Beginnings

Over the next four weeks, in preparation for Camp, we will be looking at the Meta-narrative (or Big Picture) of the Bible. The Big Story of God has four movements:  Creation, Fall, Redemption and Restoration. These four movements are the dramatic unveiling of God’s redemptive plan and provide the foundation we are to build our lives and faith on. Too often we try to piece together our lives according to an understanding of God divorced from the context of His revealed purpose and plan. The end result is we create God into our image instead of us being the image bearers of God.

Essentially we create an idol that we are comfortable with because we are the stars in our own story. However, understanding God’s redemptive meta-narrative we will see that we play a supporting role, not the lead, in His Story. The Story is about Him and when understood and told properly we see The Story is Good News and revolutionary to how we view everything. If what the Bible tells us about Creation is true, then it will affect how we see ourselves, how we view relationships, how we look at the poor, how we understand hot topics (like sex before marriage, homosexuality, abortion, racism etc.). If what the Bible says is true about the Fall, then it will shape our view of our human condition and our desperate need for a hero. If what the Bible says is true about Redemption then it brings hope to our desperate need, and assurance of better things to come. If what the Bible says is true about Reconciliation, then we begin to live lives today that enjoy the presence of Jesus and long for the day that He restores all things.

Creation – The Beginnings

We live in an era where modern myths rule the day as truth and shape the direction of our entire culture. When I use the word “myth,” I am referring to the philosophical meaning of “a sacred narrative explaining how the world and humankind have taken their present form.” Myths can be good and combine elements of truth to paint the picture of where we came from and where we are heading. Every people group throughout history has myths that have been passed down for generations.

Evolution, by evolution I mean macro-evolution and not micro-evolution, is a modern myth, a sacred narrative. Yes that is what I meant to say. Evolution is a religious claim. It is not based in true science, but in speculative science. It is a faith based religious slant on science.  Evolution that is being taught in our schools and colleges are teaching a scientific hypothesis that is contrary to established scientific laws as truth. It is a faith-based claim that attempts to explain the formation of our world and answer where we come from. Yet it is taught as fact and not as theory. It is presented as the only rational way of thinking and any other faith claim as ludicrous.

In the Beginning…

With these words, the Holy Scriptures, begin to answer the questions of origin, meaning and purpose. The Bible is not just a myth like the others, it claims to be divine rather then human in origin. It presents the beginning as if it was from an eyewitness account, because it was. According to the Bible, God created the world in 6 literal days. He spoke the world into existence, out of nothing, demonstrating His sovereign power. All through His creation He left breadcrumbs, little clues, for us to see whom He is, that He is a creative designer and a God of intelligence and order.

All parts of creation were a result of His spoken word, with the exception of humans. When it came to creating man, God decided to get dirty and form man with His own hands out of the dust of the ground. He breathed His own breath into man, creating an embodied spirit, a creation that is both physical and spiritual. Not only that, He created him to be relational with the decree “it is not good that man is alone,” and so He created for him a “helpmeet.” God made a compliment to Adam in Eve.

And with the creation of humankind, God gave us the pattern for healthy life. He established marriage between a man and a woman. He made two sexes, not left to be determined by social constructs, but as part of the creative order. He instituted marriage as the primary building block of civilization.

The Garden

Upon completing the apex of His creation in humanity, God put our first parents in a garden. The garden was where they were to fulfill the order and rules established for them. They were to tend the garden, multiply and not eat of the forbidden Tree of Knowledge of Good an Evil.

How great would it be to really only have three general rules to live by? In the garden there was no pain, sorrow, disease or even sunburn. Adam and Eve frequently walked and talked with their Creator in the midst of His most beautiful creation. It was perfect as God intended. Yet the Shalom, peace, they had was going to be short lived, but that’s where the story picks up next time.

The Picture

The Creation story is an account of the beginnings and teaches us about our Creator. He is the author and giver of life. He made us and created us for His glory. He gave to us the Holy Scriptures that we might know how to live this life to the fullest. It is in seeing and knowing our Creator through Jesus Christ, that we will understand our meaning, our purpose and our place in this world and His Story.


Just for fun: I thought this video clip from the new movie Noah was pretty good, with a few exceptions. However, I loved how he told his children that this is the story that his family was given to protect and pass on to future generations. I love how he sat down with his family and told the story. I love how the imagery of creation paints a great picture for us of the order of creation.