Genesis 1

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the waters. The God said, "Let there be light," and there was light.

These words have caused more animosity within the United States over the past several decades than any other words from the Bible. To advocates of atheism, or advocates of the vigorous separation of church and state in public school curricula, Genesis 1:1-3 serves as the anthem of everything inimical to their freedom. To conservative Christian groups, and their grass roots supporters, these verses serve as a reminder of what the United States has lost in its relentless 150 year drive toward secularism. Even within Christianity itself, there is a bitter division between those who read these verses (and the rest of Genesis 1) literally, and proponents of liberation, feminist, and other theologies that advocate, at the very least, a metaphorical reading, if not absolute dismissal.

Personally, I think these arguments miss the point. After all, anyone with even minimal intelligence can see that this world, so intricately interwoven in all its raw elements, did not accidentally take the shape or form in which it exists today--and neither did we. Moreover, even the most ardent student of evolution must admit, even if only to himself, that the process of species change is, to our knowledge, severely limited to the development of particular animals and plants. (It is impossible, for example, that an amoeba can evolve into anything other than an amoeba, even it it becomes a better amoeba.)

Perhaps it would behoove us to ask ourselves another question as we consider Genesis 1: Why is it so easy for us to believe in a God who assumes human form, dies on a cross, and rises from the dead . . . but not a God who can create the world and the rest of the universe we can see in 6 days? If modern (and postmodern) skepticism and logical empiricism have not proven the existence of God, after all, they have not disproven his existence, either--and I believe that a society whose best answer to the question of God's existence is "I don't know" has no business attempting to prove or disprove the veracity of a 6 day creation.

Ultimately, it is a matter of faith--either I trust that the God of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John is capable of creating the world in 6 days, or I don't. If Jesus was capable of raising the dead, healing the blind, and delivering people of demon possession in a matter of seconds, then surely the same Jesus, through whom John tells us that the world came into being, was capable of bringing every atom of our world and sky together in a matter of days.

Listen to John 1:1-3 . . .

In the beginning was the Word [Jesus Christ], and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and apart from him nothing came into being that has come into being.

Or Colossians 1:15-16 . . .

He [Jesus Christ] is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities--all things have been created through him and for him.

And lest we think that the writers of John and Colossians were smoking weed . . .

Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath of the Lord your God--in it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter, your male or your female servant or your cattle or your sojourner who stays with you. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day--therefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day and made it holy.

Exodus 20-8-11, #4 of the 10 Commandments

And this is what Jesus himself said of the above words (and others like them) from the Torah:

Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets [the Old Testament]--I did not come to abolish but to fulfill. For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished.

Matthew 5:17-18

We will cover these verses, and the rest of Genesis 1, in detail during the next post, but I want all of you to remember one thing: This book that rests in so many of our houses unread is the account of a God who asks one thing of each one of us--to take what he says at face value, in faith. It was a requirement, not only for the ancient Israelites and their forefathers but for men like Paul, Peter, John, Mark, Luke, Matthew, Apollos, Stephen, and hundreds, thousands, perhaps ten thousands of believers who gladly and wholeheartedly took on the name of Christ during the church's inception and over the last 2000 years of its existence. If you, or I, or anyone, cannot take this collection of writings at face value, on faith . . . then our Christianity is in serious doubt.