Creative order
Photograph by Nicolas Hoizey via Unsplash
Rev. Dr. Robert Wallace
My friend sent me a meme which read: “All computers are just carefully organized sand.” It provided a good laugh, but it also got me thinking. The truth is, that the secret to all creation is organization. My father-in-law was a carpenter. He could take a chaotic pile of wood and screws and create a cabinet. Writers organize words. Even those of us who speak or sing are simply using our vocal cords and diaphragm to organize the air a particular way. Every act of creation is bringing order to chaos. In Genesis 1, God brought order to the chaos and called creation into existence. Every day, no matter our occupation, we do the same.
This should not surprise us, however. In fact, this creative connection to the divine was made explicit in a powerfully beautiful, but often skipped, passage of Scripture: the genealogy of Cain. “…Cain built a city and named the city after his son Enoch. Irad was born to Enoch. Irad fathered Mehujael, Mehujael fathered Methushael, and Methushael fathered Lamech. Lamech took two wives, the first named Adah and the second Zillah. Adah gave birth to Jabal; he was the ancestor of those who live in tents and own livestock. His brother’s name was Jubal; he was the ancestor of those who play stringed and wind instruments. Zillah also gave birth to Tubal-cain, the ancestor of blacksmiths and all artisans of bronze and iron. Tubal-cain’s sister was Naamah” (Genesis 4:17-22 CEB).
This seemingly innocent passage filled with all sorts of hard-to-pronounce Old Testament names contains one of the most beautiful and powerful messages of the Bible. To see the message, though, it is important to understand the cultural context.
Everyone around the world of the Bible believed all culture came from the gods. Semi-divine messengers of the gods, called “Apkallu,” received art, music, metalworking, etc. from the gods, and they in turn provided them to the kings. The kings could then share them to an obedient populace. In other words, if you want the wonders the gods provide, you need to be obedient. Pay your taxes. Offer your children in military service. Sacrifice to the gods. Only then will the gods, whose kindness you have now earned and whose patience you have now bought, will provide your masters all the benefits of culture. Eventually, one hopes, the benefits will trickle down to you.
The Bible, as it always does, comes along and turns that upside down. The Bible started by speaking a countercultural, prophetic word to the world by proclaiming that every human being is made in God’s image — not just the king. Every single human being in the world bears the image of God and has been given a royal responsibility to serve and protect this world.
We are created to create. To contribute creatively and meaningfully to this world. May we be good stewards of the image of God in our lives, bringing order from chaos in our own unique ways.
The implications of that are worked out in Genesis 4. The Bible makes clear that the gods do not provide civilization. The Apkallu do not deliver it. The king cannot bestow any gifts on humanity because all those things come from God’s image present in all human beings. Music, metalworking, domesticating animals, building cities — human beings created all of the markers of civilization.
God does not ration out blessings, waiting for us to earn favor with our slavish obedience. God shows grace from the beginning. All of us are trusted with the working and protecting of this world. We have graciously been given the divine image, and in Genesis 4, we see part of what that means is the human capacity to create.
God didn’t create a world finished. God created a world that would continue creating itself. Trees with seed after their kind. Fruit with seed after their kind. And humanity that is actively and creatively living out their gifts and making substantive and creative contributions to this world. The rest of the world believed the gods provided art. God provided humanity canvas and paints and a desire to order those colors into something beautiful (which I have no doubt God will proudly hang on the refrigerator in heaven).
But the passage is even more powerful because this passage shows us what humanity is capable of reflected in the genealogy of Cain. Cain — the first murderer, killing his brother in cold blood out of frustration with his own inadequacies. The fact that it is the line of Cain which provides these creative manifestations of culture has caused interpreters problems with this passage for years. Many believed that everything listed in Genesis 4 needed to be considered “evil” (with the possible exception of certain music, like maybe Psalms) simply because they came from Cain.
On the contrary. This is a sign of how powerful and far-reaching the grace of God is. Not even the selfish act of Cain and his fallen line (and his line certainly had some issues) could silence the Imago Dei in their lives. God’s creative image is more powerful than sinful humanity. Everyone can create. Cain’s line can build cities, make music, shape metal, domesticate animals.
But you don’t have to take my word for it. At the end of the story in Revelation, heaven is depicted as a holy city. In other words, the final expression in Scripture of God’s desire to be present with humanity is expressed in a redeemed image of a creative human contribution to the world.
No matter our occupation, that is our vocation. We are created to create. To contribute creatively and meaningfully to this world. May we be good stewards of the image of God in our lives, bringing order from chaos in our own unique ways.
Rev. Dr. Robert Wallace is senior pastor, McLean Baptist Church, McLean, Virginia.
The views expressed are those of the author and not necessarily those of American Baptist Home Mission Societies.
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