Preaching Christ from the Creation Narrative

By Sidney Greidanus

[Sidney Greidanus is Professor of Preaching, Calvin Theological Seminary, Grand Rapids, Michigan.

This is the second article in a four-part series “Preaching Christ from the Genesis Narratives,” delivered by the author as the W. H. Griffith Thomas Lectures at Dallas Theological Seminary, February 18-21, 2003.]

In preaching on Genesis 1 preachers face several difficulties. The first difficulty is how to preach Christ from that chapter. Genesis 1 tells of a perfectly good creation in which there was no need for Jesus the Savior. Genesis 1 gives no promise of the coming Christ and it has no type of Christ. How then can a person preach Christ from that chapter?

A second, more troubling difficulty is that one can easily be drawn into the controversies of what has been called “the conflict between Genesis 1 and science.” What is the age of the earth? Is the earth six thousand years young or some four billion years old? Are the days of Genesis 1 twenty-four-hour days or long periods of time? If we say they were long periods of time, we face some serious problems. For the text clearly says, “And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day,” and so on.[1] In Hebrew evening and morning indicates a twenty-four-hour day, which began at sunset. Moreover, if plants and trees were created in the third eon of time, how could they survive without the sun, which was not created until the fourth eon? On the other hand, if we say the days were twenty-four hours in length, we face several other problems. For example scientists claim that dinosaurs roamed the earth two hundred million years ago and that humans appeared two hundred thousand years ago, but Genesis 1 states that land animals as well as humans were created on the sixth day, that is, within a twenty-four-hour period. How could there be light on day one when the sunwas not created until day four? Or how could there be evening and morning on days one, two, and three before the creation of the sun on day four?

Unfortunately because of these difficulties many preachers avoid preaching on Genesis 1. But this is a tragic omission, for Genesis 1 lays the foundation of our Christian faith. The very first article of the Apostles’ Creed states, “I believe in God the Father almighty, Maker of heaven and earth.” If we fail to preach the message of Genesis 1 because of some modern problems, we undermine the faith of the church. For the well-being of the church and its members, we simply must preach the message of Genesis 1 in this modern age. So how should we preach Genesis 1? We must first study the narrative to determine its theme and goal for Israel.

Narrative Features

The Historical Background

As to the apparent conflict between Genesis 1 and science, our first basic step of interpretation offers preachers another option. As preachers, we must first hear the text as Israel would have heard it. Now it seems obvious that Israel was not concerned about the age of the earth or precisely how God created the world. These are modern issues which may or may not be answered by the text. If we wish to do justice to the author of Genesis, we must begin by carefully listening to the text. Instead of imposing our modern questions on the text, we must hear it as ancient Israel would have originally heard this creation narrative.

A major consideration therefore becomes, What was Israel’s situation when the message of Genesis 1 was communicated to her? What did Israel need to hear? What was the question behind the text? Here preachers are confronted with another obstacle. On the one hand the traditional answer is that Moses wrote Genesis 1 for Israel after the Exodus from Egypt and just before Israel entered the land of Canaan. On the other hand some modern scholars suggest that Genesis 1 was addressed to Israel when she was in exile in Babylon. This is another reason why some preachers are hesitant to preach Genesis 1. But again, expositors should not allow this issue to keep them from preaching the message of this chapter.

As background for understanding Genesis 1 it is sufficient to see how fearful Israel was of the power of foreign gods, whether Egyptian, Canaanite, or Babylonian. For four hundred years Israel had lived in slavery in Egypt, under the domination not only of harsh Egyptian masters but also under the domination of Egypt’s powerful gods. Then the Lord revealed Himself to Moses and told him He would lead His people Israel out of slavery in Egypt and bring them into the land promised to their father Abraham. By sending ten powerful plagues on Egypt and Pharaoh, the Lord showed that He is more powerful than Pharaoh and the gods of Egypt. In fact the ninth plague shut out Egypt’s most powerful god, the Sun. And the tenth plague killed even the firstborn of Pharaoh, the ruling god of Egypt. Showing His power, the Lord led Israel out of slavery and miraculously kept them alive in the desert with the miracle food called manna. This should have taught Israel that their sovereign Lord would take care of them, no matter what happened. But when Israel came to the borders of Canaan, they were terrified by Canaan’s gods. In Canaan people worshiped Baal, Astarte, the sun, the moon, and the stars, and a host of other gods. Israel feared the Canaanites and their gods so much that they refused to enter the Promised Land.

A similar situation existed later when Israel was in exile in Babylon. The powerful Babylonian armies had overrun their little country, killed many of them, and taken others away into exile. It seemed that the Babylonians had defeated Judah’s God, Yahweh. They had burned His temple, destroyed His city Jerusalem, and enslaved His people in Babylon. Judah’s God seemed to be no match for the powerful Babylonian gods. In fact according to the Babylonians their head god, Marduk, was the creator of heaven and earth. According to the Babylonian story of creation, Marduk had a major battle with a powerful goddess named Tiamat. Marduk killed Tiamat by cutting her into two parts, and from one part of her body he formed the heavens and from another part the earth. From her blood he made human beings as slaves to serve the gods. Marduk then placed in the heavens other powerful gods who controlled the destiny of human beings: the sun, the moon, and the stars.

Textual Theme and Goal

Listening carefully to the text as Israel would have heard it, we can discern the theme (the big idea) of the text and the author’s goal for Israel. We can formulate the heart of the message of Genesis 1 somewhat as follows: With His word the King of the universe created His good kingdom on earth.

The author may have had several goals in mind for Israel. His most obvious goal was to teach Israel that her God is the Sovereign King who in the beginning created His good kingdom on earth. Subsidiary goals might be to correct Israel’s worldview and to oppose the influence of pagan mythologies. At a deeper level the author proclaims this message of God’s sovereignty in order to convince the Israelites that they need not fear the evil forces ahead of them and around them, but that they can trust God to lead them safely into the Promised Land. In short the goal of this message for Israel is to give hope to God’s people that their good God is sovereign over all and will take care of them.

Having formulated the theme and goal for Israel, we are now ready to investigate how this theme is carried forward to Jesus in the New Testament.

Ways to Preach Christ

In preaching Christ from the creation story it is tempting to move from God’s good creation to the fall into sin and God’s curse of the earth (Gen. 3), in order to show that Christ came to redeem the groaning creation (Rom. 8:22) as we now know it and to restore it completely (Rev. 21–22). But it is better to save this move for a sermon on Genesis 3 and to keep the focus here on the theme, “With His word the King of the universe created His good kingdom on earth.”

With this theme one can still move to Christ in the New Testament in several ways. Redemptive-historical progression is not an option since the message is about the world before the Fall. Promise-fulfillment is not an option, since there is no promise of Christ in Genesis 1. Typology is not an option either, since there is no type of Christ in Genesis 1. And contrast is not an option, since the message of the text is confirmed by the New Testament. This leaves three ways of preaching Christ from the creation narrative.

Analogy

One can use analogy with the work of Jesus. As God created His good kingdom on earth, so Jesus brings God’s kingdom on earth in His first coming and will complete it in His second coming. One can support this analogy with several New Testament references. For example, Jesus preached, “The kingdom of God is near” (Mark 1:15). Jesus’ miracles were signs of the presence of God’s kingdom. Jesus said, “If I drive out demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has come to you” (Luke 11:20). And when Jesus comes again, He will bring the kingdom in perfection (Rev. 21).

One can also use analogy with the teaching of Jesus. As Genesis 1 teaches Israel that God, with a mere word, created His good kingdom on earth and can be trusted to take care of His people, so Jesus teaches that His Father sovereignly created His good kingdom on earth and can be trusted to take care of us. This bridge, of course, would have to be bolstered with some New Testament references.

For example in the Sermon on the Mount Jesus taught that His Father is sovereign (Matt. 6:9–10) and will take care of us. He encourages us, “Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?” (v. 26).

Longitudinal Themes

One can also trace through the Old Testament to Jesus in the New Testament the longitudinal theme of the kingdom of God, or the theme of the powerful word of God that creates, or the theme of the goodness of God’s creation. All of these “super highways” in the Scriptures lead to Jesus Christ who ushers in the kingdom of God, who is the powerful Word of God, and who affirms the goodness of God’s creation.

New Testament References

New Testament references offer another option. The appendix to the Greek New Testament lists twenty-three New Testament passages that quote or allude to Genesis 1. Since these passages refer to the verses of the narrative rather than its theme, many will not be helpful for preachers. But when a verse in the narrative comes close to expressing the theme, some of the New Testament passages may be useful not only in supporting the theme but in carrying it over into New Testament times. For example Hebrews 11:3 and John 1:1 confirm the truth of Genesis 1:1, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” Second Peter 3:5, “Long ago by God’s word the heavens existed” relates to Genesis 1:3, 6, and 9, “God said.” First Timothy 4:4, “Everything God created is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving,” recalls Genesis 1:31, “all that he had made. .. was very good.” However, except for John 1:1 these passages do not establish a direct link between Genesis 1 and Jesus Christ.

The best New Testament reference seems to be John 1. Here John calls Jesus “the Word,” and he also quotes Genesis 1:1, “In the beginning,” and states that “through him all things were made” (John 1:3). Moreover John 1 adds several allusions to other concepts in Genesis 1, such as light, darkness, and life. This bridge to preaching Christ can be reinforced by other passages such as John 3:16; 1 Corinthians 8:6; Colossians 1:15–17; Ephesians 1:10; and Hebrews 1:2.

Sermon Theme, Goal, and Form

Since the context of canon and redemptive history does not change the message and goal for Israel in major ways, we can today re-proclaim to the church the same message God had for Israel. The sermon theme is, With His word the King of the universe created His good kingdom on earth. The goal of the sermon is to give hope to God’s fearful people that our good God is sovereign over all and will take care of us.

As to the form of the sermon, contrary to most commentators I think that Genesis 1:1–2:3, though highly stylized, still exhibits the contours of Hebrew narrative. It has a setting (“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth”), a conflict (“Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep”), a gradual resolution to the conflict (“the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters,” followed by ten words of God pushing back the chaos and gaining order, cosmos), and outcome (“on the seventh day he rested from all his work. .. and. .. blessed the seventh day”). In preaching a narrative text it is usually best to use a narrative form that follows the story line. But in the case of Genesis 1 a sermon may get bogged down in the details of the seven days or the ten occurrences of “God said.” Therefore I would opt instead for a three-point sermon, each point highlighting an aspect of the passage that supports the theme. The main points of the sermon would be:

I.	The King of the universe created His good kingdom on earth with His word.
II.	The King of the universe completed His work in seven days.
III.	The King of the universe created His kingdom good.

Sermon Exposition

I would begin the sermon by placing the congregation in the situation Israel faced: the powerful foreign gods, the fear of the unknown, the fear of unpredictable powers (whether asteroids on a collision course with the earth or weapons of mass destruction in the hands of terrorists). Then I would invite the congregation to hear the comfort of the message of Genesis 1.

First, the King of the universe created His good kingdom on earth with his word. Genesis 1 begins, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth,” that is, the entire universe. The Bible begins with this powerful message: In the beginning Israel’s God created everything.

Verse 2 shifts the focus to this earth: “Now the earth was formless and empty.” It was an uninhabitable wasteland. Nothing could live on the earth. And “darkness was over the surface of the deep.” It was pitch black, with no light at all. No creatures could grow and develop on this earth. It was utter chaos.

But there was a ray of hope: “The Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.” The Spirit of God was not part of the chaos; it hovered above the chaos like a mighty eagle hovering above its nest, concerned about its young. And this Spirit of God is about to bring order out of chaos. God begins to speak. “And God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light” (v. 3). God pushed back that awful darkness with radiant light—light that would make life on earth possible. But still there was that formless watery mass.

Again God spoke. “And God said, ‘Let there be an expanse between the waters to separate water from water.’ So God made the expanse and separated the water under the expanse from the water above it. And it was so” (vv. 6–7). Now the earth was starting to take on form, with water below and water above. But still life as God intended was not possible.

So again God spoke. “And God said, ‘Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear.’ And it was so” (v. 9). The waters collected in the oceans, and land appeared. Now the earth had a definite form: there was the sky, the atmosphere, but there were also land and oceans. Now the earth was able to sustain life. There was light, air, water, and land.

Ten times Genesis 1 repeats the words, “God said.” Ten is the number of fullness. The Israelites would have been reminded of the ten words of God’s covenant at Mount Sinai, the ten commandments, God’s law for Israel. And in ten words Genesis 1 sets forth God’s law for His creation.

Psalm 33:6, 9 has caught the significance of God’s ten words for His creation. “By the word of the Lord were the heavens made, their starry host by the breath of his mouth.. .. For he spoke, and it came to be; he commanded, and it stood firm” (italics added).

In ancient times kings were the law of the land. When a king spoke, it was done. Genesis 1 portrays our God as the Sovereign King of the universe. Our God is the law of the universe. His word is powerful. He speaks and it is done; He commands and it happens; He wills it and it comes to pass. Nothing on earth happens without His will. There is no such thing as chance happenings. Our King is sovereign and in control of His universe. With His powerful word He brought order out of chaos. And with His powerful word He controls the universe.

When the apostle John writes the Fourth Gospel, he intentionally echoes the majestic words of Genesis 1. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness.. .. The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us” (John 1:1–5, 14, italics added).

John identifies Jesus Christ as the Word of God through whom all things were made. Christ was there in the beginning. He is one with the sovereign Creator God. Paul puts it this way: “He [Jesus] is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together” (Col. 1:15–17, italics added).

The Lord Jesus is one with the King of the universe. By Him all things were created and “in him all things hold together.” Seeing the exalted nature of Jesus makes us more aware of His tremendous sacrifice in becoming a human being. John proclaims that this eternal Word “became flesh” (John 1:14), and Paul says in Philippians 2 that He “made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant,” a slave. The King of the universe became a slave. When the world was headed for destruction, God spoke His word again through Jesus. “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). The Word of God, Jesus, created this world, and the Word of God, Jesus, will redeem this world.

A secnd pattern in Genesis 1 is that of seven: The King of the universe completed His work in seven days. In Hebrew, verse 1 has exactly seven words: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” Verse 2 has fourteen words (two times seven). The divine name Elohim is mentioned thirty-five times in this passage (five times seven).[2] Seven is the number of completeness. Israel knew the number seven especially from her weekly cycle. When the Israelites traveled through the desert, the Lord instructed them to gather manna six days a week and to trust God that the manna gathered on day six would not spoil on day seven. They were to work six days and rest the seventh day, trusting that God would take care of their needs on the seventh day.

The author of Genesis 1 used this pattern of Israel’s six days of work and one of rest to tell Israel that God Himself completed His work of creating in six days and rested the seventh day. However, a week has only six workdays, but God performed eight creative acts. So the author reports that God performs two acts of creation on day three and two acts of creation on day six. This underscores the beautiful parallelism between the days.

Origen and Augustine observed that days four through six parallel days one through three, resulting in an A B C A´ B´ C´ pattern.[3]

A: Day 1—Light	A´: Day 4—The light-bearers: sun, moon, and stars
B: Day 2—Firmament	B´: Day 5—The inhabitants of the sea and the sky: fish and birds
C: Day 3—Two creative acts: the land and vegetation	C´: Day 6—Two creative acts: land animals and human beings
Day 7—God rested

Remember how Israel feared the pagan gods? Notice that the creation of the sun, moon, and stars on day four occurs right between the creation of vegetation (day three) and the creation of fish and birds (day five). The author was saying to Israel that these powerful pagan gods, the sun, moon, and stars, are as much God’s creation as are vegetation and fish and birds. Why then fear them? In verse 16 the author deliberately avoids mentioning the names of the pagan gods, the Sun and the Moon. “God made two great lights—the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night.” These powerful gods of the pagans are only lights made by Israel’s God. Almost as an afterthought the author adds, “He also made the stars.”

Do we hear what fearful Israel heard? Our God created absolutely everything in the universe. The pagan gods are mere creatures. Our destiny is not held by the stars. We need not fear chance or anything in this universe. Our sovereign God made everything and will take care of us.

The author of Genesis 1 emphasized a third point: The King of the universe created His kingdom good. Six times we read, “And God saw that it was good.” The light was good; the dry land was good; the vegetation was good; the light of the sun and the moon was good; the fish and birds were good; the land animals were good. Six times. Finally God created human beings, and the seventh time we read, “God saw all that he had made, and it was very good” (v. 31). The fact that God’s creation is very good can be seen especially on days six and seven. On day six God created the land animals and then He seemed to pause. We are getting to the climax of this story. “Then God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, in our likeness’ ” (v. 26). In the ancient world a king would raise images of himself, statues, in far-off provinces. The image of the king told everyone that these provinces were part of his domain.

God made human beings in His image and placed us on this earth. In other words the world we live in is God’s domain; it is His kingdom. As images of God, we represent God in this world. As images of God we may manage this kingdom on God’s behalf. That is God’s good plan for His kingdom and for human beings. God carefully deliberated, “ ‘Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.’ So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them” (vv. 26–27).

Both male and female receive the high honor and authority of being rulers on this earth on behalf of the King of the universe. God next makes provision for food for His creatures, and then follows verse 31: “God saw all that he had made, and it was very good.” We can see this goodness especially in the high honor of our being created in God’s image, receiving authority and responsibility to have dominion over God’s world, and in God providing sufficient food for us and our offspring.

The goodness of God’s creation is underscored on day seven, for God rested and delighted in His creation. “Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array. By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done” (2:1–3).

God’s creation was complete; God’s kingdom on earth was well established. God blessed the seventh day and made it holy. What God created on the other days He declared good, even very good. But the seventh day He made holy, that is, He set it apart from the six days of work as a very special day. God rested, enjoying His beautiful creation.

Like God, we, His images on earth, may rest from our labors, enjoy the fruit of our work, and focus on worshiping our great Creator God. Jesus says, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath” (Mark 2:27). The Sabbath is good for us. We need that day of rest. If our life were only work, work, work, we would all burn out. But God provides so richly for us that we can rest one day in seven. We can rest from our work; we can enjoy God’s good creation; we can gather for worship; we can enjoy family and friends. God created everything good. That is the joyful news of Genesis 1.

Genesis 1 sketches God as the King of the universe who created His kingdom on this earth. Scientists today are discovering just how great the universe is. The Hubble telescope has given us amazing pictures of the stars and the galaxies. Scientists now think that there may be a billion galaxies, each with a billion stars. And in the midst of this ever-expanding universe floats a little planet called earth. For those who do not believe in God, this can be a frightening picture. We seem to be all alone in a dark, terrifying universe. Mother earth is but a frail little ship floating among mighty neighbors. Who knows when the earth will be struck again by a devastating asteroid? We seem to be at the mercy of powers that are far beyond our control.

But God’s Word assures us that God is in control. “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” With a mere word He pushed back the forces of chaos. This God is greater than any asteroid, greater than any star, greater than any galaxy, greater than the entire universe. And this God created everything good. This almighty God will take care of His people. No matter what dangers threaten us, we can find security and rest in Him.

Notes

1. Unless noted otherwise, quotations of Scripture are from the New International Version.
2. Kenneth A. Mathews, Genesis 1–11:26, New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman, 1996), 120–21.
3. Nic H. Ridderbos first brought to my attention the “literary framework theory,” and claims that “this view was already current in the early church (Philo of Alexandria, Origen, Augustine)” (Is there a Conflict between Genesis 1 and Natural Science? trans. John Vriend [Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1957], 11).