Appreciating God’s gift:

The Bible opens with the account of God’s act of creation. And it is necessary that it does! The revelation of God that follows in the rest of Scripture rests on the foundational truth that God “created the heavens and the earth” (Gen. 1:1) and that, although sin resulted from disobedience to His Word, the Creator has offered redemption through Christ. This re-creation process will culminate in the creation of “a new heaven and a new earth” (Rev. 21:1).

God’s creatorship is the basis of His dealings with and claims upon humanity. Therefore, faith in the Creation account is particularly important because Creation connects with every other theme of Scripture. The conclusion each of us draws about the Creation account shapes our reading of the rest of the Bible.

In this brief article, we will look at the foundational character of the Creation account in Scripture, its implication for the value of human life, and the connection between Creation themes such as stewardship, redemption, Sabbath, and worship.

Genesis 1 and 2 are foundational

First, the Creation account informs us how the world came into existence. God created our world in six literal days and rested on the seventh day (Gen. 2:1–3).

Second, the fact of Creation is so foundational to Scripture that without its opening chapters, we cannot properly understand the Bible. The rest of Scripture reads Genesis 1 and 2 as a literal account and proceeds on that basis (e.g., Exod. 20:1–11; 1 Chron. 29:11–13; Ps. 104; Matt. 19:4–6; Rom. 5:12; Rev. 14:7).

Third, the Creation account helps us see why God relates to human beings the way He does. It also explains why God has taken upon Himself the burden of dealing with the human sin problem; that is, why He undertakes the work of restoration in the sanctuary.

Creation and human life

The Creation account in Genesis 1 and 2 tells us who God is to us, who we are, and why we are here. The Creation account denies that life spontaneously arose from some nonliving chemicals and that human life developed from simpler life forms through random natural selection. It informs us that we are fashioned in God’s image and likeness, thus indicating the value and importance He attaches to human life. Consequently, God stresses the sanctity of life (e.g., Gen. 9:4). We respect and value each other because we understand that we are equally made in God’s image.

Furthermore, Genesis 1 and 2 teach that God designed us for His special purposes. God did not create the earth in vain but made it to be inhabited by humans (Isa. 45:18; 42:5). Creation legitimizes God’s authority and claims over us. So, for example, because He created us male and female, we must keep the binary gender distinction intact in honor of the Creator (Matt. 19:4–9; Rom. 1:24–27). Although we sinned and fell short of His glory, we are still precious in God’s sight, hence His mission to save and grant believers eternal life. Indeed, God is the “faithful Creator” (1 Pet. 4:19) who cares for His creation (1 Pet. 5:6–11).

Creation and stewardship

The Creation account teaches us that human beings have a stewardship responsibility toward God. The Lord made Adam and Eve stewards over His creation. Their responsibility encompassed the physical (e.g., work and care for the environment and its resources), the intellectual (e.g., skills and knowledge), the social (e.g., family and relationships), and the spiritual (obeying God’s instructions and communing with Him).

After the Fall, stewardship included the appreciative use of God’s gifts of creation for human living and for the worship and service of the Creator. Biblical stewardship is based on three things: (1) the acknowledgment of God’s ownership over creation (Gen. 1:1, 27; Deut. 10:14; 1 Chron. 29:11–16; Ps. 24:1; Isa. 42:5; 45:12–18), (2) the recognition that humans, as the image of God, are responsible for the management of God’s gifts for their own good (e.g., Gen. 1:26; Ps. 8:6; Matt. 25:14–30), and (3) the redemption offered us through the blood of Christ (1 Cor. 6:20; 1 Pet. 1:18, 19).

Creation and redemption

Genesis 1–3 explains why God redeems us. The concept of redemption is inextricably linked to Creation. The Creator already had a plan to redeem His creation before human beings sinned and earned death. His ability to save us from the bondage of sin and grant us eternal life rests on His authority as Creator. Scripture presents God’s redemption of Israel from Egyptian bondage in terms of Creation, as we see when Moses states that God created or made Israel (Deut. 32:6).

Three forms of creation are described in Isaiah. First is cosmological creation as in Genesis 1–2 (Isa. 40:22–28; 42:5; 45:18). Yahweh is the Creator of the heavens, the earth, and all in them (Isa. 45:12).

Second is the election/redemption of Israel (Isa. 48:12–21; 51:10, 11). Yahweh is “the Creator of Israel” (Isa. 43:15). Isaiah employs the three key Hebrew verbs for creation used in Genesis 1–2 to portray God’s redeeming acts (e.g., Isa. 43:1–7).

Third is the eschatological new creation (Isa. 65; 66). As Yahweh demonstrated His creative power in delivering Israel from Egypt (Exod. 12:26–32) and parting the waters of the sea (Exod. 14:21–23), so will He re-create His people from the nations and replant them in the Promised Land (see also Isa. 43:16, 17; 60:21; Amos 9:15). He will create new heavens and a new earth, and a “new” Jerusalem (Isa. 65:17, 18).

The new creation as a result of the work of Christ is presented in the New Testament. The redemption of Israel initiated at the sacrifice of the Passover lamb symbolized the redemption of believers through Christ. The one who is in Christ is “a new creation” (2 Cor. 5:17; cf. Eph. 4:20–24), being God’s “workmanship, created in Christ” (Eph. 2:10). And as Israel was redeemed from Egyptian bondage and constituted into a “kingdom of priests and a holy nation” (Exod. 19:6), so the church is created through redemption from bondage to sin into newness of life in Christ as a “royal priesthood, a holy nation” (1 Pet. 2:9).

Creation, Sabbath, and worship

Genesis 1 and 2 tell us why we worship the Creator and keep the Sabbath. Although Genesis 2:1–3 contains no specific instruction to rest and worship on the seventh day that God established at the end of Creation week, God’s rest on that day and His sanctifying and blessing it were obviously for the benefit of Adam and Eve, whom He had just created and with whom He may have held communion during this holy day. Consequently, Scripture invites us to worship Yahweh because He is the Creator. For example, David extols Yahweh’s greatness, power, glory, and majesty because all that is in heaven and on earth are His (1 Chron. 29:11–16). The psalmist frequently calls believers to praise God for His creative power and works (Pss. 66:1–7; 139:14–16; 147:7–20; 148). The Qohelet invites everyone to “remember your Creator” (Eccl. 12:1). And Paul reiterates that it is the Creator of heaven and earth, the Giver of life and breath, whom we must worship (Rom. 1:20, 21; Acts 17:23–27).

Scripture gives two related reasons for Israel worshiping God and keeping His Sabbath. First is the fact that He created in six days and rested on the seventh day (Exod. 20:8–11; cf. 31:17). The second reason is that God redeemed the nation from Egyptian bondage (Deut. 5:12–15). The Bible connects the Sabbath not only to the historical redemption of Israel from Egypt but also to the eschatological redemption of God’s people (Isa. 58; 66; Rev. 14:7).¹ For example, the book of Hebrews states that Sabbath keeping remains for God’s people (Heb. 4:6) and then encourages regular (Sabbath) gathering of believers (Heb. 10:24–31).² Linking the Sabbath with Creation and Redemption means that Sabbath observance is central to proper worship.³

The book of Revelation also associates worship with Creation. God created all things and, therefore, deserves honor and worship from His creatures (Rev. 4:11; 5:13; 10:6). So the first angel’s message calls the world to true worship, the worship of “Him who made heaven and earth, the sea and springs of water” (Rev. 14:7, NKJV). The allusion to the Sabbath commandment in Revelation 14:7 (see Exodus 20:11) indicates that the true worship of God, to which the three angels invite the world, includes the observance of the seventh-day Sabbath.

Creation and mission

The Great Commission (e.g., Matt. 28:18–20) and the three angels’ messages (Rev. 14:6–12) underscore the relationship between Creation and mission. The gospel message is to be proclaimed to all creation. The proclamation is an invitation to worship the Creator and accept His offer of salvation.

With Genesis 1–3 as a backdrop, Paul says that “creation was subjected to futility” (Rom. 8:20), that “creation groans and labors with birth pangs” (v. 22, NKJV), and that “even we ourselves groan within ourselves” (v. 23). Believers eagerly await the “redemption of our body” (v. 23), and “creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God” (v. 21, NKJV). The culmination of God’s mission is the creation of a new heavens and new earth where the redeemed shall dwell eternally with their Creator and Redeemer (Isa. 65:17; 66:22; 2 Pet. 3:13; Rev. 21:1, 3).

Conclusion

“By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible” (Heb. 11:3, ESV). Without faith in God’s creative activity of Genesis 1 and 2, we can make very little sense of Scripture and, consequently, of God’s love for and dealings with humanity, of His will and commands, of the meaning and purpose of life, and of our destiny. That is why it is extremely important that we accept Genesis 1 and 2 as a literal account of God’s Creation.