Creation

The Bible teaches that God is the Sovereign and Free Creator

Everything visible and invisible was created by God. God is distinguished from nature (Genesis 1:1,16 ). contra Pantheism.
By God’s powerful word, the natural world came into existence (Genesis 1:3,6,9-11,14,20,24-26 , cf. Psalms 33:6 , Psalm 104 ). The repeated refrain, “and it was so,” (Genesis 1:7,9,15,24 ) affirms God’s freedom.
The closing phrase in Genesis 1:31 , “and God saw everything that He had made, and behold it was very good,” reveals God as wise and good. An inhabited universe was formed complete with well ordered systems for human flourishing (17 :26-28 , Colossians 1:17 ). contra Deism.
No rival gods are present in Genesis 1
- Dualism is denied. He is the only One (Deuteronomy 6:4 , 1 Corinthians 8:6 ), yet he exists in a unity of persons (Genesis 1:26-27 ).
God exists as the origin and goal of history (Revelation 1:8 )- the substance of all worship (32-33 12: , Revelation 4:11 ).
Human beings are created by God, and are not the products of random chance and natural selection.
- Humans existence is derived; so we live in accountability and dependency upon God (Genesis 1:29-31 , Psalms 100, 104 )
- Humans bear the “image of God.” (Genesis 1:26-27 ) We reflect God’s nature in four ways.
  - We reflect His personhood (Exodus 3:15 ) in volition, mind and emotions.
  - The plural “us” in Genesis 1:26 foreshadows the Trinity, and identifies us as social creatures.
  - The mandate to “rule and subdue” (stewardship) in Genesis 1:27 represents God’s authority.
  - God’s prohibition about eating from the “tree of the knowledge of good and evil” defines God’s rectitude, and our moral responsibility.

Human origins is a subject of enormous contention. A deterministic material world view squares off with the Biblical view of special creation. The former produces a numbing lifestyle of purposelessness, while the Genesis account builds into life meaning and significance. Augustine distills the impact of creation when he said, “You made us for yourself, and our hearts are restless until they find their rest in you.”

Where we come from has been a question that has troubled humanity since we were created, and rightfully so. Our worldview, our philosophy, is shaped by it. The same goes for any earthly institution.

Classes in schools have a syllabus set out at the beginning of the semester. The instructor writes the syllabus. It lays out the scedule for each week, the topics to cover, the homework assignments, the project, and it lists the learning objectives for the semester. “At the end of this class you will know how to … fill in the blank.”

Explorers and businessmen would ask the king of a country for a commission when setting out on a voyage or starting a business in the country’s name. The manner in which a thing starts is critically important to the function of that thing.