#1 CREATION OF THE HEAVENS AND THE EARTH, 1:1-2:3
Some people call the President of the United States “the most powerful leader in the world,” but more than one former President would disagree. Ex-Presidents have confessed that their executive orders weren’t always obeyed and that there wasn’t much they could do about it.
For example, during President Nixon’s first term in office, he ordered the removal of some ugly temporary buildings on the mall, eyesores that had been there since the World War I era; but it took many months before the order was obeyed. When journalists began writing about “the imperial Presidency,” Nixon called the whole idea “ludicrous.”2-1 Presidents may speak and sign official orders, but that’s no guarantee that anything will happen.
However, when God speaks, something happens! “For He spoke, and it was done; He commanded, and it stood fast” (Ps. 33:9, nkjv). When you consider the acts of God recorded in Genesis 1, you can’t help but bow in reverent worship; for His creative acts reveal a God of power and wisdom whose word carries authority.
There’s a pattern to God’s activities during the Creation week: first He formed and then He filled. He made three spheres of activity: the heavens, the landmasses, and the waters; and then He filled them with appropriate forms of life.
I want to be especially careful as we approach this first chapter of the book of Genesis. This past week I read an account of a man who attempted to quote Scripture from our passage as a proof text for smoking pot. Here is the account as given by Christianity Today a couple of years ago:
Arrested in Olathe, Kansas, for possession of the drug, Herb Overton based his defense on Genesis l:29: “and God said, … I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of the earth …”
Judge Earl Jones doubted Overton’s hermeneutics, however. According to a Chicago Tribune account, the judge told the Bible-quoting defendant: “As a mere mortal, I’m going to find you guilty of possession of marijuana. If you want to appeal to a higher authority, that’s fine with me.”[1]
We can all read of such an event and laugh about it. While Herb Overton’s error is comical, there may be a less obvious error of which many Christians may be guilty—and it is not a laughing matter.
This week my attention was arrested by a brief article in Eternity magazine entitled, “Evangelicalism’s Six Flaws.” Most of the article has me still scratching my head, but I was particularly troubled by this statement:
We have treated creation as a static occurrence—arguing whether or not God has created it in seven days, thus missing the point of the religious meaning of creation and the ongoing activity of God in history.[2]
As I have considered Robert Webber’s accusation, it seems to me that we evangelicals have made five major errors in the way we have handled Genesis over the past few years. Most of these errors are in part a reaction to the three‑fold attack of atheistic evolution, comparative religion and literary criticism.[3]
(1) We have dealt with the creation account according to a scientific grid. Some recent theories and conclusions of scientists have challenged the traditional interpretation of the biblical creation accounts. In a conscientious effort to prove the Bible to be scientifically accurate, we have approached the first chapters of Genesis from a scientific point of view. The problem is that these chapters were not intended to give us an account of the creation that would answer all of the scientific problems and phenomenon.
Dr. B. B. Warfield has stated the problem well:
A glass window stands before us. We raise our eyes and see the glass; we note its quality, and observe its defects; we speculate on its composition. Or we look straight through it on the great prospect of land and sea and sky beyond. So there are two ways of looking at the world. We may see the world and absorb ourselves in the wonders of nature. That is the scientific way. Or we may look right through the world and see God behind it. That is the religious way.
The scientific way of looking at the world is not wrong any more than the glass‑manufacturer’s way of looking at the window. This way of looking at things has its very important uses. Nevertheless the window was placed there not to be looked at but to be looked through; and the world has failed of its purpose unless it too is looked through and the eye rests not on it but on its God.[4]
The author of Genesis has not written the creation account for the glass maker. Rather he urges us to look through the glass of his account to the Creator behind it all.
(2) We have used the creation account of Genesis as an apologetic, when its primary purpose is not apologetic. The apologetic use of the early chapters of Genesis, while of value,[5] is not in keeping with the author’s purpose for writing. Genesis was written to the people of God, not unbelievers. Men who refuse to believe in creationism do not do so for lack of facts or proof (cf. Rom 1:18ff), or due to their greater knowledge (Psalm 14:1), but due to a lack of faith (Hebrews 11:3). Genesis is much more of a declaration than a defense.
(3) We have attempted to find in Genesis one the answers to mysteries which may or may not be explained elsewhere. We may wish to learn, for example, just where Satan’s fall and judgment fit into the creation account, but may not be given such information because it was not the purpose of the author to answer such questions.[6]
(4) We have failed to study Genesis one in its historical context. I suppose that it is easy to commit such an error here. We may doubt that there is any historical background. Or we may conclude that this is precisely the purpose of the chapter—to give us a historical account of creation.
The background which is vital to our grasp of the meaning and message of creation is that of those who first received this book. Assuming Moses to be the author of Genesis, the book most likely would have been written sometime after the Exodus and before the entrance to the land of Canaan. What was the situation at the time of the writing of this creation account? Who received this revelation and what needs were to be met by it? This is crucial to rightly interpreting and applying the message of the creation.
(5) We have often failed to apply the first chapter of Genesis one in any way that is relevant to our own spiritual lives. As one of my friends put it, “We come to a message on Genesis chapter one expecting nothing more than to have our apologetic batteries recharged again.”
The creation account becomes a prominent theme throughout the Old and New Testaments. Here, as elsewhere, we cannot do wrong by allowing Scripture to interpret Scripture. When the creation theme occurs in Scripture, it calls forth a response from men. We have frequently failed to call for any such response as we have taught Genesis chapter one.
Revelation never is given in a historical vacuum. The Bible speaks to men in specific situations and with particular needs. We cannot rightly interpret Scripture or apply it to ourselves until we have answered the question, “What did this passage mean to those to whom it was originally given?” From archaeological studies much is known of the literature, culture, and religions of those who surrounded the Israelites. Understanding the contemporaries of the Israelites greatly enhances our grasp of the meaning of the creation account according to divine revelation as found in Genesis one.
First, we know that virtually every nation had its own cosmogony, or creation account(s). Somehow I had always thought that the account of Genesis one was something new and original. Actually this revelation came late compared to other near eastern nations. Antiquity had devoted a great deal of time and effort to its origins. The account of Genesis chapter one had to ‘compete,’ so to speak, with the other accounts of its day.
Secondly, there is an almost remarkable similarity between these pagan cosmogonies. From her study of twelve myths, Ms. Wakeman has identified three features always present: “1) a repressive monster restraining creation, 2) the defeat of the monster by the heroic god who thereby releases the forces essential for life, and 3) the hero’s final control over these forces.”[7]
Third, while distressing to some, there is considerable similarity between the pagan creation myths and the inspired account of creation in the Bible.[8] The correspondence includes the use of some of the same terms (e.g. Leviathan) or descriptions (e.g., a man‑headed sea monster), similar literary form,[9] and a parallel sequence of events at creation.[10]
The explanation of these similarities by some are unacceptable. For example, we are told that these similarities evidence the fact that the biblical cosmogony is no different than any other ancient creation myth. Others would assure us that while there are similarities, the Israelites ‘demythologized’ these corrupted accounts to assure an accurate account of the origin of the earth and man.[11] Some conservative scholars simply call the correspondence coincidence, though this seems to avoid the difficulties, rather than to explain them. The most acceptable explanation is that the similarity is explained by the fact that all similar creation accounts attempt to explain the same phenomenon.
Early races of men wherever they wandered took with them these earliest traditions of mankind, and in varying Latitudes and climes have modified them according to their religions and mode of thought. Modifications as time proceeded resulted in the corruption of the original pure tradition. The Genesis account is not only the purist, but everywhere bears the unmistakable impress of divine inspiration when compared with the extravagances and corruptions of other accounts. The Biblical narrative, we may conclude, represents the original form these traditions must have assumed.[12]
More important than the fact that the nations surrounding Israel had their own (perhaps older) accounts of creation, was the use to which these were put in the ancient Near East. Ancient cosmogonies were not carefully recorded and preserved out of a love for ancient history; they were the foundation of religious observance.
In the ancient world their deities were nature gods, sun gods, moon gods, rain gods, and so on.[13] In order to assure the on‑going of the forces of nature and guarantee bountiful crops and growing herds of cattle, the creation myths were re‑enacted every year.
Myth, therefore, in the ancient world was mimetically re‑enacted in public festivals to the accompaniment of ritual. The whole complex constituted imitative magic, the effect of which was believed to be beneficial to the entire community. Through ritual aroma, the primordial events recorded in the myth were reactivated. The enactment at the appropriate season of the creative deeds of the gods, and the recitation of the proper verbal formulae, it was believed, would effect the periodic renewal and revitalization of nature and so assure the prosperity of the community.[14]
From this background we can begin to realize how vital a role was played by cosmogony in the ancient Near East. Israel’s social and religious life, like that of her neighbors, was based upon her origin. The Genesis account of creation laid the foundation for the remainder of the Pentateuch.
In this light we can see the significance of the contest between the God of Israel and the ‘gods’ of Egypt. Pharaoh dared to ask Moses, “Who is the Lord that I should obey His voice to let Israel go?” (Exodus 5:2).
The answer of the Lord was a series of ten plagues. The message of these plagues was that Israel’s God is the creator of heaven and earth.
For I will go through the land of Egypt on that night and will strike down all the first‑born in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments—I am the Lord (Exo 12:12; cf. 18:11; Num 33:4).
It would seem that each plague was a direct affront to one of Egypt’s many gods. While a direct correlation of each plague to a specific god may be somewhat speculative,[15] the battle of the gods is evident.
No wonder that the covenant sign of the Israelites was the keeping of the Sabbath:
But as for you, speak to the sons of Israel, saying, “You shall surely observe My Sabbaths; for this is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I am the Lord who sanctifies you.… It is sign between Me and the sons of Israel forever, for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, but on the seventh day He ceased from labor, and was refreshed” (Exo 31:13,17).
Observing the Sabbath identified Israel with their God, the Creator Who ceased from labor on the seventh day.
The miracles of the Exodus, then, served a function similar to the signs and wonders performed by our Lord. They authenticated the message which was proclaimed. In our Lord’s case, it was the words He proclaimed and the inspired writers preserved. In the case of the Exodus, the Pentateuch was Moses’ written revelation of God which his miracles authenticated. The Exodus proved Yahweh to be the only God, the Creator and Redeemer. The Pentateuch provided the content for the faith of Israel, of which the creation account is the foundation.
A. The Basic Questions of Creation, 1:1-2
As you cannot possibly have avoided knowing some time ago, the princess of Wales died in a terrible car accident in Paris. Princess Diana's royal standing, wealth, and beauty were a source of fascination and envy. Her compassion and service to others were inspiring. Her vulnerability humanized her and endeared her to millions around the world.
Princess Diana's sudden death accomplished on a grand scale what death always does: It reminds us of our own mortality and awakens sometimes-dormant questions about the meaning of life. Every time death interposes itself in any kind of personal way for us, whether we want to or not we begin to wonder about our own life, our own purpose, our own mortality, our own end, and how we came to be. Death forces those questions on us.
The world looked on as Princess Diana was buried and eulogized. And probably the single moment from her memorial service that will be most remembered was Elton John's singing of the song he rewrote for the occasion:
"Good-bye,
England's rose For a country lost without your soul
Who'll miss the wings of your compassion More than you'll ever know.
It seems to me you've lived your life Like a candle in the wind
Never fading with the sunset when the rain set in. And your footsteps will
always fall here along England's greenest hills Your candle's burned out long
before your legend ever will."
A candle in the wind is a metaphor for the human spirit's surviving against all odds, yet in short-lived beauty. As those who found Diana's life compelling drew together in their sorrow, there was a poignancy about it all. We realized that we too are at best a candle in the wind, and our lives are short. If we could only make the most of it, if we could only draw together, if we could only celebrate our lives, if we could only live in someone's memory for some period of time after we die. The song raises those questions and hopes.
But that's not enough, is it? It's not enough to draw meaning from our common humanity. It's not enough to remember a complex life that had its inspiring elements. It's not enough to have the legend live on for awhile after the candle goes out. The answers that our hearts cry out for need to be bigger than that.
As Christians we declare that there is a greater answer, that God is at the center of all the questions of life and death and purpose and meaning. When we start to ask these questions, then by the grace of God we come back to that assertion for an answer: What does God say? Who is he? What are his purposes? What can we know of him and how can we draw near to him?
The very first sentence of the Bible says,
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
That is the beginning point. All the other things we will say about how God interacts with his creation, making humans in his image, loving us, redeeming us, and fitting us for heaven, are based on that assertion. The very beginning finds God pre-existent, calling into being all that is. In this study we'll go back to the questions of origins and talk about meaning that comes from the creative work of God
This material is among the most controversial of all the documents that have ever been penned. The announcements that have been made here have been resisted and believed and debated over and over again, especially in the last four hundred years. We're going to find that there are differences of opinion that we need to articulate. We're going to try to make sense of things that Christians have struggled with, and that have certainly divided Christians from non-Christians. In many ways there is more debate among Bible-believing Christians than there is between Christians and non-Christians about, for instance, what Genesis 2 teaches about gender or the nature of marriage. And certainly the issues of cosmology and the origin of life have been wrestled over and discussed in countless settings. So we're engaging a battle in a sense, and we can enjoy joining in this challenging discussion
One reason this is a battleground is that we're not just talking about things that are unique to us. We're not just saying what Christians should do when they get together-how they should pray, what kind of songs they should sing, or how they should treat one another in Christian community. If that were all we were talking about, the world probably wouldn't take the time to argue about it. But what we're saying when we quote Genesis 1:1, "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth," is that he created everything that exists, not just the life of faith. So those who believe they have other answers will find themselves required to resist.
Another reason this is a battleground is that critically important things are spoken of in the first chapters of Genesis: The nature of body and spirit, order and chaos, good and evil, the environment and our responsibility for it, the reason gender exists, the nature of marriage, the origin of murder, the beginnings of ethnic and language division, and any reason at all for hope.
Thirty years ago this month I began my life as an undergraduate at the age of 18. I had been a Christian for 3 years. When I entered the university I was confronted with three dominant paradigms, among others. The university used these paradigms to describe its understanding of what was. If you were going to be a thoughtful, educated person, you had to look at life through these lenses. These three paradigms had their origins in the thinking of nineteenth-century writers, and those roots had grown a great tree by 1968.
The paradigms were about the issues that confront us in Genesis. They were almost impossible to argue with. They have challenged Christians all along, very often making us hide out or retreat in academic settings, keeping our faith private, so dominant and demanding were these presumed ways of thinking.
But things have changed in thirty years. These three paradigms have lately begun to come unraveled, and I predict they will continue to be. We'll find that the world is still not going to believe God, because that takes faith, humility, brokenness, and repentance. But the notion that being a Christian is intellectually inferior is losing credibility.
As a background to our study in Genesis, let me outline these paradigms.
THE RELIABILITY OF SCRIPTURE
The first paradigm has to do with whether the documents of the Bible are reliable. Christians and Jews have believed since the Bible was first put in its current canonical form that Moses wrote the first five books of the Bible: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. Jesus himself attributed them to Moses. But in recent centuries scholars have found ways to slice up these books more and more finely, to date them later and later in Israel's history, to imagine more and more documents that were to have made up this book that we now read. They have essentially undermined its authority by saying it is a pastiche, a cut-and-paste by various redactors working with countless other documents, fitting them together ingeniously to preserve Israel's history, creating a book hoping to find God. The notion that Moses wrote them is considered ridiculous by many.
If we imagine the Bible to be a cadaver, it's a bit like surgeons standing in the surgical theater, and as one comes up and slices off a piece here and another there, and they hold up the sliced bits, the elites in the surgical theater cheer their genius. Then someone else comes up and slices another piece off the cadaver and rearranges it, taking an organ from one place and sticking it onto another.
But the interesting thing that has happened is that the body didn't stay dead. People still read the Bible. As it always has, the Bible commends itself. You read what is on the page, and its truth forces itself upon you. Of course, that has always been the problem for anyone who wanted to deny the authority of Scripture.
As long as people read it they're going to be in trouble, because the Bible has its own authority. It doesn't very often need to be intellectually defended. As Martin Luther said, you don't defend a lion, you turn it loose. Lions defend themselves. The best way to argue with anyone who would deny the authority of Scripture is to ask them to read it.
But something interesting has happened in the last thirty years, and I think it's going to happen increasingly. There are a great many scholars who, while not believing that God is behind the writing of the Bible, or even caring about that, are saying this is not a cut-and-paste hodgepodge. The literary cogency of these documents-the words themselves, the stories, the insights-are so intricate, so profound, written with such genius, that they cannot possibly be the work of some redactor cutting and pasting sixteen different documents together and inventing stories to save Israel's history. There is too fine a mind at work writing these things. Whoever wrote Genesis was a figure of towering intellect, humility, sensitivity to God, extraordinary leadership. It was someone who knew people and cared about history. And when you read this description, you say, "You know, it would take someone like Moses to write that."
It reminds me of a story in Walt Kelly's comic strip some decades ago. At that time there was some debate in scholarly circles about whether William Shakespeare had really written the plays attributed to him. So Kelly parodied that with one of his cartoon figures rushing in and saying, "They proved conclusively that William Shakespeare didn't write his plays-it was someone else named Shakespeare." In the same way, if Moses didn't write the first five books of the Bible, someone else named Moses must have, because only someone of his insight, depth, and genius could have come up with them.
THE NATURE OF THE UNIVERSE
The second paradigm that I was confronted with thirty years ago, which has also lost much of its force if not all, has to do with cosmology. Once again, at the end of the last century and early in this century, the universe was conceived of as a dormant thing that had always existed in its present form. The laws of physics had never been any different than they were. As intricate, amazing, and huge as the universe was, it would yield its secrets to scientific endeavor as we developed more and more powerful instruments and saw things more clearly. We would gain mastery over the universe.
But nobody believes that anymore. In fact, physicists and anyone who is doing work in cosmology find themselves retreating from any such arrogance. The universe in fact is not eternal. It is a huge intellectual problem that no unbeliever has a solution for to say that the universe had a beginning. It doesn't oscillate between collapsing and exploding. The data won't allow for that. It just all of a sudden burst into being, and before that it wasn't there. And the Bible says in its very first sentence, "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth."
The cosmos is not lying there waiting for us to investigate it, gather up its secrets, and control it. The cosmos is humbling any man or woman who would dare to study it. It is asking tougher questions than we'll ever be able to answer. It is reducing, not promoting, the arrogance of the scientists who attempt to see it as it is. Again, it may not lead to any kind of personal faith in God, because that's the work of the Spirit. But believers who say, "I know the One who existed before the universe began," cannot be called fools for using that language, because there indeed was a "before the universe began."
Nobody thinks that's a nonsense statement anymore. We don't have to retreat from the language of Biblical cosmology, hide our faith, or be embarrassed about it.
THE ORIGIN OF LIFE
The third paradigm that is losing its authority has to do with the origin of life. Thirty years ago, and until very recently, science insisted on a closed system, that is, one that existed without any intervention from some intelligent designer, whether you called him God or not. Given matter and energy and time and chance, life could come into being and through mutations and natural selection, or Darwinian evolution, become the species that now exist. And so believers would be ridiculed for explaining the origin of life by pointing to Genesis.
But increasingly in recent years there have been scientists who (while not defending the Genesis creation accounts) find that Darwinian evolution, working only with what is observable, cannot account for the beginning of life and its complexity. There are some very interesting books that have been written in the last couple of years by Michael Beahy, Michael Denton, and Philip Johnson, all arguing strictly on the basis of what is good science that Darwinism cannot work, it is bad science, and it is going to have to be replaced by some other explanation. It will not be able to continue into the next decade. It is going to come unstuck. The explanations are going to crumble under the weight they are trying to carry.
Further, as paradigms topple, we see aggressive efforts to make them topple. The church looked foolish in the Copernican revolution when they resisted looking through Galileo's telescope to see if the sun was indeed at the center of the solar system. I think that's exactly what's going to happen with classical Darwinism. It's going to fail, and efforts to prop it up, this time by secular scientists, are going to look more and more foolish over time.
Now, the focus of our studies in Genesis is not going to be apologetics, but worship of the Lord. So I want to spend some time talking about what we might apprehend about the living God from this first sentence of the Bible: "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." What insight can we gain from this about encouragement of heart and worship and a word to speak of him and his glory? Very briefly, three things.
THE PRE-EXISTENCE OF GOD
First of all, God was before the beginning. The Bible articulates the same point in many other places. The beginning of the gospel of John, for instance, says, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God."
Prior to the beginning of creation, God existed in triune fellowship with himself. God the Holy Spirit, God the Son, and the God the Father were glorifying one another, displaying their glory, in love with one another. God was righteous and glorious before anything was created. God was love before anything was created. We have an opportunity as creatures to give priority to things that antedate the creation, to things that will last forever because they precede out of eternity past.
We can look at what is created and look back to the Creator who made it. We can see him in ways that are profound because of his creation. We can apprehend new things of him.
"There's not a
plant or flower below, But makes Thy glories known;
And clouds arise, and tempests blow, By order from Thy throne;
While all that borrows life from Thee Is ever in Thy care,
And everywhere that man can be, Thou, God, art present there."
[16]
How can we be fascinated by the world of creation more than we are fascinated by the One who made it? Every bit of it is telling us something of him. When we see the structure of DNA, or hear a two-year-old learning to talk, or experience a thunderstorm, how can we be more fascinated by that than we are by the One who prior to the existence of those things was fascination himself?
Angels live in the presence of God and will forever, with nothing else to do but adore him. And he will never become boring or cease to be worthy of adoration. It will never strike those angels as a waste of time to forever adore him. And we have that opportunity as well. The creation ought to be less fascinating than the Creator. All it does is speak of him, and there is more than even the creation can tell.
GOD'S DEEP CONCERN FOR US
A second thought to derive from God's creation of everything is that he created us with special care. He spoke into being laws of physics, matter, energy, planets, stars, nebulae. He made them just the way they ought to be. But he also created us as his handiwork. The Scriptures say that he knitted us together in our mother's womb, starting with the chosen sperm and the chosen egg to make us who we are. God chose our eye color, the pattern of our fingerprints, the day we would be born. Jesus said that God knows the number of hairs on our head.
We remain his concern. God ought to be the object of our fascination, but it turns out that we are the object of his fascination. There is no day that goes by without his attention to us. There is no incident that he doesn't know of. There is no harm that doesn't break his heart. He knows and loves and cares for everything about us. That ought to say something to you about whether you can value yourself. If, before you had a heartbeat, God began fashioning and knowing and loving you, he loves you still, and there's nothing in the world that confounds him, although we're confounded all the time.
LIVING WITH ETERNAL PRIORITIES
Third, remember the words of Jesus, who made some peculiar statements about how we should live: Blessed are the poor, blessed are those who mourn, blessed are those who are persecuted for his name's sake.
He was saying that to choose to live with priorities and values that come out of eternity and that anticipate eternity is wise, rather than making this world pay off. God existed before gold, governments, competitions, prizes, economies, or any of the things this world can offer us to live and die for. In the beginning God created. And we can value the things that take us back to the God who made everything.
We can decide that the creation is not enough to live for. And that's exactly why Jesus made the statements that he did. He realized that this world is going to end someday. There's a new heaven and new earth to come. This is only a temporary season, as fascinating as the universe is. It's not forever. Jesus' statements make sense only if it's true that there is Someone greater than the cosmos, Someone who has been and always will be forever, Someone who rewards our choices.
(1:1-2) Introduction— Creation: profound, impressive, stunning—the opening words of Scripture are astounding.
“In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth” (Genesis 1:1).[17]
A person who reads and thinks—truthfully thinks—about this great statement is captivated by its astounding declaration. Why? Because he realizes that the basic questions of creation are captured in the divine statement. There is so much being said, so much to think about, so much to learn.
The Bible declares that God is behind everything. The universe is not eternal nor did it just happen. The universe did not just come into being by chance. Something did not come out of nothing. Nothing did not produce nor give rise to something. There is a Creator—a Supreme Person, a Supreme Intelligence and Force—who has created the universe, and the Creator has given the universe purpose and meaning.
Scripture does not argue God’s existence; it declares God’s existence.
Scripture does not argue that the heavens and earth have a Creator; it declares that God created the heavens and the earth.
Note a most significant fact: the first two verses of Scripture answer the basic questions concerning creation. They answer the very questions that man asks about his own personal origin and about the origin and roots of the universe.
1. When was the universe created: “In the beginning” (v.1).
2. Who created the universe: “God created [it]” (v.1).
3. What was created: “the heaven and the earth,” that is, the universe, (v.1).
4. How was the earth created:
a.Without form and void (Genesis 1:2).
b. In darkness (Genesis 1:2).
c. Covered by water (Genesis 1:2).
d. By the Spirit’s activity (Genesis 1:2).
(1:1-2) Another Outline: if a person holds to the Gap Theory between Genesis 1:1 and Genesis 1:2, then he might prefer the following outline of Scripture.
1. When was the universe created: “In the beginning” (Genesis 1:1).
2. Who created the universe: “God created it” (Genesis 1:1).
3. What was created: “the heaven and the earth,” that is, the universe, (Genesis 1:1).
4. What happened to the original creation: judgment and destruction (Genesis 1:2).
a. The earth became an empty waste and ruin.
b. The earth was covered with darkness and water.
c. The Spirit of God began to move upon the face of the waters.
DEEPER STUDY
(1:1) “In the Beginning”— Creation: When did the universe come into being? When did it first begin? When was matter first formed and energy first activated? When were the heavens and earth created? The Bible tells us, and it tells us in the simplest of ways, in a way that all nations of people can understand. The heavens and earth were created “in the beginning” (bereshith). There was a beginning for the universe. Neither the world nor human life are eternal. The universe has not always existed. The phrase “in the beginning” means there was a time when everything first started, when the universe first began. The idea is the absolute beginning of things, the absolute beginning of time. The great scholar H.C. Leopold says that it means “the absolute beginning of created things” (Genesis, Vol.1. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1942, p.39).
Note two significant facts.
1. The universe had a beginning. There was a time when the world did not exist, and then all of a sudden—out of nowhere and out of nothing—the world began. The things of the world had a beginning.
There was a beginning to the things...
that surround man
that man handles and deals with and possesses
that constitute man’s own being
that are physical and material
that compose the substances of the world
that make up all matter and all energy
As stated, all things had a beginning. There was a time when there was nothing, no heavens and no earth, no physical matter and no physical energy, no atoms, electrons, protons, or neutrons and no hydrogen nor any other gaseous substance. There was nothing in the physical and material world or dimension of being. Then, all of a sudden, out of nowhere and out of nothing, the universe began to be made. The process of time began. There was a beginning. The universe—material and physical things—began. The physical world and dimension of being was launched. When? “In the beginning”—in the absolute beginning of creation.
“And, Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the works of thine hands” (Hebrews 1:10).
“In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth” (Genesis 1:1).
2. Nothing whatsoever is said about how long ago the universe was created. No dates are given to determine the age of the heavens and earth. There is not even a hint given as to the age of either.
Man must heed this passage of Scripture. He must know where he has come from and why he is here. He can never fulfill his purpose upon earth unless he knows who put him here and why he was placed here. This passage also stands as a dramatic warning to man. Since man had a beginning, he also has an ending; therefore, he must prepare to face the Person who gave him his beginning. Man must repent and prepare to face his Creator.
“Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them” (Eccles. 12:1).
“And saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matthew 3:2).
“Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord” (Acts 3:19).
“Repent therefore of this thy wickedness, and pray God, if perhaps the thought of thine heart may be forgiven thee” (Acts 8:22).
“And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent” (Acts 17:30).
Jesus Christ, God the Son, is the beginning and the ending of all things. It is to Him that man must repent and turn.
“In the beginning was the Word [Jesus Christ], and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God” (John 1:1-2).
“I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty” (Rev. 1:8).
“And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God” (Rev. 3:14).
“And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely” (Rev. 21:6).
“I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last”(Rev. 22:13).
“And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence” (Col. 1:18).
This is a universal truth: there was a beginning; consequently, there will be an ending. Everything that begins has an ending. The world and all that is in the world shall pass away. The physical and material things of the world change their form, pass on, deteriorate, decay, and waste away. Even man himself changes, ages, and wastes away. He dies. There is an end to all that begins, including man.
“In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth” (Genesis 1:1).
“When I begin, I will also make an end” (1 Samuel 3:12).
“Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure” (Isaiah 46:9-10).
“And, Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the works of thine hands: they shall perish; but thou remainest; and they all shall wax old as doth a garment; and as a vesture shalt thou fold them up, and they shall be changed: but thou art the same, and thy years shall not fail” (Hebrews 1:10-12).
“And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment” (Hebrews 9:27).
“But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up. Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation [behavior] and godliness, looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat? Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness” (2 Peter 3:10-13).
(1:1) Creation— God, Creator: Who created the universe? God. This is clearly stated. As mentioned earlier, man is an inquisitive creature. He wants to know; therefore, he asks questions and searches and searches for answers. When man looks at the world and himself, he wonders where he and the world have come from. What is the origin of man and of the world? Note three significant points now covered by this profound but simply stated phrase:
“In the beginning God created...” (Genesis 1:1).
1. First, the Hebrew name for God is Elohim.
2. Second, God was there in the beginning. “In the beginning” there was the Supreme Person—the Supreme Presence, the Supreme Being, the Supreme Intelligence, the Supreme Force—who had the intelligence and power to create the universe. That Someone was God. God existed before the beginning; He preceded the beginning. God began the beginning. All that followed is due to Him. This means three significant things.
a. God is the Almighty God, the God of all might and power. He is the Sovereign Majesty and Supreme Master of the universe. He existed before anything else; therefore, everything owes its existence to God. This includes man. Man owes his life—all he is and has—his obedience, worship, and service to God.
b. God is self-existent and eternal. God existed before anything else. Nothing created God; nothing gave life to God. On the contrary, God created the universe and all matter and all atoms and all energy and force within the universe. God created all life including the life of man; therefore, man owes his life—all he is and has—his obedience, worship, and service to God.
c. God is totally self-sufficient. God possesses everything that He needs within Himself, within His very own being and personality. He is perfect—perfect in an absolute sense—within Himself. But man is not self-sufficient; therefore, man must cast his life—all he is and has—upon God. Man must obey, worship, and serve God in total dependence, trusting God to provide for all of his needs.
3. Third, the fact that God was there “in the beginning”—that He was there before the universe ever existed—disproves, refutes, and destroys six beliefs of men.
a. God’s existence disproves atheism and skepticism or agnosticism. Atheism is the belief that there is no God, no Supreme Being. Skepticism or agnosticism is the belief that a person just cannot know whether or not there is a God. Atheism and skepticism are wrong. The Bible, God’s written revelation, declares unequivocally: “In the beginning God”—God does exist. He is the Sovereign Majesty of the universe, the Supreme Intelligence and Force of the universe.
“The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good” (Psalm 14:1).
“The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. Corrupt are they, and have done abominable iniquity: there is none that doeth good. God looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, that did seek God. Every one of them is gone back: they are altogether become filthy; there is none that doeth good, no, not one” (Psalm 53:1-3).
“Let them be confounded and troubled for ever; yea, let them be put to shame, and perish: that men may know that thou, whose name alone is JEHOVAH, are the most high over all the earth” (Psalm 83:17-18).
“For thus saith the LORD that created the heavens; God himself that formed the earth and made it; he hath established it, he created it not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited: I am the LORD; and there is none else. I have not spoken in secret, in a dark place of the earth: I said not unto the seed of Jacob, Seek ye me in vain: I the LORD speak righteousness, I declare things that are right” (Isaiah 45:18-19).
b. God’s existence disproves pantheism. Pantheism believes in God, but not in a personal God. God is nothing more than the force and energy of the universe, the basic, underlying force and energy of all things. Stated another way, pantheism says that God is not a person, but rather that God is within everything, within everything as the force and energy that gives life and being to all things. For example, take a tree. The force and energy that makes a tree live and grow is said to be God. God is nothing more than the impersonal energy and force that gives life to the tree and causes it to grow.
The Bible strongly denies this belief. The Bible unequivocally declares that God is a person, the Supreme Person and Majestic Lord of the universe, and that God existed before the universe. God existed before the forces and energies of the universe ever came into being or were activated. Therefore, God is above and beyond all matter and all energy. God is both before the universe and supreme over the universe. And God longs for a personal relationship with man.
“All nations whom thou hast made shall come and worship before thee, O Lord; and shall glorify thy name. For thou art great, and doest wondrous things: thou art God alone. Teach me thy way, O LORD; I will walk in thy truth: unite my heart to fear thy name. I will praise thee, O Lord my God, with all my heart: and I will glorify thy name for evermore. For great is thy mercy toward me: and thou hast delivered my soul from the lowest hell” (Psalm 86:9-13).
“Ye are my witnesses, saith the LORD, and my servant whom I have chosen: that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am he: before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me. I, even I, am the LORD; and beside me there is no saviour. I have declared, and have saved, and I have showed, when there was no strange god among you: therefore ye are my witnesses, saith the LORD, that I am God. Yea, before the day was I am he; and there is none that can deliver out of my hand: I will work, and who shall let [hinder] it?” (Isaiah 43:10-13).
“Thus saith the LORD the King of Israel, and his redeemer the LORD of hosts; I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God. And who, as I, shall call, and shall declare it, and set it in order for me, since I appointed the ancient people? and the things that are coming, and shall come, let them show unto them. Fear ye not, neither be afraid: have not I told thee from that time, and have declared it? ye are even my witnesses. Is there a God beside me? yea, there is no God; I know not any” (Isaiah 44:6-8).
c. God’s existence refutes and destroys polytheism. Polytheism is the belief that there are many gods. But the Bible is clear: “In the beginning God.” There was God and God alone—one God, not many gods. The Lord God is one God. He and He alone is the Sovereign Majesty of the universe. Polytheism is a false belief of man, formed by man’s own imagination and human ideas about God.
“Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me” (Exodus 20:3-5).
“Unto thee it was showed, that thou mightest know that the LORD he is God; there is none else beside him” (Deut. 4:35).
“Wherefore thou art great, O LORD God: for there is none like thee, neither is there any God beside thee, according to all that we have heard with our ears” (2 Samuel 7:22).
“We know that an idol is nothing in the world, and that there is none other God but one. For though there be [many] that are called gods, whether in heaven or in earth, (as there be gods many, and lords many,) but to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things” (1 Cor. 8:4-6).
“For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time” (1 Tim. 2:5-6).
“One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all” (Ephes. 4:6).
d. God’s existence disproves and destroys materialism. Materialism is the belief that the universe is all there is; the world and the things of the world are all that exist. The basic, underlying energy and force of matter, whatever it is, is the supreme energy and force. Materialism says there is no god, not a personal God. The greatest and most supreme thing in the universe is the very basic energy and force that causes all matter to exist and function. Therefore, the universe and its forces and energies are all there is. Beyond this universe, beyond the material and physical world, there is nothing. There is no other world, no spiritual world, and no heaven or hell. There is only this world, only the material and physical world.
The Bible declares in no uncertain terms: “No! A thousand times no!” “In the beginning God.” God existed prior to the material and physical universe. There is more to life than just this world and its materialism, more to life than just the things of this world. There is God, and man is answerable to God. The belief of materialism is wrong.
“Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also” (Matthew 6:19-21).
“But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things [shelter, food, clothing] shall be added unto you” (Matthew 6:33).
“For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?” (Matthew 16:26).
“For what is a man advantaged, if he gain the whole world, and lose himself, or be cast away?” (Luke 9:25).
“And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever” (1 John 2:17).
e. God’s existence disproves and destroys humanism. Humanism is the belief that man himself is the ultimate being in the universe. There is no God, no supreme being who rules over man and the universe. Man is his own authority and determines his own destiny, and man has the reasoning power to control and rule over both himself and nature. Humanism declares that man himself is his own supreme being.
The Bible is emphatic: “In the beginning God.” God existed before man ever appeared on the scene. Therefore, God is before, above, and beyond man. God is far, far superior to man. The Bible emphatically declares that God is the Supreme Majesty of the universe, not man. Humanism is wrong, dead wrong.
“Thou shalt have no other gods before me [not even oneself]. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; and showing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments” (Exodus 20:3-6).
“Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD: and thou shalt love the LORD thy God [not oneself] with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might” (Deut. 6:4-5).
“Have ye not known? have ye not heard? hath it not been told you from the beginning? have ye not understood from the foundations of the earth? It is he [God] that sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers; that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in: that bringeth the princes to nothing; he maketh the judges of the earth as vanity. Yea, they shall not be planted; yea, they shall not be sown: yea, their stock shall not take root in the earth: and he shall also blow upon them, and they shall wither, and the whirlwind shall take them away as stubble. To whom then will ye liken me, or shall I be equal? saith the Holy One. Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who hath created these things, that bringeth out their host by number: he calleth them all by names by the greatness of his might, for that he is strong in power; not one faileth” (Isaiah 40:21-26).
f. God’s existence disproves and destroys secularism. Secularism is similar to humanism. It is just another name cloaked in the same belief as humanism. It is the belief that this world and the things of this world are all there is. Man is not a spiritual being, and he is not answerable to a supreme God. Therefore, man is to focus upon this life and this life alone. He is to make himself as comfortable and as happy as he can, and he is to get as much out of this life as he can. Man is to eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow he dies.
But again, the Bible disproves secularism: “In the beginning God.” God exists; God has always existed, He exists now, and He will always exist. Therefore, man is answerable to God. Man must live for God, not for this world and its possessions and pleasures.
“For thou shalt worship no other god [many worship the world itself]: for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God” (Exodus 34:14).
“And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting [self-indulgence], and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares” (Luke 21:34).
“Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, and will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty” (2 Cor. 6:17-18).
(1:1) Creation— God, Creator: What was created? God created the heavens and the earth, that is, the universe. When science uses its massive telescopes and other instruments to scan and measure the universe above and the earth below, man sees the most amazing facts.
· The earth is only 8,000 miles in diameter and only 25,000 miles in circumference. The earth measures less than one grain of sand on all the seashores of the earth in comparison to the universe.
· Our earth is within a solar system, a system of nine other planets that revolve around the sun (ten planets counting the earth). The largest planet of our solar system is Jupiter. It is so large that it is 1300 times the size of earth.
· Our sun is so large that it is about 864,000 miles in diameter. The sun could hold 1,300,000 earths. And, if we could just imagine the distance, the sun is 93,000,000 miles away from the earth. But this is only the beginning.
· Our solar system is only one solar system of millions that make up what science calls a galaxy. There are millions and millions of solar systems that are just like our nine planets revolving around the sun—millions and millions of solar systems that make up our galaxy. And our galaxy has billions and billions of stars scattered all throughout the heavens, over 200 billion. Such facts stagger our imagination. Just think of this: there is one star so big, a star called Betelguese, that it is 215 million miles in diameter. How big is that? The sun could sit in the star’s center and the earth could revolve around the sun in its present orbit without ever touching the sides of this enormous star. (William W. Orr. How We May Know That God Is. Wheaton, IL: VanKampen Press. No date given, p.29.)
· When we stand out at night and look up into the heavens, we see what we call the Milky Way. The Milky Way is the name of our own galaxy, the galaxy of stars of which the earth is a part. When we look up at the Milky Way on a starry night, what we see is the reflected light of billions and billions of stars being reflected across the night sky, billions and billions of stars that are a part of our own galaxy. But imagine this: there are millions of galaxies, untold billions and billions of stars in the far regions of outer space.
· But this is not all. Science tells us that the galaxies are moving away from each other at an incredible speed, a speed that exceeds millions of miles per hour. Just imagine! The stars and galaxies of the heavens are moving away from each other, travelling millions and millions of miles every hour. We live in what is called an expanding universe, an ever growing universe. As stated, the heavens, the galaxies of our universe, are expanding more and more—moving farther and farther away from each other, flying away at the incredible speed of millions of miles per hour. Profound, impressive, stunning. When we stand back and gaze up at the stars in heaven and think about the enormity of it all, we stand in stark amazement at the glory of the heavens above. But this is not all.
· When we focus in upon the small and minute world of the earth and universe, we stand in stark amazement at the glory of the small and minute world. There is the small world of the busy ant and the minute world of all the other small creatures that fascinate us. But there is much more to the small and minute world than just what is visible to the naked eye. For example, what are the smallest particles of existence? What do things consist of? What is it that makes things exist? What are the basic elements and building blocks of existence and of life itself? Science has discovered a great deal, enough to tell us that the universe and life are made up of atoms and electrons and protons and neutrons and a host of other minute particles—minute particles that are invisible and even today far, far beyond man’s understanding. Man has yet to discover the basic raw element and force of the universe.
Someday, if the world stands long enough, man may be able to discover the basic element, the raw matter and energy of life and existence or being. If that day ever comes, man will make a startling discovery. The declaration of the Bible is true: behind it all is God. This is the clear declaration of Scripture:
“In the beginning [in the very beginning] God created the heaven and the earth” (Genesis 1:1).
“And he is before all things, and by him all things consist [hold together]” (Col. 1:17).
Where did the heavens and earth come from? What is the origin of the universe? No clearer declaration could be made. It can be stated no simpler: God created the universe. The heavens and earth exist because God brought them into being.
Note four significant facts.
1. God was there when the heavens and the earth were created. Before anything was ever made, God existed. His presence and power were present everywhere, just as they are now. God has always been living, eternally. And God is living now, and He shall live forever. On and on God shall live, eternally.
Applying this to us, we must always remember that God is present with us. He surrounds us and wants to make Himself known to us. He wants us to experience His presence and power, to know Him personally. The problem is that so few have drawn near to God; so few seek to know God.
“But if from thence thou shalt seek the LORD thy God, thou shalt find him, if thou seek him with all thy heart and with all thy soul” (Deut. 4:29).
“Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near” (Isaiah 55:6).
“And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart” (Jeremiah 29:13).
“God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands; neither is worshipped with men’s hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things; and hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation; that they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us: for in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring” (Acts 17:24-28).
2. God created the universe out of nothing (ex nihilo).
3. There is purpose in creation. Things did not just happen by chance nor at random; the universe did not just come into being, did not just appear. The universe did not just begin out of nothing. God was there. This fact—that God was there—means that He thought up the universe. The idea of the universe was in His mind, and He desired it. Therefore, He planned and willed it, and He brought it into being. God was there before the universe was ever made. It was His mind and thoughts, His intelligence and power that created the universe. Therefore, there is purpose to the universe. God has some awesome purpose, some great and glorious reason for creating the universe and life.
There is more to life than just the physical and material...
· more to life than the things of this world.
· more to life than comfort and pleasure.
· more to life than money and power.
· more to life than position and prestige.
· more to life than recognition and fame.
There is God and His presence, God and His purpose for life. Life is to be full of purpose, meaning, and significance. Life is not to be empty and lonely and alienated from God. God created the universe and gave man life so that man could be fulfilled and satisfied and live forever. God gave man life so that man could live in the fulness of God’s...
· love, joy, and peace
· longsuffering, gentleness, and goodness
· faith, meekness, and control (Gal. 5:22-23)
God gave man life so that man could fellowship, worship, and serve God in all the fulness of life forever and ever.
“Ye are my witnesses, saith the LORD, and my servant whom I have chosen: that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am he: before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me” (Isaiah 43:10).
“For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end [a future and a hope]” (Jeremiah 29:11).
“For I know the plans that I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope” (Jeremiah 29:11, NASB).
“I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly” (John 10:10).
“Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 3:13-14).
4. The heavens and earth reveal some things about God. Scholars call this natural revelation. Very simply stated, when we stand back and look at the heavens and earth, they tell us a great deal about who God is and what God is like. This is to be expected; in fact, it could not be otherwise. Since God created the world, the world is bound to have God’s stamp upon it. The world, that is, nature, is bound to show us some things about God. Romans 1:20 states it well:
“For the invisible things of him