September 7, 2025 -- Life in this Ongoing Creation from God Speaking

In Peter Brook’s stage adaptation of The Mahabharata, as the performance begins, a boy encounters Vyasa, the sage. Vyasa introduces him to this ancient Sanskrit scripture by saying:

"It's the story of your race, how your ancestors were born, how they grew up, how a vast war arose. It's the poetical history of mankind. If you listen carefully, at the end, you'll be someone else.”

Today Creator starts with the Narrative Lectionary year 4 journey.  We will explore the books of Genesis and John in this coming season.

Sermon

During this morning's worship, the familiar first creation story of Genesis was celebrated, and later in this season, we will explore John's opening verses of another, familiar Biblical creation story starting with, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." The poetry John employs these inspired words to illuminate a great, revealed truth.

However, for years, while reading the creation story in Genesis, descriptions like the waters above, the waters below, and the firmament puzzled me. These powerful words are difficult to comprehend when picturing the Earth as the planet in space we see photographed now in space.

However, in the ancient Near Eastern worldview, which was shared in various ways by cultures like the Babylonians, Egyptians, and ancient Hebrews, “the waters above” and “the waters below” were part of a three-tiered cosmic structure, not simply poetic language. This proceeds from a different model of the earth, apart from our current "globe-in-space" model.

The Cosmic Layout consisted of  Above the sky as a vast cosmic ocean (“waters above”) and Beneath the land, was another watery realm (“waters below”), while between them was the earth, floating on, or set above, the watery deep.

In Genesis 1:6–8, God creates the raqia (Hebrew for “expanse” or “firmament”), which functions like a solid dome holding back the upper waters. The ancient beliefs didn’t conceive of empty space. Instead, the blue of the sky was thought to be water seen through the dome. It was not simply rain that came when God “opened the windows of heaven” (Genesis 7:11), but all the cosmic, chaotic waters.

"Waters Above" were heavenly seas, which described a great reservoir above the firmament. In Mesopotamian thought, this concept was associated with the abode of the gods, specifically the god Enlil, who was believed to control the weather. Indeed, this links in with the concept of the "spirit of God" as a word meaning wind or breath. The people of Israel saw this as part of God’s creative force, where the dangerous, chaotic waters were tamed and kept in place.

"Waters Below" were beneath the land. They were the tehom (the deep), a primeval sea.  Springs, rivers, and seas on Earth were fed from this deep..In some texts (like in Job), this underworld sea was also associated with Sheol, the realm of the dead, or with sea monsters like Leviathan and other chaos beings from the deep.

In the biblical imagination, the separation of waters represented God’s ordering of chaos into a habitable world..Flood stories (like Genesis, but also the Epic of Gilgamesh) describe the breakdown of this order, when the waters above and below burst through their boundaries.

Besides a different worldview, different translations may be important to understanding a particular text. I have always heard, one agreed-upon translation for the beginning of Genesis. "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." Recently, hearing from two Hebrew scholars surprised and persuaded me by their proposal of a better translation for these opening words.

Michael Heiser (follow the link for a complete lecture on the implications of this better translation) and James Tabor both agree that a better English translation of Bereshit (Hebrew for Genesis) is "When God began to create the heavens and the earth."  

This moves the story from "creatio ex nihilo" (creation from nothing) to emphasizing God ordering the existing chaos through God's spirit or voice that was upon the water. When we hear the creation story rather than read it, this strength is made more apparent. 

This also clarifies that God's first act of creation is light, which contains a wondrous beauty. and divine affirmation that itself opens my soul. Something is revealed that wasn't apparent before. This is echoed in the gospel of John's creation story, where light becomes the "Divine Light" named as Jesus in that Gospel's opening words.. 

Examining the Hebrew word Elohim is used here rather than Yahweh. Elohim is actually a plural noun translated as "Gods", which suggests a different understanding we probably have as opposed to the God understanding shared by these ancient authors. This word is like heavens, which is also a plural noun referring to all elements above the land.

In Hebrew, another aspect worth examining is the "tree of the knowledge of good and evil" (etz ha-da‘at tov va-ra‘). Rather than the moralistic "right vs. wrong," it contains the meaning of comprehensive knowledge, or in other words, the full spectrum of human experience. Some Jewish interpretations emphasize that eating was not so much rebellion as a natural human drive to seek understanding. Humanity’s story begins with an act of curiosity rather than simply "sinning." 

Many rabbis treat these words as more than an explanation of the beginning of the world. There are scholars, steeped in this literature, who now think of Genesis as a directional meditation. It can consistently orient us, as humans, into a full and ongoing relationship with God and the world around us. The scripture stresses that creation is now a partnership between God and humankind, as implied by the fact that there is no "there-was-evening-morning" repetition after the seventh day of the Sabbath.   

In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God,
and the Word was God.

In the beginning, light was spoken into darkness.
And still the light shines.
The darkness has not overcome it.

Creation is not finished.
God is still speaking.
The Word still brings life.
The Word still makes all things new.

Every act of love is creation.
Every breath of justice is creation.
Every moment of compassion is creation.

The Word became flesh,
and still dwells among us.
We are bearers of light,
partners in God’s new creation.

Thanks be to God.