The Creation of Adam, Michelangelo, 1511
(Sistine Chapel, The Vatican)
Genesis 1:1 – 2:4a (NRSV)
Now as we are coming into summer, Old Testament minor prophets and New Testament theological doctrine seem perhaps a bit heavy, demand too much thinking. So let’s go back to the great foundational stories of our faith — Adam and Eve, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph. Let’s go back to Genesis! I encourage you to read the accounts of these Bible characters with new eyes, looking for the goodness of God, the presence of Christ, and the working of the Holy Spirit. And let’s also praise the Lord for the examples to stir our faith within this “cloud of witnesses.”
And again, for subscribers — to get the full picture, click on the book and chapter at the top of your opened DWELLING (today it says 811.) Genesis 1) and that will bring you to our homepage, which makes it easier for you to read and see the pictures and get to the links and comment!
Six Day of Creation and the Sabbath
In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, 2the 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.
3Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. 4And God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness. 5God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.
6And God said, “Let there be a dome in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.” 7So God made the dome and separated the waters that were under the dome from the waters that were above the dome. And it was so. 8God called the dome Sky. And there was evening and there was morning, the second day.
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Music:
“The Heavens Are Telling” from The Creation by Joseph Haydn, completed in 1798. “The heavens are telling the glory of God; the wonder of His work displays the firmament.”
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9And God said, “Let the waters under the sky be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear.” And it was so. 10God called the dry land Earth, and the waters that were gathered together he called Seas. And God saw that it was good. 11Then God said, “Let the earth put forth vegetation: plants yielding seed, and fruit trees of every kind on earth that bear fruit with the seed in it.” And it was so. 12The earth brought forth vegetation: plants yielding seed of every kind, and trees of every kind bearing fruit with the seed in it. And God saw that it was good. 13And there was evening and there was morning, the third day.
14And God said, “Let there be lights in the dome of the sky to separate the day from the night; and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and years, 15and let them be lights in the dome of the sky to give light upon the earth.” And it was so. 16God made the two great lights—the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night—and the stars. 17God set them in the dome of the sky to give light upon the earth, 18to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. 19And there was evening and there was morning, the fourth day.
20And God said, “Let the waters bring forth swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the dome of the sky.” 21So God created the great sea monsters and every living creature that moves, of every kind, with which the waters swarm, and every winged bird of every kind. And God saw that it was good. 22God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.” 23And there was evening and there was morning, the fifth day.
24And God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures of every kind: cattle and creeping things and wild animals of the earth of every kind.” And it was so. 25God made the wild animals of the earth of every kind, and the cattle of every kind, and everything that creeps upon the ground of every kind. And God saw that it was good.
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Music:
“All Creatures of our God and King,” sung by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.
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26Then God said, “Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the wild animals of the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.” 27So God created humankind in his image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. 28God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.”
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Reflection:
What does it mean that we are made in God’s image, “according to our likeness”?
How are we to be like God emotionally, spiritually, mentally, physically? — or as Jesus said in Mark 12:30 — what can we do to “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.”
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29God said, “See, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit; you shall have them for food. 30And to every beast of the earth, and to every bird of the air, and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so.
31God saw everything that he had made, and indeed, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.
“Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden” by Australian artist Margaret Preston, 1950. See the kangaroo and the koala? (Art Gallery of New South Wales)
2) Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all their multitude. 2And on the seventh day God finished the work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all the work that he had done. 3So God blessed the seventh day and hallowed it, because on it God rested from all the work that he had done in creation.
4These are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created.
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Music:
“He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands,” sung by Marian Anderson. Click on the link to hear her on youtube.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K9AsA0cY8qg
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Books:
The Bible Jesus Read — Philip Yancey.
(Chapter 1: Is the Old Testament worth the effort?)
In the Beginning — Steve Turner.
(Simple rhymes, vivid pictures, for kids of all ages)
And:
Genesis 1:1-10 from outer space — A Christmas Greeting from Apollo 8.
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John 1:1-5 (Contemporary English Version)
In the beginning was the one
who is called the Word.
The Word was with God
and was truly God.
From the very beginning
the Word was with God.
And with this Word,
God created all things.
Nothing was made
without the Word.
Everything that was created
received its life from him,
and his life gave light
to everyone.
The light keeps shining
in the dark,
and darkness has never
put it out.
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The New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
When we eavesdrop on the story set before us today, what we see is the “enaction” of God (that is to say, we are way previous to the tenent of the biology of cognition that “Everything said is said by an observer”). God is talking to Himself and not about Himself. He says nothing about who He is or what He intends. He’s not explaining anything. And, in fact, His speech is rather abrupt. For example, the phrases translated “Let there be . . .” translates just two quick words in Hebrew. So, that for example, if the sentence is a command, the one word sentence “Light!” would be a defensible English translation of “Let there be light.” You don’t speak commandingly to yourself do you?
So we are spying on a work in progress. God has a precise project in mind with each stage leading to the next without haste but rather with extreme directness and economy. First, light. Then the gigantic bubble of the sky opening from the chaos of water: water below and above. Then, so that the dry land may appear, the parting of the lower waters. Then, the newly exposed land brings forth vegetation. Then, on the fourth day, in order to reckon time, the sun, moon, and stars; on the fifth, living creatures of the sea and air; and on the sixth, earthly beasts.
Suddenly, a shimmy in the story. What are these “us,” “our,” and “image / likeness” things? Here is this God, who just a moment ago appeared to be entirely alone, not only without a spouse but also without a brother, friend, a servant, or even a mythic animal (as would befit some of the other creation stories prevalent in the “cradle of civilization” See FN1 below). Not wanting love or worship or anything that can be easily named. Instead wanting humankind. And, wanting humankind because He (or “they”) (want)s an “image.” The effective meaning of “image” is given in the “mastering” instructions to His (“Their”) images following His (“Their”) blessing.
So, why is this version of divine dominion given to humankind? Because humankind makes thereby a better image of “us.”
What about fertility and increase? Because when human beings reproduce, they are the image of their creator(s) in His (“Their”) creative act. The entire motive for everything that has preceded this wobble in the story is a provision for this culminating act by which He (“They”) (create)s another kind of creator!
It’s also interesting that there is no formulaic “And God saw that they were good” after He (“They”) created His (“Their”) image. (He ["They"] must have known that His ["Their"] life [lives] is [are] about to become hopelessly entangled with the determination of His ["Their"] image to make images of their own.) Rather, the entire creation is found to be “very good” – “very” for the first and only time here.
Finally, while there has been no hint of exertion in His (“Their”) activity (that is, effortless, unchecked sovereignty has been His ["Their"] defining trait), on the seventh day “[H]e (“They”) rested from His (“Their”) work.”
All human societies tell stories of how the world began. So, then the question becomes “Do I just stay with the creation story that I have been taught? Or, do I contrast and compare it with other creation stories that I might run across?” A recent search for “creation myths” on Amazon.com Books returned 12,514 items (which could be broken down into somewhat smaller categories using the menu panel on the left-hand side of the page). To see the impact that the internet is having on our culture, compare a search of materials in English (sorted by descending date) at the Library of Congress on the phrase “creation stories” which returns just 418 items. At any rate, as you might expect for so weighty an origin, there is a lot of material to be covered out there. Of course, you could do a Google search on, for example, the phrase “Creation stories from around the world” and be overwhelmed with the approximately 4,730,000 WWW pages returned. Indeed, there is a lot of material out there (one particularly interesting site from the Google search is the History World WWW site).
We’ll see another story of creation tomorrow!
FN1 cf/i>, Alexander Heidel, The Babylonian Genesis The Story of Creation, Second Edition [Chicago, IL.: University of Chicago Press, 1951], 176 pages. BS1236.H4 1951
Originally posted on the Dwelling In The Word blog on December 3, 2009 at 7:03 PM with Moderator acceptance