Week 1 | This Explains It All | Order from Chaos
SUMMARY
Our world view is shaped by some significant and serious questions; how did we get here, is God real, am I just a random collection of cells? How we answer that impacts everything.
The problem is our human experience probes questions our human experience cannot answer. Everyone fills the gap with faith of some sort because we cannot be there to observe these basic questions of our human existence. Even science has to be observable, repeatable and measurable. And we cannot be there to do any of those things.
So as Christians, we turn to the Bible to inform how we understand the world around us.
Genesis 1:1-2:4 gives the biblical account for how the heavens and the earth came to be. This account is not written as a scientific treatment of how matter came to be, but Moses wrote Genesis (and the Torah) to teach the ancient Hebrews coming out of Egyptian captivity about the meaning and nature of creation, mankind and God.
The ancient Hebrews were embedded in cultures that believed the world came to be through strife and conflict between the gods. That the gods came out of the sea (representing chaos and disorder). They were wandering in a wild wasteland, learning to worship and trust Jehovah God.
So the account in Genesis is not primarily about the origins of matter, it’s about meaning; who God was to them, and who they were to God. How did they get where they were at, and what is God’s plan through them? It shows us that God is self-existent, above creation, and that he has ordered nature in his perfect peace.
TALK IT OUT
- Have you ever walked into a movie late? How did it make you feel? What information did you need to catch up with where things were?
- When understanding a biblical text, why is it important to know what the original author meant it to mean to the original audience?
- The ancient Hebrews were embedded in cultures that believed the world came to be through strife and conflict between the gods. That the gods came out of the sea (representing chaos and disorder). Read Genesis 1:1-2. How does Moses’ account contrast? What is the significance?
- How does the Genesis account challenge your cultural programming about the nature of the universe?
- Moses said that the world was empty and formless – “Tohu Wobohu”. That is, it was a disordered, chaotic wild wasteland. How did God bring order and function? List the aspects of his creation together as a group.
- Where is an aspect of Tohu Wobohu in your life (chaos and disorder) that you need to surrender before the God of order and peace? How can your group pray for you in that area?
DEEPER DIVE (Sources cited and recommended reading)
The Lost World of Genesis- John Walton
Biblical Critical Theory – Christopher Watkin
The Reason for God – Timothy Keller
Making Sense of God- Timothy Keller
https://bibleproject.com/explore/video/genesis-1-11/
https://bibleproject.com/explore/video/torah-genesis-1/
https://bibleproject.com/podcast/genesis-1-and-origins-universe/