From the Beginning
Genesis 1:1-2:4 May 22, 2005
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
[2] The earth was empty, a formless mass cloaked in darkness. And the Spirit of God was hovering over its surface. [3] Then God said, "Let there be light," and there was light. [4] And God saw that it was good. Then he separated the light from the darkness. [5] God called the light "day" and the darkness "night." Together these made up one day.
[6] And God said, "Let there be space between the waters, to separate water from water." [7] And so it was. God made this space to separate the waters above from the waters below. [8] And God called the space "sky." This happened on the second day.
[9] And God said, "Let the waters beneath the sky be gathered into one place so dry ground may appear." And so it was. [10] God named the dry ground "land" and the water "seas." And God saw that it was good. [11] Then God said, "Let the land burst forth with every sort of grass and seed-bearing plant. And let there be trees that grow seed-bearing fruit. The seeds will then produce the kinds of plants and trees from which they came." And so it was. [12] The land was filled with seed-bearing plants and trees, and their seeds produced plants and trees of like kind. And God saw that it was good. [13] This all happened on the third day.
[14] And God said, "Let bright lights appear in the sky to separate the day from the night. They will be signs to mark off the seasons, the days, and the years. [15] Let their light shine down upon the earth." And so it was. [16] For God made two great lights, the sun and the moon, to shine down upon the earth. The greater one, the sun, presides during the day; the lesser one, the moon, presides through the night. He also made the stars. [17] God set these lights in the heavens to light the earth, [18] to govern the day and the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. [19] This all happened on the fourth day.
[20] And God said, "Let the waters swarm with fish and other life. Let the skies be filled with birds of every kind." [21] So God created great sea creatures and every sort of fish and every kind of bird. And God saw that it was good. [22] Then God blessed them, saying, "Let the fish multiply and fill the oceans. Let the birds increase and fill the earth." [23] This all happened on the fifth day.
[24] And God said, "Let the earth bring forth every kind of animal—livestock, small animals, and wildlife." And so it was. [25] God made all sorts of wild animals, livestock, and small animals, each able to reproduce more of its own kind. And God saw that it was good.
[26] Then God said, "Let us make people in our image, to be like ourselves. They will be masters over all life—the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, and all the livestock, wild animals, and small animals."
[27] So God created people in his own image;
God patterned them after himself;
male and female he created them.
[28] God blessed them and told them, "Multiply and fill the earth and subdue it. Be masters over the fish and birds and all the animals." [29] And God said, "Look! I have given you the seed-bearing plants throughout the earth and all the fruit trees for your food. [30] And I have given all the grasses and other green plants to the animals and birds for their food." And so it was. [31] Then God looked over all he had made, and he saw that it was excellent in every way. This all happened on the sixth day.
[2:1] So the creation of the heavens and the earth and everything in them was completed. [2] On the seventh day, having finished his task, God rested from all his work. [3] And God blessed the seventh day and declared it holy, because it was the day when he rested from his work of creation.
[4] This is the account of the creation of the heavens and the earth.
Through much of my life, I have felt I needed to fight a battle over these words. I have argued for 7 24 hour days of creative work. When that clearly did not fit what I could see around my, I tried to find a new way to defend God and suggested they were 7 periods of time of unknown duration. I thought I needed to defend the creative power of God. I thought I needed to explain the creative power of God. But you know what, the creative power of God does not need my defense or my explanation.
In other stories of creation, the gods create people either as an accident, or vengence, or even as entertainment for the animals. However, the account of creation that we have here, is amazingly different from the others. In this text we learn about God.
This passage of scripture that opens Bible as we have it today is an introduction to our God and an introduction to humanity. And this morning I want to share some of the truths that are revealed here.
First, God is not content to just exist. Certainly, our God who lives beyond our constraints could have simply chosen to continue to exist. There was nothing that demanded creation, except that God was not content to simply be. God is a creative God and so, in the beginning God created. By nature, God does new things. Psalm 33:6 says:
By the word of the LORD were the heavens made,
their starry host by the breath of his mouth.
Only God knows precisely what happened at the moment of creation, but physicists are beginning to get a clearer picture, as described by writer Bill Bryson:
In a single blinding pulse, a moment of glory much too swift and expansive for any form of words, the [universe] assumes heavenly dimensions, space beyond conception. In the first lively second (a second that many cosmologists will devote careers to shaving into ever-finer wafers) is produced gravity and the other forces that govern physics. In less than a minute the universe is a million billion miles across and growing fast. There is a lot of heat now, ten billion degrees of it, enough to begin the nuclear reactions that create the lighter elements—principally hydrogen and helium, with a dash (about one atom in a hundred million) of lithium. In three minutes, 98 percent of all the matter there is or will ever be has been come into being. We have a universe. It is a place of the most wondrous and gratifying possibility, and beautiful, too. And it was done in about the time it takes to make a sandwich.
In the beginning God created. It was his nature. By the word of his mouth, the heavens were formed. And even today, as scientists continue to observe the universe with deep space telescopes, we can see the creative work of God as new stars are birthed. The discoveries of Novas and now of planets leave those who are studying in awe. And if our God is a creative God, what else would be expect to discover? As we study the world around us and learn of the wonder of creation, we can only say in awe, with the Psalmist, “When I consider the heavens, the work of your hands, what are people that you would consider us? And our God is the source of it all. Yes, God was not content to simply exist.
Second, we see that our God is a God of new birth. One translation of verse two is “the spirit of God brooded over the waters.” As a mother goose sits on her eggs awaiting the day they hatch, so the Spirit of God hovered over the earth waiting for the day of birth. It is interesting that the first anthropological image of God is of a mother hen awaiting the birth of her brood. We speak of God as our Father, and that is correct, but here, at the beginning of God’s self revelation, we find the concern of a mother. And God’s plan is to bring new birth out of the chaos that is all around.
Still today, God broods over creation. Still today new birth and new possibilities are God’s canvas. Still today, the hopes of a mother well up with in God as people respond to the offer of new birth.
Third, we see that what God does, is good. That is so different from the way other cultures of this time understood creation. In Babylon, creation was the result of a great war between Marduk and Tiamat. Marduk won this battle and tore the body of Tiamat in half and made the sky of one piece and the earth of the other. In one African story, Bumba brought forth everything by vomiting it up. Yet, here, in the story that gives direction and purpose to the Jewish people, we see that God looks at all that was made and declares, “It is good, it is good, it is very good.”
All too often when we look at the world around us, we fail to see that which God made that is good, we fail to see the wonder that is good, we fail to see the beauty of God’s work that is very good. It is interesting to note that as evening came on each day of creation, God saw that what he made was good. In that expression there is the tone of reflection. God looked over the work and appreciated it. The work God did brought pleasure.
That picture of God reflecting, is a picture that we need to capture. How often do we come to the end of the day, plop down in front of the television fall asleep as the sounds drone on and never review the wonder that the day has been. All too often, we miss the good that God has done through us by not stopping to reflect on the day. As evening came, God looked at what was made and said, “This is good.” Though night can be frightening, if we will reflect on the day, and look for God’s hand, we too, can see that this is good.
But even more, when the work was done at weeks end, as God prepared for the first Sabbath, he looked over all that had been done and was content and said, “It is very good.” Or as another translation puts it, “It is excellent.” When I was growing up, the word “Sabbath” kind of made me shudder. To me it was a day designed for boredom. We were not to play outside, we did not go to our friends houses to play. At times we were discouraged from doing our homework on Sundays. Blue laws were assumed and defended. Sundays for me were miserable because Sabbath meant boredom. But that is not what I see in this first account of a day of rest. After God had made it all good, God used the day of rest to enjoy it, God looked it all over and said, “It is excellent.”
The rabbis understood this and called for people to celebrate creation on the Seventh Day. They were celebrate their relationships, husbands and wives were to celebrate their love. It was a day to join God in recognizing that the creation is excellent.
Here we learn that what God makes is good and what God has made, we are invited to enjoy.
Fourth, from the account of creation, we learn that God considers humanity to be very important. “Let us make Adam in our own image.” “So God created Adam in his own image; God patterned them after himself; male and female he created them.” The name given to the first man in Genesis 2, is the name that is used for male and female in Genesis 1. I think that implies that human beings, the pinnacle of God’s creation are not complete by themselves. When created in the image of God, we were made as partners.
In God’s image. What does that mean? That question has been debated since the first Rabbi read it. I think one thing it means is that we were created for partnership. When God said, “Let us. . .” what is revealed is partnership. And so as that which is made in God’s image, by nature is complete only in partnership.
It also means that people are valuable. We are made in the image of
God. As such our value is far more than the sum of our parts. It has been suggested that the elements that form human beings are worth about $50. However, the value of the person is found not in the elements, but in the fact that we are made in image This week a research company in South Korea has published the results of their experiments in human cloning. What they have said, is this is a lot easier than they thought. Recently 11 new stem cell lines have been developed by putting donor DNA into the nucleus of a stripped human egg. These stem cells are custom made for the donors. There is great promise for therapeutic advances as these stem cells are made available to their donors. Will paralysis be cured? Will diabetes be reversed? These are the possibilities. But what is the cost? Will this lead us to value one another less or more? Are the cells that are dividing more than simply cells? Are these unique human beings? Or are they an extension of the donor? I fear that in the rush to bring these therapies to the market, these questions of value are being pushed aside.
Is it possible to clone a human being? Apparently it is. But what doors does that exercise open? Are we doing it just to prove we can? Is this another step in declaring that we are gods? Does this mean we are now creating people in our image? Or is it an exercise in the creativity that God gave us? Is it human arrogance? I wish I had an answer to these questions. We live in a time when boundaries are being pushed as never before. I believe we must tread with great care. But here is what we can know. We can know that every person is of infinite value because we are made in the image of God. We can know that every person is of infinite value because God loved us enough to give his only begotten Son that whoever believes will not perish, but know everlasting life. We can know that the God by whose word the heavens were made is still reaching out to us. We can know that we will find our purpose when we live as partners with God and in partnership with one another. We can know that we do not journey alone for Jesus has promised he will never leave us or forsake us. We can know that the God who declared creation to be very good, will not wash his hands and walk away. And we can know that God has a purpose for us as we live each day.
God invites us know his love. God invites us discover the value he has placed on each person. God invites us to celebrate the creation. God invites us into partnership with him. God invites us to find fulfillment purpose as we live in partnership. And God invites us to enter into a new relationship with Him, one that will bring freedom from guilt, joy in each day’s journey, peace in a world that is at times frightening, and hope when the night closes in. Accept God’s invitation today to know Jesus and find in a relationship with him purpose and meaning for each day.
For further information on recent cloning research, see:
The news story:
http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/05/22/opinion/edclone.php
The Vatican Response:
http://www.smh.com.au/news/World/Cloning-an-offence-to-science-Vaticans/2005/05/22/1116700581458.html?oneclick=true
Links to the ethical questions:
http://www.kirotv.com/news/4514229/detail.html
