Genesis: "Created by God"

by Edi M. Cassanop Manik, S.Si.

This morning we begin a new series of sermons in which we are going to be following a program which we've begun in the church this year called "Year With the Bible." We've abbreviated the name to "B2K," or "Bible 2000,"-- it's a way to encourage members of the congregation to read the scriptures day by day. There are two tracks to follow in this, and about 170 folks have signed up. You can still sign up, either to read the whole of the Bible in one year, or to join in with what we called the "Book of the Month Club," choosing to read one book each month.

Genesis 1 In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters. Then God said, "Let there be light"; and there was light. And God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day. And God said, "Let there be a dome in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters." So God made the dome and separated the waters that were under the dome from the waters that were above the dome. And it was so. God called the dome Sky. And there was evening and there was morning, the second day. And God said, "Let the waters under the sky be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear." And it was so. God called the dry land Earth, and the waters that were gathered together he called Seas. And God saw that it was good. Then God said, "Let the earth put forth vegetation: plants yielding seed, and fruit trees of every kind on earth that bear fruit with the seed in it." And it was so. The earth brought forth vegetation: plants yielding seed of every kind, and trees of every kind bearing fruit with the seed in it. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening and there was morning, the third day. And God said, "Let there be lights in the dome of the sky to separate the day from the night; and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and years, and let them be lights in the dome of the sky to give light upon the earth." And it was so. God made the two great lights--the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night--and the stars. God set them in the dome of the sky to give light upon the earth, to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening and there was morning, the fourth day. And God said, "Let the waters bring forth swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the dome of the sky." So God created the great sea monsters and every living creature that moves, of every kind, with which the waters swarm, and every winged bird of every kind. And God saw that it was good. God blessed them, saying, "Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth." And there was evening and there was morning, the fifth day. And God said, "Let the earth bring forth living creatures of every kind: cattle and creeping things and wild animals of the earth of every kind." And it was so. God made the wild animals of the earth of every kind, and the cattle of every kind, and everything that creeps upon the ground of every kind. And God saw that it was good. Then God said, "Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the wild animals of the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth." So God created humankind in his image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. God blessed them, and God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth." God said, "See, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit; you shall have them for food. And to every beast of the earth, and to every bird of the air, and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food." And it was so. God saw everything that he had made, and indeed, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.    (NRSV)

Our sermons are going to be following the book of the month, which begins with Genesis, then moves to Exodus and then to the Gospel of Mark; and from there we skip around to different books in the Bible. Quite clearly, we are not looking at all of the Bible nor at all of these books that we choose. Some of them are very long, including the first book in the Bible, the book of Genesis -- it's a long book. We're going to highly selective in what we look at, and at times because the passages will be long, we will probably raise more questions than provide answers.

This morning we come to the topic of creation. The whole of the universe, covered in fifteen minutes! Of course we're going to limit ourselves to creation as seen through the eyes of the writer of the first chapter of Genesis. Still, there is plenty in that chapter which speaks about God, about light and darkness, about dry land and about sea, about heaven and earth, about the physical world and about human beings. There's quite a lot within this passage to keep us busy! But what's important to note right from the outset, before, we turn directly to this passage is this: that there is next to nothing in the first chapter of Genesis about how God made the heavens and the earth. About how long it took or the process that was involved in the act of creation. Let me say that again: In the book of Genesis, in the first chapter, there is next to nothing that is said about the process of creation, even though, for the most part, for the past 150 years, ever since Charles Darwin wrote, that has been the focus above everything else in discussions on this particular chapter.

And it's a focus which hasn't gone away with the passing of time. This past year, this past August, the Kansas Board of Education, some of you may remember, decided that evolution would not be a required part of the curriculum in that state for their schools. That didn't mean that you couldn't teach it. It just meant that young people were not going to be examined in biology on the topic of evolution as a theory of origins. It could be taught, and might or might not be taught, --but it would not be mandated.

This kind of discussion about evolution and tied into the understanding of Genesis is by no means new. Indeed, the ferocity of the attacks on both sides of the debate, began even before Darwin published his Origin of Species, when, in the 1850s, the whole issue of evolution was being discussed in different ways. For example, there was a major debate in 1857 at the University of Oxford between Thomas Huxley and one of the bishops of the church of England, Samuel Wilberforce, in which the battle lines were drawn in black and white: either God or evolution; science or creationism. One way or the other, the battle lines were drawn then and those battle lines, to a certain extent, still exist today -- and not always because of those whom we might name fundamentalists. There have been scientists as well who have come to the fray in this battle and who have said far more than I believe they ought to say based on their science about the meaning of existence, based on what they have discovered.

We might think of Carl Sagan in recent years, in the past few decades, about this. Or more recently, in fact, in an interview in the past couple of weeks, Harvard zoologist Edward Wilson. This is what he said in an interview in the Wall Street Journal just a couple of weeks ago (January 1, 2000). He said:

Make no mistake about it. The expansion of human knowledge with science and technology, especially neuroscience, genetics and evolution, renders traditional religious belief less and less tenable, more and more difficult to justify and argue logically. The more we understand from science about the way the world really works, all the way from the sub-atomic particles up to the mind and to the cosmos, the more difficult it is to base spirituality on our ancient mythologies.

This is a statement with which I completely and utterly disagree!! And do so in particular with reference to the first chapter of Genesis about which I would like us to think now.

Genesis One as Poetry. Part of my agreement stems from a belief about the proper reading of Genesis which comes from knowing just a little bit of Hebrew. Now I have to lay something on you here and beg your indulgence and for you to believe me on this as we believe all kinds of other voices around about us. What I want to say is this: That the first chapter of Genesis (and this was one of the reasons for reading it through in its totality before you) is written in the form of Hebrew poetry. It is written in the form of Hebrew poetry -- which does not mean it is not true!! In fact, there are poems which are more profoundly true than the most rigorous scientific descriptions of life, and that convey a truth which gives meaning to life far more than those things which are hard-core literal truth. It does mean, though, that we have to be very careful about the kinds of questions we ask of this document. The kinds of questions for which it was originally written in the first place.

Let me give you an example when it comes to English. How do you know that we have a poem in English? It's written in English, there's a certain rhythm to it. There's a certain way in which it's written if we can see it written on the page. And, of course, in the kind of poems that I like it all rhymes. So you know that you've got a poem when you say, "Twinkle, twinkle, little star." How does the rest go? "How I wonder what you are." See, it all rhymes. It's nice and it's pretty and we all know that it's a poem -- and it would be absolutely absurd if the next thing I was to say was, "Hmm, wonder about this twinkling business with this star here. What's going on here? I wonder what the wave length of this light is on this star." If you're saying this poem to your child and you suddenly raise such a question (which is not ultimately a bad question. It's a good question), what you are doing is absolutely inappropriate to that particular reading of that poem at that time. Do you see this?? Do you understand that particular way of looking at a poem?. -- It's not that it's a bad question. It's a good question. It's just inappropriate to that particular reading because we know what, "Twinkle twinkle little star" is.

Well, when it comes to the first chapter of Genesis, there is no rhyming -- the Hebrews didn't rhyme as far as I know. They didn't try to rhyme. What they did in their poetry is repeat and develop a theme. Repeat and develop a theme. You state it once, you state it again and you expand on it. And those are the signs of poetry all the way, for example, through the book of Psalms. When we come to the first chapter of Genesis, they are there as well. They are there written largely into the story of creation where what we find is that Day 1 (you may have to keep me on track here) parallels Day 4. And Day 2 parallels Day 5. And Day 3 parallels Day 6. And when you go home and read it, you will see it very clearly indeed.

Day 1: Let there be light. And there was light. The whole principle of light.
Day 4: The heavenly bodies that create light come into existence -- the sun and the moon and the stars.

Day 2: The sky. The dome above us and the waters of the oceans come into existence.
Day 5: The creatures that fill the waters and fly in the sky come into existence.

Day 3: The dry land. And what grows on the dry land.
Day 6: The human beings, the creatures whom God makes to live on this dry land.

The theme is stated and the theme is repeated and developed and these are the signs of Hebrew poetry -- signs that remind us that we are not intended, this was never intended as a document for which we ask and demand of it the kind of scientific accuracy which we have only demanded in the whole nature of human history in the past one or two hundred years. How? How long? -- This is the wrong question!

So what are the right questions? What kind of questions would be asked of this particular scripture at the time it was written, that men and women were asking and have asked from generation to generation and which we still ask to this day and to which the first chapter of Genesis gives us answers on to which we can hold, and which will provide for us a foundation and life that cannot be shaken?

1. The question of Meaning. Well, there is, first of all, there is the question of meaning. Is there meaning in life? Now there's a question we need to ask in a world in which people have lost their way. People do things but they don't know what it means or what it adds up to. Is there a purpose in life? And Genesis 1 answers this so quickly and precisely when it says, "In the beginning, God . . . God created the heavens and the earth." God purposed this world and you and me into being. There is a purpose which stands behind us all, which gives meaning to all of life. We may not know what it all means yet, but it is there. It is for us to explore. It is for us to discover. There is meaning in this vast universe in which, at times, we seem only to be a speck.

2. The question of God. Is there meaning? That question, if it's answered by invoking the name of God, only raises a further question about God: Who is God? That's the next question. Who is this God who gives meaning to the universe and brings it into existence? Well -- this God is indescribably great! Indescribably great. Not, first of all, you might notice, not first of all love here, -- though this God is loving and provides for the creatures that are made; love certainly comes into the story -- but first of all, this God is "God the Almighty," as the Creed would say, "the maker of heaven and earth."

This God is indescribably great in a world in which chaos at times seems to reign. In a world in which our own personal chaos seems to reign. There are times in which we shrink God down so that we can almost put God in our pockets and we rule over God. What Genesis 1 does to us and should do to us if we read it again and again, is to turn things the right way round, so that God becomes great beyond all imagining. Everything that is made, from the hand of God, and all that we discover, as Einstein once said, as we probe more and more into the mysteries of the universe, all we discover is "God's thoughts" -- We think God's thoughts after God. It is not as if any of these discoveries take God by surprise. God put them there in the first place for us to seek out and discover. God is indescribably great.

3. The question of "matter." Then in the third place, there is the question about things. About the physical universe. About matter. Does matter matter? Does the physical world matter? There are some religions or faiths that would teach us that the goal of life is to escape the material world. To be done with it. To not care about it. All that matters is the spirit. And then there are other religions that teach us that we ought to worship the physical world. There are some aspects of that which have seen a resurgence in recent years. If you look at some of the magazines depicting what happened at the turn of the millennium, you'll see some people standing there, worshiping the sun and the moon and the stars. There is a growth of these ancient religions again where the material world is worshipped.

So what does Genesis say? Genesis brings us right down the middle and says that this material world is neither to be worshipped nor despised, but to be held in trust, made by the Creator God for you and for me to use and not abuse, to honor and not dishonor. And this includes not only the world around us, but our bodies as well. Good, good gifts of God. God made and it was good. Matter matters. Caring for matter, for the material world, and for people as body and spirit, matters. It is not something we do which is less than spiritual. We are spiritual as we care for the physical as well as what we might define as the spiritual.

4. The question of Human Worth. Is there meaning? Who is God? What about matter? And then finally, who are we? Who are you? Who am I? A speck in time which stretches in such a way that our little time on earth seems to be nothing? Are we nothing too? What gives meaning to life? It's who knows us, who remembers us, who sees us. That's what gives meaning to life and God knows us. God made us. And God remembers us. Made in God's image (1.26).

This is the basis of all our self-esteem, that we want our young people to have so much, because we know that without it, life begins to disintegrate in all kinds of ways. To know that we are made by God is the basis of self esteem; and not only that, but it's the basis of our love for others too -- because they too, whoever they are, whatever race, whatever socio-economic background, they too are made by God. And this should impel us on our way to care for those around about us.

Dr. Paul Brand spent many years as a medical missionary in India dealing with leprosy patients. And he wrote this about the way in which he longed to care for other people:

Each of us has the potential to help summon up in the people we meet the image of God, the spark of God-likeness in the human spirit. Or, instead, we can ignore or squelch that image and judge only on the basis of external appearance. I pray that when I see a person, I will see the image of God inside. The ultimate worth, not just the cultural image that we all strive to attain.

Then he goes on to quote Mother Theresa, who said that when she looked in the face of a dying beggar in Calcutta, she prayed to see the face of Jesus, the face of God the Son, the full image of God, so that she might serve the beggar as she would serve Christ

Now, my friends, those are questions which are critical for our lives. It's important, it's interesting, to know how this world came into being. It's fascinating. It's part of our human endeavor to look at the material world around about us which is spoken of in this first chapter of Genesis. But to know "the how" of it, and "the how long" of it, are not nearly so vital to your life and mine and to the people in this world around about us than to know

• whether or not there is meaning in life, beyond what little meaning we can find.
• and to know who is the God who is involved in this creation?
• and to know whether or not the material world (including our physical lives) matters or whether to be spiritual is to distance ourself from it?
• and not nearly as important as to know: Who are we? You? Me? in this life, the one life given to us, created for us, by the living God.

I trust that we will think about these questions, which no scientist by science itself can answer, and not be sidetracked on others which are imponderable and we may never resolve. It is such questions as these which truly make a daily difference, depending on how we answer them, to the whole course of your existence and mine.

Let us bow before God in prayer.