nature of creation

1. Topic 2, Week 3, Day 1
CWV-101: Origins

2. Announcements
• Who hasn’t connected with their CLC group?
• How we will present Wed. Sep 29 & Fri. Oct 1
• Earn +10 pts presenting Wed.
• Earn +10 pts writing a review of each presentation

3. Topic 2: Group Assignment
Class Presentations Wed, Sep 29 & Fri, Oct 1
1. Find your CLC groups in Halo
2. Choose ONE person (the editor) to pick a topic
3. Go to Signup Genius and sign-up for a topic
4. Presentations Wed., Sep. 29 +10 points
5. Review all 20 presentations get +10 points
6. Submit your slides for the grade in Halo, topic 2

4. Announcements
• How to do a slide presentation: Contact Parker
• Quiz Fri. Oct 1 over chapter 3 (will include material we
did not cover in the lecture)
• Quiz Review

5. What is the Christian Worldview?

6. Topic 2 Group Assignment

7. What are the central beliefs of the
Christian Worldview?

8. First order points of doctrine
De
fi
nition:
Theological beliefs that are essential to the Christian faith
(Di
ff
ey. (2020). “Introduction to the Christian Worldview”)

9. First order points of doctrine
Central beliefs that most Christians all share
(Di
ff
ey. (2020). “Introduction to the Christian Worldview”)

10. Shared Christian Beliefs
Non-Christian
Non-Christian
Non-Christian
Non-Christian

11. Shared Christian Beliefs
Non-Christian
Non-Christian
Non-Christian
Non-Christian
Trinity
Bible
Jesus died
For our sins
Jesus rose
From the dead
Jesus is
Divine

12. The Trinity
De
fi
nition:
The Christian understanding of one God as three persons
The Father, Son, and Holy Spirt, sharing a single divine being
(Di
ff
ey. (2020). “Introduction to the Christian Worldview”)

13. Nature of Revelation

14. Types of Divine Revelation
•General Revelation
•Special Revelation

15. Act 1: The Creation Story

16. Creation Story
God reveals Himself through the Creation

17. Act 1: Creation
De
fi
nition:
The
fi
rst act of the Biblical story in which God made
everything that exists out of nothing.
(Di
ff
ey. (2020). “Creation: The First Act of the Biblical Storyline”)

18. Five Readers!

19. 1 In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.
2 The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the
face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of
the waters.
3 And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.
4 And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light
from the darkness.
5 God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And
there was evening and there was morning, the
fi
rst day.

20. 6 And God said, “Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let
it separate the waters from the waters.”
7 And God made the expanse and separated the waters that were under the
expanse from the waters that were above the expanse. And it was so.
8 And God called the expanse Heaven. And there was evening and there
was morning, the second day.
9 And God said, “Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together
into one place, and let the dry land appear.” And it was so.
10 God called the dry land Earth, and the waters that were gathered
together he called Seas. And God saw that it was good.

21. 11 And God said, “Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed, and
fruit trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind, on
the earth.” And it was so.
12 The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed according to their
own kinds, and trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to
its kind. And God saw that it was good.

22. 13 And there was evening and there was morning, the third
day.
14 And God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the
heavens to separate the day from the night. And let them be
for signs and for seasons, and for days and years,

23. 15 and let them be lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light upon the
earth.” And it was so.
16 And God made the two great lights—the greater light to rule the day and the
lesser light to rule the night—and the stars.
17 And God set them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth,
18 to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the
darkness. And God saw that it was good.
19 And there was evening and there was morning, the fourth day.

24. 24 And God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures according to their
kinds—livestock and creeping things and beasts of the earth according to their
kinds.” And it was so.
25 And God made the beasts of the earth according to their kinds and the
livestock according to their kinds, and everything that creeps on the ground
according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.

25. 26 Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let
them have dominion over the
fi
sh of the sea and over the birds of the heavens
and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that
creeps on the earth.”
27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created
him; male and female he created them.

26. 28 And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and
fi
ll the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the
fi
sh of the sea and over
the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”
29 And God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on
the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them
for food.

27. 30 And to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the heavens and to
everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have
given every green plant for food.” And it was so.
31 And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good.
And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.

28. Genesis 2:1 Thus the heavens and the earth were
fi
nished, and all the host of
them.
2 And on the seventh day God
fi
nished his work that he had done, and he
rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done.
3 So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested
from all his work that he had done in creation.

29. God created out of nothing

30. In the beginning God CREATED the
heavens and the earth…and God said, “Let
there be light”, and there was light.
Genesis 1:1,3 ESV

31. Bara’ ‫ברא‬
Verb: to create out of nothing

32. Ex Nihilo
Out of nothing

33. Can matter & energy come out of nothing?

34. Big Bang Theory
All matter, energy, space, even time had a single origin

35. Nature of God

36. General Revelation:
Creation revealed 5 things about God’s nature

37. Creation revealed five things about God
Genesis 1-2
1. God has attributes
2. God is sovereign
3. God is a Trinity
4. God’s glory
5. God is distinct from His creation

38. 1. God has attributes
Genesis 1-2
a. Eternal
b. All powerful
c. All-knowing
d. All-present
e. Personal
f. Loving
g. Just
h. Jealous
i. Faithful
j. Holy

39. 2. God is Sovereign
Genesis 1-2
• Because God created the universe he owns the patent
• He also owns the copyright
• He also Rules over it

40. 2. God is Sovereign
Genesis 1-2
• Therefore, the earth does not belong to us

41. 3. God is a Trinity
Genesis 1-2
• The Father
• The Son
• The Holy Spirit

42. FATHER - Spoke the world into existence
SON - The “word” that was spoken
HOLY SPIRIT - hovered over earth
The Trinity was present at Creation

43. The Father spoke the world into existence
Genesis 1-2
“In the beginning, God…” (Genesis 1:1)

44. The Son—the “Word” that was spoken
Genesis 1-2
“And God said,” (Gen 1:3)
“And God said,” (Gen 1:6)
“And God said,” (Gen 1:9)

45. The Son (the word)
Genesis 1-2
“And God said”
Va’yomer Elohim

46. In ancient world, “words” have their own existence
Genesis 1-2
• words begin inside us
• words have “meaning”
• words proceed from us
• words create meaning

47. Word
Meaning

48. Your words create meaning

49. God’s Word creates existence

50. God’s word spoke Creation into existence

51. In the beginning was THE WORD, and THE WORD was with
God, and THE WORD was God. He was in the beginning
with God. All things were made through him [the Word].
(John 1:1–3 ESV)
And THE WORD became
fl
esh and dwelt among us.
(John 1:14 ESV)

52. The Father — who spoke “let there be light”
The Son — the word that was spoken
The Holy Spirit — hovered over the earth

53. The Holy Spirit
Genesis 1-2
In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth…
And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the
waters.
(Gen 1:1–2 ESV)

54. FATHER - Spoke the world into existence
SON - The “word” that was spoken
HOLY SPIRIT - hovered over earth
The Trinity was present at Creation

55. God refers to Himself as “us”
Genesis 1-2
And God said, “Let us make man in our image”
Genesis 1:26

56. 4. God’s Glory
Creation reveals God’s glory

57. 5. God is distinct from His Creation
God is not His creation

58. Nature of Creation

59. Nature of Creation
1.Creation is Good

60. And God saw everything that he had made, and
behold, it was very good. And there was evening and
there was morning, the sixth day.
(Gen 1:31 ESV)

61. Discussion:
What are the implications that this world was originally
created “good”?

62. Nature of Creation
1.Creation is Good
2.Creation is Ordered

63. The earth was formless and void, and darkness was
over the face of the deep.
(Gen 1:2 ESV)

64. Tohu — Formless, chaotic, like a raging sea
Vohu — Void, like a wasteland, like the desert
Choshech — Darkness, emptiness, nothingness
Tehom — Deep, an abyss, a bottomless pit

65. Order:
Light, separation of water, dry land, plants

66. Nature of Creation
1.Creation is Good
2.Creation is Ordered
3.Creation is distinct from God

67. Pantheism — God equated with Creation
Atheism — Creation exists, but no God
Theism — Creation exists, and it is not God

68. Nature of Garden of Eden

69. Nature of Garden of Eden
1.Described like an ancient Temple

70. Ancient Temple of Karnak, Egypt

71. Ancient Temple of Karnak, Egypt
Two beings guarding entrance

72. River
fl
ows into it
Angels guard entrance
Faces east
Menorah
Lamp shaped like a Tree
Beautiful Jewels
Adorned Temple

73. Nature of Garden of Eden
1. Described like an ancient Temple
2. Adam & Eve told to “work” & “keep” the garden

74. The LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of
Eden to work it and keep it.
(Gen 2:15 ESV)

75. Work — word to serve God
Keep — word to guard

76. Lesson:
a. Created to serve God, and care for the earth.

77. Lesson:
a. Created to serve God, and care for the earth.
b. Work came before “the Fall” and is “good”

78. Nature of Humanity
Nature of Humanity

79. Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our
likeness. And let them have dominion over the
fi
sh of the sea
and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and
over all the earth.”…God created man in his own image, in the
image of God he created him; male and female he created
them.
(Gen 1:26–27 ESV)

80. Nature of Humanity
1. Created in God’s Image
2. Created with Dignity & Value
3. Charged to guard and care for the earth

81. Nature of Humanity
1. Created in God’s Image

82. Created in the Image of God

83. Lesson:
Men & women were both created in the Image of God

84. Imago Dei = Image of God

85. Therefore, men & women are both in image of God and share
dominion over the earth.

86. Nature of Humanity
1. Created in God’s Image
2. Created with Dignity & Value

88. Nature of Humanity
1. Created in God’s Image
2. Created with Dignity & Value
3. Created with a purpose

89. Created for a Purpose

90. Nature of Humanity
1. Created in God’s Image
2. Created with Dignity & Value
3. Created with a purpose
4. Created to
fl
ourish (not shrivel)

91. Created to Flourish

92. Discussion
What are the implications that we were created
1. With dignity and value
2. With a purpose
3. To Flourish?