Genesis Session 2

Last week we began by looking at the first ten words of Scripture… ten words that set in motion everything else that follows.

Two very important points were established.

One - There is a beginning. Although God is eternal, our world, this universe is not. It had an intentional beginning.

Two - God created everything we have ever known. All of what we know and see has purpose. This world is not here by accident or by any random circumstantial cosmic event. It was created, designed, and spoken into existence by God who is the creator of all things.

IF this truth is dismissed, then a person should dismiss all that comes after. If we take God out of the beginning, then take Him out of the present and future as well.

Tonight we dive into day number one and we will look specifically at what God created within that day. Verse one tells us that God created the heavens and the earth meaning… He spoke into existence the universe. Stars were not a thing, yet, but space and planets shrouded in darkness came into existence.

Genesis 1:2 paints a picture of what this looked like.

The New International Version Chapter 1

2 Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.

When you read this… what comes to mind? How would you describe what Scripture presents in this passage?

I would describe it as… a blank slate - a prepared canvas for God to begin His creative work.

This is WAY different from doing a restorative work… this is a brand new… never existed… starting from scratch kind of thing.

I’ve got a 78 Jeep sitting in my garage that is my dream car. Someone might look at it and see an older vehicle with rust on the edges, grease on the engine, squeaks in the suspension, tears in he seats, and shorts in the electrical.

But I see what it CAN be. I’ll run my hand along a fender and even pat the thing on the spare tire on the rear… it aint pretty, but it’s mine, and I can’t wait to begin restoring that classic machine. That jeep may never have that new car smell again, but I have plans to dress it up a bit!

In the case of creation… there was no rust, no squeaks, no leaks, no shorts, and no tears to contend with. The heavens and earth were brand new… formless, empty… like new clay in the hands of the potter.

And I find it significant that Scripture mentions that the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.

God and His Spirit… were all over this thing! I can only imagine it was as if God, as the Spirit, was looking over the canvas, preparing for what might come next.

And consider this… As God spoke this into existence, God was present in the existence. Never forget that God always was and could have remained outside the “picture” if you will. But the mention of the Spirit hovering over the waters places God as A PART of the picture he was creating.

The other point that cannot be ignored is we immediately see God as two of the three persons of the Trinity.

God created the heavens and the earth and the Spirit of God hovered over the waters. Both are God and both are present in the beginning of all things. And as we move on in Scripture, we will see the Son make His debut as well...

So here is where we are at… The heavens (space) now exists. The earth (planets) now exist. God is creating and His Spirit is moving about His creation. And now we dive into the rest of day one.

But as we do… pay close attention to the text… because there is certainly more information here… more than meets the eye anyway.

More Than Meets the Eye

Let’s read Genesis 1:3-5

The New International Version Chapter 1

3 And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. 4 God saw that the light was good, and he 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.

There is a lot going on here. First off, who said? GOD SAID. And this point of action introduces us to important information.

The TRINITY Present

One - It is GOD who speaks the universe into motion. God did NOT create a blank slate and let nature do the rest. The only “nature” on display here is the nature of God the Father - Specifically His creative attributes.

Two - It is significant to note that God SPOKE. All things were spoken into existence by God and because He is all-powerful, CREATION OBEYED. Again, it was through the power of God’s SPOKEN WORD that all things were made.

The elements were under His authority. The ingredients did not randomly bump into each other to create something out of nothing. God spoke something into existence through the power of His spoken Word.

AND… with that spoken Word comes the entrance of the third person of the Trinity - God the Son. How so? Because Jesus… IS THE WORD!

John 1:1-3 confirms this truth!

The New International Version Chapter 1

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4 In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

Look closely, John begins with the exact same time stamp that Genesis does… In the beginning. This places Christ as present for the beginning of ALL things. NOTHING was made without Him - God SPOKE everything into existence! It was through the power of His Word that all things were made!

So now we see the FULL Trinity of God at work in creation.

God the Father CREATED ALL.

God the Spirit was PRESENT in ALL.

God the Son (The spoken Word) was the POWER in ALL.

And ALL THREE make up God as we know Him in His TRIUNE existence!

The POWER of the WORD, The PRESENCE of the SPIRIT, and the AUTHORITY of the FATHER is how this world came to be!

God was FULLY there in the beginning of all things!

The Creation (Introduction) of LIGHT

To be clear, this is NOT the creation of the sun (the star the earth orbits around) but is the creation or introduction of light into the universe as we know it.

Regarding the source of the light, some commentators would say that we simply do not know where the light is coming from. I, however, have a different theory.

1 John 1:5 gives some insight here. It reads,

The New International Version Chapter 1

5 This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all.

Now move to Revelation 21:22-24

The New International Version Chapter 21

22 I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. 23 The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp. 24 The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their splendor into it.

So I present this question: When God said “Let there be light…” did God at that time CREATE light OR was that the point of INTRODUCTION of His light in what He created?

Is that the point when God was in fellowship with His creation? To be in fellowship with God is to be in the light as He is in the light. Go back to 1 John 1:5-7

The New International Version Chapter 1

5 This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. 6 If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.

So… My thought is… Since God IS light then light always was as God always is. And when God said “let there be” He introduced light… allowed His light to enter in all that He had created.

Truth be told… we may never know. What we do know is God spoke light into this universe. There used to be an absence of light… but after God said “let there be,” light came forth. And I want you to consider something else that came when light came into the picture… TIME came with it.

The Creation of Time.

God separated the light from darkness, called the light day and the dark night. It goes on to say that evening and morning came marking the first recordable day of creation existence.

Now… what is time? We know it, live in it, experience it, mark it with clocks and calendars… but what is time?

Defined, time is the indefinite continued progress of existence and events in the past, present, and future regarded as a whole.

Before time, there was no past, present or future… just forever. And we struggle in understanding this because all we know is… time.

And we understand that God exists outside of time meaning past, present, future has no hold on God. He always is, was and will be because in regard to time, He is, was and will be at the same time!

We know that God exists outside of time and that He placed time into motion within His creation. Time was created. This is clearly seen in the creation of day and night, evening and morning.

While time and the universe are in constant progressive motion, GOD REMAINS THE SAME. God is already where time is trying to get! God is the constant of which EVERYTHING in creation is measured against… EVEN TIME.

And… because time had a beginning… it means that time can have and end. We know Scripture speaks of a reality where time will no longer be a factor for any of us… As we looked at in Revelation, it is eternity where the glory of God will serve as the illumination of all!

What this means for creation: BECAUSE God exists outside of time, He is with us yesterday, today and tomorrow - AT THE SAME TIME!. Just as He is with us in this room today, He is already with us in our activities tomorrow - we just haven’t gotten there yet! He knows where we have been, where we are, and where we are going. He truly is the Alpha and the Omega. He IS the beginning.... He IS the end!

It was Good.

And in response to what He had made on the first day, God declared that it was good. It was ALL good as it was ALL created by God for His purpose and for His glory. The First day of creation set forth the foundation on which all else would be built.

The heavens and the earth - the universe - was formed.

Light covered the darkness and was pronounce by God to be good.

Time was set into motion and history (His story) began.

And the Trinity was present and responsible for all that has taken place. God was all over His… Such is why His invisible qualities and eternal attributes can be seen all throughout His creation!