Creation: Genesis 1-2; Moses 2-3; Abraham 4-5

 THE HARMONY OF THE CREATION ACCOUNTS

The photos in this post are of bas-relief art depicting the Creation on the outside of Saint Chappelle in Paris, France. I took these photos and you are welcome to copy them.

There are three locations of scriptural accounts of the Creation:  Genesis 1-2 (two separate accounts here), Moses 2-3 and Abraham 4-5.  The same sequence takes place in all of them.  Moses and Abraham verify the truth of the King James Version, as well as clarifying it with additional information.  Some examples follow:

• THERE WERE MULTIPLE CREATORS. Although Genesis uses the singular word "God" as the Creator of the earth, it switches to plural, letting us know it may have been a committee of gods. "And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness"(Genesis 1:26).  In addition to revealing the story of the pre-earth existence and the plan of salvation, the Book of Moses gives a preface that clarifies who the Creators were.  "And it came to pass that the Lord spake unto Moses, saying: Behold, I reveal unto you concerning this heaven, and this earth; write the words which I speak. I am the Beginning and the End, the Almighty God; by mine Only Begotten I created these things; yea, in the beginning I created the heaven, and the earth upon which thou standest" (Moses 2:1).  Abraham uses the plural all the way through: "And they went down at the beginning, and they, that is the Gods, organized and formed the heavens and the earth." (Abraham 4:1).
• CREATION IS ORGANIZATION AND BEAUTIFICATION. Moses and Abraham both make it clear that the earth was not created from nothing; rather it was organized from existing matter.  "They, that is the Gods, organized and formed the heavens and the earth" (Abraham 4:1).
• GOD CREATES WITH HIS WORD. Abraham and Moses emphasize that the creation was done by the power of God's word.
• “GOOD” MEANS “OBEDIENT.” While Genesis reads that each day was pronounced "good" by God, Moses reads that each day God said that all He had created so far was good, and Abraham reads, "The Gods saw that they were obeyed" (Abraham 4:10.
• DAYS CAN MEAN TIMES, EXPERIENCES, PROJECTS. Abraham uses the word "times" rather than "days." Since time as we know it hadn’t really started yet, perhaps days and times are just ways of describing separate project areas.
• BLUEPRINTS WERE USED. Just as an architect works from a blueprint design, all three stories state that there was a plan first, a spiritual creation before the physical.  (See Gen. 2:5, Moses 3:5, Abr. 5:5.)

CREATIVITY IS A DIVINE CHARACTERISTIC

General Relief Society President Mary Ellen Smoot taught, 

"Creation is one of the characteristics that defines God.  He takes matter without form and molds it into stars, planets, and solar systems...Brothers and sisters, we are children of God.  Shouldn't we be about our Father's business?  Shouldn't we be creators as well?...The raw materials of creation are all around us.  President David O. McKay taught: 'Sculptors of life are we, with our uncarved souls before us...' Do we prize the gifts, talents, and choice spirits that God has given us?  Do we share the creations of our hearts, minds, and hands with others?" (Ensign, May 2000)

President Dieter F. Uchtdorf said that creating contributes to our Heavenly Father's perfect happiness, and can increase our happiness as well. "The desire to create is one of the deepest yearnings of the human soul...Creation means bringing into existence something that did not exist before--colorful gardens, harmonious homes, family memories, flowing laughter...Try to see how many smiles you can create, write a letter of appreciation, learn a new skill, identify a space and beautify it...The more you trust and rely upon the Spirit, the greater your capacity to create.  That is your opportunity in this life and your destiny in the life to come...Trust and rely on the Spirit.  As you take the normal opportunities of your daily life and create something of beauty and helpfulness, you improve not only the world around you but also the world within you" (General Conference, October 2008).

THE CREATION OF HUMANS

I often listen to the “Follow Him” podcast by Hank Smith and John Bytheway. This week, their guest, Dr. Rebekah Call, a professor of history and religious studies at Utah State University, taught such interesting ideas about the creation of Adam and Eve using her extensive knowledge of ancient languages. Here are some of her points:

·         The name Adam refers not just to males but to humankind.

·         Man and woman are meant to “rule” over creation together.

·         Man is never commanded to rule over woman, but is warned that this will happen in the fallen word.

·         Woman was not created from a part of man. The word translated as “rib” is not a body part in the original text. It is a construction term. Woman and man were created when the human was split in two pieces, that then are meant to choose to come back together and become united (Genesis 2:24).

 (I highly recommend listening to this! Episode 3 of 2026. Here it is on YouTube but you can also find the audio on your podcast platform.)

THE FALL AND THE NEXT CREATION

In our most recent General Conference, Elder Matthew Holland said, “We don’t often speak of a testimony of the Fall. But having a doctrinal understanding and spiritual witness of why every single one of us struggles with moral, physical, and situational challenges is a great blessing. Here on earth, ugly weeds grow, even strong bones break, and all ‘come short of the glory of God.’ But this mortal condition—a result of choices made by Adam and Eve—is essential to the very reason we exist: ‘that [we] might have joy’!” (General Conference, October 2025).

Our Father in Heaven and His Beloved Son Jesus Christ were not finished creating on Day 7 of the earth’s genesis—they were just beginning! They had created a beautiful earth out of a formless void, out of chaotic materials as a stage for co-creating beautiful lives for and with us, their children. To get us onto that stage, there had to be a fall into chaos, where choices could really mean something, where agency could really come into play.

In the “Follow Him” podcast, Rebekah Call made a point that hit me like a ton of bricks: “Creation is messy!” She pointed out that if you go into a potter’s studio, an artist’s studio, a construction site, anyplace where something is being created, you are going to find a mess!

Imagine a kitchen that is pristine. All the cooking implements are put away in the cupboard. The counter or table is clear of food. The sink is clean and shiny. This is a kitchen where no cooking is taking place. There isn’t going to be any dinner if someone doesn’t start messing it up!

When Beethoven wrote his masterpieces, his apartment was a disaster with scraps of paper covering everything. When the paper ran out, he wrote music on the walls or the shutters. It looked like a cyclone had been in the room!

Dr. Call compares our own ward or branch to a human laboratory, a messy place where Zion is being created. “Charity is not the easy kind of love. Charity suffers long! That means there’s something to be suffered…Charity is the hard kind of love, when there is every justification to not do it. We get to go to church to learn to be charitable...If we are serious disciples of Christ, then having an annoying ward is not a reason to walk away from the church.” The host, Hank Smith, added, “The Lord told us He wants us to love our enemies, so he put them in our ward…” to which John Bytheway replied, “Lots of enemies, one convenient location!”

Thanks to the Fall, we are all now a part of the creation process! We are creating our own lives, with the help of the Godhead. We are creating Zion in our wards and branches. We are creating eternal families using the family members we have been given. We are creating societies where people can flourish. We are creating beauty and order around us. We are creating health for ourselves and others. All of these creations should be done with “the power of God’s word,” only we might capitalize Word—the power of Jesus Christ. We can follow the blueprints that God has given us and “Think Celestial,” as President Russell M. Nelson counseled. But then we need to remember our testimony of The Fall: Things are supposed to “fall” apart in our lives, so that we can co-create with Christ something new, something that brings us closer to God.

This week, look around you for chaos and mess. What can you create from it with Christ’s help? Where can you create unity, love, order and beauty? If we stay close to God and trust in Him, our chaos can be the raw materials of something even more amazing than we had ever imagined.