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Lecture 7 – The Christian Story Part 1 - Creation

Some opening questions

What do you think of when you hear the phrase ―God created‖?

How does the fact that God created the world change your life?

Lecture

Are Christians meant to be suspicious of material things?

The gospel of Ned Flanders – ―you name it, I haven’t done it‖

Nietzsche:
―The Christian resolution to find the world ugly and bad has made the world ugly and
bad‖

Understanding the Christian story means starting with the God is the Creator of all
things. It affects the whole storyline.

1. God made the physical world not the devil

2. God thought that what he had made was good

Genesis 1:2-3

2 Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep,
and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.
3 And God said, ―Let there be light,‖ and there was light. 4 God saw that the light
was good, and he separated the light from the darkness.

Genesis 1:9-12

9 And God said, ―Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry
ground appear.‖ And it was so. 10 God called the dry ground ―land,‖ and the
gathered waters he called ―seas.‖ And God saw that it was good. 11 Then God said,
―Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear
fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds.‖ And it was so. 12 The land
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Lecture 7 – The Christian Story Part 1 - Creation

produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing
fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.

Genesis 1:31

31 God saw all that he had made, and it was very good.

There is no good in trying to be more spiritual than God. God never meant man to be
a purely spiritual creature. That is why he used material things like bread and wine to
put new life into us. We may think this rather crude and unspiritual. God does not: He
invented eating. He likes matter. He invented it. (CS Lewis)

Genesis chapter 2 – a tight focus on human beings

Genesis 2:7

the LORD God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his
nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.

The name Adam, comes from the Hebrew word adamah – which is the Hebrew word
for ground.

Genesis 2:8-9

8 Now the LORD God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the
man he had formed. 9 And the LORD God made all kinds of trees grow out of the
ground—trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the
garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

Genesis 2:15

15 The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and
take care of it. 16 And the LORD God commanded the man, ―You are free to eat from
any tree in the garden; 17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good
and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die.

What is the first command in the garden?

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Lecture 7 – The Christian Story Part 1 - Creation

John Schneider:

Human beings are ―earth beings‖ – of, by and for the earth. We are fashioned from
the earth to live upon the earth, to dominate, cultivate and care for the earth – and to
use and enjoy the fruits of the earth…. It is true that we are more than mere bodies,
and that we are also spiritual beings….That is why, for the ancient Hebrew, life apart
from the body was not ―life at all‖, but mere existence. The quintessential vision of
life in its full expression is the physical person in the garden of life.

Enjoyment is not unrestricted.

 The God who made it knows the way to enjoy it

 Just because something is good doesn’t mean it cannot be abused.

Genesis 3 – how are humans tempted to rebel against God?

 Genesis 3:1:

 ―Did God really say, ‗You must not eat from any tree in the garden‘?‖

 Is that what God had said?

3. Even after sin, creation still reflects his glory and is to be enjoyed

Psalm 19:1

The heavens declare the glory of God;

the skies proclaim the work of his hands

Psalm 148:7-10

7 Praise the LORD from the earth, you great sea creatures and all ocean depths,
8 lightning and hail, snow and clouds, stormy winds that do his bidding,
9 you mountains and all hills, fruit trees and all cedars,
10 wild animals and all cattle, small creatures and flying birds,

Nehemiah 8:10

10 Nehemiah said, ―Go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks, and send some to
those who have nothing prepared. This day is sacred to our Lord. Do not grieve, for
the joy of the LORD is your strength.
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Lecture 7 – The Christian Story Part 1 - Creation

1 Timothy 4:1-5

The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow
deceiving spirits and things taught by demons. 2 Such teachings come through
hypocritical liars, whose consciences have been seared as with a hot iron. 3 They
forbid people to marry and order them to abstain from certain foods, which God
created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and who know the
truth. 4 For everything God created is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is
received with thanksgiving, 5 because it is consecrated by the word of God and
prayer.

1 Timothy 6:17

17 Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put
their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly
provides us with everything for our enjoyment.

An individual Christian may see fit to give up all sorts of things for special reasons
— marriage, or meat, or beer, or cinema; but the moment he starts saying the things
are bad in themselves, or looking down his nose at other people who do use them, he
has taken the wrong turning (C.S. Lewis)

4. The goodness of creation is also to be found in the ―cultural potential‖ that God has
built into creation.

 Genesis 1:28 - God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in
number; fill the earth and subdue it.

 Filling and subduing is a ―cultural mandate‖ to develop the potential of the

earth in God-glorifying ways.