Creation

Okay, *deep breath* let's just jump right in and get started! I noticed some began their draft a day or two early. That's exciting!

"Darkness and God lived side by side. The Bible doesn't say anything about God creating the darkness." For those of you who don't know me very well you will find that I am a stickler for backing up one's position with Scripture since it really doesn't matter what peoples opinions are, just God's. This opening of Steven James kind of makes me a little skittish about his writing. You see, God did create darkness. The idea that God, being Light, could not create a world in darkness is invalid, for God Himself said: "I form the light, and create darkness...(Isaiah 45:7). I do understand how difficult it is for our minds to grasp "nothing". Because for us, even when we think of "nothing" we are thinking of something. And when we look at "nothing", in reality, we are looking at "something" even though we cannot see anything. Also, God is an infinite Being. There is absolutely no way that our finite minds can grasp God. So for me to say that before the beginning there was "nothing," not even darkness, except God, is too much for us to comprehend.

My second problem arose just a few short sentences later where the author says, "He needed companionship." God does not NEED anything, or anyone. He is complete in every way within Himself. He does not get lonely. I wholeheartedly agree that the Lamb had, in the determination of the eternal, self-existing, transcendent God, been slain before the foundation of the world; the names of the redeemed had been written in His book of life before the foundation of the world; and God had called those who were to be saved by His grace, before the world began (1 Peter 1:20; Revelation 17:8; 2 Timothy 1:9). This explains why there is no salvation once a person has died. People don't get second chances after death.

I do agree with James' statement about being made in God's image has anything to do with having toenails, blue eyes or curly hair. The spirit of man is an eternal spirit; whereas the spirit of an animal ceases to exist when the body dies (Ecclesiastes 3:21) and goes back to the earth. In any case, man was created with such attributes as a moral consciousness, the ability to think abstractly, an understanding of beauty and emotion, and, above all, the capactiy for worshiping and loving God. This eternal and divine dimension of man's being must be the essence of what is involved in the likeness of God.

Now, remember not only did God create man in His image but He also made man in God's image. How could this be since God in His omnipresence is not corporeal but is Spirit (John 4:24)? I believe it is that He designed and formed man's body to enable it to function physically in ways in which He Himself could function even without a body. In other words, God can see, hear, smell, touch, and speak, whether or not He has actual physical eyes, ears, nose, hands, and mouth. And, He knew, of course, that in the fulness of time even He would become a man. In that day, He would prepare a human body for His Son (Hebrews 10:5; Luke 1:35); and it would be "made in the likeness of men" (Philippians 2:7), just as man had been made in the likeness of God.

Genesis is one of my favorite books of the Bible, I guess, because it is so foundational. So much can be learned in it. For example, the origin of the universe, the origin of order and complexity, the origin of the solar system, the origin of the atmosphere and hydrosphere, the origin of life, the origin of man, the origin of marriage, the origin of evil, the origin of language, of government, culture, nations, religion, and the chosen people. It is full of the foundational truths to understanding the rest of the Bible.