A Taste of the Beginning

So, this being my fist post, I want to pre-apologize for any potentially unclear thoughts or typing errors as I have for I have learned that my writing often contains both. I will not be offended in the least, but rather grateful if someone would point them out to me. Now without further ado, I will start from the top.

Genesis 1:1, "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth". I find it interesting that the first sentence of the Bible is the beginning of the controversy as well. God Created is a powerful assertion, but one that is vital to the foundation of Christianity. In thinking about why it is important to start with Genesis, and looking at the significance of it, it led me to consider the importance of believing creation.

While some hope to profess themselves as Christians and still believe that the world took more than 6 days to create or they stretch the text to consider that God’s time is different than ours, recalling that a thousand years is a day and so forth, I feel that line of belief essentially leaves doubts from the beginning. I will say that I am not doubting the sincerity of such Christians or their faith, but rather challenging view on this solely on this subject. In doubting a creation in 6 literal 24 hour days, it can place limitations on God’s power and ability from the beginning.

God in this one verse sets himself apart as the Creator, places himself as separate from us, outside of our time or limitations and shows us the magnitude of His power. It also shows that he must have had some form of plan or reason to create us. It is not that he inherited this world, but began it. This is a little bit of a leap, but the more I learn about the Bible through reading and studying, the more I see the Gospel story was clear from Genesis 1:1. This baffles my mind, and reflects the power that God revealed to us then and now. To go along this thought, I found verse 14 as interesting. He created the stars, the phases of the moon with there purposes in mind, and gave us a system to measure the seasons and months long before we thought to use them that way or realized their accuracy.

Chapter 2:3, “ And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy because on it he rested from all the work of creating what he had done.” This reflects on God’s completion of creation. The seventh day is holy to reflect the work that God did in 6 days, not because of the work we do in 6 days of the week. Also, in returning to the theory of creation through God’s definition of time verse the 6, 24 hour days, would that not also allow God to rest for thousands of years? The God of the Bible is not described as such; in fact it is the opposite. God is revealed as an active God, present in our lives seeking a personal relationship, not a distant one.

Lastly, I would like to comment on the end of chapter 2, in talking about man and woman as the first marriage. I really enjoyed C.S. Lewis comments on this topic of marriage recently in listening to the Mere Christianity audio book. I believe you can read it on Google books as well. To get back to Genesis, I found it interesting that woman was created as a companion and suitable helper to the man. This also logically sets up the discussions of marriage in the New Testament. God purposefully created women for men for more than reproduction purposes, but with the design in mind that there would be a relationship. The two would become one flesh, leaving family for one another. There is a depth to it, as the women becomes a companion and helper to the man as no other creation can (verse 20). As a woman, it can be easy for me to begin to feel defensive about my role being as a mere helper, but I encourage this not to be the attitude. Just remember that the man then has the difficult task of leading, but not just taking charge, but leading as Christ leads the Church (Ephesians 5:22-33). Leading like Christ is no easy task, so keep in mind that the relationship takes work on both parts.

These are some of my thoughts. I pray that my words reflect God’s word and my thoughts about them accurately so as not to mislead or misrepresent.
Blessings to you from God our Creator; May we glorify His creation.

Monica