Genesis 2:4-25 “Biblical Creation from Another Angle”
​
Some suggest that the second chapter of Genesis talks of another creation of mankind. I submit that what we have is not a different account of the creation of people, but a differing perspective of the same event.
The second chapter of Genesis offers a human-centric account of the creation. This is a different view compared to the chronological account of all things coming into existence found in the first chapter. So then Genesis 2:4-6 does not contradict Genesis chapter one. Rather verses 4-6 give a summary of the making of the heavens and the earth in relation to the creation of the vegetation. God does not claim to make mankind before the vegetation in chapter two. He tells us again that the vegetation came between the creation of the earth and the creation of man. The reason for this is because God wants us to focus upon the forming of humanity.

The Creation of Male Human
God formed man from the dust of the ground (Genesis 2:7). The picture was similar to that of a potter forming something from clay (Isaiah 29:16; 45:9; Jeremiah 18:6; Romans 9:20, 21). Man’s material essence is dust. God states this very thing (Genesis 3:19). Abraham certainly recognized this truth as well (Genesis 18:27).
The truth that man came from the dust is not a low view of the human body. Rather it is a realistic worldview of man’s physical nature. The human body, though an amazing creation, is simply material element until God instills life into it. Being the author of life, God breathes into the first man the breath of life[1].

Man, now having a body and a soul, is given a mission (Genesis 2:15-17). He is entrusted with the care of the garden of Eden, which God also placed upon the new earth (Genesis 2:8-14). The new man receives the commission to care for the paradise of God and to refrain from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. From the very beginning of human beings, mankind is created to be active, to work.

The Creation of the Female Human
People are built as social creatures. We know this from Genesis in which God states that man should not be alone (Genesis 2:18). So God gives the first man his helper (aid). This helper comes not directly from the dust but is still from the dust. This is because she is made from man, who is dust (Genesis 2:21, 22).

The creation gives a clear picture of the relation between male and female. This is clearly witnessed in the institution of the marriage (the union) of the man and his helper (Genesis 2:22-25). Differences between the two are designed for complementing not competing. Their union is a joyous, pleasurable unification and not a divisive battle. There is no more humanity in one as there is in the other. Though they are different, the man and the woman are equally of the human species, both made in God’s image.

Implication
The creation of human beings gives us the foundations of the relation between God and man. The primary foundational issue rests upon man’s complete dependence upon God. Human life does not just come from nothing. It is caused. God is the cause for human existence. As such, man can never truly be independent of God, no matter how much he or she desires to be independent.

Human beings are not only dependent upon God for their very lives, but they are also accountable to Him. God’s creative work has purpose. There is purpose in every human life. The purpose is to glorify God, and every person stands accountable to fulfill his or her purpose.

The purpose of man connects to man’s subjection to God. God creates man and because He does, He is the only rightful maker of the rules by which man must live. We call these rules natural law (moral law). From the second chapter of Genesis reveals God rules for the first man to live in the garden. It also tells the consequence of rebelling against God’s rule.   
 
Pastor Randy


[1] See also (Psalm 139:13-16; I Corinthians 15:45; I Timothy 2:13).

Genesis 1:2-2:3 The Biblical Creation
​
I would be silly to attempt to explain the Bible’s account of the creation in such a short writing. It is not mine to express expertise on God’s magnificent, vast, and beautiful work. Frankly, I can do little but marvel at the creation account. So I request you to join me in the wonder of the Lord’s handiwork from a bird’s eye view.
After making the general statement expounding on the creation in Genesis 1:1, Moses takes us through the process of our material world coming into existence. And the process begins with a much different earth than that which we have today.

A Primordial Earth
In its beginning stage, the earth was an uninhabited place. It possessed neither life nor the features of a recognizable planet. The earth, fully devoid of the light of the sun, was a watery structure. The earth was formless and void, but the God who created the earth was not void. He was to give both structure and life to the new earth.

God commanded light. At His word, there was light. This light was not the sun for the sun had not yet been created. This was a different sort of light. My guess is that this first light which was upon the earth was the glorious light of the Master Himself, making a distinction from the already present darkness. This distinction made up the first day.

God creates the great expanse. The expanse includes our visible sky, the earth’s atmosphere, the universe and whatever is beyond the universe. This expanse God uses to separate terrestrial waters from celestial waters. The second day of creation is complete.

The terrestrial waters obey the Lord’s command to gather. Their gathering leads to the appearance of dry land. Our planet is changing from a place without form to an organized world. It is now a world of earth and seas.  

A planet endowed with the separation of land and sea is ready for vegetation. So at God’s desire, plants come into being.

The third day is finished.

On the fourth day, God created the sun, moon, and stars. The Almighty placed these lights in the expanse and gave them reasons to be. They were to separate day from night, determine signs and times, and give light to the earth.

Next, the Lord created all the creatures of the waters and birds. After blessing them, God commanded them to flourish. The fifth day was complete.

It was after the creation of the sea creatures and birds that God created the land animals and human beings. Mankind differed from the rest of the creation in that human beings were made in God’s image. Being in God’s image, mankind bore a resemblance to God but were not divine. A way in which mankind resembled God was in their commission to rule the rest of the living creatures of the earth, which reflected God’s rule over all creation.

Day six of creation is now done.

On the last day of creation, God rested. He ceased from His creative work.

Implication  
There are some glaring lessons to be learned from our rapid journey through the creation of all things. God creates our material world from nothing, doing so as an act of His will. The heavens and the earth come into existence at the Lord’s spoken command (Genesis 1:3, 6, 9, 11, 14, 20, 24, 26).

Another thing we should notice is that God’s creation reflects the Creator’s magnificent work. The creation is decreed as “good”, representing the perfection of its Maker (Genesis 1:4, 10, 12, 18, 21, 25, 31).

God creates the earth to be inhabited (Genesis 1:11, 20, 22, 28). This lesson must be remembered the next time we hear cries of overpopulation. The idea of decreasing human existence through such evil plans as genocide or abortion run counter to God’s plans for His earth.

Tied closely with the previous lesson, the Biblical account of the creation teaches us that God places high value upon all human life. God makes mankind, a species which comes in two models, male and female. All human life possesses worth because God deems them of value. This value is reflected in the fact that God made people…all people…in His image (Genesis 1:27). As beings made in the Creator’s image, human beings bear a divine spark. That spark is a reflection of divine characteristics that no other created thing holds.
 
Pastor Randy

Genesis 1:1 The Biblical Worldview
The book of Genesis is a book of beginnings. It tells of the beginning of our material world, which Genesis calls the heavens and the earth. Genesis proclaims the origin of life, specifically, the life of earth’s creatures. The book not only explains how human life came to be, but it also speaks about the progression of human life into families, clans, tribes, and nations.
​
Within the pages of Genesis, we see the beginning of another element or reality. I speak of the reality of sin; the term used for mankind’s rebellion against the God who created all things. This book of beginnings also describes sin’s effect upon the created world.

Moses was used of God to pen the book of Genesis. The Almighty inspired Moses to write of the early days of the material world, giving Moses the knowledge and wisdom to do so. Moses wrote about things which span over 2000 years.

There is so much to glean just in the first verse of the first chapter of Genesis. It is this particular verse that I wish to direct your attention.

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
Genesis 1:1

The book’s first action takes place “in the beginning”. The term “beginning” holds more than just one meaning, a fact that is important to note. The most direct meaning certainly does mean at the start, at the beginning of the material world. But another meaning of the term refers to a time before the beginning, a time prior to the creation. This time prior is correctly called eternity past. It is what was before anything was. In John’s gospel, we know that God was in the beginning which was before the world and heavens existed (John 1:1, 2).

At a certain point in eternity past (the beginning), God began the beginning of the material world. He created the heavens, earth and everything else. He was the creator because He was before them. He was in the beginning, which is eternity past. He could create all things for another reason. God created because He was of higher rank than all things (Colossians 1:17). He was the God and Master, the One of higher rank, power, and being.

Genesis begins with an important lesson about God. The God who created is the supreme God. All other things are of lower rank because they are created. No created thing is higher than the Creator. As the supreme God, the Creator is the cause or reason for the material world. Only God can cause things to come into existence. Nothing of the creation can make this claim. This is the Biblical worldview.

Human beings are that which are created. We cannot cause our own existence. Thus humanity is of lower rank than the God who created. As such, people have a call, a command to submit themselves to the One who is greater, the supreme God. We obey this command when we submit to the Biblical worldview.

Pastor Randy