Scripture Reading: Genesis 1–2:3
Genesis chapter 1. I'll begin reading in verse 1. In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was on the face of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.
Then God said, Let there be light, and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good. And God divided the light from the darkness. God called the light day and the darkness he called night.
So the evening and the morning were the first day. Then God said, let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters. Thus God made the firmament and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament. And it was so.
And God called the firmament heaven. So the evening and the morning were the second day. Then God said, let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear. And it was so.
And God called the dry land earth, and the gathering together of the waters he called seas. And God saw that it was good. And God said, let the earth bring forth grass, the herb that yields seed, and the fruit tree that yields fruit according to its kind, whose seed is in itself on the earth. And it was so.
And the earth brought forth grass, the herb that yields seed according to its kind, and the tree that yields fruit, whose seed is in itself according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. So the evening and the morning were the third day. Then God said, let there be lights in the firmament of the heavens to divide the day from the night.
And let them be for signs and seasons and for days and years. And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heavens to give light on the earth. And it was so. Then God made two great lights, the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night.
He made the stars also. God set them in the firmament of the heavens to give light on the earth, and to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good, so the evening and the morning were the fourth day. Then God said, Let the waters abound with an abundance of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the face of the firmament of the heavens.
So God created great sea creatures and every living thing that moves, with which the waters abounded, according to their kind, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth. So the evening and the morning were the fifth day.
And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature according to its kind, cattle and creeping thing and beast of the earth, each according to its kind. And it was so. And God made the beast of the earth according to its kind, cattle according to its kind, and everything that creeps on the earth according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.
Then God said, let us make man in our image, according to our likeness. Let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth. So God created man in His own image. In the image of God, He created him.
Male and female, He created them. Then God blessed them and God said to them, be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth and subdue it. Have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.
And God said, Seed, I have given you every herb that yields seed, which is on the face of all the earth, and every tree whose fruit yields seed. To you it shall be for food. Also to every beast of the earth, to every bird of the air, and to everything that creeps on the earth in which there is life, I have given every green herb for food. And it was so.
Then God saw everything that he had made, and indeed it was very good. So the evening and the morning were the sixth day. Thus the heavens and the earth and all the host of them were finished. And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done.
Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made. Well,
Introduction
as we looked at an overview last week in the book of Genesis, we're going to look specifically tonight just at verses 1 and 2 under the creation of the heavens and the earth. But prior to actually getting to the text in verses 1 to 2, I want to give an overview of creation. So, last week we looked at an overview of the book of Genesis. This evening will be an overview of the work of creation, and here I'm leaning on the Second London Confession of Faith, specifically chapter 4 of creation and paragraph 1 that gives a good summary statement concerning the doctrine of creation.
But before we get to that, I just want to read a quote from John Calvin. He says, since the infinite wisdom of God is displayed in the admirable structure of heaven and earth, it is absolutely impossible to unfold the history of the creation of the world in terms equal to its dignity. I think John Calvin is absolutely, positively correct in that assessment or in that statement. There's a lot written on the book of Genesis, as you no doubt will know.
There's a lot of information out there, and as I've said before, we're not going to get into the science of chapter 1. That's certainly not my area of competency. I just want to give an overview, as I said, of creation, and then we'll look in more detail at verses 1 and 2. But with reference to the confession of faith, it says in chapter 4, paragraph 1, in the beginning, it pleased God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit for the manifestation of the glory of His eternal power, wisdom, and goodness to create or make the world and all things therein, whether visible or invisible, in the space of six days, and all very good." So, as I said, I think that's a very accurate and a very good summation of what we find here in Genesis chapter 1 with reference to the creation account.
The Time of Creation
In the first place, we note the time of creation. This reflecting, or the confession reflecting, the very first word in Genesis, in the beginning. Now, in the beginning here does not refer to God. God is from everlasting to everlasting.
God is not confined by time. God is eternal. God created time. And so, in the beginning here has reference to time, space, matter, to everything that is creature, everything that is not God.
God is creator, everything else is creature, and at the beginning of this creation, this is what the text refers to.
The Author of Creation
Now notice the confession goes on to highlight the author of creation, and it says that it pleased the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. So it pleased God, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. And by that statement, the Confession acknowledges that God did not create because of a need. There was no necessity in God.
There was nothing lacking in God. He didn't make this world because there was something He needed in order to complete Him. The fact that the Confession says it pleased God indicates that very thing. In fact, if you turn to the book of Acts, in Acts chapter 17, I think the apostle Paul is speaking to this very reality.
In Acts 17, remember Paul is at the Areopagus or on Mars Hill. And there he is going to give a presentation concerning Jesus and the resurrection. And in verse 22 of Acts 17, he stood in the midst of the Areopagus and said, Men of Athens, I perceive that in all things you are very religious. For as I was passing through and considering the objects of your worship, I even found an altar with this inscription, to the unknown God.
Therefore, the one whom you worship without knowing, him I proclaim to you. God, who made the world and everything in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands. Nor is He worshipped with men's hands, as though He needed anything, since He gives to all life, breath, and all things." So again, it's important that we get that it-pleased God-ness. in the confession of faith. He did not create because there was a necessity he created out of his own good pleasure.
And then as well, or before we move on, a particular theologian named John Webster says, yet the triune God could be without the world. We cannot be. We have to have the world. If we don't have the world, we die.
If we don't have food, we don't have shelter, we don't have clothing, we don't have warmth, we don't have, you know, rain and all those sorts of things. We cannot be. Yet he says, the triune God could be without the world. No perfection of God would be lost.
No triune bliss compromised. were the world not to exist. No enhancement of God is achieved by the world's existence. Now, some would say, well, that then means that we're not that important. Well, yeah, exactly.
I don't want to bust anybody's bubbles tonight or burst anybody's bubbles, but God is absolutely sufficient in and of himself. He doesn't depend upon us. He doesn't derive anything from us. We bring nothing to the table with reference to God.
Now, when the scripture says we praise God or we bless God or we glorify God, that doesn't mean we actually fill up in Him or increase the degree of blessing or glory or praise that God possesses. It simply means that the creature recognizes something concerning the Creator and we ascribe praise, glory, and honor to Him. But it's not that He's filling up on it. You know, when you have somebody who affirms you or compliments you or encourages you, you receive a certain amount of benefit. a certain amount of accolade or aplomb in your own life, that doesn't happen with God.
We're not filling Him up. He does not need us in order to exist blessedly and contentedly in and of Himself. Now the confession goes on to tell us about God. In the beginning, it pleased God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
So the creation account ascribes creation to God, and the rest of the Bible tells us about this God. There is but one true and living God, and this one God exists in three persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Now, this God, in the unity of His being, completes, or rather does, or engages in the act of creation. Now, when we speak about God, there's things that are true about God in Himself.
Now, if you want the Latin phrase, that means ad imtra, things that are true of God essentially, things that are true of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit as He has been from everlasting to everlasting. Now, when God creates or engages in the works of providence or redemption, those are works ad extra. Those are things outside of God. Now, God, the Lord, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit creates this world.
He brings it into being. Now, the works of God ad extra, outside of Himself, are ascribed to the Godhead in its oneness. So, Father, Son, and Spirit, one God, is responsible for creation. Now, that doesn't mean the Bible can't ascribe to each of the persons individually certain aspects concerning creation or providence or redemption.
We see that the Bible does that from time to time. But when we come to this statement in verse 1 of Genesis 1, in the beginning, God, this isn't some undefined concept. The Bible informs us or instructs us as to who this God is. And many commentators and many theologians rightly observe that Genesis is polemical in nature.
And the word polemical means that it's out to destroy false notions. Remember that when Moses was given this message by the power of the Holy Spirit, Israel was a nation among many other nations. And those other nations all had their conception of deity. They had their conception of creation, of flood narratives.
You'll see that in the ancient Near Eastern literature. There are creation accounts, there are flood accounts, there are those sorts of things. So, when the Bible sets forth the supremacy and sovereignty of our God, it is doing so not only for the encouragement of the faithful in Israel, but it's also a polemic against the gods of the nations. In other words, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is the God responsible for the creation of the entire cosmos.
He's not a localized deity, he's not a tribal lord, but rather he is the God of heaven and earth. He created all things, visible and invisible, and he upholds all things by the word of his power. And so this statement, or rather this book, is an argument not only for the people of God to encourage and bless and help them, but it's an argument against the pagans and their concept of deity.
Creation Leads to Worship
Now, when we look at other portions of Scripture, we see the activity of God in creation. Just to look at a few, look at Psalm 33, just to see how various persons under the inspiration of the Spirit, when reflecting upon creation, are led to praise and worship and glorify God. This is why it's absolutely crucial that we as Bible-believing Christians actually believe what Genesis chapter 1 says. If you read, if you've paid attention over the last several years, you'll know that many professing Christians are departing from the truth of creation.
Some are departing from the truth of a real Adam and Eve. Some are departing from what the Genesis record affords to us, and as a result, they are giving away the theological farm. They are giving away the very foundation of the Bible. As we move through this material, we'll see that what is in Genesis chapter 1 relates to the rest of Genesis 1 to 11, it relates to Genesis 12 to 50, and it relates to the entirety of the Bible.
So in other words, if you tamper with or you mess with those early foundational chapters, you're going to come into problems elsewhere in your theology. And the people of God who profess faith in Jesus Christ are to hold tenaciously to the word of God. The New Testament, the apostles, they refer to the first 11 chapters, which is typically that area that is up for grabs in terms of evangelical and reformed believers. The apostles refer or allude to the early chapters of Genesis, I think about 54 times.
Not direct quotation, but allusion or echo. When Jesus is confronted concerning the legitimacy of divorce and remarriage, he argues from the beginning, specifically when Adam and Eve were created. Some put a gap between Genesis chapters 1 and 2. We'll see that you can't do that in the actual text, and certainly Jesus doesn't do that either.
He links the creation of Adam and Eve to the beginning. It's not that Genesis 1-1 happens and then Genesis 2 happens several million years later. Jesus links the creation of Adam and Eve to the beginning. In other words, what we have in Genesis chapter 1.
We cannot give away the theological farm. It has a detrimental effect not only to our entirety of our theological enterprise, it also affects Christian ethics. You see, if you tamper with the doctrine of creation, you tamper with the doctrine of man in the image of God. And you live in a society like ours, where abortion and euthanasia and all manner of lawlessness is perpetrated against image bearers.
So, we mustn't jettison the doctrine of creation. Now, notice in Genesis 33, I'm sorry, Psalm 33, we see again some reflection upon creation by authors who are then led to praise, to worship, and to glorify God. Verse 6 of Psalm, I'm stuck in Genesis. Not that that's a bad place to be, but I've obviously been in Genesis all day.
Look at Psalm 33, 6. By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth. He gathers the waters of the sea together as a heap. He lays up the deep in storehouses.
Let all the earth fear the Lord. Let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him. For He spoke, and it was done. He commanded, and it stood fast." You see, the response to God who created is this.
Let all the earth fear Yahweh. Let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him, for He spoke and it was done, He commanded and it stood fast." And notice, at least implicitly, the Trinitarian nature of our God, by the Word of the Lord. Well, Jesus is the Word of God, according to John 1. By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth." Another translation for breath is spirit.
The spirit does at times come to us as the very breath of God. And then one other passage, again, just to highlight or underscore the response to this glorious God in light of the doctrine. of creation. One New Testament place is in Romans, I'm sorry, Revelation 4. Revelation chapter 4, the throne room in heaven, in verse 9, whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to Him who sits on the throne, who lives forever and ever, the 24 elders fall down before Him who sits on the throne and worship Him who lives forever and ever and cast their crowns before the throne saying, you are worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power 4.
For you created all things, and by your will they exist and were created." In other words, when you look out on a sunny day, you ought to be led to praise and worship the God who made the sunny day, the God who, on the fourth day, hung the sun in the sky, the God who, in His wisdom and glory, created the entirety of the cosmos. So this knowledge of God ought to lead us to a worship of our triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
The Purpose of Creation
Now, within the confession goes on and highlights the purpose of creation. After telling us in the beginning it pleased God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, it goes on to say, for the manifestation of the glory of His eternal power, wisdom, and goodness. In other words, that's God's purpose in this arena of creation. It is to display God.
It's a theater to reveal to us His majesty, His excellence, His power, and His glory. In fact, John Calvin says the intention of Moses in beginning his book with the creation of the world is to render God, as it were, visible to us in His works. In other words, when we look at the created order, it ought to lead us to consider the Creator Himself. You can turn to Romans chapter 1.
You see that fleshed out by the Apostle Paul in his argument concerning Gentile guilt. Romans chapter 1. after stating his purpose for writing his thesis is in verses 16 and 17. Essentially, it's going to be a treatise on the doctrine of salvation by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. Well, before Paul gets to the application of redemption, before Paul gets into the discussion concerning justification by faith or imputation of Christ's righteousness or the role of the Holy Spirit in our salvation, Paul starts with the universal condemnation of all men under God.
Notice in verse 18, he says, for the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness. Now notice, because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. For since the creation of the world, His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse." So we see something of the invisible God in the created order. In other words, when we gaze at the mountains, we see the sun, we look at the beluga whales, we look at image-bearers of God, we look at children and grandchildren, we're led to consider the glory of the Creator.
Now, the Gentiles' problem is that they knew this and understood this, but they suppressed the truth in unrighteousness, very much akin to what is happening today. People say, well, there's no evidence to believe in God. Well, there's evidence everywhere. The problem is that you are suppressing that evidence, you are suppressing that truth in unrighteousness.
What God has revealed to you and you created in His image, You are suppressing that, you are rejecting that, you are resisting the very testimony of creation itself. And so God manifests His glory, He manifests His power, His excellence, His wisdom, and His goodness in the creation account.
The Scope of Creation
The Confession goes on to highlight the scope of creation. In other words, what is God responsible for creating? The pagans had various gods that had various responsibilities. The pagans had a god of the hills, they had a god of the valleys.
Remember in our study in Kings, that's how come the Syrians thought they had lost a battle against Israel. Their god is the god of the hills. If we fight them in the valley, then we're certain to take them. So God says, go to the valley and we'll take them there too.
Because God is sovereign, not only over hill, but also over valley. And so the confession highlights the scope of creation. It says, to create or make the world and all things therein, whether visible or invisible. In other words, everything there is, God made.
There is not one thing that exists that God did not create. God is absolutely supreme. God is absolutely sovereign in creation. In fact, in verse 1, in the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.
That's called a merism. That's a form of speech or a figure of speech that includes everything. Heaven and Earth obviously means the totality of the cosmos. Everything that is created, God created.
That's what Moses starts off with in Genesis 1. He doesn't start off with a polemic or an argument or a list of reasons or proves as to why God exists. He starts with God. He tells us something concerning God.
And that something is that God created all things. The confession doesn't say out of nothing. So we ought not to suspect or we ought not to think that the absence of that language means the absence of the doctrine.
Creation Ex Nihilo
We know that creation was ex nihilo. That means out of nothing. Now that doesn't mean God cannot create immediately. In other words, with existing matter, he does that with reference to Eve.
He takes Adam's rib and he fashions Eve. So God can do that. The initial act of creation was ex nihilo. And this argues against the eternality of matter.
Some philosophers have taught that, that matter has always been. There's only one that has always been, and that is God, from everlasting to everlasting. Remember the fundamental distinction between creator and creature. There's only one creator.
And that's our God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Everything else is creature. Every single thing outside of God is creature. So it cannot be the case that there's been the eternality of matter, that things have always existed and this God came along and he fashioned it together.
That's not the case. The scriptures testify that it was ex nihilo, that it was out of nothing. The confession of faith doesn't include the phrase, but that doesn't mean the absence of the doctrine. Keech's catechism, which follows the Westminster, shorter catechism, says the work of creation is God's making all things of nothing by the word of His power in the space of six days, and all very good." Now, if there's one statement concerning the doctrine of creation that you want to memorize, I don't think you can do much better than that.
Westminster Shorter Catechism, number nine, or Keech's Catechism 13. Keech's was the Baptist version of the Shorter Catechism. As you'll all know, the Second London Confession of Faith of 1677 and then 1689 is modeled after, patterned after, directly copied from, in large part, the Westminster Confession of Faith. So the Westminster Confession of Faith also had a Westminster Larger Catechism and a Westminster Shorter Catechism.
The Baptists had their Confession of Faith, again, largely following the Westminster, and then they had Keech's Catechism, largely following the Westminster Shorter Catechism. So both documents affirm the out-of-nothingness that God creates. He didn't have existing material, but rather, in the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. William Ames says, creation then produces out of nothing, that is, out of matter that has had no pre-existence, but which comes into existence with the thing created.
Nothing exists from eternity but God, and God is not the matter or a part of any creature, but only the maker. Again, this doesn't negate the reality. that God, having created, can then fashion from something, something else. The initial act of creation was not with existing matter. It didn't form this all together because it was stuff just sort of floating out there.
God created every molecule, every atom, Every proton, neuron, is that it? Neutron. Every molecule, God made those things. And that's what our confession says, rightly reflecting what Genesis 1.1 says.
It then goes on to highlight in the space of six days and all very good.
Creation Was Very Good
Now, as we read through the creation account, you see that refrain, it was good, it was good, it was good. The only time we'll see that something was not good was when Adam was alone. It wasn't good that man was alone, so God made a woman and brought him to Adam in order to be a helpmate or one comparable to him or answering to him. But in terms of the creation account, it's good.
Brethren, we're not Gnostics. We're not against the physical. We're not against nature. We're not against those things that are tangible.
God made creature. Creature is good. It has dignity. There's not anything lesser about us being physical beings.
No, God says it's good. The goal of redemption is the resurrection of the body. See, God is not at war with our nature. God is not at war with our physicality.
God is at war with our sin. So when we, by grace, come to know the Lord Jesus Christ, and then we enter into the grave, there is a day of resurrection coming when body and soul will be reunited and enter into the presence of God. God is not anti-creature. He's not anti-physical.
The Greeks, or not the Greeks, but Gnostics, Gnosticism was an idea that we can have this special knowledge of God. We don't need revelation. We don't need the Word. We sort of have this direct line to God.
Well, Gnostics typically had a problem with the flesh. This is why John, in his first epistle, not writing against a full-on Gnosticism, but at least a seed-form type of Gnosticism, stresses that Christ came in the flesh. You see, if you're a Gnostic, the idea that the second person of the Trinity comes in the flesh, that's offensive. If flesh is bad in your worldview, then you deny the reality that Jesus was flesh.
You become what was called a docetist. Christ only appeared to be in the flesh. That was a form of Gnosticism. But God hasn't got a problem with flesh.
He's not against you having flesh. He made you to have flesh. It's good. So we need to affirm the goodness of creation, not worship the creature, not exchange the glory of the incorruptible God and worship and serve the creature.
We're not supposed to be that type of person, but at the same time, We're not Gnostics, we don't put down the body, we try to esteem what God has esteemed.
Six-Day Creation Defended
Now this phrase, in the space of six days, that has definitely been debated a whole lot over the last several years. I commend a good book to you all on This whole idea of the reality of Adam and Eve, the name of the book, I think it's in search of the historical Adam, playing off of a previous sort of a school of thought in search of the historical Jesus. Well, this particular professor from Joel Beakey Seminary, I'm sure he doesn't like it being called Joel Beeky Seminary. It's Puritan Reform Theological Seminary, PRTS, in Grand Rapids.
One of the professors there wrote a great book in defense of Adam, because so many are denying the historicity of Adam and Eve. And one of the points that this author brings out is that usually people don't just wake up and deny Adam and Eve. They first deny the doctrine of creation as the Bible reports it. In other words, it starts with a denial of six-day creation.
It starts with a denial of the larger framework, and once you do that, it then becomes very easy to deny the historicity of Adam and Eve. But he shows, through careful research, I think is Forte, as historical theology, a broad swath of the church, for the most part, just about everyone to a man with a few exceptions, affirmed the doctrine of six-day creation, affirmed what our confession of faith says, what the catechism reflects here. The work of creation is God's making all things of nothing by the word of His power in the space of six days and all very good." That used to be just assumed. That used to be unquestioned.
Persons just received that. We even have people in our day saying, well, the confessional authors didn't really mean six days. That's to really, really, really try and beg the question. Of course they meant in the space of six days, because we have writings outside the confessions of faith where men wrote theology and they affirmed the doctrine of six-day creation.
So it's very important that we maintain this. Now, there are several reasons that we can give for affirming the doctrine of six-day creation. And the first and the most simplest is because the Bible tells me so. Now, I realize Hugh Ross and some of the others won't be impressed with that logic, but sorry, the Bible tells us so.
The psalmist says the law of Yahweh makes wise the simple. We don't need a PhD in astrophysics to understand Genesis chapter one. We simply need to know how to read. Even if we don't know how to read, we can still get it.
You just simply say, do you see all this? Yes, God made it, and it took him six days. Okay. That's what the text says.
Now, the word day that is utilized by Moses here occurs about 2,225 times in the Old Testament, and the overwhelming preponderance of use is a day. That's pretty intriguing, isn't it? Day means day. The fact that we have the recurring phrase evening and morning suggests that we ought to interpret day in Genesis chapter 1 as a day that consists of evening and morning.
As well, the use of the name day or the word day with ordinal numbers, and ordinal numbers are first, second, third, that sort of thing, never means anything other than a normal literal day. Now, consider that on the fourth day the sun rules over the day, the moon rules over the night. What better way to understand that than by looking outside the window and saying that the sun is up and it's day and the moon is now up and it's night. That suggests to most of us that we're dealing with a day.
We're not dealing with a long age or a long period, we're not dealing with, you know, successive ages or anything of the sort. The reference to creation in the Sabbath commandment. Now, brethren, I read the chapter 2, verse 3. We don't Sabbath first and foremost because of Exodus 20.
We Sabbath first and foremost because of Genesis 2. God sabbathed. He set forth a paradigm, a pattern, a statement for his creatures. In other words, God rested on the seventh day.
We're supposed to rest. We're supposed to sabbath. We're supposed to find our blessing, our sanctification, and our joy in the presence of God on the day that he has told us. But when we do get to Exodus chapter 20 specifically, what's the argument for Sabbath keeping in that text?
For in six days the Lord created. Not six successive ages, not a million years, not 15 billion years, but on six days the Lord created. So if you were an Israelite standing at the base of Sinai and we heard that law read to us, you would not assume that six days of creation meant six million years or it meant six million whatever. You would assume that day meant day.
This is the most specific and I think clearest argument for creation in six days. It's because that's what the Bible says. And you say, well, I don't understand how he did that. Just read it.
It's pretty simple and straightforward. Notice that Genesis is not written like a science textbook. Notice that Genesis is beautiful literature. Some see the various technique or literary technique that Moses employs here as an argument against taking it literally.
But I don't understand how that follows. Can't we communicate truth in a beautiful way? Doesn't Paul communicate truth concerning love in 1 Corinthians 13 in a beautiful way? Do not the Psalms convey to us the truth concerning God in a beautiful way?
When you look at the days, day 1 and day 4 correspond. Day two, day five correspond. Day three, day six correspond, undergirded by Sabbath. There is a beautiful structure in place in the narrative, but instead of that being an argument against taking it literally, it ought to be an argument for taking it literally.
Moses is not only conveying to us what God did, but he's doing it in a way that helps us to remember, in a way that educates and instructs us, and in a way that fascinates and dazzles us with just how wonderful the Spirit of God is to move Moses to write this narrative in a beautifully constructed way. It's not an argument against. And then there is a word available in Hebrew for ages. There's a word for day, which is yom, and there's a day for ages, which is olam.
If Moses wanted us to think that God created in ages, in successive ages, there was vocabulary available. The vocabulary that Moses chooses is the vocabulary that teaches us that God did this in the space of six days. And again, you can turn to Matthew 19. I referred to that just a moment ago, but you can see it for yourself how our Lord does link in the beginning with the creation of Adam and Eve.
Matthew 19.3, the Pharisees also came to him testing him and saying to him, is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for just any reason? And he answered and said to them, have you not read that he who made them at the beginning made them male and female? If we got a gap between verses one and two, that makes no sense. The gap between 1 and 2 is a reality, as some would suggest, that we have this creation of the without form and voidness, and then the Spirit of God comes and he creates the world for human habitation.
If there's a massive gap in there, it doesn't make sense of Jesus linking the creation of Adam and Eve to the beginning. You see, that doesn't make sense if there's a huge gap in our text there. So the confession is clear. The scriptures are well summarized in that confessional statement, chapter 4, paragraph 1.
So that's just a bit of an overview of creation.
Structure of Genesis 1:1–2:1
Let's look specifically at what's going on here in chapter 1, verses 1 and 2. the structure of Genesis 1.1 to 2.1. I think it's important for us to kind of get a map of the scene. When we get to the actual days, God willing, next week, we're probably not going to spend a whole host of time and, you know, that's the moon and that's the sun. You know, it's pretty evident.
Again, I think it was calculated and written so that simple people like us or at least like me, can get it and not have to fret when people say, oh no, it's not really what it says. It is really what it says. But the structure is really interesting. First, you have a summary statement concerning the creation of the cosmos.
Verse 1, in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Again, heavens and the earth is a figure of speech to indicate totality or comprehensiveness. It's the overarching statement, God made everything. Now, verse 2 shows the primordial state of creation.
Notice in verse 2, the earth was without form and void, and darkness was on the face of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. This is where the gap is inserted. We got this idea that God made and then the earth was without form and void. And then, you know, millions of years later, hundreds of thousands of years later, then God came to make the land habitable or to make the earth habitable.
But the text does not necessitate a gap. It doesn't demand a gap. It's simply taking us by the hand on this creation account. So God makes the heavens and the earth.
Initially, the very act of creation, the earth was without form and void. darkness was on the face of the deep, the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters, then God said. It's special pleading to read a gap in here. Again, it's not necessary. Why isn't it the case that God made everything, it was without form and void, and then the Spirit, hovering, brooding, like an eagle, preparing the nest for the inhabitants, begins the work of shaping what He has made.
You see, that's how the text ought to be read and has been read throughout the history of the world. This whole idea of throwing a gap in there, positing pre-Adamites or positing a world with death prior to the fall of man and the sin, all of that is imported into the text. The straightforward narrative reading of the text is simply this, God created everything Here's how it went. Initially, the earth was without form and void.
Darkness was on the face of the deep. The Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. Then God said, not the Spirit hovering, brooding over it, thousand, ten thousand, million. Then God said, why in the world would we read it that way? unless we have kowtowed to modern science trying to tell us that the world is 65 billion years old.
See, what has happened is that the people of God have feared science, and what we have done is harmonized the Bible with science. There's nothing that necessitates that in the text of Scripture. We need to hold our ground. If we look foolish, if we look silly, if we are not academically accepted, who cares?
Do you actually care what a God-hating rebel PhD says to you concerning the age of the universe? How in the world do they know it's 65 billion years old? Now, I'm working probably on old data. What do they say in the world is now?
It's probably, how many? Yeah, we're talking about different changes in numbers and all that sort of thing. You see, what happens when we leave Scripture or we harmonize Scripture with science is that we end up capitulating. Now, I'm not suggesting science is bad.
It's another problem. Christians often say, well, science is not bad. Science is a tool given by God for man. Science simply means knowledge.
But the science is not determinative of the interpretation. In other words, scientists, Christian versus atheists, are working with the same data. There's not one set of dinosaur bones for the atheist and another set of dinosaur bones for the theist. There's one set of dinosaur bones, but it's how the atheist and how the theist interprets the bones.
So it's not the science, it's not the data, it's not the facts, it's the spin that we put on that. And the Bible gives us the spin, and I say that reverently, that we are to put on dinosaur bones, or on the age of the universe, or on whatever it may be. We interpret reality through God's lenses. We interpret reality through scripture.
So what we find ultimately in the debate between the theist and the atheist is a commitment to a worldview. The theist, obviously committed to God, is going to interpret Scripture according to God. The atheist, who is opposed to God, is going to reject everything that it says there. So when we try to harmonize and try to marry our Christianity with this scientific approach, we're going to abandon it.
But again, don't abandon science. Christians who say, well, science is terrible. No, science gave us that refrigerator. Science gives us medicine.
Science helps us to cook our food without burning our hands. I mean, science is a wonderful thing, and we ought not to diminish it. In fact, as believers, we ought to be the best scientists. It's simply the pursuit of knowledge.
You see, when we get into the debate concerning the origin of the universe, we've left hard data and we've gotten into philosophy. And the scientist wants to say, oh no, it's just facts, it's just data, it's just observation and empiricism. No, it's not. You are engaged in philosophy.
At least be honest. We as Christians are going to say, yeah, we're rooted in the text of scripture. At least admit what your worldview and your commitments are, and then we can at least have a rational discussion. That doesn't do any good for the atheists.
You're a Bible-thumping nut. Well, you're not going to get any advancement on the argument in that way. So, brethren, understand that there's a philosophy behind science, and the way that we approach facts is driven by our philosophical commitments, pre-commitments, presuppositions, whatever you want to call them. So, the initial act of creation, the earth was without form and void, not separated by a gap or a long period of time, but it shows for us from 2 to 3 and then on to verse 31, just as if the author Moses takes us by the hand and walks us through the creation week.
We start with this initial act of divine fiat by the Word of God. The heavens and earth were created. Initially, the earth was without form and void. And then the author is going to show us how God brought that into the beautiful place that we know and prepared it for his creatures.
That's what's happening. Not Gap, not, you know, this happened way back when and then there was another event. No, it ought to be read straightforwardly. The narrative does not necessitate a gap.
The emphasis in chapter 1 is on God's power to create, to be sure, but it's also showing His divine architecture. It's not just showing His power, His strength, His ability, His omnipotence, but it's showing His wisdom. Isn't that what the Confession says? It's showing His goodness.
Look how He creates the world. He makes land, and He makes these animals, and then He makes water. He makes these animals. He prepares all these things and gives them a habitation in a beautiful place so that they can have life and health and peace and happiness.
It's highlighting his omnipotence and power in terms of creation, but it's also showing his handiwork and his wisdom and his mercy and goodness in developing this world environmentally to sustain his creatures. It's a beautiful walk through the creation narrative. And then notice the movement in the creation week at verse 2. Verse 2b, the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.
Many have sort of have seen a parallel with Deuteronomy 32.11. There Yahweh likens himself to an eagle. He says, as an eagle stirs up its nest, hovers over its young, spreading out its wings, taking them up, carrying them on its wings. One man says, the image of the Spirit of God hovering over the waters is similar to the depiction of God in Deuteronomy 30 to 11, as an eagle hovering over the nest of its young, protecting and preparing the nest.
I think that's a good way to sort of capture the thought. The Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters, not in the sense that he can't wait to pounce on the creature, but he can't wait to prepare, not can't wait, speaking in the manner of men, can't wait to prepare this nest. for his creatures, preparing this place of goodness for his image bearers, for Adam and Eve, so they may enjoy the lushness of his created order. It's a beautiful way for the author to lead us by the hand. Now, I mentioned earlier that this relates obviously to the rest of this book and as well to the rest of of the Bible.
The creation account here, chapter 1 and 2, sets the stage for the rest of chapters 1 to 11. It also sets the stage for chapters 12 to 50. Now imagine this, you've got 50 chapters in the book of Genesis, and I mean there's some massive, huge, amazing things going on in these first 11 chapters, especially in chapters 1 to 3. I mean, the creation of the world.
This is why I started off with Calvin. Since the infinite wisdom of God is displayed in the admirable structure of heaven and earth, it is absolutely impossible to unfold the history of the creation of the world in terms equal to its dignity. It's impossible. It's like trying to, you know, take water out of the ocean with a spoon.
You can't do it. You cannot exhaust it. It's just too sublime. It's too glorious.
The best you're ever going to do is make a dent. I mean, I had a stack of commentaries on the desk today, and all of them collected just begin to make a tiny scratch at the surface of the text because it's so amazing. But if you look at the book of Genesis, 12 to 50 focuses on four men, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph. That's a lot of data for four men.
Now, I love what Gordon Wenham says. He says, Genesis 1, 1, 1 to 2, 3, serves as a splendid introduction to the book of Genesis as a whole. It declares that the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is no mere localized or tribal deity, but the sovereign Lord of the whole earth. The apparently insignificant family stories that occupy the bulk of the book.
I mean, have you read Genesis lately? You read about dudes looking for girlfriends, not girlfriends, but wives for their sons. I mean, long chapters that this is happening. You're like, man, I know this is the Word of God, and I know it's a glorious story.
How does it all fit? How does it connect to what we find here in Genesis 1-3? The apparently insignificant family stories that occupy the bulk of the book are in fact of cosmic consequence, for God has chosen these men so that through them all the nations of the earth should be blessed. You see, this connects to them, which connects us to the rest of the Bible.
And lo and behold, Revelation 21 ought to be read in comparison with Genesis 1. We have paradise lost in Genesis 1-3 and paradise restored in Revelation 21. You see the same language used. You see the tree of life.
You see the same concepts. There's movement and order. The Bible is whole. The Bible is cogent.
It's cohesive. disjointed. It's not the Quran. It's not just sort of stuff thrown together and bound in one sort of binding. No, this is all woven together in a most beautiful and glorious way.
So this section sets the stage not only for Genesis 1 to 11, but Genesis 12 to 50, which then indeed, of course, sets the stage for all that follows in terms of our expectation for the Lord Jesus. Now, verses 3 to 31 deal with creation by divine fiat, or by God's word. And there's a formula that's utilized in each instance. You have first the announcement, then God said. the announcement.
Moses is telling us, here's what's happening. Secondly, you have a command, let there be. God commands and it happens. The report, and it was so.
The evaluation, God saw that it was good. The time reference, so the evening and the morning were the whatever day it was. See, that's the common formula that's employed throughout the narrative, focusing on the particular days of creation, and lo and behold, chapter 2, verse 1 functions like chapter 1, verse 1, and gives us again a summary of the creation of the cosmos. Thus the heavens and the earth, chapter 2, verse 1, and all the host of them were finished.
We don't have a separate account in Genesis 2. It's not that there's two creation accounts. Many have believed that, that what we have in Genesis 1 and 2 are two different creation accounts. Genesis 1 is a general panoramic statement concerning the creation of all things, does indicate the creation of man in 126-28, but chapter 2 gives us a bird's eye view or an amplification of the creation of man.
He's the pinnacle of God's creation. He's the image bearer, the Baltimore Oriole, The beluga whale, the dog, the cat, they're not image-bearers of God. It is man. And so we would expect some more attention given to man.
So it's not two accounts. There's a general one in chapter 1, and there's an expanded, amplified version in chapter 2 showing us that not only is man God's creature, he is his image-bearer, and as well, God places him in covenant. So chapter two simply amplifies what we find there in Genesis 1, 26 to 28. So just a couple of thoughts, and then we close.
Time went quickly tonight, and you're probably all going, wow, that's a good thing.
Application: Sovereignty and Immutability
First of all, the sovereignty of God, the creation account obviously highlights, demonstrates sovereignty, supremacy, glory, and majesty. I mean, if this God does what he does, he is to be worshiped, praised, and honored. Now, I mentioned that the book functions, or the narrative functions, you know, as a polemic against the pagans around them. We need a bit of that polemic as well.
Not necessarily for pagans, but for those in the camp of the Christians that would say, well, you know, creation shows us that God changes. You know, God has changed, He's taken on these properties, He has become something that at one time He was not. God doesn't change. The doctrine of immutability and its subset doctrine, impassibility, is always true of God.
He didn't change when He made this world. Francis Turretin says this, hence whatever change was made by the creation was made in the creature. God doesn't change. We change, but God doesn't change.
Just keep that as a fundamental operating principle, especially if you happen to look on Facebook. Make sure, you know, and there's polemics against ARBCA, make sure you understand God doesn't change. Man changes relative to God, but God doesn't change. So back to Turretin.
Hence, whatever change was made by the creation was made in the creatures passing from non-existence to being and not in God Himself creating. By the same practical volition which He had from eternity, He created the world in time, produced it actually in the beginning of time. God didn't change, creature did.
Application: Creator-Creature Distinction
Secondly, we need to maintain the creator-creature distinction. This is very important. I think that at times we are faulty here because we think that God is just a better version of us. That's not what the image of God means.
That's not what we're supposed to suppose. It's not as if you go, cat, dog, man, angel, God. God is not within the realm of creature. God is not in the same order of being.
God is creator. He's over here, not literally, but He's away from, He's different from. There is an actual distinction. Things that are true of us aren't true of God.
We are creature. We are derived. We are dependent. We are always going to be thus.
God is not derived. God is independent. God has life of himself. He doesn't derive it from anything outside of himself.
Fellow Webster again says, the difference between creator and creature is infinite. This is important. If we get creation wrong, we're most likely going to get creator wrong. And we can't get creator wrong.
That's just unacceptable. The difference between creator and creature is infinite, not just very great. Creator does not merely refer to the supreme causal power by which the world is explained. For God would then be simply a principle superior to the world, or the biggest thing around.
He says, God the Creator is not simply the most excellent of beings. So again, it's not cat, dog, man, angel, God, the most excellent of being. He's not in our category. He's not creature.
He's not in the same chain or order of being. God the Creator is not simply the most excellent of beings, because the distinction between uncreated and created being is not a distinction within created being, but one between different orders of being. God is not one item in a totality, even the most eminently powerful item in the set of all things. All that to say, please understand, God is not creature.
We are not creator. There is a distinction. We owe him obedience, worship, praise, glory, and honor. And we need to owe him, or we owe him as well, not speaking of him as if he's just a better version of us.
That's not godly. That is not glorifying. He is not just, you know, a good or a super human being. No, he is different.
He created. We are creature. Well, those are just some thoughts there from Genesis 1, 1 and 2. As I said, next week, hopefully we'll get to the rest of that creation account.
But if you're looking for science, you can Probably look somewhere else. It's just difficult. I mean, there's some good agencies devoted to a scientific treatment of genesis. Answers in genesis.
What are the other ones? Creation, science. They're out there. And they can tell you the ins and outs and deal with the shape of the universe and light speed.
That's great. More power to that. I just don't have that ability, so we're going to just kind of keep it simple for these first few chapters. So let's pray.
Closing Prayer
Father, we thank You for the fact that You did make this world by the Word of Your power in the space of six days and all very good. We thank You that even though sin entered into the world, You purposed to redeem Your elect out of the world. And we praise You that You've included us in this plan. We praise You for the skull crushing seed of the woman who defeated the devil at the cross, and how we praise You for our salvation in Him.
And we ask now that You would go with us, give us grace to glorify You as Creator, as Governor, as Redeemer. And we pray through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.