This week’s lesson follows the chapter divisions of Genesis rather than the contours of the narrative itself. It starts with the seventh day of creation (Gen. 2:1–4a), which is the conclusion of the account begun in Genesis 1. Arranging the lesson in this way encourages us to reflect on the connections between the two stories of creation.

The account of the seventh day begins with a seemingly contradictory statement, faithfully rendered by the New Revised Standard Version: "Thus the heavens and the earth were finished..…And on the seventh day God finished the work that he had done" (Gen. 2:1–2). This puzzling statement, which seems to say that God had finished his work on the sixth day, then denies that he had, has inspired a number of solutions. These include the ancient Greek Septuagint translation, which simply substituted "sixth day" for "seventh day," and the New International Version, which translates as "By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing."

Neither of these translations, in my judgment, is warranted, for both fail to see the theological point being made by the text. By the end of the sixth day, "the heavens and the earth," that is to say the physical universe, had indeed been completed. But God finishes his work on the seventh day, not by creating more physical objects but by sanctifying the day itself. His final work of creating "holy time" is not part of the physical "heavens and earth," completed on day six, but occupies a distinct sphere. Holy time is the climax of creation because it transcends the physical universe. So the strange wording of Genesis 2:1–2 is there to make clear that any understanding of the world that excludes the spiritual is incomplete.

Genesis now moves on to another narrative. Just as the four Gospels provide four different portraits of Christ, so Genesis gives two stories of creation. Rather than reading these two accounts in isolation from each other, or viewing their differences as problems, we should view them as invitations to ponder the richness and complexities of creation. This second account concentrates on human beings. In the creation of humanity, chapter 1 emphasized two nouns, image and likeness, indicating how we relate to God. Chapter 2 emphasizes two verbs, formed and breathed, indicating how God relates to us.

The first account presents the transcendent, almighty God effortlessly speaking the universe into existence. That is important to know, but by itself is incomplete and possibly dangerous. So the second account tells a different story in order to highlight that this same God is also intimately involved in his creation, taking a close personal interest. Genesis 1–2 is an example of how to achieve theological balance by affirming both truths, transcendence and intimacy, rather than giving priority to one or the other.

The keynote of Genesis 2 is intimacy. God "forms" the man from the ground. This is the term used for a potter, who on his wheel creatively forms a desired object from a lump of clay. As an artisan invests time, energy, and creativity in such a task, so the Lord God does in the creation of Man. He then "breathes" into the Man’s nostrils—a tender picture of intimacy, amounting to an embrace, a kiss of life. This intimacy does not contradict the transcendence of chapter 1, but indicates that creation and its significance are more complex than a simplistic reading of either account in isolation might suggest. Transcendence and intimacy in the Creator are no more contradictory than meekness and majesty in the Savior. "I live in a high and holy place, but also with him who is contrite and lowly in spirit" (Isa. 57:15).

The account moves from intimacy between God and Man to intimacy between Man and Woman. Whereas the climax of the first creation story is the creation of the Sabbath, in this second story it is the creation of Woman. Her arrival underlines the complementary differences between these two accounts. One refrain used throughout God’s creation in chapter 1 is "God saw that it was good." It is little less than shocking, therefore, to now read, "It is not good." It is not good for the Man to be alone. God created human beings to experience and express intimacy with other people.

The Woman’s late arrival is hardly evidence that she is an afterthought in the divine plan. Rather, her delay underlines for the Man just how important she is. The Man’s exultation, "At last!" is testament to that. His recognition that she is "bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh" is not a statement of bald fact, but a Hebrew idiom for intimate relationship (see Gen. 29:14; 2 Sam. 5:1). The narrator’s comment that they are "one flesh" similarly conveys physical, sexual, and spiritual intimacy. This is enhanced by their being naked yet feeling no embarrassment. The depth of their intimacy is enhanced by reflecting on the fact that the Woman came forth from within the Man. He has come as close as any man will to giving birth. The bond between the two could hardly be greater.

As we consider these two stories of creation, it becomes clear that these are not simple stories for the unsophisticated reader. Simple they might well be, but like Christ’s parables they are concerned with profound issues. Each story concludes on a note of intimacy. The first account climaxes with Sabbath, pointing to the vertical intimacy between God and humans. The second account climaxes with the horizontal intimacy between Man and Woman. These two accounts have many things to say, but among their most important is the revelation that we will not understand this world correctly if we fail to maintain intimacy with both God and other people. God created us to be fulfilled as spiritual and social creatures. The increasing secularism and individualism of modern western culture, therefore, are more than mild irritants for the Christian believer. They challenge the very purpose of God’s creation.

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