I love the creation account! Thinking about the Trinity creating all the material universe is mind-bending and awesome. We use the word awesome so often it has lost its original meaning, but awesome is the only word I can think of to describe the creative powers of God. It is also the only word fitting to explain virtually all of Their character traits. For example, think about the kind of love Jesus expresses to us by going to the cross. That kind of love can only be described as awesome. How about the righteousness of God? The goodness of God? The justice and mercy of God? Awesome!
In that spirit, if you have a few minutes, watch this video from the crew of NASA’s Apollo 8 flight crew. As the crew rounds the moon and broadcasts lunar sunrise back to everyone on earth, the only way they could describe the moment was to read the creation account. It is awesome! Apollo 8’s Christmas Eve Message [HD] – YouTube
Here are questions 9 and 10.
Questions 9 & 10
Q. 9. What is Creation?
A. Creation is God’s making everything out of nothing by His powerful word in six days – and all very good.
Matt: If you have read my article on the Kalam Cosmological Argument, you’ll know that science strongly supports a creator of the universe. (KCA post) In fact, I have found so many atheist or agnostic academics who begrudgingly admit science indicates the presence of a creator I had trouble selecting my favorite quote to share with you. The winner is a world-renowned zoologist named Andrew Parker who says,
“Here, then, is the Genesis Enigma: The opening page of Genesis is scientifically accurate but was written long before the science was known. How did the writer of this page come to write this creation account?… I must admit, rather nervously as a scientist averse to entertaining such an idea, that the evidence that the writer of the opening page of the Bible was divinely inspired is strong. I have never before encountered such powerful, impartial evidence to suggest the Bible is the product of divine inspiration.” (Josh and Sean McDowell, Evidence that Demands a Verdict, page 408.)
Some people get hung up on the six days. Are they 24 hour days or something else? Do we live on an Old-Earth or Young-Earth? To those who have those questions, I want you to know, I also have those questions. However, this is not the point of the creation account.
The author of Genesis wants you and I to see the glory and power of God through the creation account. That God is good, and so is His creation. God gives us our vocational purpose through the creation account. We are to co-labor with Him, cultivating and ruling over His creation. The creation account also shows us how we should establish the rhythm of our lives with both work and rest.
God’s creation and the creation account are “very good.”
Q. 8. How did God create man?
A. God created man, male and female, in His own image and in knowledge, righteousness, and holiness, to rule over the other creatures.
Matt: There is a lot to unpack in this question given our current cultural climate and the fact that Pride Month is almost here. Gender is top of mind here in America.
The creation account in Genesis chapter 2 tells us that Adam was created from the “dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living being.” (Gen. 2:7, NASB). A little later in verse 22, God causes Adam to fall asleep, pulled a rib out of him, and formed Eve from it. The Hebrew word for woman is ‘eesha’, which finds its root in the word ‘eesh’ which means man. Your Bible translation explains this in verse 23 “She shall be called Woman, Because she was taken out of Man.”
In verses 24 & 25, the author of Genesis describes God’s perfect will for marriage. That “man shall leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave to his wife; and they shall become one flesh.” The text is very clear about gender. Man, father, mother, wife all find their roots in the Hebrew terms above. Eesha also means ‘wife’ in the Hebrew text.
The author of Genesis did not have the concept of a transgender identity on his mind while writing; it would not have been a thing for him to consider. That is because, in chapter 2, we are still working with God’s perfect creation. Sin has not corrupted man or creation yet. When all things are perfect in God’s creation. When male and female exist in His image and possess His knowledge, righteousness, and holiness sufficient to rule over His creation perfectly, man is man, and woman is a woman. No exceptions.
Christians should hold to a Biblical and biological understanding of gender because, in God’s eyes, male and female are “very good.” He created them this way, and this is His creation, not ours.
We should love all people regardless of their views on gender. Love your neighbor, regardless of their worldview. However, we should never compromise what God has ordained. It is okay to have a different opinion on this topic than secular society. Christians are supposed to be different than the world. Be gracious in your interactions with those who identify or sympathize with the transgender ideology. Value people as equals, but challenge ideas.
I want to encourage you, Christian, to be humble and confident in He who created you. It is good to hold to, teach, and defend God’s view of sex and gender.
