The Book of Genesis begins with a programmatic assertion of the creation that unfolds over a seven day period. The epic story begins with the absolute claim for the creation as the decisive act of God (Gen. 1:1). God is before time and beyond space, and he only enters them because he wants to.

A slightly discordant note is sounded in Gen. 1:2 which suggests the creation out of an already existing chaos. This seems to be the Hebrew version of the ancient Babylonian myth, Enuma Elish. There are echoes of this in other parts of the Bible where God defeats a monster of chaos called Leviathan (Psalm 74:12-14) or Rahab (Is. 51:9).

Genesis 1:1-2 are like counterweights on a pair of scales. Both are needed to correct the balance of faith. We don't have to choose between a creation "out of nothing" and a creation from an "existing chaos", even as the text does not. Creation out of nothing asserts the majestic and exclusive power of God. Creation out of chaos lets us affirm that even the way life is can be claimed and redeemed by God.

The first through fourth days of creation produce the light that pushes back the darkness (Gen. 1:3 5), the physical world with its solid dome sky of burnished metal (Gen. 1:6-8), the fertility of the earth (Gen. 1:9-13), and the lights in the heavens to determine fixed dates and seasons (Gen. 1:14 19).

God's first blessing occurs on the fifth day and it's given to the living creatures who inhabit the sea and air (Gen. 1:20-23). They are blessed and endowed with reproductive powers. In this sense they are brought very close to God.

The sixth day is the longest day of creation (Gen. 1:24-31). It begins with the creation of land animals and ends with the creation of human beings in the image and likeness of God. Sexual identity and function are part of God's will for his human creatures; they are not part of God's person. Sexual identity and function are good.

Human beings are created male and female simultaneously (Gen. 1:27), All human beings stand in solidarity before God, and neither male nor female is the full image of God alone. Male and female together are created in the image and likeness of God.

In the 5th century world of the Priestly writer, where women often had to endure arbitrary cruelty and domination as the inferiors of men, Gen. 1:25-28 is indeed a revolutionary text. It suggests that the way things are do not necessarily represent the ideal vision of God for his human creatures.

The serene completion of God's work of creation is the institution of the Sabbath on the seventh day (Gen. 2:1-4a). The verb shabbat means "rest". And the Priestly writa pictures God as going about his work like a faithful Jew laboring for six days at his allotted tasks but reserving the seventh day as a holy sabbath.

The sabbath rest means that life does not depend upon the feverish activities of human beings. The world is safely in the hands of God who created it. The world will not disintegrate if we stop our efforts and rest one day each week.

Note that the sabbath is really the "rest" of God (Gen. 2:3). Because humankind is created in the image and likeness of God, the sabbath rest extends to us also.