LECTURE THREE DGE101-ONLINE

The content of Gen. 1-11

GEN.1-11

• The content of Gen. 1-11

I. God as creator
 God created everything out of nothing
 God is superior to and distinct from creation
 God created everything in 6 days, He rested on the
Sabbath (1-2) and sanctified it.
 Everything God created was good; evil is not from God.
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• Creation (Gen. 1-2): A skeletal outline of the contents of 1:1-2:3 is as follows:

• Day Day
• 1. Light 4. Light givers (Sun, moon, & stars)
• 2. Heaven5. Fish, birds
• 3. Earth, vegetation 6. Land animals, man
• 7. The Sabbath
N.B. Man was the highest point of God’s creation; made in God’s image.
•  
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• What does it mean for man to be made in the image

of God?
 Note the use of the plural pronoun- ‘Let us make man in
our image’ (1:26-27).
 This may be a fore shadow of the doctrine of the Trinity.
 Man is created in the ‘image of God’ 1:26
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 Image/likeness- the second qualifies the first- similar to but not identical representation.
 Context suggests the similarity is in the area of ruler ship.
 As God was sovereign over all that He had created, so now man was placed in a position of
relative sovereignty (dominion) over all that was upon the earth.
 It is because of this position of headship/ruler ship that the fall of man was able to impact the
rest of creation.
 When man fell into sin the rest of creation followed suit because it was under man’s
dominion.
 Christians have an obligation to take care of God’s creation.
 The meaning of the image of God.

• Obviously, this image is not physical because God is a spirit.

Therefore, it must be something else other than the physical.
Some have thought, it involves intellectual ability, moral purity,
power to make moral choices, leadership etc. (Grudem,442).
Well this is part of the answer but there is more to it. The word
image in Hebrew is tselem, the word likeness is the Hebrew
demut, both refer to something that is similar but not identical.
So, it can be said that God made man
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• like Him to represent Him. This can be seen when God

entrusts man with the creation by allowing man to name
all animals and even to take care of the garden as well as
to pro-create. Ref. Gen. 1:28; 2:15,19;
• The aspect of man being made in the image of God
distinguishes man from the rest of creation, man is
created special and for a purpose.
 Aspects of our likeness to God

 Moral aspects-man’s conscience, that sense of knowing when one is wrong

and right, the ability to do good. Acting according to God’s moral standards,
holy and righteous behaviour before God. (Grudem,445). Ref. Rom.2:15
 Spiritual aspects-the ability to pray, praise, immortality. All these attest to
the reflection of the image and likeness of God in man. It’s never been heard
of animals spending time in worship and prayer. (Grudem,446). Ref Ps. 28:7
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 Mental aspects-the ability to reason and think logically, the ability to know
the distant future e.g. life after death, the ability to forecast and invest in the
things to come, the creativity part of man, e.g., in engineering, art, music,
finance, architecture, etc. (Grudem, 446). Ref. Exod. 35:31;35

 Relational aspects- like in marriage, the relation is deeper and reflects some
godly aspects, fellowship with fellow man and even with God. Man will
judge the angels with authority and power from God. Ref. 1 Cor.6:3; Gen.
1:26; Ps. 8:6-8.
 HUMAN DIGNITY

Man is the climax of God’s creation and therefore endowed with

special characteristics which are not inherent in the rest of creation.
Therefore, this dignifies man, gives him purpose and significance in
life. This will call for proper treatment of man by the rest of mankind.
If God dignified man, then this should be the norm in every essence.
Certain issues in life lower man’s dignity, man himself lowers the
dignity of fellow man time in time out, this was not God’s original idea
of creating man. Ref. Gen. 49:3; Exod.23:11; Lev. 19:10;
 Important notes regarding the image of God in man

 The image of God is universal within the human race-every race

and every colour of people who exist have an equal share of God’s
image, whether developed or not.
 The image of God in man has not been lost as a result of sin or the
fall-after the fall, the image of God in man was marred but
nevertheless the image remains, it’s this image which is
transformed/ renewed at the process of regeneration, (John.3:3)
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 The image refers to the elements in the human make-up-the image is the
powers of personality that make humans, like God, beings capable of
interacting with other persons, of thinking and reflecting, and of willing
freely. (Erickson)
 The image of God in man is not variable but rather static-this means that the
image is not to some extent in higher degree in other and lesser degree in
some, its constant and static, it does not vary with people’s IQ or anything
of a sort, it’s a constant principle. (Grudem)
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 The image is primarily substantive, and structural-

this refers to something a human is not something
human has or does, therefore, by virtue of being
human, one is in the image of God, it is not
dependent upon the presence of anything else.
 CREATION ACCOUNTS

• 2. The Nature of the 2 creation accounts

 A reading of Gen 1-2 shows that there are 2 separate creation
accounts.
 The 2 accounts complement each other.
 Genesis 1 gives a brief outline of God’s creation and sets out
the order of creation.
 Genesis 2 elaborates on the creation of Adam and Eve (man).
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a.The Fall of man (Gen 3:1-20)

 Man free to enjoy and care for God’s creation but
forbidden to eat of tree of knowledge of good
and evil.
 Satan’s existence is presumed 28)
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• Consequences of the fall

1.Alienation from God
2.Loss of innocence stated in Gen 2:15
3.Curses- men will dominate women and women experience
pain during child birth; ground cursed so man has to work
hard to put food on the table; serpent cursed to crawling
and enmity created between man and serpent.
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4. Death
 Bible teaches that because of Adam’s sin, the whole
of creation is subject to decay (Rom. 8:18-24).
 It not only resulted in physical death (Rom. 5:12; I
Cor. 15: 21-22) and spiritual death (Matt. 8:22; Eph.
2:1-5).
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• God’s grace
 God’s grace in this situation is seen in:
1.God chasing Adam and Eve out of the Garden of
Eden (3:23-24) lest they ate of the tree of life.
2.Promise of future restoration of man through the
seed of woman (Gen 3:15).
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 The consequences of the fall work themselves out

in the descendants of Adam and Eve.
 Cain murders his brother Abel (4:1-18); Lamech
breaks the pattern of monogamous marriage by
taking 2 wives (4:19-22).
 God destroys the entire human race because of sin.
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• The flood (6-9)

 The corruption of human civilization
became so great that God resolved
cataclysmic judgment.
 The Flood wiped out all human life except
Noah and his family.
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• Ham’s sin
 The sin of Ham has been much debated.
 The text suggests that Ham’s sin was the ridiculing of his father
whom he should have honored (Ex. 20:12).
 Noah pronounced a curse on Canaan, Ham’s descendant (9:25).
 Africans are descended from Cush (Ethiopia) and Mizraim
(Egypt); not cursed.
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• Tower of Babel
 Babel in Hebrew means to confuse/mix
 According to Hebrew tradition, the tower of Babel was probably a
Ziggurat
 It marked the central place of worship for a city or religion
 Here the people gathered to worship their gods and to perform religious
ceremonies.
 Babel was an attempt to unify the world without God and to build a
kingdom motivated by pride and rebellion.
 God’s grace seen in the major events of Genesis (1-11)

Sin/ Nature of Divine God’s Grace

Sin Judgment
Adam & Eve- death, expelled The promise of
(Gen 3) from the garden the seed of
Against God woman.
Gen.3:15
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Cain (Gen 4) fugitive mark on Cain

Against existence
humanity, God
Flood (Gen 6- fugitive Deliverance of
9)-Against the existence one family,
natural rainbow
order,God
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Tower of Babel Dispersion of Election of

(Genesis 6) new languages Abraham
Against
culture, God
 GENESIS 1-11

 Genesis 1-11 teaches 4 main things:

1)God as Creator
2)The extreme seriousness of sin
3)God’s judgment of sin at each point
4)The presence of God’s sustaining grace
 GENESIS 1-11
• GENESIS 12-50 (The Patriarchs)
• Introduction
 The remainder of Bible starting in Genesis 12 is a response to the fall of
man and its consequences.
 God working out his plan of salvation by calling Abraham; entering into
covenant with Abraham, Moses and David; settling Israel into the land of
Canaan; calling prophets to strongly urge Israel to return to the covenant He
made with them at Sinai; and coming to earth in the person of Jesus Christ.
 In the biblical story God calls people to be agents in his plan for salvation.
 GENESIS 1-11

• The call of Abraham (Genesis 12-1-3)

 God spoke to Abraham at 75 years to leave his
country and go to the land the Lord would show Him;
Sarah
 He believed God’s promises and obeyed His wife was
also barren; she was 60 years old.
 His story is that of faith.
 GENESIS 1-11

 God made 3 promises to Abraham

1.He would be the Father of a great nation (God changed
his name from Abram (exalted father to Abraham which
means father of many nations)
2.Through him all “all the families of the earth” would
receive God’s blessing (God’s divine favour).
3.Abraham’s offspring would be given “this land,” the
land of Canaan, the Promised land.
 GENESIS 1-11

 These promises are God’s covenant with Abraham

(Abrahamic covenant).
 The sign of this covenant was circumcision of every
male descendant of Abraham (Genesis 17).
 It was sealed/ratified in Genesis 15.
 The call of Abraham is the election of Israel as God’s
chosen people. 
 GENESIS 1-11

 The promise was reaffirmed to his descendants:

• Isaac 26:2-4
• Jacob 28:13ff
• Joseph & his sons, 48:1-6
 Genesis 12-50 has 3 long interconnected cycles of stories-
all begin with ‘these are the generations of ’………
 GENESIS 1-11

1. 11:27- 25:11- Abraham

2. 25:19-35:29- Jacob
3. 37:1-50:26- Joseph
 All stories are connected to Abraham who is the father of the line.
 The theme of promises runs throughout this section- descendants, land,
and divine blessings.
 GENESIS 1-11

• Jacob and Joseph

 Isaac had twin sons, Esau and Jacob.
 Jacob deceived his father and received the
“birthright”(privileges of firstborn).
 Later in life, Jacob wrestled with God at Peniel and his
name was changed to Israel (Gen 32).
 GENESIS 1-11

 The twelve tribes of the sons of Jacob, actually ten sons of

Jacob and two sons of Joseph, Manasseh and Ephraim (see
Gen. 48:1-5) became the twelve tribes of Israel.
 It’s from the tribe of Judah that the parents of Jesus Christ
descended.
 Israel was preserved through severe famine through Joseph and
incubated into a nation in Egypt.
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