Genesis 1-2 (1:1-2:4): God, Creation, and Their Relationship Part One

Introduction

I know that I did a post on Genesis 1-2, however, I feel I did not do it justice. I want to deal more closely with the text like I did with John. That is why I have started Genesis over again. These verses are two of the hardest verses in almost all of the whole Bible. There are several opinions on the meaning of these two verses: God created the earth from nothing (creatio ex nihilo) and the second is that God created the earth out of a pre-existent matter. For our interpretation, I do not plan to take a side. We will see just what the text tells us. However, I do want us to remember a few things, Moses is not telling us of a scientific account of creation, but one of who God is and how He relates to His creation. Moses did have a hand in the authorship of the Torah, whether that be he told his people and they recorded it or that Joshua wrote it down, either way, it does not matter--Moses is the single authority of the Torah. Creation can tell us more about God than we could imagine; sociologically, the story of creation tells us how God wants His people to live. For God, creation shows us how we are to live, work, and rest. 

The First Day

Each portion of the creation story on the days begins with "[a]nd God said," and ends with "there was evening and there was morning," which is the pattern for each day (Ross, Genesis, 36). This is important because it separates out the days from each other, yet there is also a connection between the days. This connection looks a little like this: Day one light and dark are separated-Day four the sun and the moon are created; Day two the firmament separates the sky from the land-Day five creatures for the air and the water are created; Day three vegetation is created-Day six land animals and man are created. 

In the Ancient Near East, to name something was a sign of authority. Here, it is a sovereign act as Allen Ross describes, "[t]he sovereign gives something true existence and identification by ascribing a name to it" (Ross, Genesis, 38). Light and darkness are the first things worked out in day one. God creates light, not darkness. Verse two states "[t]he earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters." The imagery shows that there is conflict. Light, as Ross states, is a symbol for God and good, while darkness is a symbol for evil (Ross, Genesis, 37-38). In essence, God creates light, goodness, and then separates it from evil, darkness. Moses wants us to see that God is separate from evil, yet also above or has power over it. 

Derek Kidner says that the ancients saw day and night as warring factions, yet Genesis is not stating that, but that God is simply ordering everything (Kidner, Genesis, 47). He may be right, though, if you read Genesis with the other accounts of creation from the time you will see that something is missing: battles, blood, and war. Again, in the Enuma Elish, Marduk makes the earth from the two torn halves of Tiamat's body and humanity came from the blood of her co-conspirator. In Genesis, as I said earlier, there is conflict in verse two, but it is resolved with the creation of light and the separating of day and night. 

The Ancient Hebrew Understanding of the Earth

Ancient Hebrew Concept of the Universe

Day Two 

Kidner explains "[t]he verb underlying firmament (raqia') means to beat or stamp..often in connection with beaten metal" (Kidner, Genesis, 47). God stretches out the firmament to divide the waters of the earth from those in the skies. God is making earth habitable for living things (Ross, Genesis, 38). 

In verse eight "God called the expanse Heaven." What does that mean? The notion of heaven to the ancient Israelites was not what we think of today: a clouded kingdom where God resides. No, to the ancient Israelites heaven was simply this firmament--or better, it was the sky which housed the moon, stars, and sun (Ryle, Genesis, 9). 

Conclusion

For now, we must end here. There is too much information to pass on in one post. We have seen that God is a creator who separates good from evil, has power over both, and orders chaos into systematic control. This God, who creates things either out of nothing or out of chaos, is one who is different than any other deity known to man, either in the past or the present. Next time, we will see how God made the rest of the world and humanity. We will see how man is to be and how he is to live. This is where sociology will come into play. We will examine the role of man and woman under the lens of socio-theology. Until next time; be blessed. Leave any comments, questions, or remarks in the comment section. Thanks everyone and enjoy. Remember, this is a community that we want to see established, please do not be afraid to leave any remarks below. 

Bibliography

Kidner, Derek. Genesis. Downers Grove: Inter-Varsity Press, 1967.

Ross, Allen. "Genesis" in Cornerstone Biblical Commentary. Ed., Philip W. Comfort. Carol Stream:  Tyndal House Publishing, 2008. 

John 1:14-18 Jesus is God

Introduction

 Here we are, at last, the final portion of John's prologue. We have walked through the Evangelist's introduction, seen that Jesus was God, was with God, created all things, and was the reasoning men needed to believe in Him. Now, John introduces his readers to something completely new. In another way, John threw a curve ball to his audience. He claimed something of Jesus that neither Jew nor Greek would have believed of the Logos. This was that Jesus, God, became flesh. That meant that God became both human and God at the same time. This is why John can say of the Logos, [n]o one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known. John tells us that Jesus is God and only He can make God, the invisible, known. 

And the Word Became Flesh...

To Hellenistic Greeks, the Logos was an abstract thought. Their gods could be seen in human form, but were never human. In a similar fashion, the Jewish understanding of God was that he was a spiritual being and, therefore, you did not worship any created thing. This verse is the key argument of the divinity and humanity of Jesus. The Gnostics misunderstood (still do to this day) this verse to mean that Jesus was divine while the later heresy of Arianism believed that Jesus was not divine, but human.

The Greek word for dwelt among us, which in the NRSV is lived among us and in the NIRV as made his home with us, was skenoo.  This word meant to tabernacle or to dwell. For John's readers, they would have seen this word skenoo and would have immediately understood the image of the OT Tabernacle in the Exodus period. For John's community, as well as for us today, Jesus was the NT version of the Tabernacle. Jesus was God's presence in human flesh among His people (Barton, et al., John, 12).

The word for glory in Greek is doxa. According to David Seal's article in the Faithlife Study Bible, "[d]oxa essentially describes manifestations of supernatural splendor or divine glory." It's used 42 times in the Gospels, which is translated differently in the many English versions of the Bible. For this context, glory is used in the NASB, NIV, KJV, ESV, and NLT. John's purpose for using doxa here is to get his audience to see Jesus as the visual and physical glorification of Yahweh just as He resided in the tabernacle in the days of Moses. Barton says it best: "Underneath Jesus' appearance as an ordinary Jewish carpenter, the disciples saw the indwelling glory of God" (Barton, et al., John, 12). 

John's Parenthetical Statement

In English grammar, a parenthetical statement is one that is inserted to explain something, yet it could be taken out of the prose without creating any confusion on the meaning. John's parenthetical, here, is simply to restate Jesus' eternal divinity (Barton, et al., John, 14). Some think that the insertion is justified with the following of verse 16. J. Ramsey Michaels believes this, making the Baptist the first actual messenger of Christianity, at least in John's community (Michaels, John, 23-24). John Barclay has verses 15-17 connected together (Barclay, John, 70-73). However, Malina and Rohrbaugh see this statement as a way of making Jesus better than John--e. g. "[t]he implied defensiveness on this topic may be an indication of rivalry between the disciples of Jesus and John" (Malina and Rohrbaugh, John, 33). Haenchen on the opposite end holds that these subordinations of the Baptist to Jesus was not due to any rivalry, but in fact showing the fulfilling of John's role as the one who proclaims Jesus' coming (Haenchen, John, 120). 

Grace Upon Grace...

Grace upon grace, in most English translations, sounds like John is saying grace added to grace. Yet, in the Greek it is read "grace in place of grace" (Barton, et al., John, 15; Barclay, John, 71). Grace is an important theological term in the New Testament. John is saying that in Christ's fullness we have grace, which could be interpreted as grace restoring grace (Barton, et al., John, 15). This is why John can say that "the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ." The Law introduced us to God's justice while Christ brought us God's grace (Barton, et al., John, 16). Christ is the New Covenant that God made with His people. 

When John says that "[n]o one has ever seen God" he does not mean a physical (there were 'theophanies' or special visions of God in person throughout the OT), but in a characteristic way (Barton, et al., John, 16). What is really being said here, is that Jesus is the only one able to show the true representation of God to His people. In fact, the Greek says that Jesus describes God (Barton, et al., John, 17). God is made clear through the knowledge of Christ. Jesus is God, and who better to explain God than God Himself. 

How did you interpret this portion of the text? How was this helpful for you? How did God speak to you in these last few posts? Leave your comments in the section below or questions if you have any. Thanks guys for reading and be blessed.

C. Bohall

Bibliography

Barclay, William. Gospel of John. vol. 1. Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1975.

Barton, Bruce B. Philip W. Comfort, David R. Veerman, and Neil Wilson. John. 1993. 

Haenchen, Ernst. John 1. Trans. Robert W. Funk. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1984.

Malina, Bruce J. and Richard L. Rohrbaugh. Social-Science Commentary on the Gospel of  John. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1998. 

Michaels, J. Ramsey. John. Peabody: Hendrickson Press, 2005.