Genesis 1 – Mechanics or Meaning?

Posted by on January 6, 2013 under Front Page Posts, Sermons

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Genesis comes to as more than mere facts; it is good news.  It gives us our story and reveals the truth about who we are, what we were meant to do, and how we are supposed to live with one another.  It is good news because it reveals the truth about a creator God who never stops creating and even recreates anything in his creation that is warped and damaged.

But if we are going to hear Genesis as good news, we will need to overcome the fear of Genesis being reduced to a fairy tale or myth.  When the scientific method took hold of western civilization only a few centuries ago, the anxiety that Genesis would be dismissed as pre-scientific mythology to be discarded as superstition began.  So, for the last 200 to 300 years, well-intentioned Christian believers have attempted to reinforce Genesis with scientific research.  That research may be useful and interesting.  It is a worthy study for those who seek to connect science and theology.  However, it does very little to deepen our understanding of the meaning of Genesis.

Genesis is truth.  However, the definition of truth is not science.  Truth is conveyed through many means besides science.

Genesis or Jenga

When we are anxious about defending Genesis from critics, we often get too caught up in the battle and miss out on the meaning of Genesis altogether.  We end up dancing to the tune of the critics – that is, we play their game.  And the game they choose to play is Jenga.  Do you recall this game?  You stack up wooden blocks and each team tries to pull a block out from the stack and hope the stack does not fall over.  Critics however want to find the singular block of logic that will cause the whole of Genesis and Christian faith to unravel so that we will be left on the pile of biblical rubble and forced to concede that logic compels us to accept the enlightened embrace of atheism.  Thus, in a world without religion we will all live in harmony.

That’s fine.  If the critics choose to play Jenga, then let that be their business.  I am more concerned about what we do, and it is distressing that we keep trying to force the Jenga blocks back in place by any means necessary; especially when it isn’t necessary.   Why do I say that?

  1. The fort doesn’t need to be defended from science.  Science is not the enemy of faith.  Arrogance is the enemy of faith.  (I know this because I read Genesis).  There are many scientists who also have faith and that is not only true in this day and age, but has been true historically.  Christian belief is compatible with any number of scientific disciplines (engineering, architecture, mathematics, genetics, biology, chemistry, astronomy, medicine, etc.)
  2. Why do we feel it necessary to be on the defensive?  Why do we allow ourselves to get forced into the corner and answer questions that are rarely genuine?  Often our defensiveness (or even nastiness) is used as evidence of the invalidity of Christian faith.  It is a wicked game.

Story or Science

What if we let Genesis speak to us in its own voice?  Instead of asking Genesis questions like:

  • How did God create light on the first day and the sun on the fourth?
  • Was it six literal days?
  • Where did Cain get his wife?
  • How did the dinosaurs  fit on Noah’s Ark?

Instead, what if we let Genesis teach us to ask better questions?  What if we let the story shape us and tell us who we are before deciding that on our own and standing in judgment on the story of the Genesis?  Everyone has a story after all.  Whether you tell it or not, whether you realize it or not – you have a story, and that story influences us.  If you don’t know your story, other people will try and write it for you – and you may not like their story.

Genesis is our story and it does not begin with randomness or an indifferent universe, but it begins with the intentional effort of good Creator . . .

Mechanics or Meaning

Notice that God has no interest in detailing how he crafted the universe.  There are no chemical recipes or biologist’s notes.  There is not a specs page or technical manual.

God creates with words.  By giving names and speaking things into reality, God creates.  Words still have that power.  When you and I use labels on people it can affect them.  The attitude of our conversation can influence those around us.  God speaks and he does not rest until everything is good.

Before we get caught up in the mechanics, consider what this means.  Some are amazed that God can create everything in six days.  I wonder why it took him more than six seconds.  Why does God have to rest?  Does he get worn out?  No, this is not a mechanical process.  There is no effort on God’s part.  The significance is what matters.  Here is good news.

There are six days and a day of rest because God is creating time as well as space.  And God is limiting himself to our experience of time.  He is entering into the creation.  He desires to dwell within it and be a part of it.  God is not remote and indifferent.  He is not removed from his creation, rather he joins in with the creation.  He enjoys it.  Takes pleasure from it.  He rests within it.

And God has established an order.  Again, this is not about mechanics.  That’s what the Deists thought.  They believe that God created a perfect machine that could run without God’s input.  However, God is not a mechanic.  Genesis 1 says that God declares everything good.  The order is about purpose.  Everything has meaning.