Tuesday, July 30, 2013

EMMDEV 2013-07-30 [In the beginning...] Who's your daddy?

After a longer than usual gap we start our daily devs again. I apologise for the slow start, there has been a lot happening.
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We're going to spend some time in Genesis examining the creation accounts. I hope it will be a blessing!
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In the beginning _GOD_ created the heavens and the earth. Genesis1:1

It's very tempting to look at Genesis 1 with the evolution vs creation debate in our minds, but we need to understand the basic thrust of Genesis 1.

The basic thrust of Gen 1 is to categorically state that the world was created by God in an orderly and deliberate way. Genesis 1 is about WHO more than HOW (Same letters, different order!)

At the time that Genesis 1 came into being, surrounding cultures had various thoughts about creation:
- The Egyptians worshipped the sun and cats, etc
- The Canaanites thought that creation could be manipulated through fertility rites and practices
- The Babylonians thought that creation was a result of a battle between the gods - in other words, creation was the end result of chaos.

In contrast Genesis is clear:

1. Creation is what it is: created.
So worship the creatOR and not creatION

2. Creation is orderly and systematic - We are not here by accident. God worked with a plan.

3. God created sovereignly and powerfully - creation is His and in His hands and we cannot try to take his place by trying to control what is not in our hands.

Here's our take home for today: Before we struggle over HOW the world was created, let's find great peace and comfort in the fact that we can know and love the One WHO created us!

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Theo Groeneveld theo@emmanuel.org.za
You can see past EmmDevs at http://emmdev.blogspot.com/