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“That Troublesome Old Testament God - III”
Think about the following statement and how you react to it: God is the ultimate team player. Have you ever thought about God that way? Have you ever thought about God in Genesis 1 and 2 in that way? It is a challenging thought to me because as I think about creation I have always had in mind the great God “out there” calling the world into being and shaping, fashioning, and forming it by his great power. That, of course, is certainly true, but there may be a richer picture of the process painted for us in the chapters on creation in Genesis.
Consider that God in Genesis 1 creates communally, rather than alone. Fretheim offers the following points to make us think about this idea:
1 – God uses already-existing creatures as material for creating. In Genesis 1:1-2 God spoke into existence the earth, but it still needed to be shaped and fashioned and brought to the place God intended. It was formless and void, it was dark. God’s Spirit went to work on it, and soon God added light.
2 – God invites non-human creatures to participate in creative activity. This one takes some time to get your mind wrapped around, but remember the language of creative days 3, 5, and 6. In the poetry of the narrative, the text says things like “Let the earth bring forth...” and “Let the waters bring forth...” The power, of course, is from the Creator. But the power is described as flowing through that which has already been created to bring forth new things. God is at work, with and through his creation, to enhance his creation.
3 – God invites the divine assembly to be co-creative with Him. The famous verse is Genesis 1:26 – “Let US make man in OUR image...” Here more than any other place we see the emphasis on community in creation. God does not work alone.
4 – God invites the human being to be a creative co-creator. How so? Read Genesis 2:5. In the description there of what the world was like before man was created, it is emphasized that there was “no man to work the ground.” From the beginning, God intended man to be involved in His creation in a direct way. Later in chapter 2, verses 18 and following, God again speaks communally (“Let us...”) as he describes the problem of man being alone. He invites man to be involved in naming the creatures God had made. He then uses man to make a new human – the woman.
Later, man and woman begin to have children. In Genesis 4:1 Eve bears her first child and makes this proclamation – “I have gotten / acquired / created a man with the help of the Lord!” Translations differ on how to render the Hebrew verb there, which is actually a play on the name of the first child – Cain. However one translates the verb, the point is made that God uses Adam and Eve to bring forth new life into the world.
When one turns to the first genealogies in Genesis chapter 5, man is again described in creator-like terms. Genesis 5:3 – “When Adam had lived 130 years, he fathered a son IN HIS OWN LIKENESS, AFTER HIS IMAGE, and named him Seth.” Where have we heard the language of likeness and image before? Genesis 1:26, there applied to God.
Again, the point of all this is to show how intimately God is involved with his creation. He is not separate and acting solo. He is working from within. He has always been Immanuel – God-with-us.
Next post we will begin to look at some of the difficult pictures of God in the Old Testament, like his anger, wrath, and judgment.