This document discusses the biblical creation stories in Genesis from multiple perspectives. It provides commentary on the meaning and messages of creation, including that God created the world and everything in it, creating humans in God's image to care for creation. It also discusses how the creation stories can be integrated with doctrines around the goodness of creation and human responsibilities as stewards. The document additionally includes a "Genesis in reverse" poem depicting the destruction of the natural world.

1. The Start: God’s Creation All around
Us
Seeing God in the First Creation
Story

2. THE CREATION
GENESIS chapter 1
GENESIS 2:4

3. CREATION AND EVOLUTION:
The Bible reveals a much deeper truth about
our origin than what is taught in science.
Its message is primarily about God’s work
in the world.

4. Genesis presents the truth of the ultimate
origin of the world and the human race.
Science does not explain the world’s
absolute origin- how something came from
nothing. It does not explain why anything
exists at all.

5. EVOLUTIONARY THEORY
necessarily lead to atheism and is perfectly
compatible with religious belief as it is more
concerned with the “HOW” than the “WHY”
questions
Using Science, God reveals this to us (creation
and evolution) now because it is only now that
we can grasp it.
We can choose to see evolution as a threat to
our belief or to accept science as a process
through which God reveals his magnificence
and wonder in details

6. FROM CHAOS TO ORDER:
The holy writer of the creation wished to tell
his readers in the simplest way possible
how God made everything in an orderly
manner (Genesis 1:2)
He chose the framework of a seven-day
week with six days of work and one day of
rest because this was the way Israelites
led their lives.
They could best understand the work of
Creation in this form. The seven-day
framework emphasizes the importance of
giving one day a week to the creator.

7. Message of Creation Account
Creation is God’s gift to us as a sign of His
love for us. Creation is part of God’s plan
of salvation for us. The care we give to the
creation will lead us to salvation

8. The Start: God’s Creation All around Us
Values and Messages of the First
Creation Narrative
All of God’s Creation is Good and Has a
Purpose:
At end of each creative day, God would
pause and view His creation; it reflects
God’s goodness and beauty in almost all
ways.
The purpose of this is to show that God
created the world where all things are
interconnected

9. God Creates Out of Love and Is Creating
Right Now
God created and still continues to create.
God created us through our parents and
sustains us in existence.
God sustain us through His creation and
through our experience of His guidance.

10. God Creates Us in His Image and
Likeness
Because we are created in God’s image and
likeness, we are endowed with inalienable
dignity. This is the ultimate basis of every
human being’s self worth.

11. God Makes Us Stewards of His Creation
We are empowered to take possession of
the earth and its wealth. But with great
power comes great responsibility. We are
called to use our talents and God-given
gifts responsibly for the common good.

12. God Created “Rest”
The Lord’s Day is meant to give us time and
space to reorder and recreate our
relationships with one another especially
with our family, nature and God whom
we direct this day as a day of worship
and adoration as well.

13. The Start:
God’s Creation All around Us
Second Creation Narrative

14. FOCUS OF THE SECOND
ACCOUNT
The second creation narrative focuses on
the creation of man, the world, and then
finally a woman.
God’s attention was clearly directed to the
man and woman in this narrative.

15. MESSAGES OF THE SECOND
ACCOUNT OF CREATION
God Is a Personal and Intimate God
He is with us overseeing our world and
sustaining our lives.
He is a God who loves His creation
unselfishly

16. God creates Us to Relate with One
Another
God allows us to experience the inter
connectedness of His creation and how do
we need to respond in this
interconnectedness as part of God’s
steward and guardian of His creation.

17. God Creates Us as Community Members
The 2nd creation narrative emphasizes the
dignity of women and the equality of men
and women.
Women was taken from the man’s side to
walk beside him, from under his arm to be
protected by him and from near his heart
to be loved by him

18. INTEGRATION:
Doctrine: Everything that God
created is good. From these
truths come the ultimate meaning,
purpose and destiny of all people
and of the rest of physical
creation.

19. INTEGRATION:
Morals: As stewards of God’s
creation we all have the social
responsibilities to fulfill for our
environment and for the world as
a whole.

20. INTEGRATION:
Worship: God as Creator is central
to our liturgy in worship, we
profess the truth that we are
God’s creatures who owe our
creator adoration and worship.

21. GENESIS IN REVERSE
In the beginning, was the Earth
It was beautiful
And humans lived upon the Earth
and humans said:
“Let us build skyscrapers and
expressways.”
And humans covered the Earth
with steel and concrete
And humans said, “it is good!”

22. On the second day, humans looked upon
The clear blue waters of the Earth.
And humans said: “Let us dump sewage
and wastes into the waters.”
And humans did.
The waters became dark and murky.
And humans said: “It is good.”

23. On the 3rd
day, humans gazed
at the forests of the Earth
They were tall and green. And humans
said:
“Let us cut the trees
and build things for ourselves.”
And humans did
And the forest grew thin. And humans said:
“it is good.”

24. On the 4th
day, humans saw
the animals leaping in the fields
and playing in the sun.
And humans said: “Let us trap the animals
For money and shoot them for sport”
And humans did
And the animals became scarce
And humans said: “it is good”

25. On the 5th
day, humans felt the cool breeze in their
nostrils,
And humans said: “Let us burn our refuse and let
the wind blow away the smoke and debris.”
And humans did.
And the air became dense with smoke and carbon.
And humans said:
“it is good.”

26. On the 6th
day, humans saw many kinds of people
on the Earth,
different in race, color and creed
And humans feared and said: “Let us make bombs
and missiles in case misunderstanding arise.”
And humans did.
Missile sites and bomb dumps checkered the
landscape
And humans said: “it is good.”

27. On the 7th
day, humans rested.
And the Earth was quiet and deathly still.
For humans was no more.
And it was good