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Humanity’s Problem (Genesis 1-11)
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The first eleven chapters of Genesis present the human condition in powerful terms. They tell us the human problem. Every story has a problem or situation to address, and the human story is no different. In Genesis 1:26-27, we are told that God created humanity in his image.
In the video, Dr. Lennox explains the image of God in terms of four relationships:
Our relationship with God
Our relationship with others
Our relationship with ourselves
Our relationship with the creation
The Garden of Eden gives us the ideal picture of humanity in perfect relationship with all four. Adam and Eve walk in perfect fellowship with God every day in perfect surrender to his authority. They are in perfect relationship with each other, with neither dominating the other but in mutual submission, one at the other’s side. They are in perfect relationship with themselves, neither having too high or too low an estimation of who they are. They are in perfect relationship with the creation as good stewards of the garden into which God has placed them.
Then God said, “Let us make humans in our image, according to our likeness, and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over the cattle and over all the wild animals of the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.” So God created humans in his image, in the image of God he created them, male and female he created them.
Genesis 1:26-27 (NRSV)
Sin shatters all four of these relationships, leaving humanity broken and in need of restoration. Humanity is alienated from God, expelled from the Garden, in need of reconciliation (Gen. 3:23-24). Adam and Eve are alienated from each other. Now the man dominates, and the wife is in strife with him (Gen. 3:16). Now we will often think more highly of ourselves than we should (Rom. 12:3), and at other times we will think less of ourselves and others than is fitting for creatures in the image of God (James 3:9). Now the ground will not yield easily to farming, and childbirth will be a painful ordeal (Gen. 3:16-17).
This brokenness is well illustrated by the stories of Genesis 4-11. First there is Cain’s murder of Abel in Genesis 4. Cain does not “rejoice with those who rejoice” as humanity in perfect relationship with one another would (Rom. 12:15). Instead, he is jealous of his brother and kills him.
In the story of the Flood (Genesis 6-9), we see humanity’s alienation from God, each other, and the creation, with an underlying brokenness of themselves. Instead of thinking of God, “the thoughts of the human heart were only evil all the time” (Gen. 6:5). The creation suffers immensely as a result. Instead of stewarding the creation, humanity’s sin leads to the destruction of all but two of every animal (and seven of each clean animal).
Dr. Lennox suggests three key insights into sin that the Flood story brings:
- Sin is serious business.
- Sin gets in the boat with Noah. This is a key insight. When Noah, his wife, and his children’s families get off the boat, there is still sin in the world because it went with them on to the boat. We see this fact in the immediate aftermath of the Flood.
- God has a plan. Stay tuned!
The Tower of Babel also illustrates humanity’s broken relationship with God, each other, and themselves. Trying to take the place of God, humanity tries to build a tower to God in their own power. They effectively try to take the place of God, showing both the brokenness of their relationship with God and their sense of themselves. The end result is further alienation from each other, unable now even to easily communicate with each other.
Genesis 11 ends with humanity in deep trouble. They are deeply alienated from God. They are deeply alienated from each other. They are alienated from their true selves without even knowing it. The creation is on its own at best, eventually the victim of humanity’s abuse.
But God has a plan.