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Across the vast expanse of Christendom, the Creation Story begins at Genesis 1, which offers only a condensed version, or an overview of what God did “In the beginning.” This, in itself offers no timeline in form of a correct starting point. The account of creation covers seven days; thus, a large percentage of the church world has settled for the idea of seven days of twenty-four hours each. With that in mind a large percentage of the church world, and millions who follow church teachings reject the conclusions of scientists that the earth is millions of years old in spite of the unearthing of fossils being discovered in various parts of the globe; and tests have placed the age into millions of years.

 Genesis chapter one, verse one, simply says that “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” As we said above, no timeline is offered in that statement. No matter how far back in time we wish to begin counting, it still remains that it was in the beginning (or in BEGINNINGS) that God created. This leaves the door open for us to affix any amount of years we wish to the story, and still end up “in the beginning”. With this fact in mind, it suggests that no matter how many millions or billions of years we care to relegate of earth’s actual age, all will fit perfectly with the word of God. The thought that will be the main thrust of this study, will introduce us to the concept of the creation that began in Genesis one, did not end at the end of the six days, after which God rested from all his work.

 The accepted conclusion by multitude is as follows: “And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.” Genesis 2:2,3. In this study we aim to revisit the creation story, and go just beyond the narrative in which we are told that God rested on the seventh day from all his work. The verse itself seems to suggest that God rested from all his work which God created and made. From that juncture, the religious narrative embarks upon the story of the flood, and into the story of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and 430 years of Egyptian bondage, etc. etc. Treating the creation story as a relic in the pile of finished business, the church has set as its primary task the salvation of lost souls.

Along with ancient prophets the church has set its sight on the many Messianic prophecies uttered by many ancient prophets and in the law. Emphasis is largely placed upon the concept of the new birth, introduced by Jesus Christ in his dialogue with Nicodemus.

The art of soul winning as taught in many bible schools has inserted a few choice scriptures that are ideal in presenting the gospel of our salvation. For instance, we are taught to put emphasis on the account of a well established prophet. “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned everyone to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.” Isiah 53:6. “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” Romans 10:9,10. W can no doubt that with the belief that God is through with the task of “creation” it is appropriate for us to classify that aspect as “finished” thus, we are free to indulge ourselves and our ministry in the task of the saving of souls from sin to righteousness.

 It is appropriate at this juncture for us to pause and wonder if the creation story in Genesis tells the whole story about God’s intent and ultimate desire for his creation. When God determined to end all life-form by the flood, did he plan to resume his act of creation? I like what God himself said in his personal account of his creative acts. He spoke saying: “I have made the earth, and created man upon it: I, even my hands have stretched out the heavens, and all their host have I commanded. For thus saith the Lord that created the heavens; God himself that formed the earth and made it; he that establish it. He created it not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited: I am the Lord; and there is none else.” Isaiah 45: 12, 18.

 Let us contrast this with the account of Noah’s flood. “And all flesh died that moved upon the earth, both of fowl, and of cattle, and of beast, and every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth, and every man. All in whose nostrils was the breath of life, of all that was in the dry land died. Genesis 7:21,22. From the human perspective, God had made a complete end of life of both man and beast. But he was prepared and determined that he would once again put his creative power to work. This time, it was not out of the ground, but of human beings that he saved in Noah’s ark. He will always preserve for himself a people!

 Later on, we shall see why it was not necessary for God to revert to creating man out of the dust and breathe in him the breath of life as he did at first in the Genesis account. Without the inclusion of Jesus Christ into the creative process, we are left to think of the God who masterminded the original creation was a sort of mystical figure—much like a disembodied spirit. With that sort of mindset, the world goes on with its business, and sometimes get into arguments over the ideologies taught by Charles Darwin which he gave birth to in the Galapagos Islands that lie beyond the tip of South America. When we put the fingers of Jesus Christ into the very workings of creation, we suddenly remove the mysterious being that we imagine in the creation story of Genesis. The involvement Jesus Christ suddenly pains a more human side to this great story. As we shall see henceforth, the Lord Jesus Christ ushered in a brand new concept—a new understanding of how our world and people came into being.

When Jesus came he swung open the doors as it were to God’s workshop. He gave us a view into God’s modusoperandi, how God functions in his business. We are given an opening by Christ in this lesson as recorded in John’s gospel. First of all, let us see how Christ handled the idea of God resting on the seventh day from all his labor. A man was healed by Christ, and as it happened, it was done on the sabbath. “And therefore did the Jews persecute Jesus, and sought to slay him, because he had done these things on the sabbath day But Jesus answered them, My Father worketh hitherto, and I work.” John 5:16,17. The scripture does not expound or elaborate on the Father working, but what Jesus said has given us a wide open window for us to understand that God continued to work ever since the creation story ended with God going to rest from all his work.  

To put his rest in its proper perspective, we must conclude that he rested from his creative actions as it pertained to all that he created. For instance, after the flood, God had to start all over again to replenish the earth with mankind. But through the flood, or in spite of it, God had a family through whom he would reestablish nations and peoples upon the earth. Because as we read before, God himself said that he established the earth to be inhabited. As long as the earth endure, there will be people on it. Isaiah 45:18. “The righteous shall inherit the land, and dwell therein forever. Psalm 37: 29. Matthew 5:5. I stand amazed—totally flabbergasted when I consider all that God involved himself with in the creation process. When shooting a movie in Hollywood each take is called out by number: such as “the white swan: take one.” Each time it fails to meet the director’s satisfaction, it goes to another “take.” Such as, “the white sawn, take 15.” This process goes on until the director is satisfied with the finished product. God, as the Master Architect was not engaged only in creating man; and all that he did once, continued until this our day. Here is what the record said!

 “And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years. And let them be for the lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so. And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: and he made the stars also. And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth. And to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that it was good.” Genesis 1:14-18. This is only a portion of the biblical narrative concerning God’s acts of creation.

 The idea so far is for us to notice how permanent these acts of creation are; and to note that the creative genus of God is such that since the dawn of time, there has never been a need for a “retake” or a “do over” on God’s part. All that he set in motion on that first, second, third, fourth, fifth, or sixth day, remained as they were when God first spoke them into being. So then, it is evident that the creation story involves much more than man being created in the image of God. Notice that the whole created universe was done in six (created days) and man was the final project on God’s list of “items “to do.”

 In creating the earth upon which he would place man, the Creator filled the inner parts of the earth with such great wealth, that it yielded great fortunes to the Pharaohs of Egypt, and continue to yield immense wealth to countless nations today. Time would fail me to do a chronological narrative of the countries currently involved in excavating untold wealth from the earth. All of that wealth was placed in the bowel of the earth, when at the dawn of time, God commanded the earth to appear from under the water. Genesis 1: 9-12.

 Think of this! In creating the bird of the air and the fish of the sea, and the animals that roam the forests, each thing alive had to be given its own nature, both to eat to survive, and to defend itself in its own unique way to stay alive. Think of a salmon that travels hundreds of miles up river in Alaska to spawn. After a year or more have elapsed they return in countless numbers to the exact river and the exact place where they were born. Think of the monarch butterflies that travel thousands of miles from South America to regions of Alaska, year in and year out. What are we showcasing here? We are lifting the veil from the marvelous things that God set in place and in motion when he simply said: “Let there be!” What is so marvelous to me, is that all of these wonderful things happened at the very dawn of time when man made his first appearance upon the earth.

 Another truth that grabs my full attention is the fact that God created man “once” and whatever facts that fill man’s turbulent history to this point, God never saw a need to do a second take in the creation of man with the words: In his image and after his likeness.” The reason is given in John 1: 9. Where Jesus is shown as the Light that lighteth every man that cometh into the world. To introduce a much broader interpretation of the issue at hand, we can say that the creation story in Genesis is much like God’s blueprint. But when we align both the Old Testament with the new, it is like the architect that sets forth his blue print in the OLD and the gospels act as the workmen and builders that actually gets the work done.

 The total view we get from looking at the creation from the perspective of a mysterious Spirit working behind the scene, leaves us with a mindset of not trying to read more into the story than what we read in Genesis. But when we bring Jesus Christ into the story, precept upon precept brings us closer to being offered a panoramic view of what can be classified as the “ongoing creation.” At this juncture, we are introduced not to a single Creator as in Genesis, but an enjoining Creator. This means that more than one Creator were enjoined in performing the single task.

 Paul offered a very bold assessment of the “personality” of the man Christ Jesus. He wrote in his letter, saying, “Who is the image (or total likeness) of the invisible God, the first born of every creature: For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: And he is before all things , and by him all things consist.

"And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have preeminence. For it pleased the Father (who said let there be, and there was) that in him should all fulness dwell.” Colossians 1:15-19. As we incorporate this account of the man Christ Jesus, with the Genesis Creation Story, we quickly see that God (The Eternal Spirit in creation) did not act alone as multitudes have been led to believe. Let us observe another account of the role Jesus Christ played in the actual creation as found in Genesis, and that continues to this very day.

 How important is it for us to bring Jesus Christ, to the front and center in our study of God’s ongoing creation? Again, we turn to the gospels for further instructions. As we turn to the epistle of John, let us put our finer at the scripture we just quoted (in Colossians) for harmony and assurance of our faith. We learn the following: “In the beginning was the Word (the Logos) and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was with God in the beginning (when God spoke and it was done, when he commanded, and it stood fast. Psalm 33:9. Pay close attention to this, as it speaks to the original creation. “All things were made by him; and without him (the Word—Jesus Christ) was not anything made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men. John 1:3,4.

 We said earlier that God need not revert to the old formula or process in which he created man in his likeness and after his image. Jesus established a new system that was founded in himself. Thus, we read, as quoted above: “In him was life; and the life was the light of men. That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.” John 1:4,9. As the New Testament era opened up to us, we quickly learned that instead of reverting to the old way of creating man as pronounced and practiced in the creation story, Jesus Christ quickly became the creative source and life giving stream by which men are now being born. In deed: He lighteth every man that cometh into the world. The more comprehensive understanding for us to acquire, is the fact that the creation story as chronicled in Genesis is merely a “snapshot” or “an overview” of what God did set in motion, with an ever unfolding of the realities contained in his blueprint.

 Let us consider the first man Adam, and the general reference to him as the head of the human race. Numerous truths are relegated to the man Adam in relation to the rest of the human race. He continues to be held as the main reason for sickness, sin and death that now encompasses the entire human race. But scripturally, what sort of man was Adam? It is important for us to bear in mind that he is called in the chronology of the scriptures as a “son of God.” Here is a partial account of the man. “Which was the son of Enos, which was the son of Seth, which was the son of Adam, which was the son of God.” Luke 3:38. However, here is a more definitive description of who Adam was. “Nevertheless, death reigned from Adam to Moses. (But the law and the prophets prophesied until John. So, death reigned from Adam to John the Baptist.) Matthew 11:13. Even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam’s transgression, who was the figure (the type) of him that was to come meaning Christ. Romans 5: 14.

Royce O. Kennedy