CREATION

The first five chapters of Genesis are truly amazing. They describe the beginning of everything, the creation of everything. Matter, light, mankind, civilization… everything.

Hebrews 11:6 gives an important clue to these chapters: “And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.” Combined with Genesis 1, believers understand that God exists now and existed before there was anything. When God so chose, he created everything. This is a central tenet of the Bible: God created everything.

The creation of mankind is described in Genesis 1:26-31, 2:7, 2:21-25, and 5:1-2. Each of those passages lead to a host of interesting questions, but Genesis 2:7 may be the most intriguing and might help lead to better understanding of the other passages. What is the “breath of life?” Does that mean God took an inanimate body and caused it to start breathing? Or that God took a body without a spirit and gave it spiritual life? Does it make humans be in the image of God?

Genesis 3 gives the account of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. Among other important topics, this chapter opens the door for an understanding of the nature of sin and the consequences of sinning. Many people believe the serpent in the story is Satan, which leads to another group of topics and questions.

Genesis 4 relates the story of Cain and Abel. One of the important aspects of this story is learning that people have the capability to resist sin and overcome it. On the other hand, resisting sin is not easy. The word picture in the story is that sin is like a devouring, wild animal lurking nearby, waiting to destroy.