Genesis 1-11, Part 4: Genesis 1d

Friday, 27 June 2008

Conclusions: My Brief Midrash on Genesis 1:1-2:3

Here are my quick thoughts on the creation story. This story, unlike the one we are about to look at from Genesis 2, focuses more upon Elohim and His acts in creation, so much of my thinking has to do with what we can learn about God from it.

First, Elohim is a God who as divine king rules over and is present in both chaos and order, but these initial acts of creation reveal that Elohim, as Paul says, is a "God of order." God overcomes chaos in creation at the beginning and God can overcome the chaos that confronts us in our lives. We as people created in His image should also be present in chaos, helping to bring order to a broken creation and lives that need it.

Second, Elohim is a God who loves life and created the diversity of life in the seas, skies, and land. The implication for us as those created to be like Go is that we too should love life and the diversity within it. How much do we truly value the creation as God's work of art and life? In a culture that surrounds itself with man-made walls and gadgets, we may be missing many deep truths about God. As a friend of mine, Caleb Moore, recently noted:

I think one of the greatest tricks of the enemy was to invent the cubicle which can neuter the soul. We wake up in a box and climb into another box to drive to the box we work at. Inside that box are hundreds of little boxes where we sit and stare at a....box. And after work? We go home and turn on the almight tv box until our soul is drained of all passion.

Third, Elohim is a God who chooses to experience cooperative community. Whether God is referring to the Trinity or the assembly of the heavenly beings when He says "let us create Adam in our image", it shows that God chooses to not work alone. When I think about this whole idea, it really amazes me but seems to be remarkably consistent with the way God has always operated. From the creation, to the giving of His words, to the building of his people, God consistently uses his creation as "co-workers" in His purposes.

Fourth, Elohim is a God who is willing to share His nature and wants to reduplicate Himself for the sake of his creation. While this may sound strange initially, it is clear that God makes humanity in His image and likeness and then tells us to multiply oursevles, to multiply that image. From a Christian perspective, Jesus is the perfect example of a human "image of God" living in a sinful world...the fulfillment of God's purposes in creating humanity. Colossians tells us that the fullness of God was "pleased" to dwell in Jesus, and that now we also experience this fullness as followers of Jesus. In some sense, we are still in "day 6" and God is still forming earthy humans into His image. The implications of this are really amazing to me, and I will probably discuss this more later.

Fifth, Elohim is a God of work and rest. I think we too easily miss this idea that God himself rested. Why would an all-powerful God need to rest? Maybe it is simply that rest is good and an essential part of life. Again, as those created to be like Him, it should not pass by us in a work/accomplishment oriented culture that rest is both of those things, good and necessary, if we are to live. We should also be careful to check ourselves and our message to see how much we are communicating the idea that being like God or a follower of Jesus looks more like work alone rather than work and rest.

Finally, I desire that my life can somehow be a reflection of these truths about God.

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