By David Williamson, part seven of a series. God’s intent in saving Noah and the contents of the ark is broader and more comprehensive than the particular creatures and plants. God uses Noah and this remnant from the original creation to preserve all forms of life. Is Noah in this way an environmentalist, understanding and protecting the whole hearth for future…
By David Williamson, part six of a series. Genesis 5 begins by repeating the assertion that Adam, humankind, is made in God’s likeness, bears the “imago Dei,” both male and female. Here that honor, that identity, is transmitted from the first man to all successive generations. A similar expression is used in the birth of Adam’s son, Seth, who is…
By David Williamson, part five of a series. The revised script, the new drama of life post-Genesis 3, starts to be played out. Chapter 4 of Genesis begins with a comforting and hopeful statement: In spite of sin and God’s judgement, God’s grace enables Eve to bear a child. Indeed, all work, all labor, all production should be with the understanding…
By David Williamson, part four of a series. We are now somewhere in the middle of a deadly world-wide virus – a pandemic. As I read Genesis 3, I am aware that Genesis 3 introduces a deadly virus into the high view of work introduced in Genesis 1 and 2. Unfortunately, much of what people experience in their work, “reality now”…
By David Williamson, part three of a series. There are several nudges or suggestions in the early chapters of Genesis that work is done in the context of teams. No grand, rugged individualism, independence or autonomy here! The need for teamwork is most directly stated in Genesis 2:5: “There was no one to till the ground.” In this second account of…
By David Williamson, part two of a series. As Genesis 1 proceeds, God continues to form the earth-substance out of nothing, and we see new and expanding products and possibilities. God takes on additional work – new, specific forms of work. God continue to create – indeed, to innovate – and various forms of material, such as vegetation, come into…
By David Williamson, part one of a series. From the beginning, at the dawn of history, men and women are called first into a relationship with God. Then, secondly, they are called to participate with God in exercising “dominion” – managing, shaping, designing and developing the world that God has created and entrusted to humans. The creator God is an…
