Stories for the Journey

Creating and the Founding of a People

CHAPTER THREE

First Creation Story:

- Creation takes place in six days before God rests on the seventh

- God uses water for the creation

-Humanity is created at the same time as male and female

-Both man and woman are in the image of God

God’s Creation

God’s CreationSecond Creation Story:

- God uses land for creation

- Portrays God as more of a craftsman

• God makes man out of mud and “breathes life” into him

-Adam and Eve are named

- Story of temptation

Truths of Creation:

- God began everything that exists outside of Himself

• He alone is the creator

- God created everything through the external Word, his Son, Jesus

- Creation is the common work of the Holy Trinity

• God the Father made all things by the son and the

Spirit

God’s Creation

- We have been created by God with both a body and soul

- We are made in the image and likeness of God

-The soul is the innermost, spiritual aspect of man

God’s Creation

God’s Creation- The body is intended to be the temple of the Holy Spirit

- In the person and mission of Jesus Christ, God has been fully revealed

-The first covenant was made with Noah

-Myths

-Ancestor

-Evolution

-Covenant

Vocabulary

Gifts of Original Justice:

- There would be no suffering or death

-Man would be at peace with himself

- There would be harmony between man and woman

- There would be peace between Adam and Eve, the first couple, and all of creation

Justice & Fall of Man

Original Sin

-All human history is marred by an original, voluntary sin committed by our first parents

-The basic root of sin is man’s rejection of God and opposition to His will

-The original sin was an abuse of man’s freedom

Justice & Fall of Man

Justice & Fall of Man- The harmony of original justice was destroyed:

• Human nature was weakened and inclined to sin

• Tensions between men and women arose

• Rest of creation become hostile to mankind

- Even after the sin of Adam and Eve, God immediately offered His mercy

The Noah Covenant:

- After the sin of Adam and Eve, God offered the hope of salvation by promising redemption

- The covenant that God made with Noah was the next stage of his revelation

Renewal of Life

Renewal of LifeThe Noah Covenant:

- Teachings of Hebrew version:

• Humanity is to be destroyed because they are evil and constantly doing violence to each other

• Noah is saved because he is a righteous man

• Noah takes only animals on the ark

• A second creation story, Noah becomes the new “Adam”

The Tower of Babel:

- How the sin of pride increases to where an entire city tries to make itself God

- Shows in an imaginative way how the many different languages in the world came to be

- Unification of humanity under one language would have been good only for the rulers

- Dividing into different peoples and languages was not punishment, but freedom

Renewal of Life

Renewal of Life- God’s will is to create a people in his image

- God’s will is peace, not violence

- God’s will is trust and truthfulness, not the lies and deceptions of human beings in their society

Renewal of Life

- God’s will is care for creation, not destruction

- God’s will is joyful diversity, not forced unification

- God is not impressed with how great our material accomplishments are, but how much we care for each other

Genesis reads like a series of short stories:

-Dominant people in the book of Genesis: Abraham, Joseph, Jacob, and Isaac

-Women play a significant role

-Stories were told and re-told over a long period of time

-Idea that there were originally two different collections of early stories

Ancestors of Faith

- Known as the “father of faith”

- First patriarch of the Jewish faith

- God called him to go with his family “to a land that I will show you”

-Blessings have been promised to him by God, but threats come through human weakness and doubt

Abraham: Father of Faith

Abraham: Father of Faith

- His name changed from Abram to Abraham

- Sign of circumcision • Physical sign of the covenant between God and Abraham

Signs of Abraham’s covenant with God:

ABRAHAM’S TRAVELS

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- Jacob travels to the family of Laban and falls in love with Rachel

- He worked seven years for Laban only to be tricked into marrying Rachel’s older sister

-Tricks Laban in order to become wealthy once he finishes serving his time to marry Rachel

• Considers it justice for Laban’s foul play

Blessing of Jacob

- Jacob returned home, fearful that his brother would not forgive him

- Their reunion is a striking example of reconciliation and peacemaking in the Bible

- Jacob had stolen the blessing intended for his bother. He acknowledged this by sending gifts and blessing Esau

- These stories represent the hope that Israel can live in peace with their neighbors

Blessing of Jacob

- The story of Joseph is an extended, single story rather than a series of short stories

- He was the preferred son of Jacob

- His brothers became resentful and sold him into slavery and lead Jacob to believe

he was dead

Joseph in Egypt

Joseph in Egypt

- Joseph became a trusted advisor to Pharaoh

- His story sets the stage for the main event of the Old Testament

• Formation of the people of Israel by their Exodus experience and their efforts to make a life for themselves in Canaan