01 Grab Bag - Creation
Intro Questions
Are you a neat and orderly kind of person, or are you more loose and a little chaotic?
What’s the most chaotic thing or feeling you’ve experienced? Maybe a crazy day or a wild event?
Where do you see disorder and chaos around you in the world?
Scripture Background
Genesis is split into two parts. Chapters 1-11 tell us about God’s relationship with the world and us. It begins with the
story of creation, where God takes chaos and turns it into order, where life can flourish and his image-bearers, us, can
steward and enjoy God’s creation. When given a choice of how to rule, humans choose power instead of trust and we
see the fallout of that choice. In Chapter 3 God gives a promise that a human one day will kill the serpent (death) and
also be bitten by it… …guess who?
Chapter 12 begins with a promise to one man: Abram. God has chosen this man and his family to be the start of
God’s salvation plan for us. This promise that is given is God’s covenant, or deal, to humans declaring that God will
work with us to bring about redemption.
Other Notes
Genesis is book one of five in the ‘Torah,’ the history of the nation of Israel.
In the Jewish tradition, the author is thought to be Moses, who was inspired to record this history by God. We don’t
have that in writing, but many accept it as the most likely.
Genesis is written as an ‘antiquity’ genre, where a culture takes stories, myths (historical narrative, not made up)
and oral traditions and puts it into words to preserve it.
There is a lot of debate as to whether the creation narrative is scientific fact or a more poetic rendering of God’s
plan.
For the ancient Israelites, science was not their main lens for reading or compiling this. To them, lights in the sky
were heavenly beings and the separation of light and dark was a ‘firmament’ (roof over the world).
Scripture
Read Genesis 1. You might read a couple verses each, take it one day at a time and pause or have someone read the
whole chapter in one go.
Scripture Questions
What stands out to you from this creation narrative?
Which of the days stands out to you most?
The Genesis 1 narrative has six days, and there is an interesting pairing to them. God spends the first three taming
chaos and making space, and the last three giving and filling this space with beings:
What do you think of this structure?
What might this tell you about God’s plan for the world?
Bonus parts to discuss if you want:
God says ‘let us make mankind in our image’
God makes both male and female in his image
Only the sixth day is deemed ‘very good’
This narrative does not specify an end to the sixth day
Application/Link
What sense do you get of God’s work and plan from Genesis 1?
How does God’s hope for order, peace and partnership with humans change how you view the world?
What does this text say about how we are to live with each other and with God?
Where might you keep a look out for the beauty of creation, the order of God’s plan, and the hope for humans to
rule in partnership with God in your day-to-day life?
