In step with Creation
What a wonderful world we live in!
I’m sure you have been aware of the increasing number of TV programmes exploring the many and varied sides of creation.
Whether you watch the extraordinary wildlife films introduced by David Attenborough or understand the visionary outlook of Brian Cox as he has tried to explain something about Space – the vastness and incredible complexity of the Universe.
Isn’t God’s Creation beautiful, incomprehensible, marvellous …!
This week we will be reflecting on our relationship with Creation.
It is important that we live harmoniously with people AND the rest of God’s wonderful Creation.
v 26. Then God said, “Let us make human beings in our image, to be like us. They will reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, the livestock, all the wild animals on the earth and the small animals that scurry along the ground.”
There is always a great deal of debate on the whole subject of Creation. There are those who take the story literally – it all happened in 7 days of 24 hours. Others grow anxious about the order of things – for example in chapter 1 we find humanity only appearing at the end of God’s creative activity, whereas in chapter 2 humanity comes before everything else. While yet others see the story as just that – a poetic tale about how ‘stuff’ came into being. After all, most religions have some form of ‘Creation Story’ connected with it. Some of these tales seem either fantastical or wildly strange to us, but then so does the Christian account as far as many folks are concerned! Whatever your view of creation, the essential elements of the account in Genesis are: –
(1) God ‘did’ it and was entirely sovereign in doing so;
(2) Creation – as we know it – was a purposeful act of God and is not a random or haphazard collection of atoms; and
(3) Humanity is set in this creation as the only image-bearers of God Himself, and have a call to care for it.
All the other ‘Hows, Whys? and Whens? are subordinate to these issues. They may be interesting scientific questions, but are the kind of questions the Bible does not set out to answer. The lead question remains “What is God’s purpose, and humanity’s role, in it?” Our story in Genesis asserts: ‘Then God said, “Let us make human beings in our image, to be like us. They will reign over …..’ It is this question of humanity’s role in creation that we want to focus on this week
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