From the very first line, the book of Genesis tells us of God and all the wonderful things He has done. Genesis sets the stage for creation of the universe and everything that resides in it. How we view our past can affect our future and to me a future without God is no future at all. When forming a view of the world and how it was made, we must turn to the Bible and see what is written. What is put in scripture and what the world tries to tell us can shape every aspect of our lives. Our world view can have an effect on everything from our own identity, our personal relationships and even how we function in our society.
“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”(Genesis 1:1 New International Version) This biblical account leaves no room for misinterpretation or question of who made the natural world. This account does however, contradict evolution which states that everything was made by things evolving over billions of years. There are many different theories when it comes to evolution and all have not been proven. Faith must come in for this area as there are some unknowns throughout the world. Genesis goes on to tell us that “the earth was formless and empty.”(Genesis 1:2) This is where God began to speak and create the world we live in. “And God said let there be light and there was light.”(Genesis 1:3) We see that this is how God made the world and how His word gives life. Genesis uses this same style of explanation going from creating light and darkness to the land and seas, as well as every living creature in the water and on land. Genesis is very literal with its explanation of how the earth got here. This book of the Bible covers every part including all of the plants of the ground. This where most believers including myself, get their information on exactly how the natural world was formed. In my opinion this is the only way it could be done.
Genesis 1:26 has the introduction of man. “Then God said let us make mankind in our own image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”(Genesis 1:26) He in a sense put us in charge of His perfect creation. We were the pinnacle of His entire creation. I draw my conclusions of human identity from this verse. God made us in His spiritual image because He is not a God with human form but rather a spiritual being. Just by looking at the care in which God took in making us we can see how special we truly are. With all of the other parts of creation God just simply spoke and it was so but in chapter two we find that He “formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed the breath of life into his nostrils and the man became a living being.”(Genesis 2:7) God made us to be above all of the other creatures in the world. If we were created simply by happen stance of evolution then it stands to reason that there would be no lasting consequence for immoral behavior as well as no individual purpose for our lives. I believe that God had a plan when He made us and still has plans for us to fulfill all that He has set forth. The understanding I get from scripture helps me to form this view of our identity and the purpose for our creation. This also shows me that even in our modern time we have a huge responsibility in how we treat the world God has given us.
Chapter two has the full introduction of man and woman. This biblical account draws a contrast between the two humans God created. Verses 21 and 22 tell of how God took a rib from the man and made the woman. (Genesis 2:21-22) From this act we get the first human relationship. It is easy to see why husband and wife are to have such a close relationship from a biblical standpoint. She was an actual part of his flesh which made her very important