God of Genesis Part 4 –God creates for a purpose. Genesis 1-2
There are many creation myths around the world.
The Babylonian
Sons of gods (who themselves did not get along well) Marduk and Tiamat, fought for dominance of the universe. Marduk won and used Tiamat’s body to make the universe.
The Norse
Ymir was a frost-giant, but not a god, and eventually he turned to evil. After a struggle between the giant and the young gods, Bor's three sons killed Ymir. . . Bor's sons dragged Ymir's body to the center of Ginnungagap, and from him they made the earth. Ymir's blood became the sea, his bones became the rocks and crags, and his hair became the trees. Bor's sons took Ymir's skull and with it made the sky. (from http://www.gly.uga.edu/railsback/CS/CSIndex.html)
The Daoist
"The Way gave birth to unity; unity gave birth to duality; duality gave birth to trinity; trinity gave birth to the myriad creatures."
. . .
The most common theme in pagan creation myths is that gods had arguments or accidents -usually one of the vanquished gods provides the material for the universe. The result was what we see around us. The Hindu teaching that god divided himself into the world seems as haphazard and purposeless.
The biblical account is very different.
What is striking to me is not that there are many different explanations of the origin of the universe which include a god or gods-that humans all over the world have understood that this universe had a beginning and that it was somehow supernatural.
What is most notably unique about the Genesis account is the structure and clear teaching of purposefulness:
The days of Creation
Day 1
God spoke light into existence.
He then divided the light from the darkness.
He called the light Day and the darkness Night.
Day 2
God created the firmament, or sky, and separated the water below from the water above.
God named the firmament Heaven.
Day 3
God commanded that the dry land appear from the waters.
God named the dry land Earth and the rest of the waters Seas.
God created the grass and all the plants, including trees.
Day 4
God created lights in the sky for seasons & days & years
God created the greater light to rule the day—the Sun.
He then created the lesser light to rule the night—the moon. He made stars.
Day 5
God created all the water creatures, birds, and whales
God Commanded: “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters and the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth.”
Day 6
God created all land animals: cattle, creeping things, and beasts of the earth
God then created humanity in His own image
God commanded: “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the fowl of the air, and of every moving thing on the earth.”
Humans and animals are told to eat all plants: all vegetarians
Day 7
God rested from all the work that He had created.
He blessed the seventh day and made it holy.
Day 1 Light & Darkness Day 4 – Light Bearers
Day 2 Waters of Sky & Sea Separated Day 5 – Birds in the Sky, Fish etc. & Whales in the Sea
Day 3 Land & Sea separated, grass, plants, trees Day 6 – Land Creatures & humanity, All commanded to eat plants & fruit
There is a pattern here.
Day 1 is related to day 4
Day 2 is related to day 5
Day 3 is related to day 6
In each case the day on the left finds its fulfillment in the day on the right.
Light is made for light bearers
The sky is made as a dwelling place for birds, the seas for the creatures of the sea, the land for land animals. Plants are for animals to eat. The animals are made and given commandments:
Day 5
To all creatures, birds, and whales
God Commanded: “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters and the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth.”
Animals are created to be fruitful and to multiply.
Humans were created to be fruitful, to multiply, and to care for the earth
Day 6
To Humanity God commanded: “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the fowl of the air, and of every moving thing on the earth.”
In Genesis Chapter 2, the text focuses more on the purpose of humanity:
Genesis 2:15 The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.
BUT ONE THING WAS NOT GOOD:
18 The LORD God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone.”
“I will make a helper suitable for him.”
The Woman was made for the man. He had needs for companionship which could not be met, neither by having employment, nor by communion with all of the beauty of creation. Those needs could only be met by the female human.
Our world is going through rapid and disturbing changes. We are running an experiment on humans. Fewer people are getting married. More people are moving from relationship to relationship. More men and women are living alone than any time in history. This is not how we were designed.
24 For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh.
So, ladies, I hope you are not angry that the Bible teaches woman was made for man. It also teaches that man is not complete without woman. We were made to be one. It seems clear we need each other.
The beginning of chapter two, also, should give us some insight into what is meant here by “day”:
“This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created THE DAY the LORD God made the earth and the heavens.” Genesis 2:4
Creation is clearly the activity of God. Yet this is not to be understood as a description of HOW God created the universe. To do that the first audience would have to have understood something of quantum physics, chemistry, and genetics. They did not. Yet God’s description clearly describes WHY God created the universe, and it is not as a random collection of meaningless chemical reactions-he has created creatures with a reason for being.
Jesus said:
I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. John 6:38
Jesus knew why He had come. It wasn’t to do His own will, but to accomplish the purposes for which God sent Him.
Paul said it this way:
I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. All of us who are mature should take such a view of things.
Philippians 3:14-15
We were made for a purpose.
This has tremendous implications, especially when things go in unexpected ways.
Paul also said
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. Romans 8:28
All things. All means all.
Sometimes I have to check & make sure that verse is still there in the Bible. It always is.
We have been made for God’s higher calling on our lives. He works all things, even those things we find in comprehensible, to bring us to that place only we can occupy.
