A Good Creation

This is part two of my attempt to describe the overarching Story of the Bible.

The book of Genesis can be easily broken up into two unequal sections. The first eleven chapters deal with the creation and a downward spiral of humanity, moving further and further away from God. The following thirty-nine chapters describe God’s selection of a single family that would become the basis for the rest of the story of the Old Testament.

These first eleven chapters can be further broken down into two parts. The first two chapters contain two creation stories, while the following nine describe what happened to God’s good creation.

This post will focus on creation, primarily in the first chapter and in other passages throughout Scripture that reference creation. The focus here is not on the age of creation or the method of creation. Instead, it is on the purpose and scope of creation.

References to Creation

The first chapter of Genesis provides the most detailed description of creation as a whole, while the second chapter focuses on the creation and role of humanity. Genesis 1 is clear that God is the creator, that he created by his own power, and that what he created was good.

However, many other passages mention God and his creation.

• Job 38 is a poetic description of God’s creative activities
• Psalm 102:25; 104:5; Proverbs 3:19; 8:29; Isaiah 48:13; 51:16; Amos 9:6; and Zechariah 12:1 all refer to God laying the foundation of the earth.
• John 1:3 declares that the Word made everything that has been made.
• In Acts 17:24, Paul told the Athenian philosophers about God, who made the world and everything in it.
• Colossians 1:16 declares that Jesus made all things in heaven and earth, visible and invisible.
• Hebrews 11:3 tells us that the universe was formed at God’s command from what is not seen.

As you can see, the references to God as creator are not limited just to the beginning of Genesis.

The Scope of Creation

So what all did God create? The passages listed above affirm that God created everything that has been made. That would include everything apart from the Triune God himself. It consists of all things in heaven and earth. And all things visible and invisible.

So that would mean that God created all that we can see in the physical universe. But it would also include all things in the spiritual realm, including angels and “the rulers, the authorities, the powers of this dark world, and the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms” (Eph. 6:12). God even made Satan and the demons that cause us so much grief now.

That does not mean that God created them evil. But he made them knowing they would rebel (Jude 1:6). And, I have to believe, even this was “according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will” (Eph. 1:11). Even Satan and those allied with him have a part to play in God’s eternal plan.

A Good Creation

At each step of the creation account in Genesis 1, God declared that what he had produced was good. And, in the end, very good. But what does it mean to be good? Is it perfect? Or could it be less than that?

The Hebrew word translated here as “good” is ṭôḇ. Vines Expository Dictionary has this to say about ṭôḇ: “As a positive term, the word is used to express many nuances of that which is ‘good,’ such as a ‘glad’ heart (Judg. 18:20), ‘pleasing’ words (Gen. 34:18), and a ‘cheerful’ face (Prov. 15:13).”

While it certainly could refer to something that is perfect, it is not generally used in that sense. We might say that the creation was of good quality. Or that it was sufficient for God’s purposes. God was pleased with what he had made.

The Big Question: Why?

So why did God create a world he knew would rebel against him? This question will be explored in more detail in the coming posts. But, in short, I suspect that his creation wasn’t finished at the end of Genesis 2. Instead, he is still in the process of creating the humanity he set out to produce in those first two chapters.