1. CHAPTER THREE Stories for the Journey
Creating and the Founding of a People

2. God’s Creation First Creation Story:
- Creation takes place in six days before God rests on the seventh
- God uses water for the creation
-Humanity is created at the same time as male and female
-Both man and woman are in the image of God

3. God’s Creation Second Creation Story: - God uses land for creation
- Portrays God as more of a craftsman
• God makes man out of mud and “breathes life” into him
-Adam and Eve are named
- Story of temptation

4. God’s Creation Truths of Creation:
- God began everything that exists outside of Himself
• He alone is the creator
- God created everything through the external Word, his Son, Jesus
- Creation is the common work of the Holy Trinity
• God the Father made all things by the son and the Spirit

5. God’s Creation - We have been created by God with both a body and soul
- We are made in the image and likeness of God
-The soul is the innermost, spiritual aspect of man

6. God’s Creation
- The body is intended to be the temple of the Holy Spirit
- In the person and mission of Jesus Christ, God has been fully revealed
-The first covenant was made with Noah

7. Vocabulary
-Myths
-Ancestor
-Evolution
-Covenant

8. Justice & Fall of Man Gifts of Original Justice:
- There would be no suffering or death
-Man would be at peace with himself
- There would be harmony between man and woman
- There would be peace between Adam and Eve, the first couple, and all of creation

9. Justice & Fall of Man Original Sin
-All human history is marred by an original, voluntary sin committed by our first parents
-The basic root of sin is man’s rejection of God and opposition to His will
-The original sin was an abuse of man’s freedom

10. Justice & Fall of Man - The harmony of original justice was destroyed:
• Human nature was weakened and inclined to sin
• Tensions between men and women arose
• Rest of creation become hostile to mankind
- Even after the sin of Adam and Eve, God immediately offered His mercy

11. Renewal of Life The Noah Covenant:
- After the sin of Adam and Eve, God offered the hope of salvation by promising redemption
- The covenant that God made with Noah was the next stage of his revelation

12. Renewal of Life The Noah Covenant: - Teachings of Hebrew version:
• Humanity is to be destroyed because they are evil and constantly doing violence to each other
• Noah is saved because he is a righteous man
• Noah takes only animals on the ark
• A second creation story, Noah becomes the new “Adam”

13. Renewal of Life The Tower of Babel:
- How the sin of pride increases to where an entire city tries to make itself God
- Shows in an imaginative way how the many different languages in the world came to be
- Unification of humanity under one language would have been good only for the rulers
- Dividing into different peoples and languages was not punishment, but freedom

14. Renewal of Life - God’s will is to create a people in his image
- God’s will is peace, not violence
- God’s will is trust and truthfulness, not the lies and deceptions of human beings in their society

15. Renewal of Life
- God’s will is joyful diversity, not forced unification
- God’s will is care for creation, not destruction
- God is not impressed with how great our material accomplishments are, but how much we care for each other

16. Ancestors of Faith Genesis reads like a series of short stories:
-Dominant people in the book of Genesis: Abraham, Joseph, Jacob, and Isaac
-Women play a significant role
-Stories were told and re-told over a long period of time
-Idea that there were originally two different collections of early stories

17. Abraham: Father of Faith
- Known as the “father of faith”
- First patriarch of the Jewish faith
- God called him to go with his family “to a land that I will show you”
-Blessings have been promised to him by God, but threats come through human weakness and doubt

18. Abraham: Father of Faith
Signs of Abraham’s covenant with God:
- His name changed from Abram to Abraham
- Sign of circumcision • Physical sign of the covenant between God and Abraham

19. ABRAHAM’S TRAVELS

20. Blessing of Jacob
- Jacob travels to the family of Laban and falls in love with Rachel
- He worked seven years for Laban only to be tricked into marrying Rachel’s older sister
-Tricks Laban in order to become wealthy once he finishes serving his time to marry Rachel
• Considers it justice for Laban’s foul play

21. Blessing of Jacob
- Jacob returned home, fearful that his brother would not forgive him
- Their reunion is a striking example of reconciliation and peacemaking in the Bible
- Jacob had stolen the blessing intended for his bother. He acknowledged this by sending gifts and blessing Esau
- These stories represent the hope that Israel can live in peace with their neighbors

22. Joseph in Egypt
- The story of Joseph is an extended, single story rather than a series of short stories
- He was the preferred son of Jacob
- His brothers became resentful and sold him into slavery and lead Jacob to believe he was dead

23. Joseph in Egypt - Joseph became a trusted advisor to Pharaoh
- His story sets the stage for the main event of the Old Testament
• Formation of the people of Israel by their Exodus experience and their efforts to make a life for themselves in Canaan