In the Beginning

The story of creation found in Genesis 1 and 2 is a story about beginnings; the beginning of life, time, and the created world. The creation story tells us that God is the creator of everything and all of life. God is the source, the originator, the unmoved mover. The creation story tells us that all that God created was "good" and was pleasing to God. The nature of creation is ordered and done with intention and purpose. The creation story also tells us who we are as human beings. We are created "in the image of God" (1:27) and endowed us with special powers and responsibilities to care for and be stewards of creation. The story of creation is powerful, rich, and has profound implications for who we understand ourselves and God to be.

The story of creation is also highly debated and discussed. In our day, the ongoing battle between creationism and evolution have dominated the conversation of these ancients texts. In the midst of the squabbling, yelling, and politicking have we missed the point? Do our ancient stories tells us something even more important than how creation came to be? For me the short answer is yes. The creation story gives an answer to the existential question of why. Why do we exist? What is the point of life? Who am I? What is the meaning of life? If we get bogged down in endless and nonsensical debates over what really happened, we miss the much larger point Genesis 1-2 is trying to make. So let us look to the scriptures themselves and see what God is really up to.

"In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters. Then God said, 'Let there be light'; and there was light." Genesis 1:1-3

God is the creator of all things and began creation with the power of the holy spirit and the word of God. It is the wind from God which creates the conditions necessary for creation to commence. In Hebrew, the word ruah means: wind, breath, or spirit. So literally it is a wind/breath/spirit of God which causes creation to begin. This is profoundly important. The spirit of God comes over the face of the waters and starts it all. All of creation, all of life begins with the Spirit of God. Similarly, in Genesis 2, the first man comes alive only when the breath/spirit of God is given.

"Then the Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and the man became a living being." Genesis 2:7

Creation begins with the spirit and human life begins with the spirit. It is the spirit of God which brings life, renewal, and restoration to creation. Without the spirit we are like dried up and left for dead bones. (see Ezekiel 37)

The other key element of the story of creation is how God creates. In Genesis 1, God creates by speaking. God repeatedly says: "let there be....and there was..." God literally calls things into existence by the power of God's word. This is profoundly important because as Christians we understand Jesus to be the living embodiment of God's word.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people...And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth. John 1:1-4,14

God creates by speaking the word and the word is Jesus Christ. It is through Christ and the Spirit that creation came be (how about that for an explanation of the trinity). God's word literally has the power to create reality, the power to take potential and make it actual, the power to transform lives.

The story of creation firmly establishes God as creator and tells us a great deal about God and the creation. The story of creation also tells us a lot about human nature and the meaning of life. To be created in God's image implies an intimate connection between God and humanity that is not found elsewhere in creation. Human beings are set apart and given power and responsibility for the creation. (we do really well with the power side, not so much with the responsibility side) God also allows Adam to participate in creation by naming the animals (2:19-20). As such human beings can be understood as participants with God in the ongoing creation of the world and can be seen as created co-creators.

God created us for relationship, to live together in harmony with the created world and live in harmony with the Lord. The story of creation tells us fundamentally that we created for relationship with God, given powers and responsibilities to be stewards of creation, and to live within the boundaries God sets before us. As we begin to see in Genesis 3, it doesn't take long for this good and pleasing creation to lose focus and become askew. That story will have to wait.