By Peter Biggs

[READ GENESIS 1:1-25]

The Historicity and scientific accuracy of the Genesis account has been the subject of much controversy and debate.

I am not going to spend a lot of time on the various positions regarding EVOLUTION. (I commend to you Bruce Milne's superb book "Know the Truth" for his concise overview of the 4 positions and how they may or may not align with Scriture.)

Creation vs Science - OR IS IT?
"the intent of the creation account is not to specify the geological and genetic methods of creation but to definitively establish that creation is a result of God's creative acts. When the psalmish says "You knit me together in my mother's womb" (Ps 139:13) he is not intending to comment on genetics or immediate cause." Prof. Bruce Walke of Regent College, Vancouver.

Is Genesis 1 Myth or History?
It's genre is certainly not one of myth - a fanciful account that need not be true. Is is history? Let's hear Walke again...
"The creation account is unlike any other history. History is generally humanity recounting its experiences. The Genesis creation account is not a record of human history, since no humans are present for these acts."

A careful look at the text shows that the writer is interpreting the creation account and 'dis-chronologizes' the events... you may be suprised to hear me say this... it need not trouble us...

Day 1 - God creates evening and morning...yet we wait for
Day 4 - For the luminaries for that to take place.
Unlaying the original structure is something that might be described as poetic stanzas and symmetry.
Perhaps the writer is illustrating a theological point, in effect he de-links the cause and effect predicabilty, in the text.

Furthermore, seven day accounts were thought in other Near Eastern material to be the perfect number.

The original text speaks of all but the 6th day not as "And there was evening, and there was morning--the first day BUT "A" (not "the") describing the days. The emminent evangelical scholar Youngblood puts it:
"I would point out that the omission of the definite article ("the") from all but the sixth day allows for the possiblity of random or literary order."

Walke comments:
"The days of creation may also pose difficulties for a strict historical account. Contemporary scientists almost unaminously discount the possibility of creation in one week, and we cannot summarily discount the evidence of the earth sciences. General revelation in creation, as well as the special revelation of Scripture, is also the voice of God. We live in a universe and all truth speaks with one voice"

Thus a key question as to what kind of literature this introduction to Genesis is ... is not easy to answer... it IS history, but it is unque in that regard it is also THEOLOGY in that the historical account is written to make a point...
That God created all things out of nothing. That physical matter is GOOD!
That God is Creative... vast yet intimate, not impersonal.

"The author does not systematically present abstract truths about the Creator rather he tells us the story about the Creator and his creation" Walke

However in all this, there are two things clear to me:

1. There is no place for dogmatism as to the "HOW" of creation. Genesis was never written to answer that question.

2. Let's not miss the wood for the trees! We must pause and ponder these vast sweeps...

Matter... the stars... the moutains... the plains... creatures... insects... sunsets... clouds... the physical... sounds... procreation... our own bodies... ARE ALL GOOD. (that is virtually unique I am told in the major religions of the world) GOOD & CREATED by HIM.
The dimensions of Creation... speak of your FRIEND - GOD. Consider:

• The size of the universe - our galaxy has 100 Billion stars in it. Psalm 19:1 The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. 2 Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge.

• The intricacy in the world - John Piper in his profound book "The Pleasures of God" speaking of God's pleasure in his creation... a creation that reflects him and with whom he cherishes and interacts with... it praises him...

Piper describes
A European water spider that lives at the bottom of a lake but breathes air, It comes to the top of the water, does a somersault on the surface and catches a bubble of air.Then it holds the bubble over the breathing holes in the middle of its body while it swims to the bottom of the lake and spins a silk web among the seaweed. It goes up and brings down bubble after bubbleuntill a little balloon of air is formed under its silk web where it can live and eat and mate....

I sit there with my mouth open and I think God smiles and says "Yes John, and I have been enjoying that little piece of art since before the days of Abraham. And if only you knew how many millions of other wonders there are beyond your sight that I behold with gladness every day."

Ps 104:26... and the leviathan, which you formed to frolic there

Continue article >>

Creation does not need us to PRAISE ITS CREATOR. We never see and have yet to even discover most of creation!

Psalm 104:10 He makes springs pour water into the ravines; it flows between the mountains.
11 They give water to all the beasts of the field; the wild donkeys quench their thirst.
12 The birds of the air nest by the waters; they sing among the branches.
13 He waters the mountains from his upper chambers; the earth is satisfied by the fruit of his work.
14 He makes grass grow for the cattle, and plants for man to cultivate-- bringing forth food from the earth:
15 wine that gladdens the heart of man, oil to make his face shine, and bread that sustains his heart.
16 The trees of the LORD are well watered, the cedars of Lebanon that he planted.
17 There the birds make their nests; the stork has its home in the pine trees.
18 The high mountains belong to the wild goats; the crags are a refuge for the conies.
19 The moon marks off the seasons, and the sun knows when to go down.
20 You bring darkness, it becomes night, and all the beasts of the forest prowl.
21 The lions roar for their prey and seek their food from God.
22 The sun rises, and they steal away; they return and lie down in their dens.
23 Then man goes out to his work, to his labour until evening.
24 How many are your works, O LORD! In wisdom you made them all; the earth is full of your creatures.
25 There is the sea, vast and spacious, teeming with creatures beyond number--living things both large and small.
26 There the ships go to and fro, and the leviathan, which you formed to frolic there.
27 These all look to you to give them their food at the proper time.
28 When you give it to them, they gather it up; when you open your hand, they are satisfied with good things.
29 When you hide your face, they are terrified; when you take away their breath, they die and return to the dust.
30 When you send your Spirit, they are created, and you renew the face of the earth.
31 May the glory of the LORD endure for ever; may the LORD rejoice in his works--
32 he who looks at the earth, and it trembles, who touches the mountains, and they smoke.
33 I will sing to the LORD all my life; I will sing praise to my God as long as I live.
34 May my meditation be pleasing to him, as I rejoice in the LORD.

Rom 1:20 For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities--his eternal power and divine nature--have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made. Oh for the eyes of a child... firstly to STOP and smell the roses. To drink in silence - that which speaks to our soul not only our rational analytical mind That which shows us who we are in HIS created and wonderful order.

The wonder and awe to not merely 'see' the awesome but to give praise to whom it points to. 1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 Now the earth was 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.

6 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.

14 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.

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.

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.
(+Man)

December 17/2009