Creation and the Purpose of God

Where In the Bible: Genesis 1-2

The big story begins with God creating the world. The story the Bible tells is not one that focusses on how or when (and this series is not the place to get into those questions) but rather what and why. God made everything, and the Genesis 1 account shows that this creation is both ordered and good. The pinnacle of God’s creation is humanity, made in God’s image, male and female, to steward creation on his behalf. Genesis 2 opens up more detail on god’s creation of humanity, highlighting our connection to the earth (made from the dust) and to God (the breath of his Spirit). God created Eden as a sanctuary for the humans he had made, where he would walk with them and could live in perfect unspoilt relationship with God, with one another, and with the land, as they carried out their God-given mandate.

God the Creator (Gen. 1:1-5): The big theme of Genesis 1 is God the creator. In fact, this is the very first thing the Bible tells us about God. Before there was anything else, there was God, and it is out of the overflow of his love and goodness that everything that exists comes to be. Creation is set against the formless and empty void, showing that God was doing more than rearranging existing material, but was creating out of nothing. The chapter is written in a poetic style, and it shows God creating habitats on days 1-3 and then filling them on days 4-6, giving the impression of a craftsman taking care to make in an ordered way. It also shows a rhythm of God creating by speaking, showing the power of his word, and then declaring his creation to be good. The world as it is meant to be is good and full of blessing. Right from the beginning of the account we see mentions of God (referring to the Father) in verse 1, the Spirit in verse 2, and God creating by his Word in verse 3 (in John 1:1, this is identified as Jesus), showing that creation is a Trinitarian act by the God who has always existed in community. We also see God delegating creative responsibility to his creation itself, instructing the land to produce vegetation and animal life (v11, 24) and then the plants, birds and fish to reproduce after their own kinds (v12, 22).

Humans In God’s Image (Gen. 1:26-28): When God created humans, his summary verdict of what he had made changed from ‘good’ to ‘very good’. Of all that God has made, there is something special about his creation of humans, and this is because he made us in his image. There has sometimes been debate about what it means to be in the image of God, but it would be a mistake to limit it to a single factor: especially when that factor may not apply to all humans and may deny God’s image in some. The parallel with Genesis 5:3 is important, where Seth is described as the image of Adam, not because he resembled him in a single characteristic, but rather that he was like his Father in many ways, and shared something of his Father’s life. In a similar way, humans resemble God in being made for community (the ‘us’ of verse 26 points to this), in maleness and femaleness (emphasised in verse 27, both together are needed to reveal God’s image – see also 2:21-23), in our responsibility to fill and steward the earth (verse 28, demonstrated in Adam naming the animals in 2:19), and in other areas including our capacity to think and to make moral choices. More than any of these characteristics, however, the image of God is seen in the reality of 2:7 where God breathed the very breath of life into the humans, animating us with his life and bestowing on every human the dignity and privilege of being an image bearer of God.

Eden as a Sanctuary (Gen. 2:8-9): As the creation story is told, a key distinction is drawn between the Garden of Eden and the rest of creation. Against the backdrop of a creation that is good, but that is wild and needs to be subdued, God made a garden in the East as a gift for the humans. This garden shared many of the characteristics that we see in temples later in the Bible, and is a sanctuary where God himself would dwell with his people (see Genesis 3:8). At the heart of the creation account is God dwelling with his people, and this shows his purpose in making the world. He desired for there to be a global community of people living in relationship with each other and with him. From this sanctuary, rivers flowed to bring water and blessing to the surrounding land, an image that is picked up elsewhere in the Bible of rivers of blessing flowing from the place of God’s presence (e.g. Ezekiel 47:1, John 7:38, Revelation 22:1). In this garden, God graciously provided trees that were good for food, and also the tree of life, showing that life is found in relationship with God. After the fall, it could be said that the rest of the story of the Bible is the story of humanity being returned to the perfect state of Eden, dwelling in the presence of God and of the tree of life. There was only one tree in the sanctuary that humans were not permitted to eat from, and this was the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (which we will come onto in the next sermon).

Potential Applications:

• This sermon should fill people with awe and wonder at the goodness of what God has made.
• We should be challenged in how we think about human life, and particulalry how we view the image of God in ourselves and others.
• At the heart of God’s purpose for humans is that we have relationship with him. Through Jesus we can have that relationship. Invite people to put their trust in him and come to God.