Today, we are picking back up on that thread as we are thinking through what God’s relationship is like with the creation that he has made? And How we understand that question makes all the distinction between Christianity and false religions. And so first, we’re going to look at four view non-Christian views. Then we’ll look specifically at how the Bible describes God’s relationship to creation. And finally, we look at the crown jewel of creation – humankind. Specifically, how God created male and female in his image to extend his kingly dominion over creation. And our big, overall question is: what does that mean for us and who we are?
Four Non-Christian Views of God
1. Pantheism - and this view teaches that God is everything (so, the word “pan” means “all” and “theism” is that root word of “theos”, or “god”); thus, this view holds that everything is God.
One great challenge to Pantheism is that the divine exists as much in the most morally reprehensible acts as it does in beauty or delicious food. Even more importantly, there’s no God on the outside who can break in and rescue us; thus there is no ultimate justice and no hope of deliverance; there is only acceptance.
2. Dualism – Dual = 2 (Good and Evil). Duel = A Battle. Thus dualism is a battle b/w good and bad. And good and evil are in a long, protracted cosmic battle for supremacy.
- Star Wars
3. Deism – Deism is the view that God is not presently involved in creation. He created it, but is now distant and removed from what He made. God created the world, but he doesn’t have anything to do with it anymore (divine clockmaker)
4. Materialism (or naturalism). Materialism says we live in a closed world. No force from the outside, call it God or whatever you like, can enter in and disturb the physical world. Our lives are governed purely by impersonal laws operating over strictly natural phenomena.
Undoubtedly, then, you can see how these four views run contrary to the Biblical account, for they either deny God’s superiority over his creation or they obliterate his relationship with it.
II. God’s Relationship to Creation
Transcendence
Immanence
II. How God created male and female in his image to extend his kingly dominion over creation.
Genesis 2:7, 21-22, 1:27
3 things in particular. We image God:
Conclusion: Why does the doctrine of creation matter?
