APPLYING THE “FIRST THE NATURAL AND THEN THE SPIRITUAL” PRINCIPLE TO CREATION
By now, some readers are saying, “So what is the big deal about deconstructing the creation story? Isn’t it enough to know that God created everything?” To that question we say,”It is enough if you are an Old/First Covenant believer, but it is not enough if you are a New Covenant believer.” This statement will sound like double-talk to people who do not know the difference between the two covenants. And the way we see it, this describes most people — Jews and Gentiles alike.

In their ignorance of the two covenants, people are also ignorant of the fact that the difference between the two covenants is very important to God. Therefore, everyone who presumes to care about the things that God cares about will do well to study Literal or Symbolic Interpretation: Part 1 and in Literal or Symbolic Interpretation: Part 2. We strongly recommend reading all pages in both of these links before reading these pages on creation.

One part of Literal or Symbolic Interpretation: Part 2 has special application for creation. Here is an excerpt:

1 Corinthians 15:41-49  41 The sun has one kind of splendor, the moon another and the stars another; and star differs from star in splendor. 42 So will it be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; 43 it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; 44 it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. 45 So it is written: “The first man Adam became a living being” the last Adam, a life-giving spirit. 46 The spiritual did not come first, but the natural, and after that the spiritual. 47 The first man was of the dust of the earth,  the second man from heaven. 48 As was the earthly man, so are those who are of the earth; and as is the man from heaven, so also are those who are of heaven. 49 And just as we have borne the likeness of the earthly man, so shall we bear the likeness of the man from heaven.

COMMENTARY: The way we see it, when God said the natural came first and the spiritual followed. He was not talking only about the examples cited in the passage, He was also making a point about how He works in general. If that is correct, then He would be faithful to follow that pattern in how He reveals Himself in His word. It is important, therefore, to apply this principle when studying the Bible. And the way we do that is by reading the natural (i.e. literal) word and then asking God to reveal the spiritual understanding to us.

So what is the pattern?  We think it is found most clearly in these two statements in verses 44 and 46:

“… if there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body.”“The spiritual did not come first, but the natural, and after that the spiritual.”

The truth of this pattern is clearly observed in his word. It begins with a report of the natural creation of things and then moves to a report of the spiritual order of things. Consider Genesis 1:1-2:

In the beginning  God created the heavens and the earth. 2 Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.

Obviously we think that the creation story is the first place in the Bible where this “first the natural and then the spiritual” principle appears and is applied in the Bible. This principle, along with 2 Timothy 3:16 convinces us that there is much more to Genesis than a simple story of creation.

If these are not convincing arguments for symbolic interpretation, here are several other reasons why we think a study of creation like we have presented is important:

These will not be regarded as important issues to people who are comfortable and secure in their traditional religious beliefs. Obviously we disagree with that view, and we think God also disagrees. Failure to allow for alternative interpretations of the Bible may be a badge of righteousness to rigid Bible literalists, but to God it is only a sign of a hard heart and Old/Covenant thinking. In God’s words, these are rebellious people who can see only with their natural eyes but not with their spiritual eyes.