here we will focus only on worship.
As we saw above, the Old Testament is filled with adulation for God because of his creative work. Creation displays God character, power, might, majesty, wisdom, sovereignty, and lovingkindness toward his people. Several months ago I stood on a beach and beheld the wonder of the Pacific Ocean. Such sights may be old hat for people who live close to the ocean, but for a guy from central Arkansas, it was breathtaking. I was overcome by the sheer beauty and majesty and danger of those waters that crashed against the beach. I had no choice but to praise the God who said, “as far as here you may come, but no farther” (Job 38:11). Such was the posture of the biblical writers, and we do well to remember God’s work in creation and worship him for it.
Our worship, however, must be properly focused. My father was the type of man who loved to be outside hunting or fishing, tinkering with this or that, and sometimes just sitting there, enjoying the hot sun or cool night. Whenever I would talk to my dad about Jesus, he always told me he wasn’t interested in Jesus or church because he experienced God outdoors. I’m sure there are many people just like him, people who marvel at creation but do not know the Creator. In essence, the worship the thing that was made rather than the One who made it (see Rom 1). Knowing Christ means knowing who created the waves, the birds, the trees. Thus, it is not enough simply to marvel at creation. We must allow creation to fulfill its proper role in pointing us toward the One worthy of worship. Likewise, we fulfill part of our role as priest-kings as we point others toward the One who created this magnificent world.
Questions for Discussion
1. How does God’s creation in the first few chapters of Genesis set the tone for the rest of the biblical witness?
2. What does it mean that all things were made through and for Christ? What is a practical way that Christ’s work in creation applies to the Christian life today?
3. Why should Christians work to develop a theology of creation? How does creation impact what we do on a daily basis?
4. How and why does a proper view of creation impact how Christians understand the gospel?
Bibliography and Recommended Reading
Bartholomew, Craig G., and Ryan P. O’Dowd. Wisdom Literature: A Theological Intro-duction. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 2011.
Beale, Greg. We Become What We Worship: A Biblical Theology of Idolatry. Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2008.
Berry, R. J., ed. The Care of Creation: Focusing Concern and Action. Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2000.
Borgen, Peder. “Creation, Logos, and the Son: Observations on John 1:1–18 and 5:17–18.” ExAud 3 (1987) 88–97.
Bouma-Prediger, Steven. For the Beauty of the Earth: A Christian Vision for Creation Care. Engaging Culture. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2010.
Brueggemann, Walter. Theology of the Old Testament: Testimony, Dispute, Advocacy. Minneapolis: Fortress, 1997.
Clifford, Richard J. “Cosmogonies in the Ugaritic Texts and in the Bible.” Or 53 (1984) 203–19.
———. Proverbs: A Commentary. OTL. Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 1999.
———. “Psalm 89: A Lament over the Davidic Ruler’s Continued Failure.” HTR 73 (1980) 35–47.
Dyrness, William A. Themes in Old Testament Theology. Downers Grove, IL: Inter-Varsity, 1977.
Enns, Peter. Exodus. NIVAC. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2000.
Fisher, Loren R. “Creation at Ugarit and in the Old Testament.” VT 15 (1965) 313–24.
Garrett, Duane A. Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Songs. NAC 14. Nashville: Broadman & Holman, 1993.
Goldingay, John. Old Testament Theology. 3 vols. Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2003.
Gunkel, Hermann. “The Influence of Babylonian Mythology upon the Biblical Creation Story.” In Creation in the Old Testament, edited by Bernhard W. Anderson, 25–52. Issues in Religion and Theology 6. Philadelphia: Fortress, 1984.
Harner, Phillip B. “Creation Faith in Deutero-Isaiah.” VT 17 (1967) 298–306.
Hasel, Gerhard F. “The Polemical Nature of the Genesis Cosmology.” EQ 46 (1974) 81–102.
———. “The Significance of the Cosmology of Genesis 1 in Relation to Ancient Near Eastern Parallels.” AUSS 10 (1972) 1–14.
Johnston, Gordon H. “Genesis 1 and Ancient Egyptian Creation Myths.” BibSac 165 (2008) 178–94.
Lessing, Reed. “Yahweh versus Marduk: Creation Theology in Isaiah 40–55.” Concordia Journal 36 (2010) 234–44.
Levenson, Jon. Creation and the Persistence of Evil. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1988.
Liederbach, Mark, and Seth Bible. True North: Christ, the Gospel, and Creation Care. Nashville: B&H Academic, 2012.
Mangum, Douglas T. “Creation Traditions in Isaiah 40–55: Their Origin and Purpose.” Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Upper Midwest Region of the SBL. St. Paul, MN. 27 March 2009.
Merrill, Eugene H. Everlasting Dominion: A Theology of the Old Testament. Nashville: B&H Academic, 2006.
Millard, Alan R. “A New Babylonian ‘Genesis Story.’” TynBul 18 (1967) 3–18.
Moo, Jonathan A., and Robert S. White. Let Creation Rejoice: Biblical Hope and Ecological Crisis. Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2014.
Ollenburger, Ben C. “Isaiah’s Creation Theology.” ExAud 3 (1987) 54–71.
Perdue, Leo G. Proverbs. Interpretation. Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 2012.
Polhill, John B. John. NAC 26. Nashville: Holman Reference, 1992.
Ridderbos, Herman N. The Gospel of John: A Theological Commentary. Translated by John Vriend. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1997.
Schnittjer, Gary E. The Torah Story: An Apprenticeship on the Pentateuch. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2006.
Snyder, Howard A., and Joel Scandrett. Salvation Means Creation Healed: The Ecology of Sin and Grace. Overcoming the Divorce between Heaven and Earth. Eugene, OR: Cascade Books, 2011.
Tyra, Steven W. “All Creatures are Martyrs: Martin Luther’s Cruciform Exegesis of Romans 8:19–22.” WTJ 76 (2014) 27–53.
———. “When Considering Creation, Simply Follow the Rule (of Faith): Patristic Exegesis of Romans 8:9–22 and the Theological Interpretation of Scripture.” JTI 8 (2014) 251–73.
Waltke, Bruce K. Proverbs 1–15. NICOT. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2004.
Walton, John H. Ancient Near Eastern Thought and the Old Testament: Introducing the Conceptual World of the Hebrew Bible. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2006.
———. The Lost World of Adam and Eve: Genesis 2–3 and the Origins Debate. Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2015.
———. The Lost World of Genesis 1: Ancient Cosmology and the Origins Debate. Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2009.
Wilson, Gerald H. Psalms. NIVAC. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2002.
1. See Goldingay, Israel’s Gospel, 69.
2. Ibid., 71. See also Brueggemann, 150–54.
3. Unless otherwise noted, Scripture quotations in this chapter are the author’s translation.
4.