The Creation

About the Bible and how it tells the story of the Creation; I've always believed in the biblical story literally. That God created the universe in seven days about 6000 years ago. There are creationist scientists that support it, so I haven't had much trouble with it. But I've also heard other interpretations of the Creation. The one I feel is most sensible of those is one that interprets the Bible figuratively in that the week of Creation wasn't really seven ordinary days as we understand them now, but many millions of years. During that time God created the animals one by one until he finally created the human. But the human was still just an animal, because it had no spirit. So the man (Adam in Hebrew) did not become the human being we know today until God "breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being" (Gen 2:7). This is where man is separated from the animals in that man recieves a spirit and therefore can have a personal relationship with God.

To me, that interpretation is as valid biblically as a literal interpretation, because we can be sure of neither until we meet God face to face in Heaven. The important thing in the story of Creation is not the story itself, but what it tells us. It tells us that we are created in God's image, in the likeness of God. We are given a spirit so that we can have a relationship with God. We shouldn't worry about anything, because God provides us with everything we need. One man should have an erotic love relationship with one woman and create a family. Everything is so easy. Everything is "black or white". The problem arises when man doesn't only want to be in God's likeness and doesn't only want a relationship with God. Man wants to BE God. That's the fall of man. The punishment for that is death, man should once again become an animal without a spirit. But suddenly everything isn't black or white anymore; man is banned from the garden of Eden, but is allowed to live. Man's sin introduces God's grace. God's grace is what's keeping man alive. We should be dead, but we live. A paradox we cannot fully understand. Once man stood naked before God. Now the fig leaves that covers man also covers his spirit and so he cannot se God clearly. What once was black or white has now become blurred in shades of gray. But the fall of man also gives us hope; the woman's offspring will crush the snake's head.

For me the details of the Creation doesn't matter anymore. God is still God and my faith is still the same regardless of how God chose to create the universe. But the biblical story of the Creation is important to me because it shows me how God originally wanted us to live in harmony with each other and himself.

© MM Martin Norén