The Big Story: God Makes His Universe



Everybody loves a good story!  We especially enjoy stories that draw us into the action, and move our hearts.  

The Bible is full of stories.  It begins with stories of the patriarchs, and continues with stories about Israel's exodus from Egypt, settlement in Canaan, and kingdom era.  In its latter parts, it has stories about Jesus and his followers.

What many people don't know is that there's a big story that weaves together all these individual stories.  It's the story of God's mission to save his world.

The first story in that big story is the narrative of God's creation of the universe in Genesis 1.  Genesis 1 is one of the richest, yet most controversial passages in the Bible.  Controversy about it isn't new.  There were many rival creation accounts in the ancient world.  In the early church era, teachers tried to reconcile it with the views of Greek philosophers like Aristotle, who represented the established learning of the time.

The discussion about the relationship between Genesis 1 and modern science is important.  I wrote my doctoral dissertation on it!  My conclusion was that science can neither prove nor disprove that God created the world.  Science addresses when the universe came about and how it functions.  But it can't address the meaning and purpose of the universe.  Genesis 1 does that!

How does Genesis 1 relate to the big story?  It sets the framework or the stage for the larger story that follows.  It tells us that one God created the universe according to his purposes.  Though he created the world, he's separate from it.  He's a personal being who seeks communion with humans, with us, who are the apex of his creation.

Genesis 1 invites us to enter the drama of God's work in the world, and to find our places in his big story!




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