Rob's Thoughts

Yesterday we discussed creation.  It’s causes and it’s goal.  Today I am going to take a look at the objects of creation.  I am arguing that humanity is the highest object of the created order.  Tomorrow we will begin to look at sin and the affect that it has had on creation.

Objects of Creation: Humanity

So God’s word was the cause of creation, rest was the goal of creation.  Now we turn to the objects of God’s creation.  God created human beings as the pinnacle of the creation.  He crowned him with glory and bestowed upon him His very own image:  “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them[1].”  What is instructive in this text is that man images forth God as male and female.  It is in relationship that human’s image forth the glory of God.  Dr. Bruce Ware in his book on the Trinity argues, “God intends that his very nature – yes his triune and eternal nature – be expressed in our human relationships (emphasis mine).[2]”  He continues to argue that the eternality of the triune relationship in the Godhead “calls for and calls forth a created community of persons[3].”   In the garden this is precisely what we see.  We see a community of persons in Adam and the woman imaging forth God’s divine relational nature.  Ware calls this the “unity and harmony[4]” that exists in the trinity of God.  We can see in Genesis two the reality of this unity and harmony as man and women image forth God.  Genesis 2:24 is a display of the unity and bliss man and woman shared:  ”And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed[5].”  Man and women were co-existing in a state of relational perfection where sin was not a hindrance to their bond, sexually, spiritually, or emotionally.  This is demonstrated by the fact that holy God was able to walk among them and commune with them[6].

As argued earlier, creation at its most fundamental level was an act of bringing order.  Arguably, the greatest demonstration of this order is the creation of men and women in relationship with each other.  More clearly put, we see order in the positional nature of the created genders as well as the tasks assigned to each gender.

First, headship is demonstrated in the actual progression of creation.  In Genesis 2:7 God makes man.  He forms him and breathes into him the breath of life.  God proceeds to give Adam rule over the garden and calls him to the program of ruling and subduing the rest of the earth[7].   In 2:15 the author expands on the duty.  Adam was to start this program in the Garden of Eden.  He was to keep it and tend it, while being careful not to eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil.  The Lord then brings to him all the animals to name.  By doing this he shows him that none of the animals would make a suitable helper for this task of ruling and subduing.

It is after Adam has established his authority over all the beasts of the earth through naming them that God creates women, brings her to him, and establishes a complimentary relationship of headship and submission by allowing Adam to name her as he did the animals.  Only this time he is naming not an animal but his suitable helper.  Clearly, this does not show that all facets of the relationship between Adam and the woman were the same as Adam and the animals.  However, the function of headship and rule is similar – though these will manifest themselves differently in marriage.  Secondly, we see order in the diverse roles that man and women are assigned.  The woman was identified as a helper[8] ruling and subduing the earth by being oriented towards the man, while the man was to rule and subdue by being oriented towards the creation (something he had already begun through the naming of the animals).  By maintaining their respective roles, both would accomplish the chief goal of spreading the glory of God over all the earth.  So we have order established by God’s word: man as head, women as helper.  All of this is accomplished by God’s word.  (I realize that this is a controversial assertion in todays feminist leaning society.  Someday I will write a blog explaining how this does not have anything to do with worth or quality of either the female or male gender.  However this blog is not about that.  My goal here is to simply put forth the message of Genesis 1-3.  However, to give you a brief help, we can see that God Himself reflects the idea of headship and submission in the relationship that Jesus shares with the Son, in other words when men and women yield to their roles in a non-abusive way they are like God.”

Summary of Creation

God’s word is powerful.  Through His word chaos was overcome and order was implemented.  Through his word rest was established in the land of paradise where God dwelt with mankind in harmonious relationship.  Through His word God created man and women in a type of relationship that imaged forth His own triune glory.  In the beginning everything was wonderful.  But it was too good to last.  Check back tomorrow to see what I mean.

[2] Bruce Ware Father, Son, and Holy Spirit: Relationships, Roles, and Relevance (Wheaton, Illinois: Crossway Books, 2005), 132

[3] Ware, Father, 133.

[4] Ibid, 135 -136

[5] Genesis 2:25

[6] See verses Genesis 2:22 and 3:8

[7] Genesis 2:8

[8] Genesis 2:18