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Have you ever missed the first 5 minutes of a film and spent the next hour trying to work out what it is all about? Do you know the sheer frustration that can produce? Those first 5 vital minutes contained the seed-plot which would have shaped your understanding of all that followed. Now in exactly the same way if we fail to grasp the significance of the opening chapters of Genesis the remainder not just of the book but of the whole Bible remains a puzzle with a piece missing.

Introduction

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Perhaps no part of scripture causes some Christians more embarrassment than the opening chapters of Genesis. When people say to them, “You don’t really believe that stuff do you? If so then you must have kissed goodbye to your brains,” they often don’t know what to reply. However, it is possible to maintain ones intellectual integrity, to be scientific in the best sense of the word and yet treat these chapters seriously.

But even that is too negative an aim. We need to realise the importance of these chapters in shaping our understanding of the whole of scripture and of the purposes of God in history.

Introduction

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If these chapters constitute a dilemma in understanding then the way in which we deal with that dilemma is all-important! Some have completely abandoned the idea that the Bible is the inspired word of God, claiming all we have here is a record of ancient human traditions and myths that have been embellished over the years.

The difficulty with this view is that once you start traveling down the road of fallible human traditions you are left with no objective basis for believing anything recorded in the Bible. Who is going to be the final arbiter of what is acceptable or authentic and what is not? What can you safely believe?

The Nature of the Chapters

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A second group, reluctant to rob God of the authorship of this book, argue that these chapters are poetic in nature and employ symbols and allegories designed to express important truths. They reject their historicity. But the entire design and language of these chapters require them to be treated as history. It’s quite arbitrary to suggest, as some have, that the historical section of the book begins in chapter 12.

The difficulty of both views is compounded when we turn to the N.T. and discover that Jesus treated these Passages, not as myth or allegory, but as history. Did he get it wrong? If so, he was not who he claimed to be and if that is so our Christian faith is futile. It is important to treat these chapters as history.

The Nature of the Chapters

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What has caused the historical nature of the early chapters of Genesis to be questioned? We are told that scientific discovery contradicts the teaching of scripture. People who often have little knowledge of the Bible or of science comment: “Well of course everyone knows that science has disproved the Bible”.

These same people might be surprised to find that respected men and women in scientific fields of enquiry accept that there is no inherent contradiction between science and scripture.

The Nature of the Chapters

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Indeed, almost all of our modern sciences were founded by Christians who in the past were committed to the authority of the Bible e.g: Issac Newton founder of Dynamics, Johann Kepler founder of Astronomy, Robert Boyle - Chemistry, Lord Kelvin - Thermodynamics, Louis Pasteur - Bacteriology, Matthew Maury - Oceanography, Michael Faraday - Electro-magnetics, Clerk Maxwell - Electrodynamics, John Ray - Biology…….the list goes on.

The Nature of the Chapters

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However, it is important to note that the Bible does not claim to be a scientific textbook. It is not concerned to give detailed accounts of scientific processes in scientific language but points to the God behind these processes. The biblical author did not deem it important to devote a great deal of time and energy to describe all kinds of incidentals e.g. how Noah disposed of the animal refuse from the ark - that is not germane to the story of Noah.

The historical material is intentionallyselective and serves the writer’s purpose to unfold God’s relationship with man. We will see that science and scripture need no be in conflict.

The Nature of the Chapters

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So much for the nature of these chapters what of their purpose? The word ‘Genesis’ means “Beginning”. The writer’s principal concern is to record the beginning of human history. He describes the perfection of God’s original creation - how God intended life to be for man. But we also have the beginning of human sin and its consequences as God’s good world is shattered . One further important beginning is that of God’s published plan of salvation. A plan to restore man and God’s world to its former glory.

The Purpose of the Chapters

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What then is the immediate purpose of the passage before us? The opening verses do not attempt to prove the existence of God. They begin by plainly stating, “In the beginning God.” The rejection of the existence of God is a comparatively recent phenomenon.

Some moderns insist they will not believe in anything that they cannot see or understand. “We are twenty first century men of science,” they say. Unfortunately their approach is often quite inconsistent.

The Purpose of the Chapters

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Many things cannot be seen with human eyes but their existence is not doubted by men of science e.g. electrons. Or think of something as simple as gravity. We do not fully understand it but that does not prevent us from believing in it.

People do not say, “I do not understand gravity therefore I will live as though it does not exist. I plan to walk off the 15th floor of an apartment building and will not stop until I step onto the roof of another building 200 metres away”. We do not understand gravity but conduct our daily lives believing inits existence.

The Purpose of the Chapters

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The focus of the opening chapter is not upon the ‘how’ of creation and the mechanics that brought the world into being but on the ‘who’ of creation. The question the author sets out to answer is, ‘who is responsible for the origin of our world?’ Sadly, because this account of creation, which is meant to thrill our hearts and blow our minds with wonder, has come under increasing attack, creation has been robbed of its grandeur and God displaced in his universe.

As it is when we begin to ask questions about the origin of the world there are very few options are open to us;

The Purpose of the Chapters

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First, there is the view that the universe has always existed - the steady state theory. It accepts that the world has changed, developed, evolved but claims there was never a time when matter did not exist. This idea, which was developed in ancient Greece has been rejected by the majority of the scientific community today, who in turn believe that the universe is not infinite either in space or in time. It believes that the universe had a definite beginning - a big bang- and that it will have a definite end.

The Second Law of Thermodynamics describes a universe undergoing a process of deterioration - the sun is getting cooler and in time could not support life on earth.

The Purpose of the Chapters

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A second approach to the origin of the universe can be summed up in the word ‘chance’. At some remote point in history ‘nothing’ became ‘something’! By chance, ingredients accidentally appeared and produced a spontaneous creation - a big bang. Now suppose for a moment you could take everything in the world and compress it into a heavy molecule only 3 centimetres in diameter. You still require to explain how that molecule got there or how it could form the complexity of the present universe. This view presupposes the existence matter, and leaves us, where we were - with no explanation for the beginning of things.

The Purpose of the Chapters

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Thirdly, there is the answer given in Genesis, that this universe was created and that its existence points towards a power and intelligence greater than the universe and which willed it into existence.

Gen. 1 goes beyond and perhaps behind the ‘big bang theory’ to describe the beginning of the universe. It reaches back beyond the basic material and energy required to bring the universe into being. It begins with God who created the universe ‘ex nihlo’, out of nothing.

The Purpose of the Chapters

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Think for a moment, if we are God’s creatures then our minds and reasoning faculties were created by him and given to us that we might reach out after him. Those who refuse to accept the God of creation and who deny his existence believing themselves to be objects of chance face a significant difficulty.

How can they trust their reasoning faculties since by definition these too, like the rest of their Universe, would be subject to rules of chance and randomness.

The Purpose of the Chapters

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Furthermore, our sense of worth as human beings depends in part upon our origins. Am I simply the product of a freak galactic occurrence that took place billions of years ago or, am I the result of a wise and loving design?

Some years ago Alex Haley’s book ‘Roots’ was serialised on T.V. The reception given to the series surprised programme planners and awakened in men and women a quest to discover more about their own past. Libraries had unusual demands placed upon them as men and women attempted to find out more about their own roots. Educational Curriculum planners built the topic into their courses at College, Secondary and Primary School level!

The Purpose of the Chapters

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Government records offices were flooded with enquiries from people seeking ancestral information. Grandparents were being asked more questions than ever before and old family photographic records were pulled out of cupboards. Family trees were being produced almost ad nausium. What explanation was given for this phenomenon?

The author of ‘Roots’ was convinced that his book had demonstrated that a consciousness of one’s past gave people a sense of dignity in the present and direction for their future. It illustrated people’s passion to make sense and meaning out of their lives.

The Purpose of the Chapters

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‘Ah’, you say ‘but there is so much which the creation account leaves unsaid, there is so much we do not understand’. What sort of universe do we demand? C. S. Lewis responds to the question in the following manner;

“If it were small enough to be cosy, it would not be big enough to be sublime. If it is large enough for us to stretch our spiritual limbs in, it must be large enough to baffle us. Cramped or terrified, we must in any conceivable world be one or the other. I prefer terror. I should be suffocated in a universe that I could see the end of”

The Purpose of the Chapters

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The last chapter in one of Dorothy Sayer’s detective stories in which the solution to her mystery is unfolded is entitled, “When You Know How, You Know Who”. These opening chapters of Genesis tell us who created without giving us many answers about how. The message and purpose of these chapters is this; You have seen the sea, the sky, the sun the moon and stars…

Conclusion

You have watched the birds and fish. You have observed the landscape, the vegetation, the animals the insects, all the big things and all the little things together…

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… You have marvelled at wonderful complexity of human beings with all their powers and skills and the deep feelings of fascination, attraction, and affection that men and women arouse in each other. You see the part that you can play in bringing new life into the world and marvel. Fantastic isn’t it?

Well now meet the One who is behind it all. Having enjoyed these works of art come along and meet the artist. Since you were thrilled by the music, take up the invitation to meet the composer.

Conclusion

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