Introduction
A doctor, an architect, and a lawyer were arguing over who had the oldest profession. The doctor said, "Well the first operation was performed on Adam, so the medical profession is the oldest."
"No," said the architect, "Architectural planning and design was needed to create the earth and the universe out of chaos, so I represent the oldest profession." "Where do you think the chaos came from?" asked the lawyer.
Genesis 1-3. The bain of my existence as a teenager. The reason I took technological studies for SCSE (basically Scottish GSCE’s) rather than biology. I was convinced that Genesis 1-3 ruled out the theory of evolution. Creation all happened in 6 days roughly 6,000 years ago. I went through High School, undergraduate and postgraduate physics degrees holding on to those truths. Then I started studying the Bible in more detail and found that maybe those things I had thought were true weren’t. Suddenly I could accept all those dodgey consequences of relativity I had struggled with throughout university, like how light for stars millions of light years away could reach earth, or how all the evidence pointed to big bang 15 billion years ago. And so science opened up to me in a new way. And yet in all my years of studying Genesis, of buying and reading dozens of books, I have a whole bookshelf of books on just the first 10 chapters of Genesis, had I missed the point? In fact I know some people were a wee bit tired of hearing me on the subject.
It seemed that nearly every time I heard or taught about Genesis 1:1-2:3 it was in the context of the evolution debate. You could be forgiven for forgetting that Genesis was written thousands of years before Charles Darwin and wasn’t written as a polemic against Evolution. And so I’ve entitled this sermon What does Genesis 1 have to say to those who are fed up with the creation/evolution debate (and to those who are not)?
Therefore for the rest of this service I want to go back to a time before Charles Darwin and see why Genesis 1 was written in the first place and what we can learn from it, rather than trying to use it for a scientific inquiry of origins. Its not that I disagree with investigating the relationship between science and religion, nor that either science or religion is obliged to accept without question what the other offers as truth, in fact I am actively involved in researching for a PhD in this area, but rather to say, that we can get so caught up in that search that we miss the other truths the passage has to offer. It is these other truths that I wish to explore this morning.
It is polemic but against what?
Let’s start by agreeing that it wasn’t written as a polemic against evolution so why was it written? Some people involved in the creation evolution debate will say something like, evolution/science is the how, Genesis 1 is the why? But when I read Genesis 1 I can’t find anywhere where it says why God created. If you get board during the sermon, or if you already are, then have a look at Genesis 1 and see if you can tell me afterwards where it says why God created. For the why you have to look elsewhere in the Bible and even there its only hinted at. So if Genesis 1 wasn’t written to say why, then why was it written?
I think it was written as polemic, just not against evolution. The question is against what? Firstly it was a polemic against the worship of astronomical objects. In many ancient religions the people worshiped the Sun and Moon, but Genesis speaks against this. You notice that the Sun and Moon where not created until day 4 and are not even named but just referred to as the greater and lesser lights. If I was to write a history of British football from the 1960’s till present and did not mention the 1966 world cup till chapter 4 out of 7 and then only to mention that it was won by a European country. It would be obvious that I was writing from a Scottish point of view. In the same way to describe creation and relegate the sun and moon to day 4 and not even mention them by name, is clearly speaking against their importance and in the culture that Genesis was written a clear warning against the worship of them.
But it is more than just a polemic against worshiping the Sun and Moon. In a time when the Jewish race where in exile in a foreign land where people worshiped foreign gods, who for the moment seemed to have won. Genesis 1 is a reminder that God is not merely the local tribal God of the Jews, one amongst many and currently not doing very well at taking care of his people but rather He was the creator, the one true God who claims sovereignty over the whole world. He not only created mankind, but the animals, the fish, the birds and earth, the universe and the heaven. It was all made according to his will and purpose, by him and at his command.
In fact the very structure of the entire chapter speaks about how God created everything. At the time Genesis was written the universe was understood to be the earth surrounded by two domes. The first called sky had water above and below it and was surrounded by the heavens. So if we look at this on day 1 he made the heavens, on day 2 he had the sky and then on day 3 he separated out the earth. Then he went back and filled them, day 4 he fills the heavens with the Sun, Moon and stars, day 5 he fills the sky and seas, the dome of sky, with fish and birds, then day 6 he fills the earth with man and the animals. The universe is split up into 3 groups by the categories of the day and each is made and then filled. This is to emphasise that God created everything in the entire universe. When understood in this context then the exile could be seen as part of God’s plan and the hope of a return established.
We can also notice that God affirms his creation as good. The universe is not evil, but good. It is also interesting to look at the role of man, in the these verses. Humans are creatures and not God, but they are also made in the image of God, and God is pleased with his creation. It is a polemic against those who wish to see humanity as nothing, and those religions which saw the common man as nothing. Humanity is very important he is the image of God and God desires to have a relationship with him, this is developed throughout Genesis where God comes and talks with humans and Abraham is called the friend of God.
God as creator
So what can we in the 21st century learn from this.
Firstly we like the ancient Jews to whom this was written can start from the point of view that it tells us that God created everything. When God created it was not like we create. We can take existing matter and do things with it to create stuff. I create, I build computers and write computer programs. However, I need computer components to create a computer, I need the case, the chip, the fan, the power supply and the graphics card. However, even someone who creates these needs to build it out of something, silicon, plastic and metal. A carpenter needs his wood, teams on Scrapheap Challenge need a scrapheap. God’s creation was different. He created the universe out of nothing. When he was making humans he did use stuff he had previously created but the stuff itself was all created from nothing by God.
Further creation is dependent on God. Colossians 1:16-17, tells us that Christ as God was involved in creation and that all things hold together in him. It is not just a matter of creating and then finishing, it sustaining. If I was to die this afternoon, which would be very frustrating I want see The Return of the King, Star Wars Episode III, how the cliff hangers at the end of the first series of Smallville are resolved and of course The Matrix 2 and 3, anyway if I was to die this afternoon, the computers I built and the programs I’ve written wouldn’t stop working. They don’t have a dependence on me after I have created them. Although nobody else at the college understands the computer system thats installed there someone else could figure it out. The universe is different. It only exists because God wills it. The universe is not some eternally existing object that God rules over, nor is it something that God built and then left to its own devices. Rather it is completely dependence on God. It’s almost like the imagination of God, it only exists for as long as God thinks about it. Personally I don’t quite like that metaphor but it gives you any idea of the dependence of the universe on God.
This is so basic to God that it forms the first line of the foundational creeds of the church, the statements arrived at by the early church which you had to agree to to be Christian. The apostles creed says “I believe in God, the Father Almighty, the Creator of heaven and earth,” while the Nicene Creed says “We believe in one God, father almighty, maker of all things, both visible and invisible.” We sometimes sing a version of this by Graham Kendrick. We believe in God the Father maker of the universe.
But so what?
It’s all very interesting, or at least I think it is. But what difference does it make that God created the universe and totally sustains it. It means that not only does God know what is best for the universe but he has right to it. He created the universe, he made it all, it belongs to him, he has a right to set the rules. However, that could picture God as a cosmic bully. I made you so you will do what I say. But its not like that. Consider a car. If you drive it everywhere in first gear, it’s not going to last long. Or if you try to drive it without putting it in gear your not going to get very far. The people who built it know who it was supposed to be used and we only get the best out of it if we follow their instructions. Or how many of you have tried to put together some DIY furniture? How many of you have just ripped open the boxes and tried to figure it out without the instructions? How many have had to go and find those instructions after several hours of frustration.
The relationship between us and God is often like this. God created us, he made us for a purpose. For now it’s enough to know that he knows what’s best for us. He knows who we can live the most fulfilling life, to be what we are designed to be.
Yet if we read on into Genesis 3 we find that he doesn’t just program us to do the best, he gives us free will. Although he designed the universe and us. He knows what he made us for what our purpose was and how we can be fulfilled. He chooses to allow us to choose. He knows what’s best but he gives us the option to follow or not, because he wants us to love him and love cannot be forced or pre-programmed. If it is to be true love then it must be chosen, so God gives us the ability to chose.
And yet there is the other side of the coin, God’s creating and sustaining means that He is in control. He has chosen to give us free will, yet he is still the ultimate one in charge. He’s not locked in a battle with the devil where the outcome is unknown. Where its touch and go over whether God is going to pull it out of the bag at the end or not. Often in fiction that’s the case. The gods have a chosen one who is sent to earth to win the battle but its not a forgone conclusion, the evil god is powerful and there’s a good chance he’s going to win. For example in the Lord of the Rings, God sends powerful beings like Gandalf to help the races of middle earth win but if Sauron gets his ring he will win. Reality is not like that, there is no way that Satan can win. The cross was not the point where the devil almost won, but God snatched it. God is always in control. He may give us free will and the ability to choose whether to follow him or not but God is always ultimately in control. The victory is never in doubt.
When I was at Erskine before moving to Manchester our youth group used to sing as a group in church at our monthly youth services. One song we sang which always sticks in my mind was God is in Control. Unfortunately, the reason it stuck in my mind was due to a couple of our younger members you thought that when sung to the music it sounded much better as God is not a Mole. However the second verse went like this,
History marches on
There is a bottom line drawn across the ages
Culture can make it’s plan
Oh but the line never changes
No matter how the deception may fly
There is one thing that has always been true
It will be true forever
God is in Control
We believe that His children will not be forsaken
God is in Control
We will choose to remember and never be shaken
There is no power above or beside Him
We know, ohh, God is in Control
Ohh, God is in Control
No matter what the world looks like, no matter how much evil seems to get the upper hand, remember that God as creator, sustainer and ultimate authority of the universe, is in control.
But its not that God controls everything in the world, being the ultimate cause for every action in exact accordance with his will. No he created us with free will. Its a different kind of control that God exercises. One that is consistent with his creation and sustenance of the world. He is involved in the world, answering prayer, tweaking this bit, sustaining this bit, guiding, persuading. Yet if everybody in the world decided to rebel against God and fight him, he wouldn’t loose. He would be heart broken that all those people had rejected him but they wouldn’t defeat him. He would just call an end to the world and setup a new heaven and a new earth with those who had already died and accepted him. The end is not in doubt but whether we join with God in that victory or not is up to us.
Conclusion
So aside from providing the ammunition for debates in high school biology classes, what can we learn from Genesis 1.
Firstly that God is not a petty tribal deity in a competition for followers with other gods, God is the God, the creator and that as such he has a write to obedience. He has designed us and knows who we can best fulfill our purpose to live in a relationship with him. However, he has given us free-will and will not force us to follow his way even although it is the best way. But he still controls the universe and will win the ultimate victory. There is no good and evil duality. He is the only eternal one. He victory is guaranteed it is only a matter for us to decide whether we will enjoy that victory with him or suffer defeat against him.
We believe in God the Father, maker of the universe
