PART 1 – “IN THE BEGINNING GOD CREATED”
THE CREATION STORY
PART 1 – “IN THE BEGINNING GOD CREATED”
By: Jack Guyler
In the beginning – God created. The Genesis account of creation doesn’t give an explanation for God, it’s based on the assumption that He just always has been in existence. When it says “in the beginning” it refers to the beginning of the universe as we know it, not the beginning or creation of God. He is really the only creator because He created the universe out of nothing. He created. This statement refers to God creating the universe. In other words, God was the beginning point of our universe. Everything has a beginning and a creator? Think about some of the things that you enjoy or use that have both a creator/designer and a beginning or starting point. Things like your phone, your favorite song, your favorite movie, the home you live in and your kids.
In more recent years, even science has concluded that our universe had a beginning (the Big Bang). This Jewish account found here in Genesis comes from this perspective: God has always been. He was not created. He is the starting point (creator) of everything we see. Everything mentioned in Genesis 1-2 was His creation. It also comes from the perspective that God is too big, too complex, and far beyond our comprehension. This is why we need the revelation of God in our lives to have any insight into Him at all. These mostly come from scripture and from the Holy Spirit in our lives. We can also learn about God through observing our world as mentioned in Romans, chapter one.
The writers didn’t approach Genesis from a scientific perspective. It is not a book of science nor a scientific account of how the world came into existence. The writers lived in ancient times. Science wasn’t a thing. The ancient Hebrews didn’t send their kids to school to take a science course. And this is where we sometimes get conflicted. We try to fit this Genesis account into our modern scientific approach to life. Science measures space, time and matter. Genesis addresses God actually creating a physical world – that was created in time, space and with matter.
This is where Christians need to be careful. We need to make sure just because scripture doesn’t fit the modern scientific formula that we conclude it is merely a fairy tale or myth. On the other hand, science is very useful and can help us learn how the universe works and how old the universe and our world are. These can be observed and measured. Fundamentalism in the 1800s grew out of a feeling of being threatened by science and the theory of evolution and completely disregarded science. And that was a mistake because for those who followed this approach, they fell out of step with the world and became vastly irrelevant to many in the world. As a result, Christianity lost a critical opportunity to speak into the culture at that time.
You see, we can be people of faith in God and still be people who think, use our intelligence and power of reason. For example, biblical writers wrote from the view that the world was flat. But science and observation has shown us that the world is actually round. Few people, even those who believe the bible, believe the world is flat today. Science also showed us that the world revolves around the sun. But for thousands of years, people believed just the opposite. And most who read the bible also believed earth was at the center of the universe. And even when we stand outside today, it appears that it is the sun that moves not the earth. But most people today believe that the sun is fixed and the earth moves around it. Why? Not because the bible says this, but because science has proven this to be true2
Did this make scripture invalid? No, just our human understanding and interpretation. God used outside sources in the world such as science to give us this insight. This is why it is important for Christians to be open to God speaking and showing them new things – and these don’t always come out of the bible or the church. This serves as a reminder that sometimes it is the way we see or read the bible that limits our view of the truth.
If you have ever gone to the eye doctor and they have that chart up where as they scroll down, the numbers and letters get smaller and smaller, you realize it’s your eyes that are the problem, not the chart. The char doesn’t change, but the way we see does. We get a new prescription for stronger lenses so we can see what has always been there. God wants us to see better as He speaks to us through not only the bible or in church, but through every day experiences, other people and many disciplines such as science, medicine or psychology.
CS Lewis once said, “It’s impossible to speak of things beyond our immediate senses without using metaphors.” He was talking about how the bible uses metaphors to help us humans understand the deep spiritual truths of God. For example, we often say, “The car flew down the road” or “That feels like a million years ago.” We know these aren’t literal but metaphorical. The bible uses similar metaphors such as when Jesus said, “I am the bread of life.”
Keep in mind, science uses methods to measure and explain how our universe works. The bible’s main purpose is to talk about WHO and WHY. Who is God and who am I as a person? And WHY – why did God create the world, people and why are things the way they are?
We need to make sure we don’t fall into the trap of thinking that science only deals with reality and facts while religion only deals myths and legends.
The creation story is the account of a God (we can’t possibly comprehend) creating the physical universe we all live in but it is not a scientific account.
Science makes assumptions, leaps, uses hypothesis and educated guesses and operates on theories. Much in science is not proved, and when it is, it takes much time and confirmation by many sources. We can feel comfortable that the world is round and goes around the sun because it has been confirmed over many centuries by many scientists.
The bible talks about God revealing Himself in our natural, physical world. The bible uses history, metaphors, stories, poems and such to tell His story and tell us who He is. In this account it talks about God creating the universe, living things, plants, animals and humans. It says he talked with the first people. Throughout the bible it talks about God intervening into our natural world in supernatural ways through such things as miracles and healings that are beyond time and space and beyond human explanations. It is an account of God working in our world outside of the normal and natural order of things. This doesn’t fit with science. God can’t be measured or confined by our tests and observations.
It says again, “In the beginning God created.” And the first chapter ends with “God saw all that He had made, and it was very good.”
It’s important for us to understand that the Hebrews understood God to be the creator like an artist who stands back and looks at the beautiful painting he has done on the canvas. But the artist is separate from the painting. This is an important distinction because there were many religions in the ancient world and some even today that blend the creator and creation together. Some say that god is in us and we are in god. Pantheism teaches this (the universe and god are not distinct entities but are one and the same). This is a form of religion but it is not the creation story and it is not biblical Christianity.
According to Jewish and Christian history, God is one and God is separate from his creation. But at the same time, He is very much involved in His created world and in our lives. Deists believe that God made the world, and that He is distant and not involved in our world. But the creation story shows us that He created the first human beings and that He interacted with them and had great interest in them. This would be seen throughout the biblical account of history. Scripture indicates over and again that the God of creation takes a personal interest in His creation.
