Post # 19 Some further thoughts on Posts # 1 & 2 (May 2008).
Genesis 1:31 – “And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good.” Very good could mean that everything was created perfect for its intended purpose. God intended to develop his creation further in phases, so to speak, such as a cake is baked and then the icing and decorations are added step by step.
Even the angels were created in perfect condition. Lucifer was described in Ezekiel 28:12-15, and specifically in verse 15 – “You were perfect in your ways from the day you were created, till iniquity was found in you.” God created the angels as individuals in the spirit realm having unique identities and minds with which they could make decisions. I think we can be sure that God set before them the law of cause and effect – blessings for obedience and curses for disobedience.
In due time God created the physical universe – Job 38:4-7, – 4 “Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? …. 7 When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?”
The following question was posed on a Discuss thread on StPixels.com .
‘Isn’t it more likely that he saw it was “good” in terms of his satisfaction at what he had created, ready for ongoing process of creation to unfold (including the part of his creation that gave us free will, which effectively ruled out perfection)?’
I agree. That is an excellent perspective as we have been considering God’s physical creation, which he made subject to corruption. Romans 8:19-21 (NIV), “The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed. 20For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope 21that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God.”
God made man in his image and also allowed their minds to be subject to corruption, when they met up with the serpent in the garden, who was more crafty and cunning than the other beasts they had talked to so far. However, God has made it possible for the creation, including us, to be “delivered from the bondage of corruption”, because of the saving work of Jesus Christ. In the subsequent spiritual phase of creation (the end times) God is perfecting his nature (way of thinking) in Christians (children of God) in preparation for Christ’s return and the ultimate delivery from bondage.
So in my opinion, the overview of creation is basically that, when God created angels possessing eternal life and with individual minds having the ability to make decisions on their own, everything was fine and relationships were stable. There was no possibility of acquiring possessions until God created the physical universe and revealed his plan to create fauna and flora on planet Earth. At this point God planned for ‘part of himself’ to die because of the possibility that some or all of the angels could try to steal his creation from him and start ‘turf wars’. One third of the angels did rebel and God gave them possession of the earth, however the original primordial jewel-like ecosystem of fauna and flora was destroyed and the surface was in chaos and confusion. God may have said “Fine, you want it so bad here it is – a total mess. Now see if you can fix it”.
Apparently Satan couldn’t do what God could do in Genesis 1 & 2, because it didn’t happen that way.
End of Post.
