Delivered January 8, 2012
Whenever one preaches on the first chapter of Genesis one is entering a minefield. I was meeting with some pastors this week, and we were discussing what we were going to preach on this Sunday. I told them I was going to preach on Genesis 1, and one minister replied, “Good luck. It was good knowing you!” Apparently many preachers avoid the opening chapters of Genesis like the plague. It is because these chapters are so often used as a battleground for the creation-evolution debate. It is happening here in NH. Right now we have two bills presently going through the NH legislature on this issue. House Bill 1148 is scheduled for a hearing on February 9, 2012, and HB 1457 is scheduled for a hearing on February 14, 2012. Both deal with the teaching of Creation, Intelligent Design, and Evolution in public schools.
Not only is it politically controversial in New Hampshire, but also on the national scene. I remember back in a 2008 Republican presidential debate the moderator asked for a show of hands from the candidates about who did and did not believe in evolution. I don’t recall this question ever having been asked before, and I am not sure it has been asked this time in the debates; but then again I have only seen a couple debates. This subject has also become commercialized. A few years ago a the first ever Creation Museum was built just over the Ohio River from Cincinnati, Ohio, in Petersburg, Kentucky – just a few miles from the Cincinnati airport. It is a state-of-the-art 70,000 square foot museum promoting creationism. Apparently Creationism is not only popular but profitable.
On the other side the issue, the so-called New Atheism movement is also making money selling books and giving lectures on the topic. The New Atheists champion a hardline atheistic form of evolutionism which ridicules anyone who says there is a God or suggests that that maybe science does not have all the answers concerning the origin of the universe or of life on earth.
The John Templeton Foundation is a well-known philanthropic organization that funds research and discussion about science and religion. They are presently funding dialogues relating to what they call “the Big Questions of human purpose and ultimate reality.” They devoted 2010 to the question: “Does science make belief in God obsolete?” Thirteen different scientists, philosophers and theologians addressed the issue. The answers ranged from “Absolutely Not” by by physicist Victor J. Stenger author of the book entitled “God: The Failed Hypothesis - How Science Shows That God Does Not Exist.” My answer is obviously, “No.” Science does not make belief in God obsolete. God is completely beyond the scope of the scientific method.
This morning I am not going to enter into the Creationism and Evolutionism debate. I don’t see it as helpful. I see it as a sideshow that attempts to avoid the main message of the opening verses of Genesis. I will talk about science and atheism some. But mostly I am going to deal with theology and spirituality. What do these opening verses of Genesis say?
I. First, Genesis teaches creation. I am not talking about Creationism here. Creationism sees itself as a scientific theory of cosmology; it refers to itself as creation science. I am not talking about any scientific theory; I am talking about the theological doctrine of Creation. Verse 1 says, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” Genesis declares that there is a Creator and that this world is his creation. Atheists reject this as superstition. Regardless of what atheists say, this is a rational thing to believe. As Christians we have a reasonable faith. A couple of years ago, Anthony Flew made waves in philosophical circles. Flew is a well-known Oxford University philosopher and atheist, who is credited with being the godfather of the 20th century philosophical atheist movement, which culminated in the so-called New Atheism of this 21st century. Recently he changed his mind. He calls it his conversion. He now believes in God. I am presently reading his new book entitled simply “There Is A God.” He changed his mind based on logical and philosophical grounds. Christianity is a reasonable and rational faith.
That does not mean we can prove there is a God. Neither can anyone disprove God. God is not an object in the natural world that can be scientifically investigated. But it is philosophically reasonable to believe in God. Furthermore we can experience God. Experience is what it comes down to for me, and I think that is what it comes down to for most people. People believe in God because they have experienced God. People do not believe in God because they have not experienced God. Then based on their experience they come up with arguments to bolster their case. Either side might be deluded. Atheist Richard Dawkins bestseller is entitled “The God Delusion.” He might be right, and I might be deluded. Theists think that Dawkins is deluded. I sense the presence and reality of God. For me this is a deep awareness and intuition. Personally I am more certain that God exists than that I exist; and I am pretty certain that I exist. As Descartes said, “I think, therefore I am.” The people who wrote the Bible knew God was real. That is why you will not find in the Bible any philosophical proofs for God’s existence. It is simply assumed because God was known.
So Genesis starts out “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” The NRSV translation actually puts it this way: “In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth.” I am told this is a better translation of the Hebrew. It assumes God created the universe, and then goes on to talk about it. If God is Creator, and the universe is his creation, then that means that we are creatures. By our very existence we are related to the Creator of the universe. If this is true then there is nothing more important than to be in right relationship to our Creator.
II. Second Cosmos comes from chaos. That is the message of the second verse of Genesis. “The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.” Genesis 1 paints a word picture with deep spiritual meaning. The picture painted here is a watery abyss. It is a picture of formlessness out of which came form. It is chaos out of which came order. The Spirit of God is pictured as hovering over the waters like a bird. We see this image elsewhere in the Bible. We see it in the Flood story when Noah let out a raven and then a dove over the floodwaters. We see it again at the baptism of Jesus where Jesus is being immersed in the water and the Holy Spirit descends upon him like a dove.
Genesis is communicating the truth that God brings order out of disorder. He brings something into existence where there was nothing. Why does this universe exist at all? Why is there something rather than nothing? That is a question that science cannot answer, and atheism cannot answer. When something exists, then science can investigate the laws and mechanisms of the natural world. But why is there a universe at all rather than nothing? There is no natural explanation. Why is there life, rather than just a dead universe? Life is a true miracle that science cannot explain how it came into existence. How did life come from nonlife? It is a mystery.
We watched the Sound of Music again this holiday season. In the film Sister Maria sings, “Nothing comes from nothing. Nothing ever could.” She is a nun in the movie, and this is good creation theology. The rest of the lyrics aren’t so good: “So somewhere in my youth or childhood I must have done something good.” She is saying that she deserved to meet and marry a wealthy Austrian with seven children because she was a good little girl growing up. That is bad theology. But nothing comes from nothing is good theology. The buck stops somewhere, and the Bible says it stops with God.
God brings something out of nothing in our lives as well. That is how the creation story applies to us. And that is the message of the baptism story in our NT Reading as well. Without God, our lives have no ultimate meaning or purpose. They are chaos. We can try to impose some self-made meaning and order on them, but it is like trying to make a sculpture with water. But when God enters into our lives, then he creates order and purpose.
III. Third, these opening verses of Genesis is about the separation of light and darkness. Verses 3-4 say, “Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good; and God divided the light from the darkness.” This is not just physical light and darkness. The apostle John patterned the beginning of his gospel after the beginning of Genesis. The gospel of John opens, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. 4 In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5 And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.” It is clear here that the apostle is talking about spiritual light and darkness.
As we move through the Gospel of John Jesus picks up the theme. We were talking about it at the Wednesday night Bible Study. Jesus says, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.” Jesus is clearly not talking about the physical phenomenon of light waves or light particles. He is talking about spiritual light. He is also talking about moral light and darkness – good and evil. If we do what is right, we are walking in the light. If we do what is wrong, we are walking in darkness. This is what Genesis is alluding to. This theme becomes obvious as you read through the seven days of creation in Genesis. In the first chapter of Genesis, the sun and the moon and the stars are not formed until the fourth day. Obviously the light created on day one is not the sunlight that illuminates the earth. The light of these opening verses is meant to be read spiritually. This is speaking of spiritual light and darkness, and moral light and darkness. The physical phenomenon of light is used as a symbol and metaphor to communicate spiritual truth. It culminates in the story about the Tree of the Knowledge of good and evil in Genesis 3. It is about spiritual and moral good and evil.
IV. Fourth, these opening verses of Genesis is about time. Verse 5 says, “God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night. So the evening and the morning were the first day.” One of the popular discussions about Genesis is whether these seven days of Creation should be understood as 24-hour days or whether the word “day” is to be understood as a huge segment of time - eons or geologic ages. Sometimes the apostle Peter is quoted, when he says, “with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.” I think that whole discussion misses the point of Genesis one.
Earth days are measured by the rotation of the earth on its axis. An earth year is one revolution of the earth around the sun. Night and day are determined as the light from the sun illuminates the earth’s surface as the earth revolves. But in Genesis 1 the sun is not even created until day four. So on days one, two and three in Genesis, you have light and darkness, night and day, before the sun is even makes an appearance. If there is no sun until day four, what is the earth orbiting around? That doesn’t make sense if you are talking about physical days and physical light and darkness. But if you read this spiritually and theologically it makes a lot of sense. Genesis is not about clocks and calendars. This is about sacred time. Genesis 1 describes the origin of the heavens and the earth in the framework of the seven days of the Hebrew week, culminating in the holy day of the Sabbath. That is what Genesis 1 is all about. This is about our weeks, and how we use our time. And it is about setting aside time for God.
There are two words used in the NT to describe time. One is chronos and one is kairos. Chronos is chronological time – seconds, minutes, hours, days, years - quantitative time. The other word is kairos. Kairos is qualitative time. We talk about spending “quality time” with our family. Kairos is quality time spent with God. People assume Genesis is talking about chronos when it is actually talking about kairos. It is sacred time lived in relationship to God our Creator. You have heard the expression, “This is the first day of the rest of your life.” That is what Genesis talking about. This is day one of the rest of your life.
It is about us and the days of our lives lived in relationship to God. It is about the Spirit of God hovering over the world and entering into our lives, bringing order out of disorder, bringing meaning and purpose into our years. It is about spiritual light and living in that light. That light is God, and that light is Christ. The Bible says, “God is light and in him is no darkness at all.” It is about how we use our six 24-hour days each week, and especially how we use that seventh day, a day set apart as holy to God. It is about how we live 24-7. When Genesis says, “in the beginning” it is not just talking about the beginning of the universe, it is about our beginnings – whether our days will be ordered in relationship to the Creator and Savior. Whether we are God’s new creation crafted in his image to do his will on this earth or not. It is about whether this new day and this new year will be a new beginning for us as we walk with him who is the light of the world, through whom all things were made – Jesus Christ.
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