Reading: Genesis 1-3, Psalm 1
It all started off so beautifully. A garden. A misty morning. A new life and a charge to make new life.
The first two chapters of Genesis outline a paradise. God appears on the scene and immediately begins to create. We are given no origin or motivation story for God, he simply begins acting.
When I was growing up, there was much being made of the story of creation set up against the theory of evolution. Most of what I knew about the first two chapters of Genesis was simply that it contrasted modern science. And this from a Christian school. I certainly understand why such efforts were undertaken, but now I find there is a story here that is much more than God spoke and it was! While Genesis 1 does tell us that creation was accomplished by God’s word (an important point much later in the story), it paints a much different picture than a God that sits on high making declarations and watching them come into being. No, this God is involved and engaged with the act of creation. He declares waters should be gathered together, and then he does it. He declares there should be a sun and moon, and then he makes them. He personally engages with the things and places he is making, and reviews his progress, calling it “good.” This God is one who works, and not just by giving orders, but by personally shaping, making. It is worth noting that at the end of the creation story God rests at the end of his labor. Long before it had any theological name or significance, God did good work and then rested.
One of my favorite writers is J.R.R. Tolkien. As a young adult, years before Peter Jackson’s epic films, I read through The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings dozens of times. By the time I was in high school I was deep into The Silmarillian, The Book of Lost Tales and The Lays of Beleriand. By the time I graduated I had read through all twelve of the History of Middle Earth volumes. Yeah, I was quite a nerd. And before it was cool! I bring this up because Tolkien is such a good example (there are others) of a creator whose great known work was undergirded by a massive amount of unknown work. Languages, cultures, stories, histories, myths- Tolkien created all of these, and out of them proceeded his magnum opus, one of the most popular books of the last century, in The Lord of the Rings.
In the Genesis account of creation, we get the beginning of God’s great work in the creation of Adam and Eve, who are created in God’s Image, in his likeness. God calls the creation with humanity very good. Humans are the pinnacle of his efforts, and following their creation he rests. The second chapter zooms in on the creation of humanity and sets up the work and role that humans are supposed to fill. Humans are the caretakers and continuation of creation. They give names to the animals, furthering God’s creative work. They are charged with keeping the garden- the work of an under-sovereign, a king under the high king. They are set apart as of a different order than the animals- their life comes from the breath of God, and they can only partner meaningfully with one another, not with animals. Humans, and the human story, are God’s Lord of the Rings. The magnum opus, undergirded by the tremendous work of creation. And like Tolkien’s work, it is a long story, with heroes and villains, oaths and betrayals.
Humans, we have a problem.
The story really begins with the third chapter of Genesis, and it sets up everything that will follow. The narrative is not all that complex. The humans have been given one rule- do not eat of the tree of the knowledge of Good and Evil. Everything else is fair game. And so, of course, a shadowy and mysterious creature, the serpent, appears to tempt them into eating from that one tree. And they do it. Why? Because the serpent tells them they will become like God if they do. The motivation of Adam and Eve in this is to take on a role not meant for them. The previous chapter outlined God’s intended role for humanity- and it’s pretty darn good stuff. But the humans are not content to stay within those bounds, so they declare independence from God.
And it all goes to pieces. The next eight chapters of Genesis are the story of everything falling apart following this one decision. God’s curse outlines the consequences for leaving our assigned role- basically, everything just got a lot harder. Rather than living the life we were made for, humans will have to manufacture their lives from raw materials. Work with limited rewards. Pain in acts of creation. Distance, even enmity, between one another, the creation, and from God.
But even in this tragic beginning, hope is held out for God’s great work in humanity. A descendant of the woman will crush the head of the serpent. God gives the humans the means to survive the wild world outside the garden even as he banishes them from it. Humans now have a big problem, but there is a hint that not everything is lost yet. One hero’s failure is not the end of the story. Like The Lord of the Rings, this is a really long story, full of sadness and loss, but also of hope.