Genesis 2:1-4

This section has a theme that I feel has incredible significance for our fast paced, work worshipping, burnt out society. Rest! I have so much to learn about what true rest means and this subject seems poorly attended to in the circles I move in. Is there a difference between rest and leisure, rest and play, or rest and religious activity? So much parades itself as rest but how much really allows us to discover the nature of true rest. People talk about the Sabbath being everyday of the week in the new covenant or they marginalise talk about Sabbath rest as legalism. When I hear people talk of a God centered stillness, something resonates within me. I'm no practitioner of this ideal but I am convinced there should be a day in every week that makes time and space for a different pace of life and one that is filled with God centered activity. I feel there is a lot we could do to recapture some of the beauty of this God given concept.

This chapter also begins with a an eternal truth that must be held in mind through the painful valleys of life - God always finishes what he begins. To hold on to this through the winding road of life will be one of the keys to keep us going.

Genesis 1 v 26-31

When we looked at this verse last time the focus was what it said about God. Now I want us to step back and consider the striking statement about humankind. It is moving to think that God formed us in His image. He designed us to bear His hall mark. I'm very interested to hear people's comments on what 'His image' means. Perhaps it is a phrase that leads us into to the rest of this book.

Today people's insecurity is difficult to mask. We all seem to pursue an image that will make others accept us or that at least will help us accept ourselves. There seems to be very few that have arrived at a place of contentment with who they are.

For others it seems that the important doctrine of original sin has so dominated their theology that this profound verse has entirely lost its significance. Instead guilt and hopelessness diminishes the power of God's plan to restore the parts of our image that have become distorted.

Previously I said that the important question throughout this journey would be 'what does this passage say about God'. This verse reminds me of why that is. It is as we see more of who God is that we will understand more of who we are. It is our failure to look at God and to seek to know Him that has led our society and so many individuals into this crippling state of confusion about our identity.

As we will see in the next chapters our God given image has been distorted and part of God's salvation story is about restoring that image. However what I observe in this world is that many have not pursued God's image but His power. This isn't just a comment on Hitler's or Pol Pot's regime but on men from every walk of life. It is as evident in those in the church as in those outside it. Unfortunately what follows is a tendency to abuse authority resulting in endless stories of horrific and evil proportion . Sadly the Church has been at the heart of some of those stories. Post modern minds have, understandably, reacted with scathing attacks on all forms of authority. The problem here is their judgment is based on their own weakness. It is man's pursuit of God's power instead of His image that has led us to this depressing state of despair but the post-modern proposal is not to return to that image but instead to reject all authority. Now these great minds have, in their own wisdom, taken us further from hope by trying to undermine the claims of a God they have not understood. What this must urge us to do is to explore the very nature of who God is. It is then that we can begin again to move our world back in the right direction.

The legitimate power that God did grant us, to rule His creation, has been foolishly abused by us all. This stems from our rejection of God and thus the image we were created with. Without God's image we are incapable of managing the world we live in responsibly. Instead of causing it to flourish we ourselves become the cause of the a hurting and broken world. When we bear the image of God our tendency is not to abuse authority but to use it to cause the world to abound. In Genesis one we see that God creates a beautiful and sustainable world - everything he did was good. His image shaped the use of His power. He did not dominate, restrict or crush humans, as it was possible for him to do. Instead he gave them a home with a garden, the best job in the land and all their expenses paid. Nothing was held back. Everything was their's to enjoy. God's authority was used for good because it was directed by his image and the result was 'everything he made...was very good'. Lets re-discover His image together.

A Big Question

The more I meditate (verses and concepts going through my mind again and again while I'm cycling or meant to be working - not the ultra spiritual cross legged, silent version) on Genesis 1, the more a question grows in my mind:

'when do I move beyond the inherent meaning of a passage to projecting my own meaning onto it?'

I am aware of a dimension of philosophy that questions the ability of language to convey meaning. It argues that we project our meaning onto a text as we read, rendering the author 'dead'. This has been used to attack the Christian faith and we must guard against its implications. However it would ignorant to ignore the tension of this question, after all the Church has its past blotted with arguments over meaning. Somehow we need to discern between our socially constructed meanings and those that are inspired by God's Spirit.

I am concious that there is a verse in the New Testament that may be significant in this debate - were we not promised that the 'Spirit would lead us into Truth'?

Post your thoughts and also references of any books that you think might be helpful on this subject. My grasp of the subject is very weak but I feel it is one of those topics that we would benefit from some clarity on. Post modernism brings these big questions back into the forefront of our minds and now we must have the wisdom to discern its implications and the sense not to lose the insights of the ages gone by.

Genesis 1v26 - A mistake

These discussions are really exciting - out of my first blog on Genesis 1 1-26 I have discovered that I have missed something very important as I have discussed things with you.

In all the excitement and wonder of this furious creation scene I seemed to have managed to overlook someone. The 'Spirit' is the first person of the Godhead that distinctly makes him/herself known (v2). If we allow ourselves to run ahead a little we also discover there is another person neatly concealed in this story. The gospel of John defines the 'Word' as God's Son. So within the first 3 verses of this book we have already been introduced to the mystery of God's threeness. But what really makes this beautiful is that we cannot see that at first. It speaks of the oneness of God and helps us see their inseparable intimacy. In this chapter that abounds with goodness we cannot decipher the individual easily - no we are drawn into the unity of God. Here three people dwell in perfect harmony and they are inseparable. It is unthinkable that they might be parted.

Genesis 1:1-26 Thoughts

I'm struck by this explosion of celebration - God in all his brilliance creating everything. If we manage to reach the end of the chapter without breaking out into spontaneous praise it would surely be a reflection of our failure to capture the author's heart. The start of this book projects into a place of wonder at God. We are left standing in the presence of the architect and source of everything we know. You can almost see the writer's hand scribbling furiously to try and keep pace with the overflow of his heart as it gushes out this mantra of awe...."and God said, and God said, and God said".

Genesis begins in the only place it possibly could with its eyes fixed intently on the centre of all life...God. As I see this focus on God, I am reminded of how often our society is looking, not up, but in. We so easily wander from this place of centredness and so quickly find ourselves looking to/at something other than God. It strikes me as exceptionally important that we realise this book starts with God. It doesn't start with man.

A question I feel will be very important to me as I start this journey is "what does this passage tell me about God?". As I meditate on this passage the positive vibe is overwhelming - "He saw it was good...He saw it was good...He saw it was good". The passage impresses on me that this God from whom all things came was the source of everything good. My first introduction to God is one that reassures me of his character - he is the author of good things and can therefore be trusted implicitly.

Something that repeats itself in this passage is God's method of accomplishing his purposes. The repetition of 'and God said' cannot be without significance. We are introduced to God's limitless power and the channel for it in this passage is His word. How careless I become, allowing His word to be an intellectual concept or a morning activity - in it is the power of life and I must seek to lay hold of it and allow it to work its creative power in me.

I guess it is easy to take for granted that the creation I am hearing of here is a very different world to the one I find myself in today. The paper's are given nothing to write about at this stage of the story, I am yet to hear of any bad news. It seems significant to me that in a chapter where the sun is shining and everything is good, God sits right at the centre of it all. It would be extraordinary to have any of our media carrying such a positive story today and is it really so surprising when God has seemingly disappeared from our story.

v26 smacks me in the face - I am suddenly introduced to a conversation and yet the only 'person' I have been introduced to so far is God. "Let us makes humankind in our image". I may need to dig a little into the language here but us/our throws me into the strange paradox of God (singular) speaking about Him/Herself as plural.

I don't want to venture any further for now but I must say that I feel if this passage of scripture doesn't lead us into praise and adoration of God we are surely just intellectualising the bible - we begin with something that should end in something more than a theological or scientific debate. These words surely must lead into His presence and reminds us of our dependence on him.

In the beginning!

Well I'm trundling through life with so many thoughts in my head and so little time to make sense of them. I have been feeling particuarly vulnerable because there are so many opinions, ideas and theories flying around that quite often I just don't know where to begin. So today I have decided I'm going to journal/blog my way through the bible. Somehow I need to record my journey as I try and make sense of the world through going right back to the beginning of a book that I believe has been inspired by God. This blog is to help me share my journey with those I love and trust with the hope that at points along the way they might help me along with their comments, insights and thoughts. It should be an interesting experiment and hopefully an eventful and rewarding journey. I might change my mind about publishing my thoughts because this isn't intended to be me instructing or providing insight to others but rather sharing my progress as I try and make sense of the world I live in. I would hate this to lead anyone in the wrong direction - so I am a little hesitant at doing this - not than anyone is necessarily going to read this!!