The Real Creation Story, part 3: God Rests

God Rests

Before we move on to the next phase of earth’s physical creation, let us look at the following verses:

And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made.
And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made. (Genesis 2:2-3.)

What exactly is meant by the word “rested”? It certainly implies a ceasing of some sort of activity; i.e., in this case, the physical creation of the earth, as well as the spirit formation of heaven and earth’s flora and fauna established in Genesis chapter 1. But is there anything else we might learn from this word?

The Real Creation Story, part 2: Creation of Mankind

The Creation of Mankind

Now we shall consider the creation sequence that exists in Genesis chapter 2. It isn’t as extensive as in chapter 1 and only covers the physical creation or formation of the earth’s fauna and flora.

However, before we begin, let us take a closer look at Genesis 1:26-28:

"And 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 fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
"So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.
"And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth . . ."

The Real Creation Story, part 1: It's All Wrong

It’s All Wrong

This may come as a shock to you, and perhaps you won’t believe it, but a good deal of what we’ve been taught in Sunday School about the creation of the earth is wrong.

However, before you get your knickers up, to quote an old expression, allow me to explain.

If you read Genesis chapters one and two carefully, you should come across a bit of a conundrum: Why are there two creation accounts instead of just one?

Be honest: Have you ever noticed that before? If you did, what did you think about it? That it’s just repetition?

Correct me if I’m wrong, but haven’t we been taught since we were toddlers, and for thousands of years before that, that Genesis chapter one chronicles the physical creation of the earth and all that dwells on it?

If that’s so, why, then, are there two separate creation accounts, or at least one whole and one partial account? And the second one in reverse order from the first?

Was Adam Created from Clay? (What About Eve?), part 2 of 2

The design that went into the human body is a miracle beyond miracles when you consider how everything is integrated together, yet each organ and system working its own individual miracles. And the deeper one gets into the body’s functioning (via microscope), the more miraculous it becomes.

I must admit that given the complexity of the human body, I have a hard time with the one-puff-of-air theory of creation from a sculpture of dirt or clay. The only choice I have is to consider that this one sentence verse is symbolic in nature.

I will briefly discuss the creation of Eve. It is different and equally mystifying.

“And the Lord God said, It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him. . . . And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof; And the rib, which the Lord God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man” (Genesis 2:18,21-22).

Was Adam Created from Clay, part 1 of 2

“And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul” (Genesis 2:7).

We live in an orderly universe.

I believe God to be a God of order.

I believe God works by universal laws and principles.

Whether or not God created those laws and principles is irrelevant to me.

What is relevant to me is—if God broke those laws, he would cease to be God.

Whence Cometh Satan? (Part 2 of 3)

So, what exactly was this war in heaven fought over? Of course, we have no way of really knowing, save the heavens become open to us. Nevertheless, perhaps we can paint a picture of what might possibly have occurred, relying heavily upon conjecture. But that’s what we’re all about here: expressing opinions.

Let us look back and try to imagine the scene that took place.

We know this war took place in heaven, a place where one wouldn’t ordinarily think of as having conflict of any kind, let alone a war. I believe this war took place before Adam and Eve were placed on earth in their physical forms. I also believe this war occurred before “the morning stars [i.e., daughters of God] sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy” (Job 38:7).

Of course, there’s no way to know for sure, except there does seem to be a logical pattern of progression here. First, a war fought in heaven. Second, the conclusion of the war. Third, God’s announcement of the physical creation of the earth and the laying of its cornerstone.

Who Are We? (Part 2 of 3)

If we are truly sons and daughters of God as the scriptures tell us (see Who Are We? (Part 1 of 3), then what about all the scriptures that tell us we may become sons and daughters of God? This certainly presents a spiritual conundrum. But there is an answer.

Adam and Eve were created in a paradisaical state. Yet, God introduced the idea of death to them, even though they likely had no conception of what that meant. How could they? Nothing had ever died before! Still, God warned them not to partake of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil or they would die.

We do not know what the tree of knowledge of good and evil was, nor what sort of fruit it bore. What we do know is that by eating it, Adam and Eve would die. The only thing we can assume is whenever they partook of this forbidden fruit, some sort of change came over their bodies that made dying possible. We don’t know what that change was; we may never know. But something happened, and as a result of their disobedience, they became subject to death and were ushered out of their paradisaical glory.

Whatever changes took place in Adam and Eve’s bodies must also have taken place in the bodies of all the animals, for they became wild and ferocious, or at least wild. So, we know the change wasn’t necessarily in the fruit itself because the animals didn’t eat the fruit, but yet they, too, were subject to death.

Who Are We? (Part 1 of 3)

“Who are we?” is certainly one of the most important and widely discussed religious and philosophical questions known to mankind. Yet, when all the arguments have been laid on the table, there is still no consensus among the various parties.

The wise philosophers (in their own eyes) depend on their innate reasoning powers to reach their conclusions. Yet, those conclusions vary widely. There are as many opinions as there are philosophers.

The great religions of the world—Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, etc.—do not fair any better. They cannot even agree on a single God, let alone the answer to this important question. Sadly, Christianity, with its multitude of factions, is not united on the issue, either.

Nevertheless, being of the Christian faith, I must ask: Who does the Bible say we are?

Is There One Creation Story or Two? (Part 3 of 3)

Day 6 opens with the creation of “the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so” (Genesis 1:24). You’ll again note that each living thing was to reproduce after its kind, not evolve from one living thing into something else. Christian Darwinians take note.

Then came the creation of the male and female, formed in the image and likeness of God himself. Many feel this was the creation of Adam and Eve. But was it?

"And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness . . . So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them” (Genesis 1:26-27).

Interestingly, the Hebrew word for man is ’adam (small a), while the word for Adam is ’Adam (large A—both minus the diacritical marks). ’adam (small a) means “ruddy, i.e. a human being (an individual or the species, mankind, etc.)” (James Strong, Hebrew and Chaldee Dictionary, Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, Abingdon Press, 1973.)

Is There One Creation Story or Two? (Part 2 of 3)

Day 2 begins:

“And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters. And God made the firmament, and divided 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. And the evening and the morning were the second day.” (Genesis 1:6-8).

At this point I’m assuming the earth had coalesced into a globe of its present size and shape. As Day 2 begins, the earth was surrounded by a cocoon of water of some sort. This is not unlike a babe being surrounded by a placenta of waters. Of course, the waters surrounding the earth may have been far more extensive than a cocoon. We have no way of knowing, but I like the symbology of the earth being wrapped in a womb of water. As to there being water in outer space, you might want to check out the article,
“Water in Space More Abundant than Expected”.

But what is a firmament? The Hebrew word suggests “an expanse” or “visible arch of the sky.” The Hebrew word for heaven suggests “the sky,” “perhaps alluding to the visible arch in which the clouds move.” It also refers to “the higher ether where the celestial bodies revolve”—basically, the sun and everything you can see in the night sky. Based on the Hebrew, it would appear the firmament is none other than the earth’s atmosphere. (See the NASA photo below.)


Earth’s atomosphere (a NASA photo)

Is There One Creation Story or Two? (Part 1 of 3)

It has long been an established “fact” that Genesis 1 is the chronology of the physical creation of the earth. But is it really?

At first glance, it would certainly seem so. Everything appears to follow a certain logical order leading up to the creation of the male and female in verses 26-28. Yet, there are other indications that there may be more than meets the casual eye on this subject.

Whatever the case may be, there is so little information in the creation story as to leave one with many more questions than answers. And perhaps it was intended to be so. Either that, or we have lost a great deal of information over the ages through multitudes of translations and apparent omissions.

Remember also: This was Moses’ version of what he saw. I’m sure he was quite speechless after seeing all this. Think of the time Moses lived in. I would have to wonder if he even had the vocabulary to verbalize what he saw. Hence, we have this really short version in our Bibles.

Personally, I don’t believe God ever intended Genesis 1 to be a full account of the creation of heaven and earth. If he did, then why don’t we have it?