Reflections from Genesis

According to the Biblical worldview, one can think of there being four stages in the history of the universe – creation, fall, redemption and consummation. The first few chapters of Genesis cover the first three of these stages.

If we’re honest, the account of creation in Genesis can sometimes read a bit like a fairy story. The debate about how God created the universe and the extent to which the Genesis story can be taken literally is an important one. However, I don’t want to dwell on this here but rather draw out some of the fundamental principles that will help inform our worldview and hence the way we should live our lives.

The implication in Genesis 1 and 2 is that God created a perfect world (Gen 1:31) – perfect in the sense of both functionality and beauty. There was no scarcity – Adam and Eve had enough food to eat (2:16) although they had to work for it (2:15). There was also no sickness or death (2:17). Unfortunately, this state of affairs didn’t last for long. But it is interesting to consider what I like to call the “creation counterfactual” – what would have happened if the fall had not taken place? I believe we would have seen population growth (1:28). Moreover, as man was created in God’s image (1:27) and hence took on attributes such as creativity and innovation, there is good reason to believe that there would also have been substantial economic growth. In fact, the world probably wouldn’t look that different to what it does today (and would, if anything, be even more advanced) except that there would be no unsatisfied needs (i.e. poverty), we’d all get along with one another and we’d all live forever.

But the fall did occur and its consequences are clear to see. Scarcity entered the world (3:17-19) and mankind was denied any further access to the healing and sustaining “tree of life” (3:22). Moreover, man’s perfect likeness of God became tainted by selfish and evil motives so, coupled with an increase in scarcity (a decrease in supply), man took on an insatiable appetite for material things (an increase in demand) and competition for scarce resources (the “economic problem” ) was born.
God could have ended the story there and allowed history to take its natural course.

However, he chose to continue to intervene for good in the world he created. The rest of the Bible tells the story of God redeeming (“buying back”) his creation, from providing Adam and Eve with clothes even as they were being banished from the garden (3:21) to establishing a covenant with his people to providing the law and the prophets through to the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

So where do we fit into this story? I think it is to participate in God’s redeeming work and be a force for good in the world. Should we try to recreate creation in its perfect state? In a fallen world, this is a totally unrealistic goal but I think that our understanding of creation, and the creation counterfactual, provides a useful benchmark against which to assess our progress. God is idealistic (he is perfectly good and holy and never drops his standards) but he is also pragmatic (he knows that we cannot meet his standards so gives us guidance to become more holy rather than perfectly holy). While we should never lose sight of God’s ideals (“what could be”), we should focus our minds on “what will be”, making small but significant changes that will bring us and the world more in line with God’s redemptive goals.

With that in mind, I will start by exploring the idealistic vision as set out in the early chapters of Genesis, picking out three key themes that I have identified – property, value and work – but, as far as possible, try to pin down some key “next steps”. While we continually need to be digging for further revelations of God’s truth, we should at the same time be putting into practice the incomplete truth that has already been revealed to us. See you next time.