Genesis 1: Creation

Genesis One is not a scientific text. It was never meant to be one. The ancients did not think in terms of scientific method born out of the “Enlightenment” which we take so much for granted. This text is not primarily concerned with the creation of matter; it is assumed that God had created the … Read more

… fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over [it]. Gen. 1:28 We are all fascinated with royalty! Even if we are Americans who long ago kicked King George out, we never seem to get enough of the royal drama across the ocean. C.S. Lewis would have all the Children in Narnia kings … Read more

Let us make man in our image and likeness … male and female He created them (Gen. 1:26, 27). There is simply no truth, no doctrine, no idea, that is more fundamental to the Judeo-Christian world view than man made in the image of God, both male and female. Everything from Genesis to Revelation hinges … Read more

 And God called the dry land earth Let the Earth bring forth living creatures according to their kind Days 1 and 4 deal with the broad issue of what constitutes time, day and night, evening and morning, with corresponding light and darkness. Days 2 and 5 deal with the great celestial ceiling and weather, without … Read more

Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters …Let the waters bring forth … In many ways, the more scientifically advanced we become as a human race, the less human we become. We have lost the ability to see creation as participants in a great cosmic drama full of purpose. Rather, we … Read more

And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light… “Let there be lights … and let them be for signs and seasons…” We now turn our attention to light and darkness in days 1 (1:3-5) and 4 (1:14-19). Again, we are faced with the fact that darkness precedes the creative acts of this … Read more

Chaotic Elements STAGE ONE: STAGE TWO: Giving Form to the  Formlessness  (Days 1-3)  Filling the Void (Days 4-6) Darkness 1a. Creation of Light (Day, v. 5), v.3b. Separation from Darkness (Night) v.4 4a. Creation of Sun v. 16  b. Creation of Moon and Stars v. 16 Watery Deep 2a. Creation of Firmament, vv. 6-7b. Separation of … Read more

The Earth was without form and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep; and the Spirit of God was moving over the face of the Waters. The contemplation of creation is an act of worship, and the first line of the Bible is, as we established in the last post, a worshipful … Read more

In the Beginning God Created the Heavens and the Earth! In our last post we briefly introduced what Genesis 1:1 was; a prelude, or preface, of a hymn of worship.  Here we will have to say something about what it is not.  The primary and original meaning here is not creatio ex nihilo (creation out … Read more

In the Beginning, God Created the Heavens and the Earth! What did the ancient Hebrew mind experience when it read the first verse of the Bible? As strange as it might appear to many of us today, it is an introduction to a sacred worship text comprised of Genesis 1:2- 2:4.  It is a shout … Read more