Apr 18
29
Old Testament Reading: Genesis 1:1-3, 2:1-3
“In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. 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. And God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light… Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. 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. 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.” (Genesis 1:1-3; 2:1–3, ESV)
New Testament Reading: John 1:1-5
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” (John 1:1–5, ESV)
Introduction
“In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth”. I cannot think of a more important verse in all the Bible than Genesis 1:1.
Some might take issue with what I have just said. I can hear them replaying, but what about those passages that reveal Christ to us? Are they not more important than Genesis 1:1 which merely tells us of the beginning of creation? What about John 3:16, for example? “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16, ESV). Or what about John 14:6, where Christ himself says, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6, ESV)? Are not these verses more important than Genesis 1:1? These verses do, after all, reveal the way of salvation to sinners, whereas Genesis 1:1 only reveals to us the beginning of God’s creation.
This way of thinking does illustrate the sad trend within the Christian church today which is to reduce everything down to what we might call, “gospel essentials”. It seems that pastors and those to whom they preach have come to believe that the only things that really matter are those things that have some direct reference to Christ and to the salvation that is found in him.
It’s as if when they read Paul’s words, “For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified” (1 Corinthians 2:2, ESV), they imagine that Paul devoted himself only to speaking to the subject of the crucifixion of Jesus. But have you read the writings of Paul? Have you read Romans? Have you read Galatians? Have you noticed how much doctrine is crammed into those books? Have you read Acts and considered the preaching of Paul recorded there? Clearly when Paul wrote to the Corinthians saying, “For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified” (1 Corinthians 2:2, ESV), and to the Colossians, “Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ” (Colossians 1:28, ESV), he did not mean that the only doctrine that matters – the only doctrine that he taught – was that Jesus Christ lived, died, and rose from the grave and that salvation is available through faith in him. This was not Paul’s practice.
Indeed, for Paul everything does come to center upon Christ. Indeed, Christ is the central figure or hero in the story of redemption. Indeed, it was at the cross of Christ that atonement was made for sin. It was there that our salvation was accomplished. And for this reason Christ must always be proclaimed. We must preach Christ crucified, risen and ascended. Without that there is no gospel at all! But friends, do you see that Christ cannot be proclaimed intelligibly unless we tell the rest of the story – the story of creation, the fall and the unfolding of God’s redemption. To say, “Jesus died for sin, rose and ascended to the Fathers right hand” will make no sense at all to the one who is ignorant of the Biblical account of creation, fall and the unfolding of God’s redemption.
Notice how the Gospel of John, which does eventually come to say, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16, ESV), does begin with the words, “In the beginning”. Notice how the genealogy of Jesus found in Luke’s Gospel does take us back to Adam. Notice how the genealogy in Matthew’s gospel does take us back to Abraham. Mark’s Gospel begins by quoting from the Old Testament prophet Isaiah. The point is that even the Gospels of the New Testament do not begin with Christ crucified and risen, but they do first of all tell something of the backstory. They reach into the Old Testament and even to the creation account in order to set the stage so that the good news of Christ crucified, risen and ascended might be comprehended.
Friends, do you understand how difficult it would be for someone who has no idea of what the scriptures say regarding God, his creation, and the fall of man into sin to understand what you mean when you say “believe upon Christ for the forgiveness of your sins”? What is sin? Why do I need to be forgiven? Who do I need to be forgiven by? And what does Jesus Christ have to do with all of this? These are the kinds of questions that we must answer.
I was sitting in a coffee shop doing some reading while I was waiting to pick my kids up from practice and there was a young man standing a few feet from me. Another young man approached him and (rather awkwardly) uttered the words, “hey, I just want you to know that Jesus loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life.” There was a little (awkward) interaction between the two of them, the Christian prayed with the young man, and then everyone went their way. The “evangelist” rejoined his group of friends rather proud of what he had just done, and the “evangelized one” left with his drink.
I was left to sit there to ponder what I had just witnessed. A number of things came to mind. First I thought, well at least that young Christian has a zeal for telling others about Christ, even though it be a zeal, “not according to knowledge” (Romans 10:2, ESV). Secondly I thought, who knows how the Lord will use that encounter in the life of that young man! God is certainly able to use even our stumbling and stammering to bring about good. But that is where my charitableness reached its limits. In fact, I went to the car to grab a business card so that I could approach the “evangelist” with a question. And my question would have been this: was that the gospel of Jesus Christ that you proclaimed to that young man when you said, ‘Jesus loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life’?” If his response was, “yes” then I was going to give him my card and say, search the scriptures, find for me one example where the gospel is proclaimed like that, and give me a call to tell me what you find. He left before I had the chance to do that. Maybe it was for the best. But then I was left with this thought: I wonder how much confusion that presentation of the “gospel” (which was not the gospel) brought to the young man who heard it? I suppose that depends upon how much of a Biblical worldview that young man already possessed. If he knew nothing of the scriptural account of creation, fall and redemption, then I’m afraid that the remark, “Jesus loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life” would have sounded like utter nonsense. Worse yet, it probably helped to solidify ideas that are in fact contrary to the gospel, namely, the idea that he is by nature lovely and in a right relationship with God, and that Jesus’ main concern is that he have a , so-called, “wonderful life”.
When I came to the end of my pondering my thought was this: Oh, that we would have that kind of zeal to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ to a world that is lost and dying. But may it never be a false gospel – one that is without law – one that does not first tell the bad new which makes the good new good. Indeed, it would be entirely appropriate to say to the Christian, “Jesus loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life”, but to say this to those not in Christ is a lie. The true gospel – the one that is found in the pages of Holy Scripture and on the lips of Christ and his Apostles – is the one that says “in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. We have sinned against him, are under his curse, are by nature children of wrath, who deserve only to judged. But God in his mercy has provided a Redeemer, Christ Jesus is his name. He suffered and died for the sins of his people. Repent, believe upon him, and be baptized for the forgiveness of your sins, for a right relationship with God, and for life everlasting.
Are you offended by what I am saying? Then prove me wrong. Search the scriptures and show me where those not in Christ are comforted concerning their present state. Never are they comforted, but they are warned. And after being warned, the good news of Jesus the Christ is then held before them and freely offered. In this way law and gospel to sweetly comply. The law reveals our sin and misery. In the gospel the remedy is offered.
When I say, “I cannot think of a more important verse in all the Bible than Genesis 1:1”, I do not mean that it is more important than those verses that reveal so explicitly the good news of Christ crucified and risen and the forgiveness of sins that is found in him. Instead I mean that Genesis 1:1 is, in a very real sense, is the beginning of that gospel. It is the the foundation of it. It is the gateway through which we must pass in order to understand why it is that we need Christ crucified and risen. In fact, the same can be said of the whole of Genesis chapters 1 through 3. These chapters set the stage. They prepare us for the story of redemption that will unfold from there in the rest of the book of Genesis, the rest of the Old Testament, and on into the New. They prepare us for the story of redemption by first establishing the fact of creation and mans fall into sin. To get Genesis 1:1 wrong, or to get Genesis chapters 1 through 3 wrong, is to get everything wrong.
And so let us carefully consider these chapters. And let us begin with verses 1 of chapter 1, which states, “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth”. Truly, I cannot think of a more important verse in all the Bible than this one.
Let us take this verse in four parts. First, we will consider the phrase, “in the beginning”. Next, we will consider the word. “God”. After that we will examine the word, “created”. And then lastly we will ponder the phrase, “the heavens and the earth.”
In The Beginning
I hope that you would agree that the phrase, “in the beginning”, though simple in some respects, is ultimately deep, profound and highly significant.
Considered most basically, the phrase “in the beginning” simply serves to introduce what follows in the narrative of Genesis 1, namely, the account of God’s creating of all things seen and unseen out of nothing in the space of six days and all very good. When did God do this? The text simply says that he did it “in the beginning”.
But think of the deep and profound implications of the phrase “in the beginning”. The scriptures are asserting that heaven had a beginning, earth had a beginning, and that time as we know it had a beginning. Stated differently, the scriptures are asserting that there was a time (if we can call it that) when there was no heavenly realm, no earthly realm, and no time. Then there was only God existing in eternity.
In other words, not only does the phrase, “in the beginning”, mark the moment in time in which God began his work of creation to take us forward from there, but it does also take the mind from the moment of creation and casts it backwards, if you will, into all eternity.
Perhaps you could sit quietly for a bit this afternoon and try to imagine eternity. And no, when we speak of eternity we are not speaking of a succession of minutes, hours, days, and years projected without end into the past and into the future. Instead, we are saying that there was as a time (if we may call it that) when there was no time. Prior to the act of creation there was only God, and God was and is not bound by time. He does not experience the succession moments as we do, but exists outside of time , for he is the Creator of time. He does interact with us in time, but he is not bound by it as we are. And prior to the act of creation there was no space. There existed no heavenly realm, nor was there an earthly realm, but there was only God.
I doubt you’ll make it very far in your contemplation of eternity, but this is good for us. It is a humble reminder that we are created beings, and not the Creator of all things. Everything that we know in this world has a beginning and an end. Everything that we experience happens in time and in space. Our minds are not capable of grasping eternity. We know what cannot be said when speaking of eternity (no time or space), but it’s hard for us know what we ought to say to describe it positively. You can feel the mind reaching it’s limits when you contemplate these things.
The phrase “in the beginning” is profound in is simplicity. It keeps us from projecting time and space back into eternity. And though it is impossible for us to fully comprehend God in eternity apart from time and space we know that we must confess it as true for the scriptures say, “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth” – this we can understand. This we can confess as true.
Do you see that in Genesis 1:1 materialism is denied. Materialism is that philosophy which asserts that the material world is itself eternal.
And do you see that in Genesis 1:1 pantheism is also denied. Pantheism asserts that the physical world and god are somehow one. The physical world is, according to pantheism, a kind of manifestation of god, and inextricably so. To the pantheist both god and the physical world are eternal, for they are joined together as one.
Stated positively, Genesis 1:1 establishes the distinction between God the Creator and his creation. “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth”. There was a time when heaven and earth were not and only God was. And this God did, in the beginning, speak the heavenly realm and the earthly realm into existence.
Many theological errors arise out of a fundamental failure to maintain the Creator/creature distinction that is so clearly established in Genesis 1:1. We, in our ignorance and in our sin, are prone to make God in our own image. We tend to think thoughts of God that are too low. We tend to assume that he is like us. Now, it is true that God did make man in his own image. The meaning of this will be discussed at length in the weeks to come. But one thing that it surely does not mean is that God and man are the same or that they are alike in every way. We are not of the same species. God is divine, we are human. God is a most pure spirit, we consist of body and soul. God is the Creator, and everything else that exists that is not God is his creation. This distinction between Creator and creature is firmly established in Genesis 1:1 and it must be forever remembered and maintained.
Does God interact with his creation? Indeed he does! But he is distinct from it.
Is God omnipresent? Is h present in all places and at all times? Surely he is! But he is not one with nature as the pantheist says. God in the beginning did create the heavenly and the natural world, which means that he is distinct from the, though he be everywhere present within them.
And does the created world reveal something of the glory of God? Certainly it does. “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. Day to day pours out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge. There is no speech, nor are there words, whose voice is not heard” (Psalm 19:1–3, ESV). So some things about God can certainly be known through his creation, but he is not one with the created world.
“In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1, ESV).
God
Now what should we say about the word “God”?
I’m sure you can understand what I mean when I say that we could spend a very, very long time unpacking all of the meaning that is contained within this little word, “God” in Genesis 1:1. What is God? What are his characteristics or attributes? Can he be fully known by us (exhaustively)? If no, then can he be truly known? And how can we know him? And what is God doing in this world? These are the kinds of questions that we might ask when we come to the word “God” in the first verse of the Holy Bible.
Of course the answers to these questions are not found here in verse 1 of Genesis 1, but they are found in the rest of the Holy Scriptures. How important it is for us to read
CHAPTER 2 – OF GOD AND THE HOLY TRINITY
Paragraph 1. The Lord our God is but one only living and true God; whose subsistence is in and of himself, infinite in being and perfection; whose essence cannot be comprehended by any but himself; a most pure spirit, invisible, without body, parts, or passions, who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; who is immutable, immense, eternal, incomprehensible, almighty, every way infinite, most holy, most wise, most free, most absolute; working all things according to the counsel of his own immutable and most righteous will for his own glory; most loving, gracious, merciful, long-suffering, abundant in goodness and truth, forgiving iniquity, transgression, and sin; the rewarder of them that diligently seek him, and withal most just and terrible in his judgments, hating all sin, and who will by no means clear the guilty.
Paragraph 2. God, having all life, glory, goodness, blessedness, in and of himself, is alone in and unto himself all-sufficient, not standing in need of any creature which he hath made, nor deriving any glory from them, but only manifesting his own glory in, by, unto, and upon them; he is the alone fountain of all being, of whom, through whom, and to whom are all things, and he hath most sovereign dominion over all creatures, to do by them, for them, or upon them, whatsoever himself pleaseth; in his sight all things are open and manifest, his knowledge is infinite, infallible, and independent upon the creature, so as nothing is to him contingent or uncertain; he is most holy in all his counsels, in all his works, and in all his commands; to him is due from angels and men, whatsoever worship, service, or obedience, as creatures they owe unto the Creator, and whatever he is further pleased to require of them.
Paragraph 3. In this divine and infinite Being there are three subsistences, the Father, the Word or Son, and Holy Spirit, of one substance, power, and eternity, each having the whole divine essence, yet the essence undivided: the Father is of none, neither begotten nor proceeding; the Son is eternally begotten of the Father; the Holy Spirit proceeding from the Father and the Son; all infinite, without beginning, therefore but one God, who is not to be divided in nature and being, but distinguished by several peculiar relative properties and personal relations; which doctrine of the Trinity is the foundation of all our communion with God, and comfortable dependence on him.
It is this God – the God of the Bible – who is introduced here in Genesis 1:1 with the words,
“In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1, ESV).
So much could be said, but for now let me make two fundamental observations.
First of all, notice that the name for God used here in Genesis 1:1 is, in the Hebrew, ʾelōhiym. ʾelōhiym is a rather generic name for God. It means “he who is to be feared”, and “the one who is full of majesty”. The name ʾelōhiym is in the plural. Though some believe this points to the fact that the one true God is Triune, I do agree with Vos and many others the plural form is a plural of majesty. That God is Triune cannot be denied. And there are indeed indicators even in Genesis 1 that the one true God is Triune. I’m just not convinced that the plural of ʾelōhiym points to it.
The name ʾelōhiym certainly fits the subject matter of Genesis 1:1-2:3. Here God us described as the Almighty God of who did speak the heavens and earth into existence by the power of his word! Indeed, he is to be feared! And indeed, he is full of majesty. He is God most high.
The thing to note is that ʾelōhiym is the name used for God throughout 1:1-2:3. But when we come to 2:4 the name used for God yehōwāh ʾelōhiym. You don’t have to know Hebrew to notice that something changes in the text at that point. In 1:1-2:3 God is called “God”.But in 2:4 and following God is called the LORD God, or in Hebrew yehōwāh ʾelōhiym. And that name for God does fit the context. yehōwāh ʾelōhiym is the covenantal name for God. It is the name for God that is used when God in covenant with man is the thing being emphasized. The name signifies God’s self-existence, his immutability and his faithfulness.
Secondly, notice that in Genesis 1:1 and following it is God alone who creates. True, the name ʾelōhiym is in the plural, but this is not a reference to a plurality of God’s, but emphasizes God’s majesty. For all of the verbs that correspond to the name ʾelōhiym are in the singular indicating that it is the one true God who did make the heavens and the earth. And it is true that when we come to the creation of man we will hear God say, “let us make man in our image”, but here we have, not a reference to a plurality of God’s, but to the plurality that does exist within the Godhead.
Q: “Are there more gods than one?
A: There is but one only, the living and true God.
Q: How many persons are there in the Godhead?
A: There are three persons in the Godhead, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit; and these three are one God, the same in essence, equal in power and glory.
In Isaiah 46:9 God says, “remember the former things of old; for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me” (Isaiah 46:9, ESV).
Created
Let us now consider briefly the word “created” – “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1, ESV).
Here I simply wish to draw your attention to the fact that in Genesis 1:1 we find the doctrine of absolute or creation. In the beginning God created the heavenly and earth realm and the earth and he did so out of nothing.
Here is the relationship between verses 1, 2 , and 3 and following. Verse 1 states that In the beginning God created the heavenly realm and the earthly realm out of nothing. Verses 2 indicates that at first the earthy realm was in this state: “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.” (Genesis 1:2, ESV). And then in verses 3 and follow we have description of God’s bringing of the early realm suitable habitation. The six days of creation described in verses 3 and follow might be called secondary or formative creation, for there God is described as bringing the primary and absolute creation of verses 1 into form.
Take the creation of man for example. God created man directly, but he formed him out of the dust of the earth. Woman, likewise, was created directly by God, but was formed out of man. The dry land and oceans were formed by God separating them.
Genesis 1:1 describes the original, primary and absolute creation of all things out of nothing by God in the beginning.
The heavens and the earth
Lastly, let us consider the words “heaven and earth” found at the conclusion of verse 1. “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1, ESV).
If you’ve been listening closely you’ll be able to anticipate what I am about to say. The word “heavens” refers, not to the heavens, as in the place where the sun, moon and stars reside, but to the heavenly realm where the glory of God is shown forth in a most pronounced way and where the angels of God reside, who worship and serve the Lord day and night.
That heavenly realm – “the third heaven”, as Paul calls it – is not eternal, but was created by God in the beginning.
And the angels who dwell in that realm are not eternal but were created by God in the beginning.
Yes, it is true that the same word “heavens” is used in verse 6 through 8 and also verses 14 through 19 to describe the heavenly realm that is a part of this world – the place where the sun, moon and stars reside. But if we follow the progression of the passage it becomes clear that the word is being used to refer to two different things, namely, the second heaven, and the third heaven.
Verses 1: “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth”
In verse 2 all attention moves away from what in verses 1 was called “heavens” to what was called “earth”. The text says, “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.”
Verses 3 and following then describe the forming of the earthly realm into a space in which man can dwell. Do you see that the “heavens” of verses 6 through 8 and 14 through 19 are a part of this earthly realm.
The heavens that we can see with our eyes are apart of the realm called “earth” in verse 1. They are a part of the world in which we live. They are a part of the universe. But the “heavens” of verse 1 refer to the heavens that are invisible to us, though they be always before us.
That this is the proper interpretation of Genesis 1:1 is confirmed by the way that other scriptures texts speak of creation, most notably, Colossians 1:15-16. Speaking of Christ, who is the eternal Word of God come in the flesh, Paul says, “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him” (Colossians 1:15–16, ESV). When Paul interprets the phrase “heavens and the earth”of Genesis 1:1 he says that they refer to things “visible and invisible”. The “earth” is that which is “visible”, including the stars in the sky. The “heavens” of 1:1 refer to that part of God’s creation that is “invisible” to us – that realm where the glory of God is manifest before his angels and those saint who stand before him, not in body, but in soul.
God created both realms through the eternal Son of God, who, in John 1:1 is called the “Word”. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.” (John 1:1–3, ESV).
This truth established in Genesis 1:1, that in the beginning God created two realms, the heavenly realm and the earthly realm, is reiterated again in 2:1 which says, “Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them” (Genesis 2:1, ESV). Hosts can refer to the stars and to angels. And this truth is then carried through to the rest of scripture until Christ did say at his first coming, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me” (Matthew 28:18, ESV). And in the end when Christ returns and makes all things new we do know that the heavenly and earthly realms will become one.
Application
How might we apply these truths?
One, this God – the one true God, creator of heaven and earth – is to be worshipped and served by us, for he is our maker.
Two, we must truly believe that God is sovereign over all creation. Notice that there is no hint of struggle in the creation account.
Three, we must be mindful of the realm that exists beyond our perception.
