The creation story seems to make the news
more than any other story in the entire bible. It’s at the heart of the science
vs. religion debate regarding how the world was created.
Maybe you remember the much publicized
debate back a few years ago between Bill Nye, the Science Guy and Ken Ham, the
founder of the Creation Museum which is located in Petersburg, Kentucky. During
the debate, Bill Nye held to the position that the earth is billions and
billions of years old. Ken Ham claims that according to the Bible, the earth is
only 6,000 years old. He also believes that humans and dinosaurs coexisted.
The debate didn’t really do a whole lot to
change anybody’s mind, which wasn’t a surprise. It did remind me that there are
a lot of people who have a misunderstanding of what the creation story is
telling us and what it’s not telling us.
Dr. John B. Walton is a professor of Old
Testament studies at Wheaton College. He
is the author of the book, The Lost World of Genesis One: Ancient Cosmology
and the Origins Debate.
Dr. Walton offers a very helpful way of
interpreting the creation story. He says that when God created the world,
everything was given a purpose.
The Hebrew word for create is “bara” which
means,“function giving.” Instead of the creation story being a story of a time
when God first physically made the world, it’s really a story about God
creating a function for everything that was already in existence.
Creating in this sense of the word,
involves naming, separating, and assigning functions and roles in order to have
an ordered system. This is what the creation story is telling us – that God
provided order, function, and purpose for everything that exists including
human beings.
The creation story isn’t interested in
proving that God brought everything that we see into existence. It didn’t need
to do this since the people who lived during that ancient Near East time period
already believed this to be true.
If we interpret the creation story as a
story of not how God brought the world into existence, but as a story of how
God gave everything that had already existed a function, then there is room for
people of faith to believe in the evolutionary process.
The bible doesn’t force us to choose
between science or faith. We can have both. In telling the story of how God gave
everything in creation a purpose, it used the available science of its day. It
sought to communicate a Word from God to the people by speaking within their
particular historical and scientific context.
Gordon Fee, another well respected Bible
scholar reminds us that the bible was not written to us, but it was
written for us. What he means is that the bible was not
originally written directly to us, but it was written for us. He goes on to say
that we need to be careful to not impose our 21st century questions
on the stories that we find in the bible.
I think that the creation story is an
example of one of those biblical stories that we often want it to say things
that it never meant to say. We need to first figure out how the people who
lived during biblical times first heard this story. From there, we can ask the
question, “What does this mean for us today in the 21st century?”
Since the creation story isn’t primarily
about how God brought everything into existence and is really a story about how
God gave everything a purpose, it allows us to be more open to what modern day
science teaches us about the world. In other words, I don’t think that Ken Ham
of the Creation Museum needs to be threatened by what Bill Nye and the
scientific world have to offer us.
The creation story wants us to know that
God created a purpose for everything that is part of the created world.
Day #1
So what purposes were given for each day
of creation? Let’s first look at the first day of creation when God created
light. And remember, we’re not talking about God creating the properties of
light. We’re talking about God giving light a purpose. And the purpose God
gives to light is time. Day and night provide a cycle of time.
So for those of you who have ever wondered
how there can be light on the first day of creation and yet the sun isn’t
created until the fourth day, this new understanding of the Hebrew word for “create”
explains it. The creation story isn’t a story about God physically creating
everything, although that’s assumed. It’s a story about God giving a purpose to
everything that is already in existence.
Day #2
What’s the purpose of day 2? Weather. We are told that God created a dome
in the midst of the waters so that it would provide a space in which people
would be able to live. The second purpose was to provide a way for
precipitation to be controlled so that we would have the right amount of rain.
Day #3
What about day 3? Food. We have the
creation of dry land and the sea which leads to vegetation and fruit trees. The
purpose behind vegetation and fruit trees is the production of food.
So in these first three days, the creation
story is telling us that God gave our world three very important purposes –
time, weather, and food. These three purposes are the foundation of life.
You see, the important point in the
creation story isn’t that God created material things. The more important thing
is that God created purposes for what was already in existence so that a
quality of life would be possible for all living creatures.
Day #4
What about day 4? What’s the purpose of
day 4? Day 4 is about the celestial lights at day and at night. The purpose for
these lights is for signs, seasons, days, and years.
Day #5
This brings us to day 5. What is the
purpose of the 5th day? Here we have swarms of living creatures in
the sky and in the water. The purpose of
day five is to provide order for all of these creatures.
Day #6
And this leads us to day 6, the final day
of creation. Here we have animals and human beings. Their purpose is to
reproduce and to fill the earth so that there will be new generations of the
same kinds of creatures.
The additional purpose of human beings is
to rule over all creation and to live as God’s image bearers in the world. This
is the purpose that God has given to you and me. We are to lovingly care for
this world and to reflect God’s image to everyone around us.
The creation story reminds us of our
purpose in this world and what a great purpose it is. We are to be good
stewards of everything that has been created.
Three or four years ago, we had to put
down two of our three West Highland Terrier dogs, leaving us with Lulu who we
brought with us to Athens. The other two dogs who we had to put down had
reached a point where our vet told us that even with their medications, they
were in too much pain. It was a very
difficult day for us because pets become part of our family in a special way
especially in the McDowell household.
Lulu McDowell
When we came home from the vet that day, I
took our remaining dog, Lulu outside to our backyard. She was eight years old at
that time and has always been our little baby until we got another westie this
past September. Here’s a picture of Lulu who is now eleven years old.
On the day we put down two of our westies
and after we got home from the vet, I took Lulu outside in our backyard, I looked
down at her cute little face and she stared right back at me, sensing that the
other two dogs weren’t with us anymore.
I had her attention and as I looked into
her big brown eyes, I said, “Lulu, you
are now in charge of backyard security. We’re counting on you.” And ever since that day, she has lived out her
God given purpose of keeping bunnies and squirrels out of our yard.
Lulu knows her purpose. I never have to
remind her to bark at a squirrel that is five hundred yards away high up in a
tree. She just knows what to do. Her purpose is to do what West Highland Dogs
were created to do. Be on alert at all times, bark, and be extremely cute. Lulu
is living out her God given purpose.
So think about this. On the sixth day of
creation, the Lord said to you and to me, “You
are now in charge of backyard security. This is your function as human
beings. I want you to take care of my
creation. I’m counting on you.”
It’s a wonderful thing when we live out
who we were created to be. Each one of us has been called to be God’s image
bearers in the world.
What
does it mean to live out our purpose of being God’s image bearers? It means
that we care for this world that God has lovingly created. It means that just
as God lovingly created this world and called it good, we too are called to be
extensions of God’s healing love in everything that we do. We are to be kind as Nicole Phillips reminded us last Sunday.
How’s that for a life purpose? That’s true for every single human being in
the world. This is why we were created. We were created to be God’s image
bearers.
There are many different ways to live out
this purpose depending on our personalities, our talents, our gifts, and our
passions. We’re not all the same but we are all called to contribute to the
same purpose in what it means to be truly human.
I think of Wanda. Wanda was a member of one of my churches and
she reminded me so much of my mother. They kind of looked like each other, but more
importantly, they also had the same kind of giving spirit.
Wanda was always giving gifts to people. I
am convinced that Wanda’s purpose in life was to be a modern day Santa Claus.
The only difference was that she didn’t just give gifts on December 25. She
gave gifts to people every day of the year! She made Santa Claus look like cheapskate.
She loved the stained glass windows of the
church where she was a member. In fact,
she loved them so much that she had pictures of each of those beautiful windows
framed and she would give these away as gifts.
I was on the receiving end of Wanda’s many
gifts. For example, Wanda would stop by out of the blue with a freshly baked
apple pie. And she really loved Christmas, so thanks to Wanda, I have Christmas
angel figurines, Christmas socks, and she even gave me a choo-choo train.
Before Christmas one year, a mysterious
Christmas present appeared on our front porch. Inside was the choo-choo train.
The tag said that it was from Santa, but I knew better. I had made a joke one
day that Santa never brought me a choo-choo train for Christmas, and she must
have really taken that to heart.
You know, we pastors need to be careful
with what we say. A pastor told me that he once made the comment during a
sermon that he enjoyed the Spider Man movie. A church member who heard him say
that, ended up giving him all of these Spider Man gifts like Spider Man socks, a
Spider Man notebook, a Spider Man pillow, a Spider Man coffee mug, a Spider Man
shirt.
He said, “All I said was that I liked the movie. I really don’t need all of
these Spider Man souveniers.”
Wanda was kind of like that. For trick or
treat night, Penny and I would give away candy to about 30 to 40 kids who would
come to our door. Wanda, who lived just a block from us, would get over a
hundred kids to her house.
I came to find out that she wasn’t giving
out tootsie rolls and tiny Hershey bars like we were. She was handing out these
large cool looking flavored popcorn balls every year. I mean, we couldn’t
compete with that. The kids were bypassing our house to get to Wanda’s house
before she ran out of those awesome popcorn balls! Everybody loved Wanda. In
her early 80’s, she served as a mentor to one of our of our confirmation youth.
Wanda passed away unexpectedly while I was
the pastor there. Soon after the news of her passing, someone showed me a gift
that Wanda had given her just a few days before Wanda had died. Wanda lived out
her God given gift-giving purpose even to her last breath.
When I met with Wanda’s family to prepare
for her funeral service, they told me that she loved giving gifts to people
because she saw every single person as important and as someone who God loved
very much. They told me that she was
always on the look out for nice gifts to give away to people and that her
basement was like a store filled with gifts to give away.
To put it simply, Wanda just knew to do
what she was created to do. Her purpose in life was gift-giving and blessing
the people around her.
Several years ago, I gave a lot of thought
to what my purpose in life is. Instead
of a mid-life crisis, I guess you could say that I was having a young adult
crisis. I really wanted to clearly identify my purpose in life. Often times, we associate our purpose with
what we do for a living, or with a talent that we may have, but I wanted to
know what my purpose was beyond those roles and expectations.
After a lot of thought and prayer, here is
what I discovered my purpose to be in life and it hasn’t changed after all of
these years. This is what I wrote:
My life mission is to joyfully live out
the good news of Jesus Christ through word and deed so that my family, my
church, and my community will know and embrace God’s hope and promises for
their daily living.
Sometimes, I need to go back and read that
purpose statement and remind myself of who God created me to be. God created me
to joyfully live out the good news of Jesus Christ.
If you haven’t already written out your
purpose in life, this might be something you’ll want to start thinking about
this week. What is your unique purpose and are you living out that purpose? God
has given each one of us a purpose. We are to be God’s image bearers in a
broken and hurting world.
The creation story isn’t concerned with
how old we think the earth is. Science can help us answer that question. The
more important question that the creation story wants us to answer is this.
Are you living on purpose? Are you living
out who you were created to be, an image bearer of God’s love, kindness, and justice for a
broken and hurting world.
Created for Purpose
Small Group Questions
Genesis 1:1-2:4a
May 21, 2017
The science vs. faith debate as it relates to the creation story as told in the Book of Genesis is really unnecessary because we really do not need to decide between the two. In the sermon, Pastor Robert shared that the Hebrew word for "create" is "bara" which literally means "to give purpose" and NOT "to bring a material object into existence" as it is often interpreted. This interpretation of the creation story allows for people of faith to believe in God AND the evolutionary process in the forming of creation.
What is your understanding of science and the Bible? Do you think they can coexist as Pastor Robert suggests from his sermon?
Since the word, "create" means "to give purpose," the creation story is meant to help us think about our purpose as human beings in the world. We were created for the purpose of being God's "image bearers" which involves reflecting God's love back onto God which is what we do when we worship and reflecting God's love out into the world which is what we do when we serve and seek to be a blessing in our world.
How does this understanding of being created in the image of God (worship & service) give meaning and purpose in the way you live out your life?
Pastor Robert shared how his west highland terrier dogs don't struggle with their purpose in the world. Their purpose is to chase squirrels and dig!
Why do you think we as humans seem to struggle with our purpose in life from time to time? What do dogs know that we don't know?????
Close your time of sharing by reading out loud the purpose that God has given our church: "Our purpose is to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of our community and world."
How can our church always remember this awesome purpose that God has given us? Share some ways.
What is your understanding of science and the Bible? Do you think they can coexist as Pastor Robert suggests from his sermon?
Since the word, "create" means "to give purpose," the creation story is meant to help us think about our purpose as human beings in the world. We were created for the purpose of being God's "image bearers" which involves reflecting God's love back onto God which is what we do when we worship and reflecting God's love out into the world which is what we do when we serve and seek to be a blessing in our world.
How does this understanding of being created in the image of God (worship & service) give meaning and purpose in the way you live out your life?
Pastor Robert shared how his west highland terrier dogs don't struggle with their purpose in the world. Their purpose is to chase squirrels and dig!
Why do you think we as humans seem to struggle with our purpose in life from time to time? What do dogs know that we don't know?????
Close your time of sharing by reading out loud the purpose that God has given our church: "Our purpose is to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of our community and world."
How can our church always remember this awesome purpose that God has given us? Share some ways.
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