Biblical Perspective on God

The Bible’s story of the world opens with’’ in the beginning God created: we see God doing work, six days of it. Once the work was done, God rested on the seventh day which he called the Sabbath. (Gen. 1:1-2:3; Heb, 4:3-4). The scripture says that man is made in Gods image and likeness that Christians are called to be imitators of God and the fact that the Bible opens with this scene of God doing the work of creation by his powerful word calls for reflection.

The way God performs His deeds is by use of speech. This gesture brings out God’s way of working and as such signifies that achievements are met through the art of speech and thought. We see from this vast and splendid universe that God is a skilled worker who completes his tasks with unparalleled excellence and creativity.

Work is neither punishment nor cursed but an exalted, Godlike activity. Nor should we think that once God completed the work of creation he was finished with work

The Bible opens with a depiction of God at work, and the operational understanding throughout the Bible is that God continues to work, guiding, upholding, loving, judging, and saving.

The most superficial reading of the first two chapters of Genesis cannot fail to notice some repetition in the creation story. Many modern versions of the Bible recognise this by the way they divide these two chapters into sections. In the NIV, Genesis 1 is headed ‘The Beginning’ and the next section begins at Genesis 2.4 and is headed ‘Adam and Eve’. The Hebrew text did not have these headings, nor did it have any chapter divisions. But the headings in most modern translations are an implicit acceptance of the understanding that there are two versions of the story of the creation. Modern scholars suggest that these stories represent two different sources for the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Ole Testament, also known as the Torah or Law). The division between the stories is placed at the end of Genesis 2.4a. Traditionally, Genesis 1.1 – 2.4a is considered part of the so-called Priestly Code (P) and Genesis 2.4b-25 as part of the Yahwist source (J). Whatever view you take of their literary origins these two chapters clearly tell the story of creation in different ways. It is equally clear that they are complementary rather than contradictory. (Article ends)

However the First thing the Bible shows us about God is that he is a creative, competent, efficient, caring worker, whose work provide blessings for others. The creation of man and woman is accompanied by a blessing and a task, a charge and commission, shows God intending to grant dominion, royal rule, over the animal kingdom from the moment he decides to make man in the way He looks and the way He wants them to be and then instructs them to give birth and fill the earth. He also puts them in charge and tells them to exercise dominion over the animal kingdom. Man has the obligation of acting to the manner in which God wants them to act and fulfil His needs.

Footnote

In this theme; we observe that God created Humans so that they can serve God and represent God (Gen 1-2) in their earthly existence. Humans are therefore considered to be superior to any other creature created by God and are therefore the second God in the universe. They have the obligation of fulfilling God’s wants (Gen 2:4) and live according to His will.

So as to accomplish God’s plan for mankind, humans have to procreate as per God’s will. It will be made possible and accomplishable since God created man and gave him a female character as a companion to bear man’s children and by so fulfil God’s plan for man.

The marriage of the man and the woman will make possible the fruitful multiplication, which will enable the filling, subduing, and ruling. This tells us that God’s purpose for man is to get involved with the woman and have a family of their own through a marriage union. The coming together of these two will see God’s plan through as it were supposed to be prior to the entrance of sin.

God gave man marriage to enable the completion of God-given and God-sized responsibilities. Without the woman, God’s plan for mankind cannot be accomplished and by this generations cannot be born.

However, what we see is the more significant relational blessing that God’s gift of the woman was designed to be. It was not alright for man to be alone and so God created out of man’s rib a companion, woman. This means that the fellowship and companionship of oneness in the marriage of the man and the woman were given to make the filling, subduing, and ruling over the world a delightful adventure undertaken together. The book of Genesis expresses that marriage was not only for the important duty man was to perform as per God’s will but also as a means of companionship.

Foot-note

For further reading of women and motherhood, see J Hamilton’s essay, “The biblical theory of motherhood.”

The reading of the text can be summarize as such: The purpose of God bringing mankind into the earth was to build His temple. He blessed this temple and placed man into it giving them responsibilities. The job of those put into the temple was to ensure that they made the world better in every way possible so as to sustain both animal and plant life. To achieve this, man is supposed to cultivate and take care if animals so as to portray God’s own image as well as His creativity.

To resemble God’s image, the duty of man is basically to ensure that God is revealed on all things living in the world created by God.

There is to be no disconnect between what a man is and the way he does his work. God commanded his image bearers, the visible representation of the authority and character of the invisible God, to cover the dry lands with the glory of God as the waters cover the seas

Human beings are made in resemblance to God. By this, they are called to work just as God did (Gen 1:28). God’s work has no limits as people would say that at age sixty or seventy they are retired, no that is not the case in God’s plan for man. Humans are God’s hand on earth and are overseers of God’s creations. In some religions where matter is deified, fied, humans do not enjoy the same dignity and cannot exercise the same responsibility because the material world itself is meant to be worshiped. However, God created mankind to worship only Him. Humans are therefore advised not be subjected into worshipping God’s creation no matter how appealing it may look like to them.

We know of the fall in Genesis 3 But can we imagine what life would be like had Adam not sinned? Let’s fuel our imaginations on this point from the descriptions of the good life in the texts such as Psalm 128 the blessings of the covenant, where God promised what life would be if his people would obey his commands (see Lev. 26:1-13 reward for obedience and Deut. 28 Blessing and curses The second account of creation in Genesis 2 merges into an account of what is traditionally called the ‘fall’. Many Christians would regard this incident as in some way ‘historically’ true; there was an original human pair created by God who disobeyed God during their lifetime, resulting in the loss of the original perfect state of humanity. This view is taken by some Christians who would not necessarily commit themselves to a definite time scale for creation, and may be happy with a non-literal view of the creation stories. For our purposes, we shall continue to read this section of Genesis as a ‘picture’ or ‘story’ that provides a different kind of truth, without necessarily denying the possibility of its literal truth. We have already noted that work in Genesis 1:28 and 2:4-24 is intended for humanity’s joy and pleasure, but that as R. Paul Stevens put it, in Genesis 3 ‘trouble came’ to the business of work. We saw that God created man and woman to accomplish in Genesis 1-2, and then we looked to Deuteronomy 28:1-14 to catch a glimpse of what life might have been like under God’s blessing in the land of life, in Eden, prior to sin. We now turn to Genesis 3:16-19 to see how God’s word of judgment on Adam’s sin affects the work God gave hu

In the Bible’s grand narrative, God’s judgment falls in particular on the domains of what he (God) had made man and woman to do. From the narrative we derive propositional truths’: God made man to work, but sin resulted in God’s judgment. God’s word of judgment against sin makes the work painful, the environment cursed, and the relationships between men and women strained. Because of sin, work will be futile, frustrating, and fatal. Is there any hope we ask? Hope remains because work, though made difficult because of sin and judgment, continues to point beyond itself to God’s character. The fact that the man and woman are allowed to continue in their work, they are however cursed but still they have the obligation of ensuring that God’s ways are recognized and adhered to in the world.
We now compare our thoughts with those of R. Paul Stevens on the fall and work: The Growth Test No one grows without testing. Adam and Eve were challenged to choose whether they would live in dependence on God or in autonomy (Gen. 3). The act that they did of eating from the tree of knowledge not only brought shame unto them but created separation between man and God, it brought parting of man from God. The woman experiences the curse primarily in terms of relationships, especially with her husband, while the man experiences the curse primarily in terms of his work. This raises a fascinating question of whether men and women experience work differently, and whether they bring to work different gifts…Note that the command to work was given before the fall and hence Adam and Eve were challenged to choose whether they would live in dependence on God or in autonomy (Gen. 3). The act of eating from the tree of knowledge, the tree that led to recognition of good and bad degraded their purpose before God and brought with it an enormous amount of shame. The suspicion with which many people regard vocations in the marketplace undoubtedly comes from the fact that some work is driven by selfish ambition for wealth, power, or money, as was the case [later] with the Tower of Babel (Gen. 11). But work is not essentially sinful. In fact, the determination of God to redeem work and workers starts in the garden in Eden and continues through the whole biblical story R. Paul Stevens (2012), Lessons learnt from the Scripture: Eerdmans, p.12.

CONCLUSION

In the beginning we see God the Creator doing his work ‘’ six days of it’’ God made man in his own image and likeness. God reinvigorated during the seventh day which he called Sabbath, that day when He put aside to rest and look over the world seeing His creations. He appeared pleased by what He saw.

We see that human beings are called to express the truth that this world belongs to God, We see from this vast and splendid universe that God is a skilled worker who completes his tasks with excellence and creativity whose work provides blessings for others We see that marriage is significant for Godly relationship. In (Genesis 2:18) ESV. God thought that man should not be alone in the world and thus created Eve, as an acquaintance to man. A partner for man in the world. There is to be no disconnect between what a man is and the way he does his work.
We are also made in the image of God as co- workers. We look at what God promised life would be if his people would obey his commands (see Lev. 26:1-13) reward for obedience and in Deut. 28 Blessing and curses. God made man to work, but sin resulted in God’s judgment. God’s word of judgment against sin makes the work painful, the environment cursed, and the relationships between men and women strained. Because of sin, work will be futile, frustrating, and fatal. Adam and Eve were challenged to choose whether they would live in dependence on God or in autonomy (Gen. 3). The act that they did of eating from the tree of knowledge not only brought shame unto them but created separation between man and God, it brought parting of man from God.
However God determination to redeem work and workers started in the garden in Eden and continues through the whole biblical story. Thus: we know work is part of our God-imaging dignity. We are made to work. Work is mandated by God and is both good in itself and good for what it produces. Work has been corrupted and degraded by human sin, as seen in Genesis chapter 3. This has led to predatory competition, blaming, toiling, and frustration, symbolized by “thorns, thistles and sweat.” But man work continues till the end of the Age,