In the beginning, God ...
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Eternity Past
Eternity Past
This morning we will pick up where we left off last week. You will remember last week that we didn’t get very far into Genesis 1 in fact we didn’t even get through the entire first verse. What we did last week was foundational in that we determined that at the beginning there must have been something eternal, the choices being an eternal mind alone, eternal matter alone or eternal mind & matter. The Bible starts off its history by stating right in the first verse that God was present at the Beginning. Before creation He was. Psalm 90:2 put it this way
2 Before the mountains were brought forth,
or ever you had formed the earth and the world,
from everlasting to everlasting you are God.
God is everlasting and was before creation. So we see that the answer cannot be eternal matter alone. The Bible makes it clear elsewhere, the eternal God is the source of matter. Hebrews 11:3 states:
3 By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible.
God did not exist in eternity with matter he is the source of all matter. God alone existed in all of eternity and He is the source of everything else outside of Himself. Anything that is not God came from God and this fact should result in God receiving glory from His creation.
The final verse of Romans 11 states it this way:
36 For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.
Unfortunately despite the fact that God’s eternality and power is evident to any observer of creation man has rebelled against Him and according to Romans 1
25 because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.
In essence what we covered last week was the when? of the creation story. The temporal setting of the event was in eternity past and only the eternal mind of God existed in this time before creation.
This morning we will look a little more closely at the who of creation (the eternal God) and we will spend the remainder of our time on the what? of creation.
Elohim and the Trinity
Elohim and the Trinity
1 In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.
The word translated “God” here is one of the Jewish titles for God , “Elohim” and this is one of the first possible hints of the trinity found in the Bible. Elohim is really more a Jewish title than a name and it is given to all heavenly or spiritual beings. In other places in the old testament Elohim is translated “heavenly beings” in reference to Angels. The key in translated the term is found in the context and it is correctly translated “God” here. What is interesting about this word is that it is a “plural” or “collective” word, something like “they”. However when translated God it is always joined with a singular verb. To give you an English analogy we would say “He creates” but we would say “They create”. So in a sense we get this vague hint of the trinity here a plural God working as a singular being. We also get a further hint at the trinity when we look at verses 26 -27 when God (plural) says
26 Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”
27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.
Now we will look more at these two verses later when we discuss what it means to be made in the image of God but let us first focus on the fact that all three persons of the Trinity were involved in the creation of the world.
God the Father is clearly in view in the Genesis account but other passages confirm His participation.
24 And when they heard it, they lifted their voices together to God and said, “Sovereign Lord, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in them,
The Bible is clear that Jesus was involved in the creation of the World and is not Himself a product of creation but the producer of creation.
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
2 He was in the beginning with God.
3 All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.
In the second part of verse 2 (I know, you are very excited to get out of verse 1) we find that the Spirit of God was active in Creation.
Gen 1:2
Creation was something the Triune Godhead did together. This highlights one of the attributes of God. He is a relational God. In eternity past before the creation of this universe He lived in perfect relationship with Himself. Later on today when we look at what it means to be made in God’s image we will see that being a relational being is part of that.
Ok, so we looked at the when (eternity past), we looked at the who (elohim and the trinity), now let’s look at the what (created the heavens and the earth).
Created the Heavens and the Earth
Created the Heavens and the Earth
1 In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.
Genesis 1:1 serves as an introductory statement, a preview summary of the events described in the following passage.
It describes in a few words what will take 33 additional verses to cover in more detail. In eternity past (in the beginning) God, Elohim, created the known universe.
The word translated created here is the Hebrew word “BaRah”. BaRah carries with it a divine connotation. It is the type of creating only God can do and throughout the Old Testament the word is only used in connection to an act of God. This word, BaRah especially in the form it is found here in verse 1 carries the connotation of absolute creation vs relative creation. Absolute creation is what we discussed last week when we spoke of “ex nihilo” creation. It is making something of literally nothing. Relative creation is more of an assembling. Taking raw materials and “creating” something out of it. Relative creation is what man can do. Absolute creation is solely in the domain of God.
So verse one tells us that God in an act of absolute creation, produced the known universe.
So far so good. We just finished verse 1!
As I mentioned last week, one of the main reasons I am teaching through this material is because I covered it in our Man to Man Bible study. During that study I presented and defended the traditional view of Creation. This traditional view is the view that was held by the vast majority Christians up until about 200 years ago. As we go through the remainder of the passage this morning I will be again presenting this traditional view. We are going to work through our passage with the traditional view in mind. I will then discuss at the end the other more recently developed interpretations of the passage.
Without further delay let’s move on to verse 2
2 The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.
Following the summary statement verse one we begin to flesh out some details of the creation account.
In the beginning of the creation story we find that the earth is described as a formless empty and dark place and that the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.. The traditional view holds that this event happened on the first day. God first started by creating matter and some concept of form or shape and then arranged this matter in the following verses. The word translated hovering could also be translated vibrate and there are some commentators and creation scientists who believe this verse may indicate the Spirit imparting energy into the matter that was created.
We will talk more about verse 2 later but for now lets march forward in the text.
3 And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.
4 And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness.
5 God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.
We see here the pattern laid out for the creation week. God’s creative word, the report of the effect, God’s evaluation of the effect, for some days the sovereign naming followed by the numbering of the day.
On this first day God created light. He created light before He created the natural sources for light. Some have used this fact as reason to dismiss the chronology of creation presented here but if we allow scripture to interpret scripture there is no need to dismiss the chronology. God Himself was the source of the light just as He will be again in the future. In Revelation 21 the apostle John describes the new city of Jerusalem and this is what He says about it:
23 And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb.
God was the source of light in the original creation and He will be the source of light in the future creation.
In this first day God also created day and night. Some commentators and creation scientists state that this indicates God created a fixed point of light and caused rotation of the shapeless form that He had so far created. Whether this is true or not He did establish the pattern of day and night by which the passage of time was then measured.
We come next, logically, to day 2 which we read about in verses 6-8.
6 And God said, “Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.” 7 And God made the expanse and separated the waters that were under the expanse from the waters that were above the expanse. And it was so. 8 And God called the expanse Heaven. And there was evening and there was morning, the second day.
In day two we find a separation of waters (the waters described in verse 2). God created a dead space in the waters causing some water to be carried above this dead space and other waters to be gathered below it. This expanse that He created is best thought of as space because as we will see when we get to day four the sun, moon and stars are placed in this expanse. For many years creation scientist thought that perhaps the waters above the expanse could have been a sort of canopy serving in some way to enrich earth’s atmosphere and also to serve a source for water during the flood. However computer models (made by Christians who believe in the traditional interpretation of Genesis) reveal this is quite unlikely for many reasons. The thought was that this canopy of water was essentially used up during the flood. Using scripture to intepret scripture once again however we find this passage in Psalms 148
4 Praise him, you highest heavens,
and you waters above the heavens!
So the psalmist here is writing well after the flood and in His praise of the creator God he states that there are still waters above the heavens. So while we may not understand it, it is possible that there is water somewhere out there in space waiting to be discovered. God names the expanse Heaven and this is the end of the second day.
Next God causes dry land to appear in day 3 along with the vegetation necessary to later provide for life.
9 And God said, “Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear.” And it was so.
10 God called the dry land Earth, and the waters that were gathered together he called Seas. And God saw that it was good.
11 And God said, “Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind, on the earth.” And it was so.
12 The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed according to their own kinds, and trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.
13 And there was evening and there was morning, the third day.
At first glance there isn’t much that needs explaining here in these verses but there is an important concept illustrated here. When God created the universe as described here in chapter 1 He created a mature universe. The plants were already bearing fruit with seeds including the trees. Anyone who has planted a fruit tree can tell you it takes at least 6 years before those trees bear fruit but on this third day of creation the trees were already bearing fruit. If we were able to observe these trees on that day we would have guessed them to be much older than they truly were. This concept of a mature universe comes into play later in our discussion.
Moving forward we will see God fill in the creation he has prepared in days 1-3
14 And God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night. And let them be for signs and for seasons, and for days and years,
15 and let them be lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light upon the earth.” And it was so.
16 And God made the two great lights—the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night—and the stars.
17 And God set them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth,
18 to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good.
19 And there was evening and there was morning, the fourth day.
So in day four He creates bearers for the light he created on Day 1. Moving forward from this date of creation the sun and moon now regulate the measurement of a “day” when previously is was only the periods of light and dark. From the beginning of creation the stars were created as a way to mark the seasons and times. To this day the position of the stars can be used to tell the hour of the day and the season of the year.
Moving forward we come to day 5, in this day he creates life to inhabit the skies and seas He created on day 2.
20 And God said, “Let the waters swarm with swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the heavens.”
21 So God created the great sea creatures and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarm, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.
22 And God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.”
23 And there was evening and there was morning, the fifth day.
God begins His creation of animate life here in day 5. Notice here the language here in verse 21. This idea of “kinds” is important to note. God did not necessarily create every creature that we can find today in the seas and skies on day 5 but he did create every “kind.” Just as there are dogs today in existence that didn’t exist 200 years ago (golden-doodle) there are fish and birds in existence today that didn’t exist then but the kinds did (fish, whales, crustaceans, eels, etc.). From these original kinds there has been “micro-evolution” and change producing the animals we see today. However there is no evidence for a fish to become anything other than a different kind of fish.
We then come to day 6 and find God creating life to inhabit the land that He created on day 3.
24 And God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures according to their kinds—livestock and creeping things and beasts of the earth according to their kinds.” And it was so.
25 And God made the beasts of the earth according to their kinds and the livestock according to their kinds, and everything that creeps on the ground according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.
He starts day five by creating the land animals and specifically mentions livestock or domesticated type animals, creeping things or lizards, snakes, insects, rodents and the beasts of the earth or wild animals. This creation is followed by the same evaluation God has given repeatedly during this creation week. He saw “that it was good.”
We then find language differentiating the next act of creation from all that has occured up to this point. In verse 26-27 we read this:
26 Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”
27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.
The creation of man is different. Mankind is distinct from the rest of the creation and the distinction comes from the fact that mankind was created in the very image of God. The triune God holds counsel with Himself and fashions the pinnacle of His creation in His own image.
In my sermon that I preached on sanctity of life Sunday I spent a good portion on this concept of being made in the image of God but let’s cover it again briefly here.
Being made in God’s image does not imply that mankind “resembles” God. God did not have a physical form for us to resemble. What it does mean is that we are the representatives of God in His creation. Mankind share in some attributes of God. We do so in a finite and imperfect way.
One of the first ways we represent God is in our relational nature. God exists in the eternal relationship of the trinity and when He created mankind He created them in His image and part of that was the creation of male and female. There were already sexual differences created prior to this event in the birds, marine and land animals. However this is the first time male and female is mentioned. This is because it carries a deeper connotation of union in relationship which extends a mere sexual union. Mankind is distinct from the rest of creation in its ability to participate in abstract thought. We can hypothesize and theorize about concepts that have no tangible substance. We talk and think about love, meaning, purpose. Mankind can also appreciate beauty in the world around us and we are the only species that creates objects merely for their aesthetic appeal. We have taught animals to hold a paint brush but there is no doubt in any thinking person’s mind that these animal have no concept of art. These are only a few of the ways in which we represent the image of God.
In addition to being distinct from the rest of creation because we were created in the image of God, mankind has also been distinguished in that we were given a commission.
28 And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”
29 And God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food.
30 And to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the heavens and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so.
Man was commissioned to multiply to subdue the physical earth and to have dominion over the rest of created life. We were to represent God to the remainder of His creation!
Following this commission we find God’s final evaluation of His created work and it differs from what has come before.
31 And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.
Before the creation of man God saw his creation as “good”. Following the creation of man God sees the whole of what He had made the complete picture with His representatives in their place and He now says “it was very good”. This statement brings the creative work days to an end.
Chapter 2 of Genesis really begins with a post script to Genesis 1 and it finishes out the creation week.
1 Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them.
2 And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done.
3 So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation.
Verse 1 tells us that this is how the work of creation was accomplished and verse 2 and 3 tell us that on day 7 God rested from His work and as a result He blessed the seventh day and set it apart.
We could now speak on so many different topics as they relate to creation, man’s mandate from God, the observance of the Sabbath, or even the power and creativity of our God.
What I would like to do however is to discuss one more “who, what, where” type question. This question is the rhetorical question answered by verse 1 of chapter 2. and that it the How? How did God do it?
Thus the heavens and the earth were finished
Thus the heavens and the earth were finished
I hope that as we read through our text both prior to the sermon and during the sermon you were struck by the fact that a plain reading of that passage describes an easy to understand accounting of creation. It speaks of 6 days of creative acts of God followed by a day of rest. At first glance there is no reason to doubt that these ancient days are in fact synonymous with our days (24 hour periods of time). This is the way it has been understood for centuries. This passage however has been re-interpreted because of claims made about the origins of the universe, our planet and life on our planet made over the past 200 years.
These challenges to a plain and literal reading started with theories in geology (the study of the earth and rocks) with Charles Lyell and found their greatest traction in the theory of evolution with Charles Darwin.
Really quickly I am going to summarize the two pillars of the so-called scientific explanation for the universe and more specifically Earth and its inhabitants. Charles Lyell was a geologist who put forward a theory called “uniformitarianism” . This theory stated that everything we see in geology (specifically the strata layers of soil and fossils found within) can be explained by processes still observable today. Lyell put forward the thought that gradual erosion and slow natural processes were responsible for the geologic formations found in the world. In order for this to be true great periods of time had to take place to allow these processes to do their work.
Charles Lyell had a friend who shared his belief that the earth and life on it must be old. This was another Charles, Charles Darwin. His theory of evolution follows the same principles of uniformitarianism. His basic premise is that you are genetically different from your parents and each generation is different from the prior. Charles Darwin believed that given enough time these small differences could allow for a single ancestor to all life.
These two men and their theories became very influential within the scientific community and over time (about 150 years) their theories have become the prevailing theories explaining the origin of the universe in the western world. Lyell and Darwin estimated the earth to be about 300 million years old but a careful study of the Scripture and the genealogies found in them appear to describe an earth that is really only about 6,000 -10,000 years old. For decades the church held fast to its belief in a literal 7 day creation and this young earth. However over the past several decades the church has sought to “synthesize” these two accounts. Well meaning and not so well meaning people have looked at the Genesis account and came up with novel interpretations that allow for great passages of time.
There are several ways that do this. One common way is to interpret Genesis 1-3 as merely allegorical and poetic language. There are a few reasons that some point to when the do this. First is that they point to similarities between the Genesis account and ancient creation myths from other cultures. The myths from the other cultures namely the Sumerian creation myth that was later adopted by the Babylonians also claim to report the beginnings of the universe and we have earlier recorded versions of these than we do for Genesis. It is important to remember that Moses recorded Genesis for us, well after it occured. In addition to the fact that Moses may have been familiar with these other creation myths proponents of the allegorical or poetic interpretation of the early parts of Genesis point to the parallel structure found in Genesis 1. We discussed this in passing as we went through the passage. Days 1, 2 and 3 (Light, Sea/Sky, Land) are parallel to days 4,5 and 6 (Sun, Moon and Stars, birds and marine life, land animals and man). Some find that this parallelism indicates poetic language.
This theory by those who wish to synthesize or make room for an old-earth cosmology is one of the easiest to dispel. First any similarities between the creation myths of other ancient civilizations and the Genesis account are more easily explained by the fact that they are describing the same events. And if Genesis is accurate, all of these ancient cultures had a shared ancestral heritage and would have heard the same accounts from their forebearers. Also the similarities are actually quite minimal and the differences are significant. The main myth mentioned is called the Enuma Elish and I recommend you google it. I would be surprised after reading it or watching it explained on you-tube if you then say “that’s just like Genesis!” Additionally we need to remember that the Bible no-where claims to be myth.
Second Peter chapter one puts it this way:
3 His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence,
You see here that we are granted knowledge of Him (God), everything we need to understand life and godliness. Skipping down to verse 16
16 For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty.
Peter combatting this early attack on the truth of scripture says it plainly, we are not following cleverly devised myths. And finally in verse 21 we find this important reminder.
21 For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.
No prophecy (or scripture) was produced by man’s will but the Holy Spirit carried them along as they spoke as though from God. This includes Moses as he wrote Genesis.
In addition to the fact that Scripture itself denies the label of myth the Hebrew language denies the label of poetry for Genesis 1. Hebrew poetry (even Biblical) follows specific patterns which are not found in the early parts of Genesis except for select verses such as verse 27 in chapter 1. If you have a modern translation of the Bible you will not that verse 27 is formatted differently than the rest of the chapter. This is in recognition of its poetic form which is not found in the other verses.
Another way that well meaning and not-so well meaning people have tried to synthesize Genesis with an old-earth cosmology is what is called the day-age theory. On its surface this is a tempting compromise especially because it is based on other Scripture. 2 Peter 3 :8 says this:
8 But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.
Using this verse and their desire to make room for the millions of years required by Charles Lyell and Darwin some have claimed that when we read “day” in chapter one it really is referring to a period of time that could be any length. This is important because it allows for elasticity in the interpretation of time because as more research is done it is becoming more apparent that more and more time would be required for this world to be accounted for by processes still occuring today. Lyell and Darwin theorized that the earth was 300 million years old. 170 years later the estimate is now 4.5 billion (or 15 x older).
There are several problems with the day-age theory however. The main problem is that the word translated “day” in Genesis 1 never means anything other than a 24 hour period when it is paired with an ordinal. In plain language it means if you number the day (as in there was evening and there was morning the “first” day) it only ever refers to a singular day. Also other passages in Scripture (written by the same author) take these days to be literal 24 hour days. Remember the fourth commandment?
8 “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.
9 Six days you shall labor, and do all your work,
10 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates.
11 For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.
Exodus again uses plain language that assumes a 24 hour period and doesn’t leave room for the day-age theory.
The final compromise we will discuss this morning that some Christians have made is what is called the “gap theory”. The idea here is that there is a Gap of time between verse 1 and verse 2 of Genesis. Again this is a new and modern theory that exists because of an effort to allow for an old-earth cosmology. The idea is that God created the heavens and the earth and had to scrap the original creation and Adam and Eve were creation 2.0. Some have tried to argue that it was during this gap that Satan and the Demons fell and it was a result of the fall of Satan that the original creation had to be discarded.
There really is no support for this theory from the text and the rest of Scripture is clear that creation was cursed and death entered in because of man’s sin not the sin of Satan.
This is the real crux of the matter, the New Testament is clear and consistent. The curse that we will learn about in Genesis 3 was the origin of death and destruction in our world. Before then God’s evaluation of His creation was that it was “very good.” Adam and Eve cannot be the results of millennia of evolution whereby creatures live and die and change eventually resulting in modern man. The historicity of Adam and Eve is the essential argument for a literal interpretation of Genesis. To invalidate a literal reading makes the Bible’s explanation for the presence of evil and sin in our world nonsense. It also raises the question, where do you stop? If Genesis 1-11 isn’t literal who is to say that the accounts of the virgin birth, miracles of Jesus and most importantly His resurrection aren’t just fable or myth only intended to teach us a moral lesson?
I want to offer you one explanation for the appearance of age in our universe. When God created the universe He created a mature universe, the animals were full grown, the trees were already bearing fruit, Adam and Eve were adults. The light from distant stars was already visible on earth so they could be used to tell the times and seasons. Looking at this universe without the lens of Scripture it is not ridiculous to see an old system. This is because God created it with maturity.
Conclusion
Conclusion
I could go on and on and I know you are right now saying “you already have” but eventually I have to let you go. So why does this matter? Why defend a literal interpretation of Genesis ? Because Genesis sets the stage for our salvation. I Corinthians 15 tells us this
20 But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.
21 For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead.
and in verses 45-49
45 Thus it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being”; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit.
46 But it is not the spiritual that is first but the natural, and then the spiritual.
47 The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from heaven.
48 As was the man of dust, so also are those who are of the dust, and as is the man of heaven, so also are those who are of heaven.
49 Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven.
The creation account for Genesis is more than just a story. It is the foundational truth necessary to understand God and His plan for humanity. He wants to have a relationship with his image bearers. He wants His creation to enjoy the “very good” things He has made for them. Through our sin however we have separated ourselves from His love and His blessing. He planned for this however before he began to create us. He knew that He would send His son to die in our stead so that we could have a relationship with Him once again. So that our future would no longer be tied to the first Adam but would be joined to the second Adam, Jesus Christ.