Session 2: The Beginning

Session Overview

Creedal Statement

I believe in God the Father Almighty,
Maker of heaven and earth;
And in Jesus Christ
his only begotten Son our Lord,
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, dead, and buried;
he descended into hell [to the dead];
the third day he rose again from the dead;
he ascended into heaven, and
sits on the right hand of God
the Father Almighty;
from thence he shall come to judge
the quick and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit;
the holy catholic church;
the communion of saints;
the forgiveness of sins;
the resurrection of the body; and
the life everlasting.
Amen.

Key Elements

• Key Passage - Genesis 1:1–2:3
• Scripture Memory - By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible. Hebrews 11:3
• Catechism - Q: Who must answer to God? A: Creation.

Introduction

You alone are the Lord. You created the heavens, the highest heavens with all their host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them. You give life to all things, and the host of heaven worships You.

As soon as we acknowledge God to be the supreme Architect, who has erected the beauteous fabric of the universe, our minds must necessarily be ravished with wonder at his infinite goodness, wisdom, and power.

The world as we know it is gridlocked in a battle: struggling for the good life, opposed to a fierce enemy, aching through painful trials, and wrestling for sincere faith. Yet, in this life of struggle, we still catch glimpses of beauty, goodness, and dignity in the world around us. These glimpses call to our attention an inner sense that the world is not the way it is supposed to be. While we wonder why the world is broken, we can certainly conclude that the world is broken because of some innate gauge that measures all of our present earthly realities against our firm expectations for a better world. From where did our expectations for this better world come? Our desires for a better world emerge from an awareness that the world in its present state is really a distorted and dilapidated version of a much better world that used to exist.

At the beginning of all creation, there was an original world—a world without struggle or pain or heartache—that preceded our present world. This world was created in perfection, reflecting God’s character and serving as a veritable paradise in which there was no sin, suffering, or struggle. All was well and wonderful when the world was first created. Even this brief description of such an undefiled world awakens our longings for this original paradise. That we cannot find or experience uninterrupted bliss in the present world means that something terrible must have happened to that original world. Thankfully, we have a record of what the world was like at its inception. At the beginning of the Bible, we read the narrative of creation in which the world was first brought into existence, a world completely designed and precisely ordered, just as God intended it to be.

The account of creation is recorded in Genesis 1:1–2:3. In this biblical text, we immediately learn that God is sovereign, eternal, and supreme over his creation. God existed for all time prior to creation and brought creation into existence out of the overflow of his goodness and grace. In the course of six days, God formed and filled his world. Of all that God had made, human beings were the crowning achievements of God’s creative handiwork. After making everything good—just the way God wanted it to be—God rested on the seventh day, consecrating it as holy. This narrative testifies to the character of God, the original order of the world, and the intended design of humanity. It explains our revulsion at the world’s brokenness and accounts for the deep and inner longings we have for a restored world.

The story of creation is foundational to all that it means to be human and what is involved in embracing the life of faith as a Christian disciple. It shows us our identity (who we are), unveils our purpose (why we exist), explains our need for community (where we belong), and illuminates our destiny (what we were meant to be). Ultimately, what God intended in creation is restored in Christ. As creation reflects God’s character, we learn about who God is from the perfect world that he brought into existence. In effect, creation showcases God’s goodness, truth, beauty, freedom, justice, and dignity. These characteristics are deeply desirable. They are realities people long for and values humanity seeks to obtain. Certainly, the things we most treasure are traceable back to the characteristics woven into the fabric of original creation. As we trek through the origin account at the beginning of Genesis, let our eyes be open and hearts tuned for what we can learn about the beauty of the created world, the nobility of the human race, and (even more) the incomparable character and inestimable worth of our Creator God.

Biblical Interpretation: Hearing the Word

Study the Text: The Bible is God’s inspired word to his people. Christian disciples mature in the faith when they are grounded in God’s word. In this movement, you will study the basic details of the biblical text.

Observation Questions

Read (or listen to) the whole passage of Scripture. Discuss the questions below for each section of the story. Pay attention to the details of the text to recall what the passage is saying. Use the focus verses to guide your conversation.

Storycraft

Retell the story in your own words, recounting the overall flow of the narrative, the main segments of the story, and the major developments that take place.

Narrative Elements

Story Retell

Theological Dialogue: Discussing the Plot

Explore the Text: God’s word is his trustworthy and sufficient revelation to his people. We grow as Christ’s disciples by rooting our lives in God’s unchanging truth. In this movement, you will explore vital teachings of this biblical passage.

Discussion Questions

Summarize the biblical story. As a community, discuss the following questions. Be attentive to the truths taught in this text. Use the commentary on the next pages to uncover core principles this passage teaches about the Christian faith.

Biblical Commentary

Use this commentary to help you understand the meaning of the text. Refer to the infographic on the next page to think through how narratives work.

Passage Introduction

Key Idea

As Creator of all things, God is the reference point of ultimate reality, the fountain of all that is good, the measure of all true beauty, the mastermind of freedom, the architect of order and justice, and the source of human dignity.

Passage Overview

In the creation account, we learn that God created all things. His work of creation involved bringing order out of chaos. In this great act of goodness and grace, God made the world to reflect his character. He created it to exhibit key attributes of himself: truth, goodness, beauty, freedom, justice, and nobility. These qualities were not only epitomized in God’s world but were also meant to characterize human beings. Unfortunately, the reality of God’s perfect world has been ruined by human sin. God created an ordered world out of chaos, but human sin has enslaved the world to chaos and disarray. In this broken world, our lives often resemble the pre-creation chaos more than the post-creation order. We feel the weight of living in a world that we know is broken. Still, we all have moments in life when we taste bits and pieces of the world as it should be. Since we are created beings, our lives are accountable to God. Never are our lives most ordered or pleasurable as when they are aligned and submitted to our Creator. Read the passage along with the following commentary to help you learn about the character of God as Creator and how he powerfully brought all things into existence.

Passage Outline

The Creation of the World/As All Things Should Be

And God saw everything that He had made, and behold, it was very good.

Sinful man … brought misery upon himself, and all the world … The creation was a well-tuned instrument, upon which man might make music to the praise and honour of God; but the strings of the harp are broken; and there is nothing but jarring instead of harmony.

Introduction

Learning about the origins of the world provides a needed orientation to the life of faith. Without returning to the foundations of the world—to learn how God originally intended the world to function—we might assume wrong things about life, God, and ourselves. It is hard to discern truth while in a sinful condition. It is difficult to gain secure bearings in a world still reeling in rebellion and ruin. When we are left to our own present environment, the moments of joy and pleasure that we experience cannot be explained against the backdrop of suffering and sorrow that blanket human history. In fact, the fleeting and elusive nature of happiness is a frustrating enigma to the human soul. Only a clear vision of the world’s origin will allow us to make sense of our current (and intended) existence.

The creation of the world is the backdrop upon which all human history and our personal lives unfold. The account of creation helps us to understand the underlying story behind all human existence. Before the world was made, there was nothing—nothing, but God himself. And he existed—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—for all eternity past in perfect joy, harmony, and delight with himself. Out of the overflow of his own omnibenevolent (all-good) being, he set about to create a world that would enjoy his goodness and bask in his glory. Never dependent upon his creation, God made a world that was answerable and accountable to him. God would not need the world to serve him, as if he were needy; he would not need it to praise him, as if he were lowly; and he would not need it to love him, as if he were lonely. The beautiful and good world that he would make would pour forth from his own beauty and goodness that brimmed over out of his being. The account of this creation is recorded in the first chapters of the Bible.

The narrative in Genesis 1:1–2:3 teaches that God is the sovereign Creator of all things. This passage emphasizes that God made everything that exists. God created everything in six days. On the first day, God made light. On the second day, God made the sky. On the third day, God made the dry ground, seas, plants, and trees. On the fourth day, God made the sun, moon, and stars. On the fifth day, God made water animals and flying animals. On the sixth day, God made land animals and human beings. On the seventh day, God rested because he finished making everything. This biblical passage addresses fundamental truths about the character of God, the beauty of creation, the nature of humanity, and God’s relationship with his creation. In short, Christians believe that a good and powerful God made everything that exists, and life is most satisfying when it is aligned with the fundamental design of God’s original world.

In order for us to understand “the story behind it all,” we need to come to terms with the fact that we have been created. God is eternal, without beginning or end. As humans, we have a beginning. We have a point of origin. This implies that there was a time when we did not exist. To be created also means that we are finite beings who are completely dependent on God for our existence. In turn, this means that we are utterly accountable to God for how we live our lives. To be created also means that, to understand the essence of our existence, we need to return to the original creation to make sense of our personal lives. In short, the story of creation is key to understanding the story behind it all, the story behind all human history as well as the story of our own personal lives.

In the Beginning: Returning to God’s Original Design

Biblical Narrative (Genesis 1:1–3)

Commencing the biblical account, we learn that “in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (1:1). In this opening line, the Bible testifies that God was already in existence prior to creation. As the originator of all created things, God created everything ex nihilo (out of nothing) (1:1; cf. Hebrews 11:3). As Creator, God is outside of his creation as eternal Lord and over his creation as sovereign King. The creation of “the heavens and the earth” (1:1) emphasizes God’s complete and total creation of all that exists. Simply put, nothing has its existence outside of God.

When God created the world, “the earth was formless and void” and “darkness was over the surface of the deep” (1:2). The initial substance of creation was shapeless, empty, and dark. This unformed, uninhabited, and dark world did not represent the final version of God’s world. Even though things appeared incomplete and disordered at that moment, God was still completely in charge. As “the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters” (1:2), God would form and fill the world into a blissful paradise. When God created on the first day, he simply spoke—“God said” (1:3)—and light came into existence. In six days, God commanded each element of his created world into existence through the power of his authoritative and all-governing word (cf. John 1:1–4; Colossians 1:15–20; Hebrews 11:3).

Biblical Principles

The Eternal God. The first verses of the creation account establish God’s supreme, sovereign, and eternal character. God was already present before the world was made. In fact, God already had a full and uninterrupted existence “in the beginning” (1:1), capable of pouring out his overflowing plenitude into his created world. This beginning does not refer to God’s beginning. Rather, it refers to the beginning of the world. God is the uncreated Creator, the Maker of all things. God has no beginning and no end. God is also supreme and sovereign. He stands outside and above his creation. As the master architect of the universe, God designed the world as he wanted it to be. Not only is God the one who “created the heavens and the earth” (1:1), but the Spirit of God exercised his own authority over creation as he was “hovering over the surface of the waters” (1:2).

In this opening, we also have hints of God’s triune essence: one God who eternally exists as three persons. Although it is not fully revealed in this text alone, we are introduced to “God” (1:1), “the Spirit of God” (1:2), and the Word of God (1:3), which we later come to know as Jesus (cf. John 1:1–4). The hints of God’s triune essence are later emphasized in this account when God made human beings. At that time, the one God spoke to himself in plural terms: “Let Us make man in Our image, after Our likeness” (1:26). God is one and many at the same time (one God in three persons), a truth about God that will be later and more fully clarified in the Scripture.

Order Out of Chaos. This creation scene highlights the initial condition of the world: formless, void, dark, and deep (1:2). These terms emphasize the shapeless, empty, unlit, and chaotic start of the world. None of these terms describes a sinful character to the world since God only creates that which is good and righteous. Rather, these terms describe the early incompleteness of creation. What existed at this phase of creation needed the transforming power of God’s creative handiwork to bring it to order and fecundity. As the story of creation unfolds, we see each aspect of this original condition get resolved. The shapeless world is given definite demarcations, boundaries, and form. The empty world is filled with thriving plant and creature inhabitants. The darkness is overcome by light. All that is chaotic is brought to order and eventual holy rest (cf. 2:1–3).

The nature of God’s creative work highlights key characteristics of God himself. Throughout the creation account, we notice patterns, rhythms, and a repeatable design. These repetitions serve as clues to help us understand core characteristics of God as reflected in his created world: truth, goodness, beauty, freedom, justice, and dignity. Inasmuch as we learn about God from his creation, we learn about God from this original creation account. Before creation, God alone existed, revealing that he is the ultimate reference point to reality, the standard of all truth. God also made the world out of the overflow of his goodness, being the fountain of all joy and delight. In the fabric of creation, God expressed his character, showing himself as the measure of all majesty and beauty. When God embedded a cadence and flow to creation, such that things would work best only when they were locked into his intended rhythms, God proved himself as the mastermind of all freedom. God established order out of disordered and chaotic matter, ruling as the architect of all justice. God made humans to be his representative image in the world. By crowning humans with this special role in the universe, God revealed himself as the source of all human dignity. In what follows, we briefly explore how each of these dimensions of God’s creative handiwork reveal his unique and unchanging character.

And God Said: Learning About God from His Creative Work

Biblical Narrative (Genesis 1:3–31)

Since the creation account occurs in a repeated and cyclical pattern (i.e., the events and descriptions of each day of creation share similar rhythms), we will briefly outline the creation account here. As we progress through this study, we will evaluate the major themes that occur in the course of the account. Throughout this opening narrative of the Bible, God brought order out of all that was formless, empty, and dark. On the first day, God dealt with darkness by creating light (1:3). This was his first act of creation. On the first three days of creation, God gave shape to the formless matter (i.e., light and dark; sky and earth; land and sea). After speaking light into existence on the first day (1:3–5), God separated the sky from the earth on the second day (1:6–8). On day three, God created the dry land and the seas (1:9–10).

Then, God began to fill his world, making it teem with life, undoing its initial emptiness. On day three, God caused all kinds of vegetation to fill the earth (1:11–13). On the fourth day, he filled the sky with the stars, sun, and moon (1:14–19). On the fifth day and sixth day, God filled his whole world—sky, land, and sea—with all kinds of animals (1:20–25). The world was a lush and thriving paradise. As the climax of his creative work, God made humans on the sixth day (1:26–31). Humans were created for a unique and vital purpose in the world, stewards and caretakers of God’s creation (1:28–30). Humanity was the finale of God’s creation. By the seventh day, God had completed his good and beautiful world (2:1–3). On this day, God rested, bringing a final rest and order to what started as disordered and chaotic.

Biblical Principles

God’s Word and Ultimate Truth. God created the world by speaking. In each of the six days of creation, the phrase “God said” (1:3; cf. 1:6, 9, 11, 14, 20, 24, 26, 28, 29) introduced God’s powerful word bringing form and substances into existence. In this narrative account, the content of God’s speech was often in the form of an imperative like “let there be” (1:3; cf. 1:6, 9, 11, 14, 15, 20, 22, 24, 26, 28), demonstrating his authority and power. God is supreme to have created by speaking, being eternally present in the world before “the beginning” (1:1). As God brought his world into existence, he demonstrated his ownership and creativity by giving names—“God called” (1:5; cf. 1:8, 10)—to parts of his creation. This was yet another use of God’s authoritative and sovereign word, giving identity and roles to different parts of his creation. God’s word brought about and shaped reality. A master craftsman, a skilled artist, and a divine architect, God created a world that reflected himself, displaying his own character and person as the standard of truth.

God’s creation is a revelation of God’s true character. God is the ultimate source of all reality, and facets of God’s character were encoded in original creation. In this way, God is the source and standard of all truth. He existed before creation (1:1). He created all things by speaking (1:3, 6, 9, 11, 14, 20, 24, 26, 28, 29). And, he gave a sense of identity to created things as he named them (1:5, 8, 10). Every part of the created world in its original form pointed to God as the ultimate reality from whom all other realities had come. God’s perfection, character, and majesty were woven into the fabric of the created world. In this sense, through creation, God revealed what is true about himself, and in so doing, revealed where all created things find meaning and purpose. Truth is another way of speaking about the way things really are and the way things really should be. Since all things come from God, the original, flawless world exhibited a true representation of God’s person and character and the world’s fullest identity.

Understanding this nature of creation explains the human pursuit of truth. We are all searching for principles that can help us understand reality: an honest guide to lead us on the right path, a piercing light that can make sense of suffering and heartache, and a righteous standard by which we can measure our lives. We chase after things that seem trustworthy and reliable, yet we can recklessly entrust ourselves without thought to arbitrary and non-credible sources. Some put hope in gifted human leaders. Others seek truth in a jury of peers. Still more rely on their inner intuition to lead in the pursuit of truth. While facets of the created world (even in its fallen state) reflect aspects of truth, creation was intended to point us beyond itself to God as the source of all that is true, genuine, and real. As the creation story reveals, God’s eternal existence and life-giving word bring a sense of substance and meaning to our lives. In our broken and warped world, God himself is the only true compass who can recalibrate our search for the truth.

God’s Goodness and a Flourishing Creation. During the six days of creation, God offered repeated appraisals of his creative handiwork. Taking time to observe what he made, God concluded that what he made “was good” (1:4; cf. 1:10, 12, 18, 21, 25) and even “very good” (1:31). The positive assessment of God’s work highlights the goodness, worth, and excellence of his world. Toward the end of the creation week, God took special time to pronounce a blessing on his creation. Followed by pronouncements for a thriving world, the phrase “God blessed” (1:22; cf. 1:28; 2:3) encapsulated God’s intent to make a world that would flourish. So good was God’s world that it was productive, multiplying, and life-giving.

God shared his life in abundance when he made the world. In the creation story, we see God as a being overflowing with grace, goodness, and blessing. As God created the world, he repeatedly evaluated it and found it to be good (1:4, 10, 12, 18, 21, 25, 31). The reason why God’s creation was good consisted in the fact that God himself is good. One can think of creation as God’s goodness overflowing such that he created a world to be a recipient of his benevolence. Further, we see in the creation account that God brought blessing on his creation (1:22, 28; 2:3). God’s blessing represented his favor on creation that enabled it to flourish, thrive, and multiply into a vibrant and populated world. In this way, the story of creation reflects God’s good character and attests to humanity’s quest for uncontaminated and lasting goodness.

All humans are searching for something good. Too often, however, we experience a world filled with fake or fading goodness. Some things that promise to be good are empty, hollow, and contorted. For these things, the claim of goodness is a fraud. At other times, we experience goodness that fades like a vapor. Our material possessions break, food spoils, sunsets fade, and pleasures lose their thrill. Only by returning to our Creator can we come to the God who is the enduring source of all that is truly good. When God shares his blessing in abundance, nothing can restrain his created world from flourishing. The story of creation reminds us that God alone is the source of lasting and living goodness.

God’s Glory and Created Beauty. God made a world that was beautiful and attractive. Scripture tells us that at several points during the week of creation, “God saw” (1:4; cf. 1:10, 12, 18, 21, 25, 31) what he had made. In fact, when God created human beings on day six, “God looked upon all that He had made, and indeed, it was very good” (1:31). God’s inspection of his creation, with a good evaluation to follow, suggests that creation was beautiful as it was good. God was satisfied with his work of creation, and his creation reflected the beauty and majesty of God’s character.

God put his glory on display in the creation of the world. The attraction toward God’s glory was reflected in the appeal of creation’s beauty. Demonstrating his skill at making beautiful things, God created the world out of nothing (1:1). The additional work of observing his creative handiwork (1:4, 10, 12, 18, 21, 25, 31) emphasized the grandeur and splendor of the world that God had made. Like a living museum, God’s creation showcased God’s magnificent artistry. Rather than a static or lifeless repository of artifacts that decay from years of wear and tear, God’s creation was a robust, lively, and effervescent world that, as it flourished and developed, continually gave testimony to God’s greatness. An artist who used the medium of an all-powerful and divine word, God skillfully spoke in order to create a masterpiece that would continually speak of his majesty, beauty, and glory. But unlike a human artist, who can only recognize and remix the beauty of a created world that God has already made, God engineered all the aspects and entities of his creation ex nihilo (out of nothing). Birds, reptiles, fish, rivers, trees, humans, planets, solar systems, gravity, photosynthesis, and nervous systems were all God’s ideas. The world’s beauty speaks of God’s glory.

In this vein, we know that humans are searching for and are drawn to things that are beautiful. Beautiful things evoke our most authentic responses and are meant to be signposts to lead us back to the ultimate beauty, God himself. While we can observe moments of beauty in the world, it often seems like the world has been severely vandalized. Through sin, the beauty of the world has become greatly distorted. The created world is tarnished with greed, bitterness, pride, violence, deception, and betrayal. When we exploit the earth, abuse the created world, objectify humans, or simply ignore the breathtaking manifestations of God’s beauty still remnant in the world, we actually contribute to a veiling of God’s beauty meant to be represented in the world. We learn from the story of creation that God is the source of all that is beautiful, and only in recovering an awareness of God’s glory can we reclaim a vision for true beauty.

God’s Authority and True Freedom. God formed and fashioned the world with an orderly design. The ability of creation to function in full freedom occurred as creation operated within God’s designed limits and under God’s divine authority. Divinely set boundaries, borders, and demarcations enabled creation to freely thrive and richly flourish. To give order (and freedom), God “separated” (1:4; cf. 1:6, 7, 14, 18) various components of his creation. At the end of each day of creation and separation, God called his work good. The demarcations and boundaries in the world allowed it to work as an integrated and coherent system. The pattern (almost a cadence) built into daily rhythm—“and there was evening, and there was morning—the first day” (1:5; cf. 1:8, 13, 19, 23, 31)—highlights the orderly nature of God’s world as it heeds God’s governing voice and infallible will. Even as various plants and animals multiplied, God made sure it was “according to its kind” (1:11; cf. 1:12, 21, 24, 25). For creation to enjoy freedom and unencumbered existence, it would operate within the patterns, rhythms, and boundaries established by God. Such was a masterful work of making creation functional and free: attending to the borderlines of an interactive, diverse, and complex world.

In his creative mastery, God embedded rhythm, pattern, and cadence into the created world. We see this as God established boundaries in the world’s architecture (1:4, 6, 7, 14, 18). The separations that occurred in creation established unique limits wherein elements of God’s created world could flourish and thrive. God gave rhythm to the days by marking them with evening and morning (1:5, 8, 13, 19, 23, 31), further allowing creation to be operative and functional. The sun, moon, and stars freely ruled the designated times of the day and seasons of the year (1:14–18). Moreover, God engineered ecosystems of life all according to their kind (1:11, 12, 21, 24, 25). The animal kingdom flourished and freely populated the earth as they procreated within their species. Vegetation bore fruit and freely reproduced within its God-designated boundaries. In such acts, God brought freedom to the created world by establishing boundaries, rhythms, and design.

As we consider the demarcations with which God created the world, we resonate with the fact that all humans long for freedom. True freedom, we learn, comes from submitting to God’s authoritative design, yielding to God’s decreed demarcations, and following God’s divinely decreed order. Such “freedom within boundary” was part of the original composition of creation. Today, it is also a foundational principle by which all humans can hope for a life of freedom and joy. Rather than experiencing the masterful interplay of freedom and boundary, the current world exhibits entrapment (boundaries without freedom) or commends licentiousness (freedom without boundaries). Bending toward either extreme, we easily slip into an enslaved life. The truth of the creation account could not be more clear: God’s gracious boundaries provide sacred space for genuine freedom.

Numerous examples can prove this point. Sex is a gift from God given within the boundary of the marriage covenant. When enjoyed in this God-given parameter, there is freedom and joy in the sexual experience. Promiscuity, pornography, or perversion—sex outside of God-ordained boundaries—leads to entrapment and enslavement. Unbridled self-indulgence is a breeding ground for pain and heartache. Limited food intake can provide joy and pleasure. But, without clear boundaries for times of eating and not eating (or eating a diverse variety of nutritious foods), gluttony or eating disorders can enslave. When believers do not marry “according to their kind” (i.e., another believer), the couple will soon learn that what they thought to be romantic freedom will end up in tension and trouble.

Consider the gender of humanity. God created humans male and female: equal in worth, distinct in gender, and complementary in role. In this way, only when humans abide by the distinctions of God-given gender can there be true freedom of expression. Many humans also experience the damaging effects of getting work and rest rhythms out of balance. God created the world in six days and then rested on the seventh because he had finished his work. A balanced life of work and rest can enable humans to enjoy both sides of this equation, while an imbalanced life of work and rest can enslave one to laziness or workaholism. The rhythms, boundaries, and patterns in creation remind us that life is richest when matching God’s rhythms, and only in him can we recover our anchor for freedom.

God’s Righteous Rule and Divine Justice. Justice represents that which is rightly ordered, fairly administered, and ethically enacted. God is the standard of true justice. His righteous character is the only quality that can maintain a proper orientation to that which is right. In the creation account, we see God transform that which is shapeless, empty, dark, and chaotic (1:1–2) into something that is structured, full, illuminated, and ordered. In the first three days of creation, God formed the shapeless and unstructured world and gave it a well-engineered frame (1:3–13). In the next three days, God filled the void world with sun, moon, stars, fish, birds, wild animals, and humans (1:14–31). On the first day, darkness was challenged by God creating light (1:3). Then, on day seven, God brought order to the chaotic world by resting from all that he created (2:1–3). In this act of ordering his world, God placed all things in perfect balance. Not everything in creation was exactly the same. A diversely populated universe, each element of creation served its unique purpose. Yet, in this diversity was an overwhelming coherence and harmony.

When God made the world, he established order out of chaos. The creation narrative teaches that God brought order where there was incompleteness and disorder. This origin account tells of God’s justice: his eternal commitment to what is right. Humans long for justice. Such a longing is aggravated by the fact that we live in a world that perpetuates injustice (i.e., that which is contrary to God’s righteous character). Sinister attitudes of racism, bigotry, and prejudice challenge the value of diversity. Instead of living in harmony with others, we act like we are in control of life and give in to murder, abuse, and other actions that demean human life. Rather than taking care of the earth as God-ordained stewards, we trash and litter it without concern. God is the source of all that is just and right, and he has woven his righteous character into the fabric of the world at its very beginning. Only by returning to our Creator, the righteous standard of justice, can we ever rehabilitate a hope for the just scales of creation to be put back into balance.

God’s Image and Human Dignity. God’s character is reflected uniquely in the creation of human beings. One God in three persons, God spoke to himself about the creation of humanity: “Let Us make man in Our image, after Our likeness” (1:26). In this statement, the singular God spoke of himself in a plural pronoun. Humanity would reflect aspects of this one-and-many truth about God. Reflecting unity and diversity in God himself, “God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them” (1:27). The unity of humanity, the distinction of male and female, and the equality of both genders all play a role in representing God. Humans would exercise stewardship, authority, and dominion over creation as God’s noble image-bearers. Men and women were royal representatives of God’s rule on the earth. Humanity showcased the kingly and regal nature of God.

God spread his fame within his created world through the pinnacle of his creative work: humanity. We could even say that God crowned his creation with the human race. Humans are creation stewards who were given responsibility as the world’s caretakers by ruling, subduing, and exercising dominion over the earth (1:16, 18, 26–28). Similarly, humans are royal emissaries given the honor of being God’s created representatives as his image and likeness (1:26–28). Mankind was also created as a human community endowed with the capacity to experience joy and intimacy by being in relationship with one another (1:26–28).

The image of God can be understood in at least three ways. First, humans were created to be God’s representatives in the world. Quite specifically, they were created in God’s image and would embody God’s presence to the rest of creation. Second, they were created to be in relationship to one another and God himself. In this sense, humans were created to demonstrate the personal nature of God, a God who is in perfect relationship with himself and his created world. Third, humans were created to rule the world as God’s royal emissaries. In this final sense, humans were given the task to fill and reign over the earth as stewards and caretakers of God’s world. Humans were kings and queens who were called to occupy the earth in dominion, reminding everyone that God is the real King.

Humans have an inbuilt desire to be respected, honored, and esteemed. In a fallen world, sometimes these desires come from the distorted passions of a sinful heart. In the name of dignity, we show ourselves to be proud creatures who demand applause, praise, and attention that only belong to God. However, not every inclination (or expectation) for honor is due to sin. People want (and expect) dignity and respect because humans are uniquely created in God’s image. In original creation, honor shown to humanity was a means of revering Creator God. To be noble is to have value, dignity, and worth before God, among other humans, and within the whole of creation. Our calling and capacity to reflect God as image-bearers stirs within us a desire to be treated with respect, highlighting our duty to extend respect to others. To be noble also means to take responsibility for one another. Noble living respects the noble lives of others. This means that our investment in and caretaking of the lives of other humans is a way to express our own human dignity and nobility. Our nobility is highlighted as we discover and live out our God-given mission and purpose in the world, aligning our lives to God’s purposes. Truly, God created humans to fulfill a royal assignment. As we participate in God’s royal kingdom agenda, we reclaim a sense of dignity and nobility that was tarnished when sin entered the world. In Christian virtue, godly relationships, missional purpose, and reconciliation with God, we retrieve human dignity. Only God is the source of all that is noble. Our lives reflect or distort this nobility to the extent we are submitted to God as our King.

Then God Rested: Enjoying God’s Finished Work

Biblical Narrative (Genesis 2:1–3)

After the six days of creation, “the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array” (2:1). God had spoken his good, diverse, and beautiful world into existence. Such being the case, “God had finished the work He had been doing” (2:2). Nothing else needed to be created at this time. Therefore, when it was the “seventh day,” God “rested from all His work” (2:2). Rest from creative labor was not due to God’s weariness, but because there was nothing else God wanted to create. Consequently, God “blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because on that day He rested from all the work of creation that He had accomplished” (2:3). The seventh day became a memorial for all creation to remember that God is Creator. Embedding this memorial into the rhythm of the weekly cycle, God revealed his plan for creation to find its greatest and fullest joy in God.

Biblical Principles

Rest. On the seventh day, God demonstrated that a state of peace, rest, and wholeness (shalom) can exist when all things are in order after God’s design. God blessed this day and consecrated it as a special day, setting it apart from all others because it reminded his creation that all things belong to God. This was an important aspect of creation. Rather than an afterthought, the seventh day served as a statement of God’s intent for creation: vibrant and joyful fellowship with God as long as we yield in submission to God. In this regard, the seventh day (along with the other days of creation) reminds us that all things belong to God and are accountable to him. Our lives being gifts from God, we do not own our existence. We cannot do with them as we please. Instead, we live in an existence that is answerable to our Maker. Life is most blessed and most full and most restful when consecrated to God. As God dedicated the seventh day fully to himself, so our lives will miss out on the blessings God wants to give us until our lives are fully consecrated to him.

God’s Character and Work. The record of creation is a testimony of God’s creative work. All creation—“the heavens and the earth” (2:1)—represents God’s masterpiece as Maker. In the act of creation, God took divine initiative to bring all things into existence. Nothing was left undone. God had accomplished his divine intent. Making a flourishing world, God had completed and finished his creative project (2:1–2). The entirety of creation represented the fullness of God’s plan: “all His work” (2:2) and “all the work of creation” (2:3) were completed in “all their vast array” (2:1). God’s creative word and works are a witness of his character and person. God “blessed” and “sanctified” the seventh day (2:3). What God did on the seventh day teaches us about God. God is faithful to complete his work. God is powerful to finish what he starts. God is good to share his blessing with his creation. God is holy, set apart, and different from all created things. Creation is a monument to a God who intends good for his people, establishes his cosmos in perfect order, and achieves a desired rest for his world. To learn about God, we can reflect on his word and works as means by which God reveals himself to humanity.

Conclusion

The very first words of the Bible tell us how God made the world. The eternal God brought all things into existence in six days. Each day, God established key elements of the universe through his powerful word. God formed his world with structure, filled it with substance, and established it in perfect order. On the sixth day, God made his most important creation: human beings. After God made everything he intended to create, he rested on the seventh day, consecrating it as holy. The story of creation is a foundational part of the narrative by which we can understand our own lives and God’s cosmic story that is unfolding around us. Our deepest inclinations, greatest longings, greatest objections, biggest hopes, and deepest fears can all be explained by the way in which God created the world. As a reflection of himself, the created world still echoes of God despite its sinful state, and reverberates of a world that not only used to exist but one day will be restored. In this regard, we not only learn where we came from but also what the world should be like.

Our understanding of the story behind all reality will grow as we start to recognize the hints of truth, goodness, beauty, freedom, justice, and dignity that are remnants in the broken world in which we live. We are created by God, and we must answer to him as our Maker. Precisely because we are created beings, we must realize that only in returning to God can creation ever reclaim its original glory. The faint whispers of this ancient world, which often feel lost, can be recovered as we return to God. The beautiful melody of original creation can be retrieved. As we yield our lives to our Creator, we can join creation’s choral refrain, a refrain that attests to the story behind it all.

Session Synopsis

Personal Reflection: Entering the Story

Apply the Text: The word of God is binding and authoritative, the only reliable guide for faith and godliness. True disciples submit themselves to God’s word. In this movement, you will apply God’s word to your lives.

Reflection Questions

Encourage one person to share a testimony about how this story has impacted them so far. Use the reflection questions to examine your life in light of this biblical passage.

Spiritual Practice

Ministry Practice: Rehearsing the Script

Minister the Text: God’s word is living and active. Through God’s word, the Christian community is edified. In this movement, you will utilize the biblical passage to minister to other believers and build them up in their faith.

Application Questions

Look at the infographic below. Use the questions to think about how to minister this text to other believers.

Missional Outreach: Publicizing the Truth

Witness the Text: The Bible is a message of God’s gracious salvation to the world. In word and deed, God’s people proclaim the good news of the gospel. In this movement, you will use this biblical passage to reach out to unbelievers.

Strategy Questions

Reflect on the infographic below. Consider how you can use this passage to witness to the surrounding world. Use the suggested ideas to prime your imagination. Then, put together a plan to share this passage with unbelievers, Afterward, reflect on this mission experience.