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Commentary on "In the Beginning"
Day 1: Sabbath Afternoon, January 7, 2012 - Introduction
Overview
This week's lesson discusses the reasons the author finds it necessary to believe in a literal seven-day creation.This first day's lesson quotes Colossians 1:16:
For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him.
The author continues by saying that a literal six-day creation "is foundational to all that we believe and concludes with these statements: "If we get Creation wrong, we're all but certain to get many other things wrong. That's how crucial the teaching is to what we believe as Seventh-day Adventist Christians."
The Teacher's Comments ask this question in the Learning Outline for the week: "How does our understanding of God's role as Author of the universe and a seven-day Creation affect our belief in the Sabbath, the resurrection, and the re-creation of the earth to come?"
Observations
First, it is interesting to note that throughout this lesson the noun "creation" is always capitalized. "Creation" is not a proper noun; it is a common noun. It is not the given name of a person or a place or a day. It is simply a noun that names a process. Nevertheless, the lesson's author capitalizes it in the same way Sabbath is capitalized. Interestingly, while the lesson makes the point that creation is a necessary understanding in order to understand the Sabbath, the resurrection, and the "re-creation of the earth to come", the word "resurrection" is not capitalized. Only the words related to God are capitalized—and the word "creation".
This treatment of "creation" subtly but powerfully elevates its position to something close to God-likeness. It leads the reader to believe that divine creation must be honored and embraced in a way that has eternal, salvific significance—but in reality, creation is a fact in exactly the same category as is the new birth and resurrection. It is not an overarching REALITY that we must hold in a position of worship.
Rather, the Creator is the One whom we must worship. Creation itself—both the created things and the act of creating—are gifts from God, but they are not sacred.
The first day's lesson makes an argument against evolution in favor of creation and uses contrived arguments to ridicule the notion of evolution. What the lesson fails to do is to recognize the possibility not of evolution but of an "old earth" creation. While we are not arguing in favor of "old earth creationism", it is worth noting that many devout, conservative evangelical Christians believe it is possible that God created the world, but that the "days" or "epochs" in Genesis may refer to longer periods of time than 24-hour days. The arguments for this position are not unfounded, and it is possible for people to believe in an old earth and still be true Christians who take Scripture seriously and hold a conservative view of inspiration.
The critical point in today's lesson is the ending point: getting a literal, seven-day creation right is the key to getting Adventism right. In other words, the critical argument for the seventh-day Sabbath, in the Adventist's mind, is a belief in Sabbath being instituted at the end of the creation week.
This underlying belief is the reason the lesson's author capitalizes the word "creation". It is, in the Adventist scenario, an eternal, worship-worthy idea that transcends the rest of material creation. It is the identity of God Himself: creation reflects Him. and the Sabbath is the eternal sign that signifies both that God is the Creator and that a person honors Him.
Jesus is the eternal revelation of God
From a biblical perspective, however, Jesus is the revelation of God to humanity. He is the reality toward which the shadow of Sabbath pointed:
Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath. These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ. (Colossians 2:16-17 ESV)
Creation is a fact, just as life is a fact and salvation is a fact. It is not a revelation of God. Jesus is the revelation of God to us:
Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs. (Hebrews 1:1-4 ESV)
Creation is certainly a fact which we must believe; if we choose to reject the reality that God is our Creator and the Source of our life and existence, we will not understand our true position in the scheme of creation. We will not understand God as our Sovereign ruler.
Moreover, rejecting God as our Creator necessitates rejecting Scripture as His unerring revelation of His will.
We accept the fact that God created us because He reveals that He did so. He is sovereign over us; He is sovereign over the function of creation, and He is sovereign over days and sabbaths. We are God's creatures, and we only serve and honor Him when we accept His own revelation of Himself and believe His word to us about our own position before Him.
Because God is our Creator, He had the personal interest and concern to deal with our sin. God's creation of us is not important because we must keep the Sabbath; rather, God's creation is important to us because it reveals who we really are: creatures made in His image who have inherited death and separation from God as Adam's offspring. Believing God is our Creator teaches us who we are—and Who He Is.
Summary
- "Creation" is not a proper noun requiring capitalization; it is not representative of deity.
- Creation and evolution are not the only two options; an "old earth" creation paradigm is also possible.
- Creation is not significant to us for reasons of our keeping the seventh-day Sabbath.
- Creation is significant to us because it reveals who God is and who we are. We are creatures who own our live and redemption to the One who made us.
- God is not subject to Creation or to Sabbath. They are His works, as we are.
- God is sovereign.
Copyright 2012 BibleStudiesForAdventists.com. All rights reserved. Revised January 4, 2012. This website is published by Life Assurance Ministries, Glendale, Arizona, USA, the publisher of Proclamation! Magazine. Contact email: BibleStudiesForAdventists@gmail.com.
The Sabbath School Bible Study Guide and the corresponding E.G. White Notes are published by Pacific Press Publishing Association, which is owned and operated by the Seventh-day Adventist church. The current quarter's editions are pictured above.
Official Adventist Resources
Standard Edition Study Guide Week 2
Teacher's Edition Study Guide Week 2
Easy Reading Edition Study Guide Wk 2
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