What does Genesis 1 say to us today?
The writer of Genesis would have been very aware of various creation stories believed by the surrounding pagan nations in the Ancient Near East. Those of the superpowers – Babylon, Assyria and Egypt – would have been very influential on the whole region. It was vital that Israel had a right understanding of God and his creation. Genesis 1:1 – 2:3 knocks many of these pagan myths on the head.
Pagan creation myths
There were five main areas of attack:
- All the surrounding nations believed that there were many gods. Genesis constantly refers to God, singular. There is only one God and he is the creator of everything.
- The Babylonians believed that before the gods could create anything they had to defeat the sea monsters (symbolising chaos). Compare that with Genesis 1:21 where we are told that God creates them (‘great creatures of the sea’ in the NIV) – they are God’s creatures not his rivals.
- Having defeated the sea monsters, the Babylonian gods had to struggle to separate the lower and upper waters (sea and sky). In Genesis 1:6-10, God separates them by simply speaking. All his creating is done by speaking things into existence – not by magic as the Egyptians believed.
- Worshipping the sun and moon as gods was very common. But in Day 4 we are told that God made them and they are just lights, nothing more. Genesis doesn’t even name them. Their role in the universe is to serve humanity, not to be worshipped.
- Human beings were an afterthought in the Babylonians beliefs. The gods made humans so that we could do their work and to provide food for them. In Genesis 1:26 we see what the whole chapter has been leading up to the creation of human beings as the pinnacle of creation. Why the pinnacle? Because we alone are made in the image of God. In chapter two we’re even told that God provides us with food.
Critics of Christianity often like to point out the similarities between Genesis and some of the other creation accounts. These similarities are very superficial; the theology of Genesis corrects the theology of the other accounts again and again. Genesis was not based on the surrounding creation myths but deliberately rejects them.
What is the relevance of Genesis 1:1-2:3 today?
We’re not likely to hold such beliefs today so does Genesis 1 have anything to say to us? In fact, these same five key bits of theology are just as vital today.
- God is the creator of everything (1:1). We’re far more likely to encounter the lie that there is no God at all rather than that there are lots, but the answer of Genesis is just the same. There is a God and absolutely everything (the heavens and the earth) owes its existence to God’s will. The universe didn’t create itself and it didn’t appear by chance.
- God has no competitors. Again, we’re unlikely to think that worshipping the sun or moon will enable our needs to be met. But we may look to more contemporary idols like wealth, power, science, new age therapies, sport, relationships, etc. Do we allow other things to take God’s rightful place? Do we actually spend most of our days with ourselves on the throne in our lives rather than God who made everything and to whom we owe our life moment by moment?
- God is more than just the creator – he is the law-giver. The universe obeys God. He called things into existence and they obeyed; he appointed the sun, moon and stars to mark out the times and seasons; he told the animal creation to be fruitful and mulitply; and he told humans to be stewards of the earth. All created things have a divinely appointed role and they will only fulfil that role if they stick to God’s instructions.
- The world reflects its creator. The constantly repeated phrase, ‘God saw that it was good’ tells us that the cosmos was a perfect creation. It was orderly and was conformed to his will. Now, after the Fall, creation is in bondage to decay and subject to frustration (Romans 8). But we can still see something of God’s greatness reflected in the world around us: ‘The heavens declare the glory of God’ (Psalm 19:1). Paul tells us in Romans 1 that you can see enough about God’s greatness in creation that there’s no excuse for anyone not to believe in him.
- Human beings are God’s image bearers
Who we really are
It is so sad when the relevance of the Christian message is obscured by the side issues. The question of what it means to be human is one of the most fundamental there is. But the postmodern world is suffering an identity crisis – people know longer know what it is to be human.
We have been told by atheistic scientists that we are just animals who are lucky enough to have big brains which have developed language:
‘Just an enormously intelligent and intellectually agile animal’ (Henry Miller).
Or we’re just biological machines:
‘Human beings are survival machines; robots blindly programmed to preserve the selfish molecules which we call genes.’ (Richard Dawkins)
That’s all we are. We are told that have no purpose other than to be DNA replicators. We are just large, complex collections of atoms and molecules that have arisen entirely by a long process of chance events. We are an accident of history. When we die, we rot and there is nothing more. We count for nothing; no life has any real value. And we wonder why so many people have a low self-image?
The first chapters of Genesis show a very different picture. We are actually the crowning glory of creation. We are creatures that don’t just reflect a bit of God’s glory, but have the incredible privilege of bearing his image. We are like God – even after the Fall, despite all the corruption and wickedness that pervades us.
Aspects of the image:
What does it mean to be made in the image of God? It means having:
- Self-consciousness: It is only humans that have the ability to ask, ‘Am I just an animal?’; Only humans can accept moral responsibility for our actions.
- Imagination and aesthetic appreciation: Only humans are artists, composers and architects because only we bear the image of the Creator.
- Dignity: We are dust (Genesis 2:7) but we are not just dust; we are mammals but we are not just mammals. We are made in God’s image (Genesis 1:27).
- Dominion: Human beings are workers and scientists. Because we are made in God’s image we are his representatives so we should rule over the earth in appropriate ways – caring and husbanding rather than exploiting (Genesis 2:15,19).
- Freedom: We have genuine free will to make real moral choices (Genesis 2:16).
- Responsibility: We are free to do as we ought not as we want. God has given us instructions as to how to live and we have a responsibility to obey (Genesis 2:17).
- Relationships: We were made for relationships with each other because God is relational. Supremely we were made for a relationship with him (Genesis 2:24).
- Spirituality: Human beings have a spiritual dimension as well a physical one.
Broken image
Genesis 3 tells us the tragic story of how everything changed. All these aspects of the image of God are still true of us but our rebellion against God has demeaned and warped every one of them. So we live in a world of alienation from God, each other, our environment and even ourselves. We live in a world of fear and shame and lies. We hide from God and from each other. Most importantly, we are under God’s judgment.
But God still cares for his image bearers and the first hint that God will sort this mess out comes in Genesis 3:15 – ‘one will come to crush the Tempter’s head’. Throughout the rest of the Old Testament we get more and more clues as to who this ‘snake crusher’ will be. In the New Testament we finally see him and all that he did for us. The Bible ends with a stunning picture of redeemed people back in relationship with God in the new heavens and the new earth. Then we shall really be like him for we shall see him as he is.
The big issues in Genesis 1 are not scientific. It doesn’t really matter if creation was a quick miracle or a slow one. The questions this first chapter of the Bible addresses are much more profound and important. We see there a God of power and creativity and grace. We see what sort of a world we live in. We see what it really means to be human.
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