Study 1: Leader's Guide

How It All Began

Intro question:

This is a starter question that is to help break the ice and to create a safe space for people to share their opinion. There is no real right answer to this question. It might be helpful to emphasize from the start that you are not there to judge their answers.

Question 1:

This is a low-order question, mainly aimed at helping people familiarise themselves with the passage and the use of the Bible (i.e. familiarising with the concept of chapters and verses…)

Take note of the repeated phrases as they give structure to Genesis 1.

Question 2:

a)     An important aspect of creation we see especially from the repeated phrases is that God brought order from disorder. God brought a function and a role as God’s will and purpose is imposed on the world. Although the work of creation seems to be done, God does not disengage from creation. Instead, God takes the place behind the helm of the cosmos and maintains the equilibrium that God had established and calls for people (man and woman together) to care for the garden and its inhabitants as God’s stewards.

b)    The main point here is that what God made was good.

c)     This passage grandly establishes the respective roles of God as Creator and everything else, people included, as creation. Everything that we have ultimately belongs to God who has created it. It is in God’s nature to create good things not just so that God could enjoy it, but has also invited us to share and enjoy God’s good creation.

Question 3:

It is important to establish that the “image of God” is not physical. The concept of being made in the image of God is quite complex. It helps to look at the passage and see what accompanies the pronouncement that man and woman are made in the image of God. Several components of being made in the image of God that we see highlighted in this passage:

-       Authority over creation. This authority is not to be abused but establishes our responsibility to care for God’s creation well. Essentially, we are God’s stewards, caring well for creation that belongs to God

-       Note that both man and woman are created in God’s image. The word helper in 2:18 in fact is better translated as “counterpart” and “partner”. If the woman is to be the partner and both are created in God’s image (1:27), there is a great sense of partnership and relationship within the concept of God’s image.

-       To be human is to bear the image of God. To bear the image of God is to have huge freedom and responsibility, to respond to God and be held accountable for that response.

Question 4:

The main point of this question is to highlight the idea of Sabbath and its importance. We take our example from God, our Creator, who worked (work is a good thing) and rested (rest is also a good thing). The rest is not “needed” because God was tired, but that Sabbath rest implies God enjoying God’s good creation, where the world has been created and lies in perfect and good order.

Question 5:

a)     There is a relationship between God and people and it is good. God sees people as God’s creation who have been created in God’s image and are to be his stewards in the world. There is a sense of provision and intimacy in the relationship

b)    The relationship between man and woman is good. Note that this is not just about the one man and one woman in the garden but is reflective of what relationships should be like between people: whole and good. The man and woman are partners in the execution of their responsibilities.

c)     The relationship between people and creation is good. Although the words used to describe the responsibility is “govern” and “reign”, it does not legitimize a ruthless mastery over nature and creation. In God’s own creation, God acts for the good of what has been made and not for selfish pleasure, i.e. creating a perfect home for humankind. Hence, God calls man and woman to serve as steward, to embody God’s own care for, and protection of, his good creation in his sovereign rule over the earth.

Question 6:

There is a famous ancient Mesopotamian creation account called Enuma Elish. Whilst the Genesis creation account bears similarities to that account in terms of literary style, the thrust of the Genesis account is truly contrary to Enuma Elish. Enuma Elish portrayed the many gods to be unpredictable who lived in a chaotic mess and needed people to serve them. The Genesis account clearly shows that there is one God who is the Creator, self-sufficient, infinite, eternal and uncreated, and one who brings order out of chaos.

Question 7:

This is an open question that is aimed at allowing some time for your members to process what they have been discussing as well as to address some new ideas that may be contrary to what they are familiar with.

Question 8:

The passage from Revelation bears great similarities to the garden of Eden. In many ways, we are trying to provide the bookends of the gospel story. We now know that when the world was first created it was good, but something went wrong and we now live in a world that is broken. But that we live in hope of that future garden, one where all wrong is undone and is once more whole and good. It would be helpful to explain a little bit about Revelation, mostly that it is a book written about 1500 years after Genesis was written. The passage we are looking at in this question is ‘prophecy’.

The book of Revelation records the vision God gave to a man named John to encourage and strengthen Christian communities who were facing persecution because of their allegiance to King Jesus, rather than to the ruler of the Roman Empire. The book uses a lot of imagery and metaphors to ‘reveal’ the reality of what is happening and what God will do in response. A lot of the imagery in Revelation is taken from the Old Testament.

Last question:

This question can either be used at the end of the study if you have time, or you could also encourage your members to take the week and go home and think about the question. Remember to ask them the question the next week

General tips:

1. At some point, you will notice that Genesis 1 and 2 overlap. They are in many ways the same story, but written with different purposes. Genesis 1 looks at the Creator and the created cosmos. Genesis 2 however, looks at relationships, focussing on the relationship of the man and woman and theirs with God and creation.
2. Although a lengthy discussion about evolution vs. creation can be stimulating, it is not always the most helpful thing to do. Be aware of where discussions about evolution and creation is heading to and keep in mind that the point of the study is to look at what the Bible says about the beginning of the world. The Bible was not written as a scientific text, so that we all might know how the world was created (or not). The Bible is God’s story. It is about God and the fact that God is Creator. How God creates is not the main issue here.