The creation of this universe has been on debate for hundreds of years concerning how and when it happened. This chapter of “Engaging God’s World” attempts to answer those questions in a Biblical Christian perspective.
The first part of this chapter talks about how Jesus was present at the time of Creation. This seems impossible because Jesus was incarnated hundreds of years later. However, we must remember that Jesus Christ is a person of the Trinity who has always existed with the Father and the Holy Spirit. This chapter goes on to talk about the hospitality of the three persons toward one another in the Trinity.
The next part of this chapter talks about Creation itself. I believe that the universe was created in six 24-hour days, and on the seventh day, God rested creating the Sabbath. Everything in this world was created by God and for God including ourselves. We belong to God, and our duty therefore is to praise Him.
In the next part of the chapter, Plantinga talks about how humans were created and our response to this. Humans were created in the image of God. Plantinga states that because of this, everything still has a little bit of good in it. I disagree with this idea because of the fall. The whole human race is totally depraved with sin. We have no good in us apart from the grace that God gives his elect to praise him and do good. It is by the grace of God that we may live, so must continually be thankful for Him and praise Him for the gift of His Son.
I think your point about God resting on the seventh day to create the Sabbath is a good one. As I pointed out in a discussion in my blog with someone who said that the Sabbath was just an Old Testament ritual, Jesus said that the Sabbath was made for man, not just Israel, or in other words, for all mankind (Mark 2:27). The only record of the Sabbath being made is in Genesis 2:1-3. God did not rest because He was tired, but He created the Sabbath day for mankind by setting an example of resting.
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