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2 Chapter 1 A
Groaning Creation "For we know that the
whole creation groans together and travails in
pain together until now." (Romans
8:22) It is
probably a puzzle
to many why
on the one
hand we live
in a wonderful
and beautiful world and on the other
we have pain and sorrow in abundance. Taking the
first point first
we know that
if we look
up in the
sky in the daytime
we see a varied
scenario: clouds moving
across the sky making
changing patterns; a
Sun which sheds its
light on us
and gives warmth
to us all
(Ecclesiastes 11:7). On
a stormy day
we will quite likely
see a beautiful
rainbow. At night,
when the sky
is clear we
may see and wonder
at the stellar
heavens (Psalm 8:3/4).
There are the
northern lights which
may be seen sometimes
by those who
live in or
near the arctic
circle. On the
earth we have
a varying landscape: mountains,
hills, valleys and
flat lands. There are rivers and streams that run down
to the sea.
There are sea
shores where children and adults
can enjoy their holidays, whether
swimming, playing or just relaxing.
Then there is
the immensely varied flora and
fauna which we
all enjoy. The
former covers all
the vegetable creation,
whether trees, flowers or
simply grasses. Some provide us with food. Then
there are the
birds, fishes, reptiles, insects
and mammals with
which the world
teems.
All these things make our life interesting and enjoyable (Psalm 104). They give almost endless interest to those
with a scientific bent. There are
also the layers
in the earth
to be explored
as well as the
layers in the
air above us.
There are light
waves, radio waves
and so on
which all contribute to the
well-being of the whole system. The creation
as briefly sketched
above was brought
into being by
God as we
are told in Genesis chapters
1 and 2.
Not that all the
detail is laid out
before us there,
but what we have
is a succinct
account. Most of
us would not
have understood what
was being put before
us if we
were told about
gamma rays, ozone
layers and things
like that. The
two chapters mentioned are
largely confined to
telling us about
what we can
see. How angels came into being,
and when, we
are not told.
It will be noticed
that chapter 1
focuses mainly on the
preparation of the
world for the
habitation of man,
culminating in his creation (even
evolutionists to my
knowledge agree that
man was the
last being to
appear on this earth).
Chapter 2 focuses on Adam and his counterpart, Eve. They were
placed in a garden in
Eden eastward (Note:
an identifiable place,
not fairyland -
verses 8 and
10-14). All this pristine beauty was marred by the incoming of sin as
we shall see. Genesis 3
and 4 tell
us of the
incoming of sin
into the world.
Chapter 3 speaks of its
actual incoming and
how Adam and
Eve disobeyed God.
Chapter 4 shows
the working out of this
in Cain who slew
his Brother Abel.
Put another way, sin Godward was followed by
sin manward.
Apart from death
(Genesis 2:17) there
were certain punishments
inflicted by God. As
to Adam and
Eve these are
given in chapter
3:8-19 and as
to Cain in
chapter 4:8-16. |