Does it make sense?

So, Creation. Does it make any sense? I am of course referring to the creation story in Genesis.

I believe in God, and I believe that Jesus has redeemed mankind and saved those who believe from their sin. I also believe the following things about God, things I think you'd want from a deity:

1) God is omnipotent. He is all powerful. Just don't ask whether He could microwave a burrito so hot that He Himself couldn't eat it.

2) God is omnipresent. There is nowhere you can hide from God.

3) God is omniscient. He knows everything. Most of what I'm going to write follows from the belief that this includes everything that is going to happen. This is backed up by several verses in the Bible (I have plans for you etc), not to mention all the prophesies. It makes logical sense too. If God was there before the beginning, He cannot be constrained by time.

So, to take the Biblical creation story. I have a couple of grievances about this. Firstly, the fall kind of implies that God doesn't know what's coming (as do a couple of other events early in Genesis, eg. God's decision to destroy the human race before the flood - if it weren't for Noah He would have destroyed us. What of His eternal plans in that instance?). Secondly, why does it say the Earth was created in 6 days, with a supposedly traceable timeline to about 6000 years ago?

Clearly, if God satisfies the above beliefs, He could create the world in six days 6000 years ago, but why would He then litter it with evidence to the contrary? Creation 'science' arguments that doubt carbon dating or fossil records etc are in denial in my opinion. God has allowed us to reach a stage of understanding that reveals the creation story to be at least in part a metaphor or mnemonic device. In doing so God further reveals His majesty. It is awesome to consider the vastness and emotive beauty of the universe, the unimaginable timescales, even the unseen beauty that must be out there, which is all for the glory of God.

However, this leaves a different problem. Why do we need Jesus? If the universe didn't start with man in a perfect relationship with God, what is going on? Since I cannot force myself to believe that the creation story is literal, I see the fall of man as a metaphor for everyone's life. We all have the potential to be perfect, but we lack the divine that makes it possible - the divine to resist the temptation of sin as Adam and Eve failed to do. As Paul writes, to be a man (Adam) means to sin, and the sin of man leads to death. Jesus was the man who had the divine in him, the real living Son of God, and through him we will eventually be brought into perfection. Unlike the evidence for the creation, a poetic piece at the beginning of the Bible, the historical Jesus is something I can place my trust in.

It's shaky theological ground I stand on, I know! Yet I shall still stand on the firmest ground of all - the rock that is Christ.