And God Said - Day 2
Notes
Transcript
Handout
Sermon Tone Analysis
A
D
F
J
S
Emotion
A
C
T
Language
O
C
E
A
E
Social
And God Said — Day 2
And God Said — Day 2
1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
2 Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness covered the surface of the watery depths, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters.
3 Then God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.
4 God saw that the light was good, and God separated the light from the darkness.
5 God called the light “day,” and He called the darkness “night.” Evening came and then morning: the first day.
6 Then God said, “Let there be an expanse between the waters, separating water from water.”
7 So God made the expanse and separated the water under the expanse from the water above the expanse. And it was so.
8 God called the expanse “sky.” Evening came and then morning: the second day.
Genesis 1:1-8
There is inescapable language in the Genesis account of creation that tells us about what God did to create the universe. It’s plain, unmistakable language that the eternal God at some point in the past — “In the beginning” created out of nothing, without any preexisting material, in six solar days — Everything! And He culminated it all with the pinnacle of His creation — man, — with personality, self-consciousness, intelligence, cognition, and the ability to think and reason — God created man in His own image.
This creation occurred in six days and on the seventh day, it was over and God rested from creating. All of this occured about 6,000 years ago, and the entire creation was aged and matured at the instance of creating. There was no death. There was no corruption. There was no decay because there was no sin. Everything was just as God declared it — “Very Good!”
This goes against the current narrative of science.
But Listen — Science is not a hermeneutic for interpreting Genesis. It’s not a hermeneutic or principle of interpretation at all. Science is simply observation, test, and repeat. It in no way is able to interpret the past — much less the origin of all things. The Bible does not bow to science. The accuracy of Genesis is like any other Scripture. All Scripture is given by inspiration of God. All Scripture is God-breathed and comes by no interpretation, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit. In fact, Jesus perfectly summed it up in .
17 Sanctify them by the truth; Your word is truth.
So, whatever the Bible says — is true.
In spite of this clear teaching of the Bible about the Bible, there are theologians, Bible commentators, scholars, pastors, and preachers, Christian lay-people who deny the Genesis account because they accept evolutionary science to one degree or another, being intimidated by so-called science. Such as John Piper who wrongly concluded — “Whatever science says it is, it is.” No, whatever the Bible says it is, It is!
There is one true book, that is infallible, inerrant, authoritative — a book that settles the issue of Genesis. One book that is inarguably divine and heavenly inspired.
What book is it?
It’s the New Testament.
The New Testament does not suggest Genesis is true, or defend Genesis, or try to explain to someone’s incredulity. It profoundly and powerfully states it as true.
Let me give you just a few references.
35 so that what was spoken through the prophet might be fulfilled: I will open My mouth in parables; I will declare things kept secret from the foundation of the world.
M
19 For those will be days of tribulation, the kind that hasn’t been from the beginning of the world, which God created, until now and never will be again!
3 All things were created through Him, and apart from Him not one thing was created that has been created.
34 For there was not a needy person among them, because all those who owned lands or houses sold them, brought the proceeds of the things that were sold,
24 When they heard this, they all raised their voices to God and said, “Master, You are the One who made the heaven, the earth, and the sea, and everything in them.
15 “Men! Why are you doing these things? We are men also, with the same nature as you, and we are proclaiming good news to you, that you should turn from these worthless things to the living God, who made the heaven, the earth, the sea, and everything in them.
20 For His invisible attributes, that is, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen since the creation of the world, being understood through what He has made. As a result, people are without excuse.
6 For God who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of God’s glory in the face of Jesus Christ.
16 For everything was created by Him, in heaven and on earth, the visible and the invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities— all things have been created through Him and for Him.
15 “Men! Why are you doing these things? We are men also, with the same nature as you, and we are proclaiming good news to you, that you should turn from these worthless things to the living God, who made the heaven, the earth, the sea, and everything in them.
10 And: In the beginning, Lord, You established the earth, and the heavens are the works of Your hands;
3 By faith we understand that the universe was created by God’s command, so that what is seen has been made from things that are not visible.
26 From one man He has made every nationality to live over the whole earth and has determined their appointed times and the boundaries of where they live.
8 For man did not come from woman, but woman came from man.
9 And man was not created for woman, but woman for man.
13 For Adam was created first, then Eve.
14 And Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and transgressed.
14 Nevertheless, death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who did not sin in the likeness of Adam’s transgression. He is a prototype of the Coming One.
17 Since by the one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive the overflow of grace and the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ.
Romans 5:
21 For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead also comes through a man.
1 Corinthians 15:29
5 They willfully ignore this: Long ago the heavens and the earth were brought about from water and through water by the word of God.
6 Through these waters the world of that time perished when it was flooded.
9 and to shed light for all about the administration of the mystery hidden for ages in God who created all things.
11 Our Lord and God, You are worthy to receive glory and honor and power, because You have created all things, and because of Your will they exist and were created.
6 He swore an oath by the One who lives forever and ever, who created heaven and what is in it, the earth and what is in it, and the sea and what is in it: “There will no longer be an interval of time,
9 We praise our Lord and Father with it, and we curse men who are made in God’s likeness with it.
7 He spoke with a loud voice: “Fear God and give Him glory, because the hour of His judgment has come. Worship the Maker of heaven and earth, the sea and springs of water.”
25 They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served something created instead of the Creator, who is praised forever. Amen.
11 Our Lord and God, You are worthy to receive glory and honor and power, because You have created all things, and because of Your will they exist and were created.
10 For in bringing many sons to glory, it was entirely appropriate that God—all things exist for Him and through Him—should make the source of their salvation perfect through sufferings.
Over and over and over — again and again, the New Testament refers back to the Genesis creation account.
Let me encourage you this morning. You are all theologians. You need to understand that. You are all theologians. You may not understand every nuance of theology. You may not understand the difference between supralapsarian and infralapsarianism or the ins and outs of every theological concept —
But you are all theologians because you know the true and living God as He has revealed Himself in Scripture. You are all theologians because you know the Word of the living God!
So, with that, let’s review Day 1 —
1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
The is the summation of it all. That is the foundational truth that now all the rest builds on. The earth was formless and empty, darkness covered the watery depths. In other words, the earth was shapeless and inhabitable by any living thing. God formed and shaped time, space and matter He had created. The Spirit of God hovered over the surface of the waters.
God said, “Let there be light.” And there was light. He separated the light from the darkness, putting the earth in it’s 24 hour rotation. He called the light day and the darkness night. God defined the parameters for which man would live. You see not only was God shaping and forming the earth for biological life, but also shaping and forming life in which man would live, working, resting, and worshiping. And then the text simply states — there was the evening and the morning, the first Day.
Now let’s look at Day 2.
I. The Expanse
I. The Expanse
God continued to shape the earth and make it a habitable environment for life He would later create.
V
6 Then God said, “Let there be an expanse between the waters, separating water from water.”
3 Separations
3 Separations
On Day 1, God separated the light from the darkness. Here on Day 2, God separated the heavens from the earth. And as we’ll see, on Day 3, He separated the water on earth from the dry land. In these 3 separations God makes the earth habitable.
He separated the light from darkness and enacted the 24 hour continuum — and He did it without the Sun and moon, which comes on Day 4!
But here t
Now in Day 2, God made this great separation of the waters to create the Expanse. This is interesting. On Day 1, the earth is covered with water. On Day 2, He separated the water and put an expanse above the earth. So, there is this water above, then this expanse “in between” and then below is the water that remained on the earth.
So, what we have is this water still on the earth and some water above — and in between the two waters is this Expanse. The word expanse is raquia. And it means to “spread out thinness.” And this is an interesting idea. Day 2 begins with this “undifferentiated mass of matter covered with water” with no breathing space. Nothing could have lived here. It’s just all the material elements present as well as energy. This separation and organizing of these elements would be necessary to make earth habitable for living things.
Notice again how this happened — and here again we have this Hebrew conjunction “Ve” that means “and” or “then.” That’s the conjunction I told you begins each of the verses from verse 2 to verse 31, indicating a historical narrative. It just keeps connecting everything together in a sequential order.
Verse 1 — “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”
Verse 2 — “And (Ve) the earth was formless and void...”
Verse 3 — “And God said, ‘Let there be light...”
Verse 4 — “And God saw that the light was good.”
Verse 5— “And God called the light ‘Day.’”
Verse 6 — “And God said, ‘Let there be an expanse...’”
Verse 7 — “And God made the expanse...”
Verse 8 — “And God called the expanse ‘Sky.’”
So, you can see this sequential, orderly narrative of God creating the heavens and the earth. This is not poetic or metaphorical.
Also, notice with me how this happened again — God Said… He spoke this expanse into existence, an expanse that wasn’t there before, just like He spoke light into existence.
What?!? Can you imagine this?
He did this like He did everything else so far, and I’ll give away the ending — just like He did everything else after this until He was finished. He did it by the sheer power of His voice and wisdom of His mind. He created an expanse between the water, separating the water.
Have you ever tried to separate water? Or any liquid?
When God separated the waters of the Red Sea, this really was an amazing feat, but that was actually child’s-play. He had already separated bigger waters with this expanse.
How incredible is the power of God?
And how amazing is the mind of God to do such a thing to give man a breathable environment?
You should praise Him!
You should glorify God!
He is greatly to be praised!
But that’s not all!
II. So God made the expanse
II. So God made the expanse
7 So God made the expanse and separated the water under the expanse from the water above the expanse. And it was so.
It’s important to understand this is all creative.
In other words, it’s all the creative power going on here of proportions that is just absolutely beyond our capacity to understand.
This phrase “God made the expanse.” Some say that’s different from creating because the word for Made is not the word Bara for Created. And it’s not Bara, it’s the Hebrew word, Asah.
Is there another activity? Is God changing His activity creating at first and now something else?
The answer is — No! This is not any different action on God’s part. God created the expanse just like He did the light, just like He did time, space, and matter — Ex Nihilio — out of nothing!
Look at 2:3
3 God blessed the seventh day and declared it holy, for on it He rested from His work of creation.
Do you see the last phrase “work of creation?”
This is literally, bara Elohim asah — creation God made.
There’s no distinction, the word made acts as a synonym of the word Create. Bara, create, is the defining word in the context, it means to create something out of nothing. Or we could say, something that transcends normal ability, to do something that cannot be done. That’s Bara in and 2. And Made, Asah, is jus a synonym referring to the same action God is doing — creating.
So, verse 1 indicated the broad picture and verse 7 gives us the same idea in a particular aspect of God’s creating action — out of nothing. God created this expanse “Between” the waters, actually water from water.
The question is — What is this water?
And let me just set this out there — I don’t know. And I don’t think anyone knows for sure. The question always seems to be specifically about the water above. It would seem to me that the water would be like the water below unless God changed the water in some way. We’re just not told in the text.
Some believe this water to have formed a canopy of water vapor above the earth that created such an environment that allowed all living things to live very long. And that when God brought the flood that He opened up the tectonic plates underneath the crust of the earth and molten lava flowed out creating a cataclysmic activity that altered the earth completely changing the earth — and that God also broke open this canopy of waters above completely flooding the earth and destroying every living thing.
However, there’s no way to know for certain because we are not told. There’s nothing here about a canopy. Maybe it’s a reasonable explanation. And there are some who have concluded that such a canopy would have all kinds of issues with heat and light and solar radiation. That the earth would have temperatures of in excess of 220 degrees. Again, Genesis does not specifically state the formation of a canopy of water vapor — only that God separated the waters with an expanse.
Whatever this water is, would it still be there?
4 Praise Him, highest heavens, and you waters above the heavens.
Maybe we should just leave it to just what the text says and rest in
29 The hidden things belong to the Lord our God, but the revealed things belong to us and our children forever, so that we may follow all the words of this law.
Job had no problems with the wisdom revealed in creation as set out in .
7 He stretches the northern skies over empty space; He hangs the earth on nothing.
14 These are but the fringes of His ways; how faint is the word we hear of Him! Who can understand His mighty thunder?
Job 26:14
Look at the end of verse 7.
III. And it was So
III. And it was So
— “And it was so.”
Is this redundant?
He said in verse 6,
6 Then God said, “Let there be an expanse between the waters, separating water from water.”
And then in verse 7,
7 So God made the expanse and separated the water under the expanse from the water above the expanse. And it was so.
So, why is there added — “And it was so?”
This is not some needless commentary. This is absolutely critical. Look back at verse 3.
3 Then God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.
There is no — “And it was so.”
We find this phrase, “And it was so” in verse 9, verse 11, 15, and 24. It’s used to affirm something that is fixed, that doesn’t change. It is used of that which has remained since the day it was created. There is still this expanse today. There is still water and dry land from verse 9. There are still vegetation bearing seed and fruit according to their kinds from verse 11. There are still lights in the expanse of the sky to provide light and serve as signs for festivals and days and years from verse 15. There are still living creatures according to their kinds in verse 24. When God created the light in verse 3 it would not remain as it was. God then separated the light and darkness and it has kept going like that, Light and darkness, Light and darkness, Light and darkness… — Not fixed.
Verse 8 begins — “God called the expanse ‘Sky.’”
God had called the light, Day, and the darkness, Night and now He called the expanse Saymayim — heaven or sky. The same word is used in verse 14. And there He placed the sun and moon and stars for light on the earth. So it appears that this expanse is possibly our atmosphere and then space as well.
In , Paul speaks of “a man in Christ who was caught up into the third heaven.” This seems to indicate that the 1st heaven is the sky or the earth’s atmosphere, and the 2nd heaven, Space, and beyond that is heaven — where God dwells.
So, there’s no expanse, no atmosphere on earth until Day 2 when God speaks this expanse into existence and divides the water sending some of the water up and there’s where it is. And then leaving some of the water on the earth. There’s water above and water below and in between is this expanse and God called it “Sky” or “heaven.” That’s not a scientific explanation. But that’s what the Bible says.
Did it change after the flood?
Was that water what God used to flood the earth?
Was that water what enabled men to live for 6, 7, 800 years?
We don’t know. What we do know is what is revealed to us. What we do know is what says.
Interestingly, God doesn’t say the earth was good yet. He has only said that the light was good. But the earth — He doesn’t say it was good in Day 1 or Day 2. He doesn’t say it was good until verse 10, when the earth is then habitable.
But — What God is doing is good because all He does is good. He’s just not finished. God created the expanse and He did it in a Day. And now it’s all ready for Day 3.
Genesis 1:8
8 God called the expanse “sky.” Evening came and then morning: the second day.
But I want you to think about all that has been said in this amazing Day 2.
What stands out?
What grabs your attention?
There’s not much detail about this expanse or the water above. But what dominates the Day is God. Let me give you the literal translation of the Hebrew.
Verse 6 — “And said God...”
Verse 7 — “And made God...”
Verse 8 — “And called God...”
God said.
God made.
God called.
Turn with me to .
1 My soul, praise Yahweh! Lord my God, You are very great; You are clothed with majesty and splendor.
2 He wraps Himself in light as if it were a robe, spreading out the sky like a canopy,
3 laying the beams of His palace on the waters above, making the clouds His chariot, walking on the wings of the wind,
4 and making the winds His messengers, flames of fire His servants.
5 He established the earth on its foundations; it will never be shaken.
The Psalmist praises God for stretching out the heavens. Scientist do know that the universe is expanding. This they have observed. Of course, their worldview tells them this is because of the Big Bang, though this is refuted. But we know what’s happening from . God is stretching it out, laying the beams of His palace on the waters above.
The Psalmist rightly praises God.
Colossians 1:15-
15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.
16 For everything was created by Him, in heaven and on earth, the visible and the invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities— all things have been created through Him and for Him.
17 He is before all things, and by Him all things hold together.
This is Christ. He is to be praised.
Do you?
Do you praise this God revealed in Scripture?
He is Jesus. unveils the Creator. The New Testament unveils the Creator as the Lord Jesus Christ.
Worship Him. He is God.
Praise Him! He is the glorious Creator God.
Let’s Pray.
Our Father in heaven,
Glory and praise and honor are due to You for Your are God and You created everything for Your glory. You created everything in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible. You created the angels. You created dominions, rulers, and authorities. There is nothing You have not created. And all things were created for You. You are to be praised. And we gladly do so this morning, In Jesus name. Amen.