The Book of Genesis is the book of 'origins' and the first chapter shows the very beginning of everything in so far as God has been pleased to reveal His work in the material world. That is reflected in those very first words in Genesis 1.1 "In the beginning God…". Science seems to have the same starting point. Whether studying the early chapters of Genesis or what science has discovered, it is not the data that are disputed but the interpretations of that data. Some will take the words in Genesis very literally while others will see them rather more symbolically but either way the Scriptures reveal God's purpose in Creation as an expression of His love. Through the ages from Creation in Genesis to the Holy City in Revelation, God is fulfilling His purpose in love that was expressed in the life of His Son. The New Testament discloses that the Son was involved in making everything that was made (John 1.3; Col.1.16)

Genesis 1 is a poem of great beauty and grandeur. It displays God's majesty and mystery. The curtain is drawn back just a little to show us a fascinating glimpse of His purpose expressed in the work of His fingers. (Psalm 8.3). It is not easy to understand why God chose to create mankind, and also animal and plant life and place them in such a wonderful home. This planet appears to be unique in the vast universe in having characteristics just right for its purpose and therefore as the only known habitat for living things

It began formless and empty, a whirling globe of hot gases. The discoveries of science confirm the accuracy of Genesis in the order that God made all things: matter, light, plants, marine and land animals; and finally man. Entropy and the Second Law of Thermodynamics suggest that God 'wound' up the spring of the universe to its complexity and since then it has been running down ‑ getting simpler.

One of the biggest problems in matching human investigation with God's revelation is the use in Genesis of the word 'day'. It has been commonly assumed that the word 'day' is a '24 hour day'. The word used in the Hebrew text is 'Yome' and can mean an 'age' or a long period of time and it could be translated 'epoch', as well as a period of 24 hours. It has no specified length and need never have been a point of dispute between science and religion. P.J.Wiseman in his book 'Creation Revealed in Six Days' suggests that the six days of Genesis 1 may have been the periods of time when God was revealing what He had done in Creation to the one who wrote down Genesis.

Which ever theory we choose to explain the beginning of things, such as the 'Big Bang', the fascinating thing is that all matter appears to be moving away from the place where it began and this has led one commentator to consider Revelation 20.11(RSV) "I saw a great white throne and him who sat upon it; from his presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them."

The next stage in Genesis was 'separation' when land appeared out of the waters or in the words of science 'the continents clustered'. Much of the planet is water ‑ that fascinating liquid, the characteristics of which benefit all living organisms in all kinds of interesting ways. The Earth was now ready for the next big and orderly step in Creation.

Day 3 brought 'greenness' ‑ those extraordinarily complex plant cells containing nature's 'wonder molecule' that we know as chlorophyll. Insects and flowers began their remarkable symbiotic existence where plants provide animals with oxygen and animals expel carbon dioxide which is needed by plants.

The fact that 'lights' appeared on Day 4 does not preclude the possibility that there was light in the Universe before this as stated in v.3. The Bible and Science agree that life began in the waters recorded in the first rock strata. Reptiles followed the insects, then birds and mammals appeared. Finally, God made man in His own image, an intellectual and moral likeness, that gives glory to his Maker as occurs in no other life form in Creation.

Man was given a 'stewardship' ‑ an environmental responsibility that he may have exercised to begin with. Human worship and morality deteriorated after man's rebellion against God and he has dominated nature rather than given proper oversight. Such an attitude has helped to destroy himself as well as the beautiful home that God has provided. Atkinson suggests that "…'dominion' cannot be exploitation but must be seen in the sort of facilitating servanthood which maintains an environment, in which persons who reflect something of the nature of God's love and creativity, can be at home".

Purpose in Creation is is demonstrated by the orderliness of the stars in their courses, in the wonder of genetic material in all living organisms and all the things in between. This has brought some scientists of our day to the point of believing that all things are the product of 'intelligent design'. At least one group base their ideas on what is now known about the complexity of even the simplest form of DNA. Paul Brand described this genetic material when he wrote "The DNA in my body's cells would fit into an ice cube, yet if the DNA were unwound and joined together end to end, the strand could stretch from the earth to the sun and back more than four hundred times."

Then God 'rested' on the seventh day. The Eternal God ‑ the one who is altogether omnipotent ‑ in whom all power rests ‑ did not get tired! Genesis 2.2 could mean that He stopped doing that particular task because He had finished it. Alternatively it may mean that He was setting an example to humanity to have a rest on the seventh day. The student might wish to consider Jesus' comments of God resting and working in John 5.17 and also the use of the word 'rest' in Hebrews 3.

The scene changes, 'the serpent' enters the drama of Creation and our first parents failed under test. This was to change their lives completely but it did not change the purpose of God. It is clear from Genesis 3.8 that God made His presence felt in 'Eden' and He had kept company with Adam and Eve. After their disobedience they would miss the sense of His nearness. Yet the evidence of God's great love in the whole Earth, as the human race inherited it, remains. His provision of systems of defence mechanisms in living organisms might be taken as evidence of His concern for their vulnerability once they had fallen into sin.

DN

Books for further reading and that have helped in producing this study

David Atkinson ‑ The Message of Genesis 1-11 ‑ (IVP)

Derek Kidner ‑ Genesis ‑ An introduction and Commentary (Tyndale Press)

Paul Brand ‑ Fearfully and Wonderfully Made - Zondervan Publishing House