THE NATURE OF GOD IN GENESIS 1 and 2
God is the initiator of everything. He initiated the
creation of whatever exists in the universe. God is omnipotent. In Genesis 1,
He used the command of "Let there be ... " and it did happen the way
he said it.
God is a planner for in Genesis 1; He is presented doing
His creational work in an orderly way following the sequence of days. This
meant that He had a work plan.
God is spiritual in nature. In Genesis 1, His spirit moved over the water and by using commands, He
is presented as invisible being.
God is three persons in one; the trinity. Evidently, He
is quoted as saying "And now we will make human beings; they will be like
and resemble us " This meant that He
was not alone in the work of creation (Genesis 1:6).
God is a provider. He provided human beings with all
kinds of grain and fruit for them to eat (Genesis 1:29).
God is a source of happiness by nature. He is presented
being filled with joy after completing a given task during His creational
activities.
God loves by nature. He showed His love to human beings
by making them in His likeness and went on to give them everything they needed
for their survival.
God is a worker. He worked for six days and rested on the
seventh day and He is portrayed as having taken the soil and formed man out of
it. (Genesis 1: 1-31 and 2:7).
He is the source of life. In Genesis 1, He gave life to
whatever exists in the universe and in Genesis 2, He breathed a life giving
breath into the nostrils of man and he began to live.
God is presented as being all knowing. In Genesis 1, He
is portrayed as having known that human beings needed what to eat and provided
all kinds of grain and fruit. In Genesis 2, He knew that it was not good for
the man to live alone and formed a woman for him.
God is self existent. His origin remains unknown as the
two chapters only showed how He began his work of creation without tracing His
background.
By nature, God is a designer. His work of creation is
presented as being perfectly good that it made Him pleased.
By nature, God is portrayed as the creator. Genesis 2
presents Him as a potter who took some soil from the ground and formed a man,
birds and animals.
God is immortal by nature. Having created man in His own
likeness, He warned him against eating the fruits of the tree of life that
gives knowledge of what is good and bad.
THE NATURE OF MAN
IN GENESIS 1 and 2
Man is unique among the earthly creatures for he was made
in the likeness of God meaning that he possessed some of His qualities (Genesis
1 :26).
Human beings are equal before God for they were made in
God's image and the same time and given equal responsibilities in Genesis 1. In
Genesis 2, he remained lonely until God formed a woman and brought her to him
(Genesis 1 :26 and 2: 18-22).
Human beings at-e procreators for God blessed them to
have many children so that their descendants would live all over the earth.
This meant they had to produce children (Genesis 1 :28).
Human beings are co-creators with God for gave them the
responsibility of bringing the world under their control and he was involved in
naming birds and animals that God had formed (Genesis 1 :28 and 2: 19-20).
Man is a weak creature for in Genesis 2:7, God formed him
from the soil he had taken from the ground.
By nature, man is a worker for they commanded to bring
the world under their control through working and he was put in the Garden of
Eden to cultivate and guard it (Genesis 1:28and 2:15).
Man is dependent on God. In Genesis 1:29, they had to
depend on God's provisions of all kinds of grain and fruit and in Genesis 2:
18-20 the man had to depend on God when he needed a woman.
Man desires companionship for he was lonely before the
woman was made from his own rib (Genesis 2: 18-22) .
By nature, man is a supreme being for God put him in charge
of His other creatures particular the fish, the birds and all the wild animals
(Genesis 1 :28).
By nature, man is knowledgeable. He had to differentiate
between good and bad for he was aware that eating the forbidden fruit would
make him die the same day (Genesis 2: 16-17).
Man is immortal. God warned him that he would only lose
his immortality by eating the forbidden fruits (Genesis 2: 17).
Revision
Questions
Comment on the nature of:
(a) God
(b) Man as presented in Genesis 1 and 2