Creation: The Initial Act of Promise

THE CREATION

• In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 Now the earth was [a] formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.

• 3 And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light. 4 God saw that the light was good, and He separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light "day," and the darkness he called "night." And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.

• And God said, "Let there be an expanse between the waters to separate water from water." 7 So God made the expanse and separated the water under the expanse from the water above it. And it was so. 8 God called the expanse "sky." And there was evening, and there was morning—the second day.

• 9 And God said, "Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear." And it was so. 10 God called the dry ground "land," and the gathered waters he called "seas." And God saw that it was good.

• 11 Then God said, "Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds." And it was so. 12 The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. 13 And there was evening, and there was morning—the third day

• And God said, "Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark seasons and days and years, 15 and let them be lights in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth." And it was so. 16 God made two great lights—the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars. 17 God set them in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth, 18 to govern the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that it was good. 19 And there was evening, and there was morning—the fourth day.

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• 20 And God said, "Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the sky." 21 So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living and moving thing with which the water teems, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 22 God blessed them and said, "Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the water in the seas, and let the birds increase on the earth." 23 And there was evening, and there was morning—the fifth day.

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• 24 And God said, "Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: livestock, creatures that move along the ground, and wild animals, each according to its kind." And it was so. 25 God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.

• 26 Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, [b] and over all the creatures that move along the ground."

• So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.

• 28 God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground."

• 29 Then God said, "I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. 30 And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds of the air and all the creatures that move on the ground—everything that has the breath of life in it—I give every green plant for food." And it was so.

• 31 God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day.

THE CREATION ( In Depth Look)

• DAY 1Genesis 1:3-5“Let there be Light” Light-Day, Darkness-Night

• Light as a symbol and a sign of hope and life.

• DAY 2Genesis 1:6-8“Let there be a firm ceiling between waters” Separation of waters and Firm ceiling is called “Sky”

• Sky – as a symbol of longingness and desire to be with God.

• DAY 3 Genesis 1:9-10Genesis 1:11-13“Let the water below the sky be gathered together in one place and let dry appear”

• Dry Land – “Earth" Waters – “Seas”• “Let the earth produce vegetation; seed-bearing

plants, fruit-trees bearing fruit with seed”• Division of Land and Water Vegetation is

created through Mother Earth, the productive power of earth comes from God; thus the earth’s power is not to be worshipped

• DAY 4Genesis 1:14-19“Let there be lights in the Ceiling of the sky to separate day from night and sing for seasons, days and years”

• Personification of the lights – to “rule” the day and night. It serves God’s purpose over us.

• DAY 5Genesis 1:20-23“Let the waters teem with an abundance of living creatures, and let the birds fly above earth…”

• Animals were superiors to plants because they were created by God and not simply made “Barra” special and uniquely divine act.

• DAY 6 Genesis 1:26“Let us make man in our image, to our likeness. Let them rule over all things on earth…”

• Let there Be…” / “Let Us…”Together with the heavenly court, God created Human being in His Image and Likeness “Salem” means image or “exact copy” We are created in God’s image Representative on earth Genesis 1:31

• “God saw all that He had made and it was very good.”

• Very Good… - the affirmation will enable us to realize that we are the most important creation of God.

• DAY 7Genesis 2:1-2“He rested on the seventh day from all the works He had done…“Seventh Day” signals the rest day that we need to rest from all the things we do.

WHY CREATE?

Creation is God’s gift to us as a sign of His love for us. Creation is part of God’s plan of salvation for us. The care we give to creation will lead us to salvation.

FROM CHAOS TO ORDER

• The Holy writer of Creation wished to tell his readers in the simplest way possible how God made everything in an orderly manner (Genesis 1:2)

• He chose the framework of a seven-day week with six days of work and one day at rest because this was the way the Israelites live their lives.

• They could best understand the work of Creation in this form. The seven-day framework emphasizes the importance of giving one day a week to the creator.

Genesis 1:27 “So God created man in His image; in the image of God. He created them, male and female He created them.”

• The distinction between sexes is divine and origin and therefore good. The full meaning of humankind is realized in the equality and mutuality of man and woman.

• We, male and female as God created us in His image, because we are social beings. We are person in-community and we are called to social responsibility.

Creation and Evolution:

• Evolutionary theory does not necessarily lead to atheism and is perfectly compatible with religious belief as it is more concerned with “how” than the “why” questions.

• Using Science, God reveals this to us (creation and evolution theory) now because it is only now that we can grasp it.

• We can choose to see evolution as a threat to our belief, or to accept Science as a process through which God reveals hi magnificence and wonder in the details.

GENESIS IN REVERSE

In the beginning, was the EarthIt was beautiful

And humans lived upon the Earth and humans said:

“Let us build skyscrapers and expressways.”

And humans covered the Earth with steel and concrete

And humans said, “it is good!”

On the second day, humans looked upon

The clear blue waters of the Earth.

And humans said: “Let us dump sewage and wastes into the waters.”

And humans did.

The waters became dark and murky.

And humans said: “It is good.”

On the 3rd day, humans gazed

at the forests of the Earth

They were tall and green. And humans said:

“Let us cut the trees

and build things for ourselves.”

And humans did

And the forest grew thin. And humans said:

“it is good.”

On the 4th day, humans saw

the animals leaping in the fields

and playing in the sun.

And humans said: “Let us trap the animals

For money and shoot them for sport”

And humans did

And the animals became scarce

And humans said: “it is good”

On the 5th day, humans felt the cool breeze in their nostrils,

And humans said: “Let us burn our refuse and let the wind blow away the smoke and debris.”

And humans did.

And the air became dense with smoke and carbon. And humans said:

“it is good.”

On the 6th day, humans saw many kinds of people on the Earth,

different in race, color and creedAnd humans feared and said: “Let us make bombs

and missiles in case misunderstanding arise.”And humans did.

Missile sites and bomb dumps checkered the landscape

And humans said: “it is good.”

On the 7th day, humans rested.

And the Earth was quiet and deathly still.

For humans was no more.

And it was good