The Creator of the Cosmos

Open: Today’s graduates are taking their place in a highly conflicted and trouble world. They are faced with an astounding array of complex moral questions which include sex-assignment surgeries, attempts at cloning humans, the legitimacy of same-sex unions, mass shootings, sanctity of life issues, and increased ethnic struggles (racism).

Throw in the issue of trans-humanism and these young people have a lot to deal with. If you aren’t familiar with trans-humanism, this promo from the recruitment department of Exeter University may be helpful:

Transhumanism - the belief or theory that the human race can evolve beyond its current physical and mental limitations, especially by means of science and technology. • An intermediary form between human and post-human, a transhuman resembling a human in most respects but who has powers and abilities beyond those of standard humans. • Based on idea that biological evolution will eventually be overtaken by advances in genetic, wearable and implantable technologies that artificially expedite the evolutionary process.” (Transhumanism: Creating the ‘ideal’ human through augmentation, www.exeter.ac.uk/media/universityofexeter/admissionsandukstudentrecruitment, accessed on 5/27/23)

Transition: I am convinced that all of the issues just mentioned can be traced back to the disappearing conviction that God is the Creator of the Cosmos as related in the Book of Genesis. The concept of Darwinian evolution is bearing fruit in the culture of the 21st century and it is rotten to the core. It is one thing when the pagan culture accepts secular understanding of our origins, but it is appalling to consider the growing number of Evangelicals who accept some level of evolutionary thinking. This is a disturbing and dangerous trend, and the Church of Jesus needs to take a firm stance for the biblical truth of creation.

With that thought, let us take a fresh look at the book of origins, commonly called Genesis

READ the Text: Genesis 1:1

This verse is very possibly the most read verse in the Bible. It is foundational to the rest of the Bible and it gives us great insight on some very important issues.

God is Eternal and Infinite

Explanation: The Bible begins with the introduction of the being known as God. The Hebrew word for God used in the early chapters of Genesis is primarily Elohim, the name for God that addresses His power and might. The Bible does not supply any argumentation for the existence of God - it simply presents Him as the Eternal and Infinite God.

God is Eternal: God has always existed. God did not have a beginning. The Scripture declares that in the beginning God did something (He created), but that statement implies that He was already there to perform the act of Creation.

Psalm 90:2 KJV 1900

Before the mountains were brought forth, Or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, Even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God.

Isaiah 57:15 KJV 1900

For thus saith the high and lofty One That inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, With him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, To revive the spirit of the humble, And to revive the heart of the contrite ones.

God is Infinite: As He existed before there was anything, He is infinite, or without limits. God does not have a physical body because He was before anything physical existed. God is an infinite spirit who transcends the natural and who does not fit in any box (cf. John 4:24)

Argument: Reading the first chapter of the Bible, especially the first verse, brings a person to a dividing line. The Watershed belief is this - either the Bible is God’s word to man OR it is man’s word written about a god he imagined.

If the Bible is His Word to us (and it is!) then what is presents is true and is binding. The first verse of His revelation to mankind is that He is the Uncaused Cause who is Eternal and is the One who brought everything else into being.

This brings us to the second insight from Genesis 1:1

The Universe had a beginning point

Explanation: Since God is the Only Eternal being, then everything that exists now had a beginning point. There was a time when the universe WAS NOT. The Universe is NOT eternal and therefore, by definition, it had a beginning point.

Illustrate: Consider yourself as a person. You have a birth date that marks your entry into physical existence. Now, this isn’t rocket science, but there is no record of you existing before you were born. Makes sense, right? Of course it makes sense. Any entity that is not eternal and infinite has a beginning point.

Argument: The Universe has a beginning point. Even the secular scientists affirm that the Universe had a beginning. A lambda / NASA website has a model of the beginning of the universe that has a really neat, scientific graphic. The current cosmological model is known as the Big Bang Theory. According to this website, the Big Bang occurred around 13.77 Billion years ago.

In addition to the graphic, text is given to further explain the model. Note the language:

We illustrate a brief and simplified picture of theorized stages in the evolution of the universe ...

In this picture, the infant universe is an extremely hot, dense, nearly homogeneous mixture of photons and matter,

The initial conditions of this early plasma are currently thought to be ...

(CDM Model of Cosmology, NASA / LAMBDA Education and Graphics, https://lambda.gsfc.nasa.gov/education/graphic_history/univ_evol.html, accessed on 5/27/23)

The scientific community addresses the issue of origins, but does not give an explanation of ultimate origins. They discuss the Big Bang in terms of the beginning, but they don’t have a reason for the Big Bang itself. This leads back to the issue of Eternity - these scientists either believe that matter itself is eternal or that nothing produced something because something does indeed exist (the Universe and all of us!)

The biblical explanation for the origin of the Universe is straightforward and makes sense:

God is the Creator of the Cosmos

Explanation: In Eternity past God lived by Himself. In His perfection He lacked nothing but He chose to create for His own glory. As Henry Morris states it, “The transcendent, omnipotent Godhead called into existence the space-time-mass universe.” (The Genesis Record, by Henry Morris, p. 41) God lived outside of time; He existed before time and He created time. The known universe does have a beginning because God created it. He spoke the universe into existence by Divine Fiat. He created all that is out of that which was not.

Hebrews 11:3 KJV 1900

Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.

Argument: The reality of God as the Creator of the Universe leads to an understanding of many important truths

Matter is NOT Eternal - only God has that quality

Naturalism is not an adequate answer to explain our origins. “Naturalism is the view that every law and every force operating in the universe is natural rather than moral, spiritual, or supernatural. Naturalism is inherently antitheistic, rejecting the very concept of a personal God.” (The Battle for the Beginning, John MacArthur, p. 11)

Cosmic Dualism is NOT a real position

God is greater than evil - there are not 2 independent forces that have been fighting a cosmic battle for supremacy. The book ends of the Bible (Genesis and Revelation) make it clear: God is the Supreme, Omnipotent Creator of the Universe and He will one day totally eradicate evil. The forces of darkness are NOT in an equal struggle against the Creator!

The Creator God is outside the Box of Creation

Everything that exists (apart from God Himself) is part of the creation. As creatures, we are dependent upon the Creator and we are accountable to Him.

Conclusion: Consider this - this Transcendent, Eternal, Infinite, and Omnipotent God can be known in an authentic and personal manner. The Creator of the Box entered the Box in the Incarnation. The Gospel of John opens with very similar words as found in Genesis 1:1. Under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit John states, “in the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God.” John 1:1. John informs his audience that “the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us” (John 1:14).

The writer of Hebrews informs us that this same Jesus is the One who “by Himself purged our sin (and) sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high (Heb 1:3)