The Bible's Figurative Meanings
The bible has frequently been dismissed as a holy text that only offers theological lessons and gripping narratives. But it's long past time for people to reconsider how they perceive the bible. Christians should stop taking the creation tales literally and start thinking about their figurative meanings. While the theology's interpretation of the bible may be accurate, it is also important to understand the deeper historical significance of the creation stories and what the bible says about the main historical occurrences. The two biblical creation stories demonstrate that it took God seven days to finish the act of creation. The seven days of creation have also been explained historically using the seven Cs. These include creation, crisis, covenant, the cycle of failure, cross, community, and consummation.
Creation
The first chapter and the first verse of the Bible say that God created heaven and earth. After that, every other living thing was created in six days. Even so, understanding the six days of creation literally brings a lot of confusion with science. Apparently, the six days of creation could mean one day based on the evidence from the scripture. For instance, the first chapter of Genesis is telling us that God created everything in six mornings and six evenings, which is the normal length of a day. The scripture says that God created the heavenly bodies on the fourth day where He put light to represent the day and the moon to represent the night. However, the same scripture talks about 'morning and evening' on the first day of creation, meaning that by the first day there was already a separation of day and night. In as much as the accounts might be showing confusion to the literal readers, the creation story has one common message of procreation. In both accounts, the man was given the responsibility of continuing with the role of creation where he was commanded to be a co-creator with God.
Crisis
Following the creation story in Genesis chapter 2 verses 17, God told the man that "But you shall not eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. For in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die." This is where the man was faced with the biggest dilemma of eating from the forbidden tree or keeping the commandment of God. The Bible tells that at first before Adam and Eve ate from the sacred tree, they had a perfect relationship with God, but since then, their relationship was torn. The scene from the Garden of Eden explains why the world changed into a corrupt zone, turning into a crisis. Thus, the imperfect world we have today.
Covenant
After sending away Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden, God realized that His relationship with the man had been broken. Therefore, he decided to have a covenant with the man again. The assertion is elaborated in Genesis 7:23, which says, "And every living thing which was on the face of the earth was destroyed, from man to cattle, and to the creeping things, and the fowls of the heavens. And they were destroyed from the earth, and only Noah was left, and those that were with him in the ark." From there, man revived his relationship with God, where they promised to be faithful to each other.
Cycle of Failure/ Restoration
The story does not end at where God redeemed man from his sins. Even after having a covenant with man, He went further to restore the hope that man had lost. God sent his only son (Jesus) to bring back the glorious future to man through the gospel. He sent His son to usher in the message of peace and to pass information to them that the Christ will come back to judge the living and the dead upon his resurrection. The cycle will continue when God finally destroys the world.
The Cross
Philippians 2:5-8 says "Christ Jesus ... who, being in the form of God ... was made in the likeness of men. And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross." This shows that the creation story that was originally perfect shifted to that of corruption and death. Besides, based on the scriptures, it is written that the wages of sin is death and being the descendants of Adam, the symbol of the cross makes it clear that we are mortal. The cross does not only warn the Christians about death but also reminds them of the redemption and the forgiveness of sins. The death of Christ on the cross also speaks volumes of love for the humankind.
Community
The church represents the unity of the Christ. The Christian faith believes that where there are two people or more calling the name of God, there is a church. The church brings unity among the believers. Hence creating the sense of love and peace. The Israelites in the past days came together to worship, meaning they believed in the existence of Christ in their midst. The body of Christ is destined to love to turn the old Israel to the new Israel that brings all the nations together to worship God.
Consummation
Just like the story of the creation accounts, everything that has the beginning must have an end. Revelation 21:1 says "Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away." It becomes clear in the end times, which is marked by the destruction of the earth when God comes to judge the righteous and the evil. The perfect world that God created was void of disease, death, pain, and suffering but full of life. The crisis from the Garden of Eden changed the look of the world. As mentioned before in the text, the sins committed by Adam contributed to the catastrophe of the day of Noah, the confusion at Babel, and not limited to the crucifixion and death of Jesus on the cross. As people who have believed what the Christ did for us on the cross and repented for our sins, Christians can look forward to the new heaven and earth, knowing that they will dine with God forever in a lively place. The Bible tells believers that the crisis and the confusion that was in the Garden of Eden will be taken away and the righteous will join the angels in heaven to worship God.
