Creatio Ex Nihilo

This evening’s Belgic Confession article is about God creating everything, seen and unseen. We might think all this is old hat, but increasingly, it is becoming more and more important, even in the church.

Just to bring us up to speed, we’ve so far looked at who God is, basically, generally speaking, the two ways we come to know about God, general and special revelation, then we’ve looked at God as revealed as Trinity: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Last time, when we studied the teaching concerning the Holy Spirit, we noticed that He was also active in the creation of the world. The phrase from Genesis is probably familiar, “And the spirit of God hovered over the surface of the deep.”

So, all three persons of the Trinity were active in creation. But what is creation? How do we understand this, and why is this important? The Christian teaching on creation is vastly different from other religions and from secular society. It is unique.

The Greek mythologies have creation happening as a result of a union of the two original gods. The Babylonians had a similar cosmology. Pagans believe that God is everywhere in creation, and that creation is God, which is pantheism. Atheists believe there is no God and all the creation around us, sorry, they’d not call it that, the stuff around us just happened out of some great potential, which somehow just existed and somehow via a big bang, just happened.

Over and against all these things, we believe that God, by His own goodness, out of His good pleasure, out of no need or necessity, chose to create the universe. God created everything, but creation is not a part of Him. Creation is separate from Him. He always existed, creation once did not exist, and then it did, after He created it.

There are four main points in Article 12. 1. God made all things visible. 2. God gave a purpose for everything and He sustains all things. 3. God created all things invisible (angels and such). 4. How the angels fell and what the demons do.

1. God Created All Things Visible

God created everything we see, out of nothing. Once upon a time, there was nothing but God. Then God created matter out of nothing, creatio ex nihilo. Creatio—where we get our word create, ex—meaning out of, nihilo-where we get our word nihilism--nothingness, or annihilate, which is to make something, nothing.

For some, this idea, this knowledge doesn’t make sense. For them, it is difficult to consider the possibility of a being creating something out of nothing. Given their interpretation of the natural world, it is difficult to understand how the universe could come about in only six days.

If you have no understanding of an all powerful God, if you don’t believe God exists, then you have to come up with other explanations. Those who did not believe in God, or want to believe in God, did just that.

But here’s the rub. Simply believing something doesn’t make it so. If I decided that my Ford wasn’t manufactured by Ford, that it just appeared in my driveway there’d be consequences. Many people would demonstrate how Ford manufactured it, how we bought it from our friend’s son who worked at a Ford dealership and then they would remind me that I drove it home. But that’s what atheists are doing. They’re saying, God didn’t do it, it just happened by itself. This is a figment of imagination. Nothing happens out of nothing. There is always a source, a beginning—except for God, who is eternal—He always was, is and is to come.

Consider also, because Jesus demonstrated power over the wind and the waves by annihilating a storm immediately, wouldn’t it be possible that He could create the entire universe in just a week? Given the fact that Adam was fully mature, and given the fact that the world needed to be fully mature to sustain Adam’s life, the most logical explanation is that the world appeared fully mature, as God made each part.

Because we are limited, finite human beings, we cannot even begin to comprehend being able to create immediate maturity. Everything around us requires time. Babies become mature after decades. Trees become mature over centuries. Canyons, once formed in matters of minutes, take a long time to erode further.

So, we at odds with unbelievers who do not accept the world as God created it. But we, by faith, understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible. God commands, God is in control. God did not have to create thus, He chose to. He created all things for the furtherance of his glory, to fulfil His own purposes, and for our salvation.

2. God Gives Purpose and Sustains All Things

When we look at creation, we can see that God gives purpose and sustains all things. Everything serves the creator. God’s design is evident throughout. Nevertheless, the pinnacle of God’s creating is the formation of Adam from the ground, the adama. But Adam wasn’t just created to look good. He was created as God’s vice-regent, to have dominion over all creation. Adam was created to rule in God’s name.

If Adam had accomplished this perfectly, then God would have received glory, honour, and praise. When God is most glorified, we are most satisfied. When we strive to give glory to God, then we derive our greatest pleasure. That is to say, when we have God’s glory as our greatest achievement, then we will find happiness and joy, fulfillment in doing what we’re doing. For then we’ll be doing what we were created to do.

The temptation that faces all of us is that we can create our own reality, where we are the centre. But we must realise that true reality has God at the centre. God doesn’t exist for us; we exist for God’s sake.

God doesn’t exist to fulfill our felt needs. Isaiah 43:7 says, “Everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made.” We exist to give glory to God. And God is able to derive glory from His creation regardless of how perfectly it follows His commands. For, even if no one were declared righteous before God, God would still be glorified because He would be revealed as a perfectly just judge. But because God is also merciful, He has made a way for us to receive righteousness from Him.

Thus, God’s greatest expression of mercy is seen in Christ. “For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell, and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross” (Col. 1:19-20 “.” ).

God hasn’t stopped creating. We know that He not only has reconciled us to Himself through Christ’s blood, but through the Holy Spirit, through baptism, He has make us new. 2 Cor. 5:17, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” God will redeem individuals as well as all creation when He comes again.

3. God created all things invisible (angels and such)

Having dealt with the visible creation, the confession turns now to consider the invisible creation, the spiritual realm inhabited by angels. That God created angels is clear from Psalm 148:2 “Praise Him, all His angels; Praise Him, all His hosts!” Psalm 148:5 “Let them praise the name of the Lord, For He commanded and they were created.” Angels are different from humans. Angels are spiritual beings; they are immaterial. They don’t have physical bodies—but can appear in physical form. Angels do not marry, nor do the reproduce like humans. Angels are invisible (Colossians 1:16) but again they can make themselves visible.

Angels are rational creatures. They possess intellect and knowledge. They rejoice when a person repents. They worship God. They also long for the end of the age, when Christ will return. The majority of angels are holy, loyal to God. Some angels form an army to fight alongside Christ. The saints in heaven, those who have died, or martyred, are like the angels, existing as spirits, conscious, but without bodies. But unlike the angels, the saints will receive a resurrected body at the end of the age.

There are different orders of angels. Cherubim reveal God’s glory. Seraphim guard God’s holiness. Two archangels, Michael and Gabriel are warriors who mediate between God and men, by giving messages when it is most needed. Most of the angels ordinarily are busy giving praise day and night to God.

The Bible doesn’t teach that we have our own personal guardian angels, though Matthew teaches in a general way that angels watch over the little ones. But still, such a reference cannot be used to explain the notion of personal guardianship.

In the conclusion of this section, the confession states that we reject two errors. First, the Sadducees who said that there were no such thing as angels (for they believed that only the Pentateuch is authoritative, which does not mention angels). The Manichees said that the angels which fell were created evil. However, we know from Genesis 1 that all that God made was good.

It is true that some of the angels rebelled against God and fell from grace, following the usurper, Lucifer, also called the devil or Satan. And that brings us to the final point of Article 12.

4. Fallen Angels and Demons

Not only is it wise to limit our conversation concerning angels, as God hasn’t revealed a whole lot about them, we also need to exercise caution when conversing about demons.

It is sufficient to understand that as rational, cognizant beings, angels are able to rebel against God, and some of them did. Those that did are completely depraved. There is no salvation available to them. They are completely bent on death and destruction. They lie in wait like murderers and seek to kill the church and her people. Because of this, they are sentenced to eternal damnation.

We’re not given specifics about what happened, but this is what we know from the scriptures: Pride led to the fall (1 Tim. 3:6). Jude 6 says, “the angels who did not keep their positions of authority but abandoned their own home–these he has kept in darkness, bound with everlasting chains for judgment on the great Day. 2 Peter 2:4 says, God did not spare angels when they sinned, but sent them to hell, putting them into gloomy dungeons to be held for judgment.” When Jesus met certain demons, they indicated that they knew what was going to be their final fate, Matthew records their words, “‘What do you want with us, Son of God?’ they shouted. ‘Have you come here to torture us before the appointed time?’” (Matt. 8:29).

Some of the fallen angels have been bound, not literally, but through the preaching of the gospel. In spite of what popular Christian authors suggest, demons are not able to torment Christians through possession, they cannot cause us to sin, nor do they rearrange our furniture. They don’t put evil thoughts in our minds. Our minds are evil enough, we don’t need the help. Besides, if the evil thoughts were truly put in our minds, then we could simply blame Satan.

Satan doesn’t make good people bad, but rather he tries to move people away from Jesus Christ. Satan attacks the church by changing, refuting, and trying to destroy the gospel. He is constantly asking, “Did God really say?”

Listen to what Jesus said to the Pharisees, “You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father's desire. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies” (Jn 8:44).

Satan and his followers attack the church when it preaches and teaches the gospel. Satan hates the good news. He creates heresy and schism as weapons to destroy God’s good work. They long to destroy the church.

Our application is thus:

God created everything out of nothing. He is separate from His creation.

God’s creation is good. Creation is valuable because God made it and it has purpose. This is our Father’s world. Let’s not talk about mother nature.

God is at work in creation, tending it and caring for it. He’s not a blind watchmaker who got everything going then stepped away. The incarnation proves this.

Angels are real. They are invisible. We must not think of them in unbiblical ways. They’re not cute with wings and rosy cheeks. Nearly every time they show up, those who see them are frightened out of their wits! Angels almost always begin by saying, “Do not be afraid.” They have a purpose; mostly they give messages.

Demons are fallen angels. The preaching of the gospel restrains them. They are certainly aware of their own destruction. Together with Satan, they wage war against Jesus, the Truth. They are the source of all heresy and false teachings. Demons cannot possess Christians. We oppose them with the truth that Jesus died for our sins, was raised for our justification and therefore the power of sin is no longer useful against us. The creator also is our Redeemer!

We serve God because that’s what He created us to do. When we serve God through faith in what Jesus has already done, we find true joy and perfect delight. The creator is also our redeemer! Amen.