God's Temple: Genesis 1

The Bible portrays God as creating the universe as his temple. The temple is perhaps similar to what we would recognize in the Capitol of our domain—the USA. The governing of the universe is God’s function. The material aspects are important but not the focus of Genesis 1. The focus is on the authority of God to preside over the functions of the material world. This is analogous to the way the government of the USA or any of its states functions. The politicians are not focused on industry, supplying utilities such as water and power. They may regulate these material systems but they are not concerned with pipes and wires or concrete and steel as such. The politicians are concerned with getting all this “stuff” of society to function in ways that help human life to flourish. In Genesis God looks over each aspect of the world and says, “It is good.” Good here does not mean morally good, but functionally good. God creates light in terms of the sun, the moon, the galaxies and says, “Yes!!” In other words, it is functioning the way God intended. Sort of like us when we try to make something to function (an article of clothing, a computer program, or an engine, etc.) and light up with joy when we get it right and it does what we intended it to do. “Look at this—it works perfectly—I am so pleased!” When Genesis portrays God as proclaiming, “It is good” it means something like this: “Light—Yes!” “Mountains, oceans, and weather—Yes!” “Animal life—Yes!” “Human life—Yes! Yes! Yes!” God is presiding over the universe. “The Lord is in his holy Temple—let all the earth keep silence before him,” says the Psalmist. Stand in awe. God knows what he is doing. Look around at everything. “The heavens declare the glory of God and the earth shows his skill!” The cosmos is God’s throne and the earth is his footstool. This is like the feeling I have when I stand in the Capitol Building in Washington or visit the White House. These venues are not about the material aspects of our lives but about the ordering and regulating and superintending the purposes for which all the material aspects of life exist. It’s not ultimately about making stuff but about making sure stuff works in a beneficial harmony. The glory of biblical religion in contrast to other religions is this. As John Walton points out in "The Lost World of Genesis One", the religions predominant at the time of the writing of Genesis, portrayed the relationship of the gods and humans differently. In other temple-focused religions, such as in Egypt, Assyria, Babylonia, the gods create people to be their slaves. People meet the needs of the gods. In the Bible, God has no needs. The cosmic temple (the universe) is created for the people he wants to be in relationship with him—enjoying fellowship in the royal domain. God takes care of everything needed. As Christians put it, “The chief end (purpose) of mankind is to glorify God and to enjoy him forever.” As God says to Job and his sophisticated friends, “Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth—tell me if you know so much!” (Read the Old Testament book of Job, chapters 38-42 to gain a sense of God’s ability to preside over creation in ways that we are incapable of.) Psalm 50 has God saying that he does not want anything from us. God has everything. “If I were hungry, would I tell you, when I already have everything that exists?” God invites us to trust him and to give thanks—to be in fellowship with him. Jesus said we are God’s children, not slaves. That is why God tells us what his plans are and how much he loves us. God also entrusts us to be managers of portions of his domain. This is what is meant by human dominion over other creatures. We are to take care of what belongs to God, not to us. We can use resources to meet our legitimate needs. But we are not to exploit or to damage what is ultimately God’s. On this point, Jesus told a story about a bunch of managers who lived it up while the owner was on a long trip. They trashed everything while satisfying their own desires. They mistreated other servants and made a big mess. Jesus assures us that when the owner comes back he will sort it all out and punish those who deserve it. His point is obvious. God may let us have our way for a while. But there is a day coming when he will hold court and impose justice so that everything in his domain will be fair in the end. If we want to know God person-wise, we should not get hung up on the mechanics of the material world as if this were the purpose of the Bible. The main purpose is to resolve the dysfunction in our relationship with God. As God reigns over all from his seat of authority, so he is to reign in our hearts. His desire is that we return his love. That we find joy in God’s presence, both now and in the life to come.