Bible Basics 101 –
Seven Days of Order and Function
What is the story
of creation all about? Is it a “scientific” account of how God created the
world? Yes, we can believe this, and many people do, which is fine. But in the first chapter of the Bible I see something far greater than a technical scientific
manual, I see God’s road map for how his creation is to function and operate, according
to his plan, not ours. I want to be clear, yes God made the world, but with the
Bible we get the more important story of why God made it, not so much of the
how. Let’s take a walk together along the road of creation and see what we can
find and learn.
Day One: “And God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. And God
saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness.
God called the light Day, and the
darkness he called Night. And there
was evening and there was morning, one
day.” (Gen 1:3-5)
With Day One God
brings forth light into the darkness of chaos. He then gives purpose and
function to time by naming the day and the night. This shows us from the start
that God desires the world to be ordered and move upon a set time, with seasons
and years. Not a world upside down but one controlled and ordered.
Day Two: “And God said, “Let there be
a firmament (canopy) in the midst of the waters,
and let it separate the waters from
the waters.” And God made the firmament and separated the waters which were
under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament. And it was
so. And God called the firmament Heaven (sky). And there was evening and there
was morning, a second day.” (Gen 1:6-8)
God then takes the
water and puts it into its proper place. With some water in the sky that would
come down in rain and other water that covered the earth to give further life.
Water as with time must work in a certain way within God’s creation.
Day Three: “And God said, “Let the
waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear.” And it was so. God
called the dry land Earth, and the
waters that were gathered together he called Seas. And God saw that it was good.
And God said, “Let the earth put
forth vegetation, plants yielding
seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to
its kind, upon the earth.” And it
was so. The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed according to
their own kinds, and trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according
to its kind. And God saw that it was good.
And there was evening and there was morning, a third day.”
(Gen 1:9-13)
By the Third Day,
we start to see the picture of the world that we recognize. Sea and land are
now in their proper place. God then gives the land a function by bringing forth
vegetation from the ground. What was lifeless dirt in now full of life and this
causes God to call this “good”.
Day Four: “And God said, “Let
there be lights in the firmament of the
heavens to separate the day from the night; and let them be for signs and
for seasons and for days and years, and
let them be lights in the firmament of the heavens to give light upon the
earth.” And it was so. And God made
the two great lights, the greater light to rule
the day, and the lesser light to rule
the night; he made the stars also. And
God set them in the firmament of the heavens to give light upon the earth, to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light
from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening and there was
morning, a fourth day.” (Gen
1:14-19)
Now things start
to get interesting of us. God creates the two great lights. The sun to “rule
the day” and the moon to “rule the night”. By doing this God gives power to the
sun and moon to be active parts of his creation, in a way he shares his own
rule over the world. Light and darkness are now longer in “chaos” but they have
rulers to maintain order. The sun can, as the land did, become fruitful and
give life. God looks upon this ordering that he gives and again calls it
“good”.
Day
Five: “And God said, “Let the waters
bring forth swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth
across the firmament of the heavens.” So God created the great sea monsters and
every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarm, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And
God saw that it was good. And God blessed them, saying, “Be
fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply
on the earth.” And there was evening and there was morning, a fifth day.” (Gen 1:20-23)
What is God to do with the sky and sea that he has created?
He is going to fill them with life. Taking these parts of creation, turning
something useless and giving them the great purpose of bearing life. God then
wants his new creatures to fill the sea and sky, to show forth the goodness of
creation.
Day
Six: “And God said, “Let the earth
bring forth living creatures according to their kinds: cattle and creeping
things and beasts of the earth according to their kinds.” And it was so. And God made the beasts of the earth according to their kinds and the cattle according to their kinds, and
everything that creeps upon the ground
according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after 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 earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.” So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. And God 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.” And God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed
which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit;
you shall have them for food. And 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. And God saw everything that he had made,
and behold, it was very good. And
there was evening and there was morning, a sixth
day.” (Gen 1:24-31)
This at last brings us to the very full Day Six. There is so
much here that we could talk about, but right now I just want to skim the
surface, then later on, in additional posts, I will draw out much more detail
from this passage. God as he did with the sky and water, creates animals to
fill the land that he has made. Again, adding purpose to the earth, making it a
dwelling place for new life to burst forth. God then faces a bit of a problem,
we might say, he is faced with the issue of who to put in charge of this world
that he has made. God has made this “good” creation, but how is God going to be
a part of this world and share his rule with a special creature, unlike the
others that he has made? This leads God to create his “Image Bearing” creature
Man. The one who is given “dominion” over this beautiful and fruitful world. Man
becomes God’s own agent, his coworker or partner, to take care for and fill
this new land. This “dominion” is not Man’s tyranny over the world, but a God given
responsibility that everyone of God’s image bearing people share in, one of
love and partnership. Notice what happens, when everything that God has made is
given its proper function and the world is ordered the way that God desires it
to be, with Man himself at the helm, then God can say that his world is, “very
Good”.
Day
Seven: “Thus
the heavens and the earth were finished,
and all the host of them. And on the seventh
day God finished his work which he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had done. So
God blessed the seventh day and hallowed it, because on it God rested
from all his work which he had done in creation.” (Gen 2:1-3)
With the Seventh Day God finishes his great plan of
creation. What if he had just stopped there? What if he had never “blessed” and
consecrated the Seventh Day? How would our relationship with God be different?
If God would not have done this, then he would be the “master” and us the “slaves”
in the worst possible understanding of those words. No sharing of partnership
but only working for the one master. But God gave us the great day of rest, to
share in the fruits of the world, not to be tied to work and gain for profit all
the time. Though in our time many people forget this important truth. It is a
day for Man to refresh himself and offer worship to God as Life giver and Creator,
not out of fear, but because this is how God made us. It is through our worship
that we show forth that we are his coworkers and not slaves in creation, worship
then becomes a two-way street; we offer creation back to God, thereby revealing
the God whom we serve and who’s “image” we have been created in. From the very
beginning we learn that proper ordered worship must be the cornerstone and
center of our lives in communion with God and one another.
Ok, this should give us something to build upon and move forward
with. Forming the beginning of the God given plan to fix our “squeaky cars” and
put our lives back on track with God and others. Not just getting us from A to
B, but growing and prospering, transforming us in mind, body, and soul, to run
as smoothly as we were created. In the next post, we will look at the rest of
Chapter Two in Genesis and learn more about our relationships, those with God
and our fellow human beings.
No comments:
Post a Comment