareof everything equally and never forgets any of it. Heexhaustively knows all things at all times for all time. Godlikewise fully and exhaustively knows himself, an infinite being.

- God cannot learn and has never learned. None of theinformation that God knows did he ever not know. Beforecreation was, he knew already it would be. If God wanted to tellus the number of grains of sand on a certain beach or allbeaches, he would not quickly count them all up. He knows

them exactly second to second.

- He does not reason to a conclusion or ponder facts before heknows the answer. He simply knows the answer, and he knewand knows the answer before the question was posed. He knewthe question before the question was posed.

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- God judges all things exactly as they should be judged becausehe is aware perfectly of all the facts all the time even before thefacts became facts through our actions, and there can never beadditional information added to what God already knows. Godplaces value on everything exactly as it should be valued.

Power (omnipotence; Gen 17:1; 18:14; Ps 115:3; Jer 32:17, 26-27; Mat 19:26;

Luke 1:34, 37; Eph 1:19-20; Rev 19:6)

- God is able to do all things proper and consistent with his beingand is subject to no person or law outside of himself. God haspower over everything in creation at all times.

- God never exercises any more or any less power to accomplishanything that he does. It is improper to speak of effort whenreferring to Gods exercise of power because God can neverexhaust his power, tire from using his power, or use any morepower to do any act than any other act since this would implythat at some point there would be an act that would be too muchfor God to do.

- He can bring something into existence from nothing. AnythingGod wills to do, God can do.

- This does not mean that God can do anything. What? He cannotdo what is ontologically or ethically contrary to his own nature.(Ontology deals with the nature of existence.) For example, hecannot lie (Heb 6:17-18); he cannot break his promise (2 Cor1:20); he cannot change (Num 23:19; 1 Sam 15:29; Heb 13:8).

- Secondly, he cannot do that which is irrational, self-contradictoryor non-sensible such as make 2 plus 2 = 5; make two adjacentmountains without a valley in between; make a stone too heavyfor him to lift; make a four cornered triangle, etc This does notlimit his power because these irrationalities belong to the domainof logic, not power.

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God is more than we can perceive, understand, figure out, or appreciatefully. What we know of God is not by true analogy or parallel in anywaybecause there is nothing that we directly experience that parallels God. Heis unique.

These different qualities of Gods existence are part of what we mean whenwe speak of Gods transcendence. To be transcendent means to be above orpreeminent. When speaking of God it refers to his complete separatenessfrom all of creation. He is above, beyond, supreme over all of existence.Nothing in creation including the most powerful creature, the largest planet,or even time itself is above God.

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Made In the Image of God

Man is made in the image and likeness of God. What does this mean?

It should be noted that it is an extremely important concept because it

differentiates man from the rest of creation. The other living creatures arenot made in the image of God and are made according to their kinds, not

according to or like God. That is the unique privilege of man. However, the

image is never precisely defined in scripture so we should take caution about

being too specific in our definition of what it means for man to be in the

image of God. We need to understand what an idol is to understand this

better.

Image is not physical representation (Ex 20:4; Dt 4:15-17; Is 46:4-7). God

does not resemble anything in creation (including man) and no one but

Christ has ever seen God, so we do not know what God looks like, but weknow it is like nothing in the created world.

Idols were described as images. This meant not that the idol was a god, but

that the full essence of the god resided in the idol; therefore, the god would

work through that idol. The idol could not do all that the god could do, but

the god could exercise his or her power through the idol.

To understand the concept of image of God is to answer this question: can

God be seen in me? Man was made to reflect God, made in the image and

likeness of God. This does not mean he looks like God physically, it means

that the life he leads should reflect God in the following ways:

Man is told to reproduce. Man can give life in a way similar to how Godgives life, though of course with distinctions. When we obey the divinemandate to reproduce and we create a life with a soul, we representGod. One scholar has even said For believers, childbirth is as act ofworship, a sharing of the work of God, the one who created life (AllenRoss, Creation and Blessing, 113).

Man is told to rule. In other ancient societies, kings were consideredmade in the image of God, but no one else was. In the Biblicalimagery, all man is royal and has the privilege of ruling over Godscreation. This aspect of being made in Gods image entails at least thefollowing things:

o Care for Gods earth, even responsibility for earth and creatureso Creating order, harmony, and goodness out of chaos, war, and

evil

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Man was created holy. We were created as set apart and perfect inmoral standing before God, even in relationship with God. This hasbeen defaced in the Fall. We still reflect Gods image, but not to

fullness that Adam and Eve did, nor as we will once we are fullyredeemed.

It may also signify the following, but this is partly conjectured:

Spirituality: God is spirit. As far as we know, only humans have spirits.

Rationality: God has the capacity for wisdom and understanding andlogic, which belong to man alone, not animals

Morality: God is holy, perfectly good. Only man can make moraldecisions. Animals cannot. This would include the idea of conscience

What does this mean? We have a both a privilege and responsibility torepresent God on earth. When kings ruled foreign lands it was notuncommon to set up an image of the king in that land in order to showauthority and remind the people of who is the real ruler. God has done asimilar thing in us. We are the statues that God has placed all around theearth to show his authority and remind people of who truly rules the world.

As Gods representatives, Gods images, we are called to:

1. To treat one another as image bearers (Gen 9:6; James 3:9). Weshould not ever see one another as anything less than another imagebearer. There is something greater than our likes and dislikes or ourprejudices or our clichs when it comes to other human beings. We allbear the image of God and when you or I treat another human beingwith anything less than the dignity deserved by one who bears theimage of God, we are being sacrilegious and showing disrespect toGod.

2. To think and reason as image bearers (Eph 4:17-5:1). We do not havethe right to give in to our corrupted reason. Because of the fall, we aresinful, which has affected the very way that we reason about people,situations and life. We have a responsibility to fight against ourcorrupt reason. To think differently. To reason as God reasons byvaluing what God values and learning how God thinks.

3. To take responsibility for standing up to evil and bringing it under thedominion of the king we represent, to be holy in all our actions. When

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we allow others to be treated poorly even harshly and when we donothing for the poor and hurting, we are neglecting our duties asrepresentatives of God

4. To care for this creation as image bearers.

Conclusions

1. Christ is the full and complete image of God (2 Cor 4:4; Phil 2:6; Col1:15; Heb 1:3). Christ is everything that God is. The full glory of Godcan be seen in Christ. He treated people as God would treat them. Hethought and reasoned as God thinks and reasons. He stood up to eviland was holy in all his ways. He reflected God in every way (John14:9).

2. Gods goal is that we would become like Christ (Rom 8:29; Eph 4:24).We were originally created in Gods image and still bear that image.However, it was never to the fullness that Christ bears the image ofGod and after the Fall that image has been defaced, marked up, anddamaged by sin. But we are being renewed in the image of God (Col3:10) and are on a course to become like Christ (Rom 8:29).

3. Our responsibility is clear. We are image bearers of the Most High Godand have a privilege and a responsibility to live out that calling. Weare also aware that God is remaking us, fixing us, bringing back tobeing closer and closer to his image in Christ. We can fight this orembrace it. We can become what God made us to be or we can backdown and settle for something far less.

4. Can God be seen in you? Does the way you treat others, the way youreason about situations, the motives you have, the way you treat theearth, the poor, the hurting, do these thing reflect the God you standfor, the image you were made in and are being renewed in?

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Everything God Made Was Good

What was the world like when God first made it? Was it different from how it

is now on the other side of the Fall? In the following we will explore some of

the characteristics of a world that has not been around for a very long time.

Our study comes from Genesis 1 and 2, the only chapters in the Bible wherewe see a pre-Fallen world.

1. Order: a condition in which each thing is properly disposed withreference to other things and to its purpose; methodical or harmoniousarrangement

God overcame the chaos of the unformed world and put everything inorder. Everything was as it should be. The world was designed andrunning as it should. All living creatures were in their place and in rightrelationship with one another. The world was a place of harmony.

God separated the light from the darkness God made the expanse and separated the water under the

expanse from the water above it Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place and let dry

ground appear Let the land produce vegetation: plants yielding seeds according to

their kinds, and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to theirkinds

Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate the day

from the night, and let them be signs to indicate seasons and daysand years, and let them serve as lights in the expanse of the sky togive light on the earth

2. Peace: a state of mutual harmony between people or groups, esp. inpersonal relations; cessation of or freedom from any strife ordissension; a state of tranquility or serenity; stillness

It is not only that everything was rightly related and functioning in itproper way, but also that harmony existed between man and man andbetween man and animal. There was no jealously, no greed, no envy,

and no war. Each living being experienced a freedom from strife fromwithin and without. Self doubt and pride were unknown in the world ofman. People had peace with one another and with themselves. Therewas a serenity to life.

God blessed them and said to them, Be fruitful and multiply! Fillthe earth and subdue it! Rule over the fish of the sea and the birdsof the air and every creature that moves on the ground. 1:29 ThenGod said, I now give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of

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the entire earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. Theywill be yours for food. 1:30 And to all the animals of the earth, andto every bird of the air, and to all the creatures that move on theground everything that has the breath of life in it I give everygreen plant for food.

The Lord God took the man and placed him in the orchard inEden to care for it and to maintain it The man and his wife were both naked, but they were notashamed

3. Beauty: the quality present in a thing or person that gives intensepleasure or deep satisfaction to the mind, whether arising fromsensory manifestations (as shape, color, sound, etc.), a meaningfuldesign or pattern, or something else

Everything God made was good. The garden and the trees he made

for man were pleasing to look at and good for food. It was a world ofmajesty, of splendor, a world of beauty. There was beauty in theobjects God had made and beauty in the relationships between theobjects God had made. Each thing fulfilled its purpose.

God saw all that he had made and it was very good! The Lord God planted an orchard in the eas t, in Pleasure (Eden);

and there he placed the man he had formed The Lord God made all kinds of trees grow from the soil, every tree

that was pleasing to look at and good for food.

Conclusion

YHWH, not Marduk, not evolution, not the any other force or entity in all theworld is responsible for our existence and for the way in which our universeis put together. There is nothing in the entire universe that compares withthe creator. He is distinct, yet intimately involved. He showed is power byspeaking into existence all that is, but giving this world form and function, byfilling it it is all by his Word and it is all held together by his Word.

God is not distant. This is his world. Even today this world is run by him andhim alone.

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genesis 1 - full notes

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