Genesis 1 - 3

"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." What an abrupt and controversial way to begin the most debated book of all time. If you don't believe that statement, you might as well close the book, because nothing else in it will make sense. It is a book about God and how He made the earth and the people in it and how He chose a nation to reveal Himself to in the flesh and how He dealt with that nation as He lived with them, died, and rose from the dead to ascend back into heaven and His plans to return again to rule His creation.
I always believed in God. I just knew there was one, even though I didn't take Him seriously until I was well into my third decade of living. Therefore, I couldn't read the Bible. It just bored me. It wasn't until I was going through the fire that I reached out my hand, and there He was, just waiting for me. Then He began to reveal Himself to me, also. It's been several years since I read through the Bible cover to cover, although I try to do daily Bible reading. It's been pretty sporadic lately, though, so I'd like to try a daily blog in order to discipline myself to go through it again, Genesis to Revelation. You are welcome to read along with me.
I am not a Bible scholar, but I am a scholar. I hold a Bachelor of Arts in English and Journalism from the University of Wyoming from some time ago. My conversion to Christianity came over 20 years ago, and I have immersed myself in Bible study and Christian radio programming since that time. So I hope you will not completely dismiss my thoughts on the Bible out of hand if you are reading this blog. If you see any glaring errors of theology or doctrine, I do hope you will leave a comment to let me know the basis of that so I can go back and study it again.
Jesus said, "You believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father's house are many mansions. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go to prepare a place for you, I will come again; that where I am, you may be also." That is my hope and my dream. As I age, I can think of nothing more important. Earth is fast fading away, and heaven is my home. The Spirit of God is hovering over me the same as He hovered over the waters as He formed the earth.
God spoke it all into existence. He did it in six days in order to set a pattern for our lives, but it need not have taken Him that long. If one believes in an all-powerful, mighty, omnipotent God, it's not a stretch to think He could have spoken it into existence all at once. Maybe it WAS a big bang. God spoke and bang, it happened. And who's to say He didn't create the earth eons ago with prehistoric people and animals, beings that had no spirit or will of their own, then decide to scrap it all and start again with intelligent beings who could choose to love Him and obey Him--or not. That would explain why some scientists insist the earth is millions of years old, although the science is not settled on that completely. There is even some lingering questions on the accuracy of carbon dating.
I just happen to believe that God can do anything. I also believe that He could inspire men to write things down to instruct us and that He could preserve those writings down through the years and all the translations in language. I think that has been proven by the Dead Sea Scrolls.
At the end of Chapter One of Genesis, we see God creating humans in "our image." So God was collaborating on his creation with someone. I wonder who. I think it was Jesus and the Holy Spirit. And it was all good. Man was his crowning achievement. He put us in charge of all the other plants and animals He had made. Then He rested on the seventh day. Was God tired? I don't think so. He was, again, setting an example or a pattern, for us to follow. Everyone needs one day in seven to rest, or the result is not good.
At the beginning of Chapter Two, God is instructing Adam in how to live and how to take care of the beautiful garden which He had made for him to live in before creating woman. Adam was told of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and that he was not to eat the fruit of that tree. If he did, the result would be death. Adam was allowed to view all the animals and even to name them, which must have been fun. Isn't that just like a father? When I was a kid, I always wanted to name all my pets and the livestock and usually my father would let me, but sometimes he had already picked out a name for them.
Adam noticed that all the animals had a counterpart; there was a male and a female, but there was only one of him. I think God did that to cause him to appreciate the woman God was going to make for him even more, which he did, judging by the little song he sang when God presented her to him at the end of chapter two.
By chapter three, they have already broke the only rule God gave them! Satan was already on the earth in the form of a serpent. This is another reason to think the earth was only recreated at that time, because later on in the Bible, we will hear that Jesus saw Satan fall like lightening to the earth as he was kicked out of heaven for challenging God's soverignty. So Satan became a spirit that roams the earth and can enter and possess animate objects and use them to do his bidding, which he did when he deceived Eve in the garden.
We know that Adam must have told Eve what God had said about the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, but either he got it twisted or she didn't quite understand. She added they were not to even touch the tree or they would die. Satan was able to put doubt in her mind, and she reached out and touched it. She didn't die. We assume Adam was nearby when Eve took the fruit off the tree and he didn't try to stop her from eating it, in fact, he ate some also. They didn't die immediately, but something inside them began the process, just like it does in us every time we do something we know is against God's instructions. They became aware that they were exposed and ran to cover themselves, just like we do when we sin.
God knew beforehand they were going to choose to disobey. He already had a plan to redeem them and it was set in motion the minute they ate the fruit. God cursed the serpent, but He didn't curse Adam and Eve. He told Satan about how His Son would one day crush him, then He turned around and made coverings for His children. He explained to them the consequences of their actions and made them leave the garden so they could not gain access to the fruit of the tree that would cause them to live forever in their sinful state. This tree will reappear in Revelation, but that is for another day.