Genesis chapter 1, I'll read beginning 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. Then 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 great 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. Then 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, See, 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.
Amen. Well, last week, when we looked at a bit of a theology of creation, specifically from the Confession of Faith, along the way I quoted John Calvin concerning the creation account. And Calvin said, 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. In other words, the dignity of this account is so high, it's difficult to do it justice.
In many respects, sort of like a tour guide with you at a museum. I know nothing about museums. I know nothing about art. I would take you through the front door and I'd say, look, there's a painting or there's a structure.
That's about what you're going to get in terms of our survey of this chapter tonight, because I am not going to get into the science. There are those who are able to do that, but we're going to take a straightforward look at what we have here in Genesis 1, specifically verses 3 to 25. Remember last week we said there is no gap, there's no long gap between verses 2 and 3. Verses 1 and 2 describe, verse 1 is an overall summary statement concerning the creation of the cosmos.
Verse 2 finds the creation of God in this place of being without form and void. Again, it doesn't demand that there's thousands or millions or billions of years before verse 3 comes. The emphasis is not simply on the fact that God created, but how He created, how He shaped, how He was indeed an architect that brought this creation into being. We'll see the progress involved in this chapter tonight. and then as well a particular pattern that we should be aware of as we survey this particular section.
So I want to
The Recurring Formula of Creation Days
look first at the recurring formula that's used on the days of creation, and then secondly we'll look more at the days of creation. Again, just a cursory glance at each one, not getting into all the jots and tittles of the particulars of them. But in terms of the recurring formula, you'll see this over and over again with reference to creation.
Announcement, Command, Fulfillment, Evaluation, Time
There is first an announcement, secondly a command, then the fulfillment, the evaluation, and the time reference. Each of the days follows that particular formula. Note the announcement, then God said. We see that in verses 3, 6, 9, 11, 14, 20, 24, and 26.
On each day of creation, God said. We know that God creates by the word of His power. He does it out of nothing, creation ex nihilo, and He does it in the space of six days and all very good. We call this creation by divine fiat, and fiat is a Latin word that means let there be or let it be done.
Wenham describes God's work this way. He says, it is a divine word of command that brings into existence what it expresses. Psalm 33, 6 comments on this creation account. It says, by the word of the Lord, the heavens were made, and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth.
John Gill rightly comments on Psalm 33 6 being a commentary on Genesis 1. He says, and God said, it is most beautifully paraphrased and explained in Psalm 33 6 as expressive of the will, power, authority, and efficacy of the divine being. whose word is clothed with power, and who can do and does whatever he will, and as soon as he pleases, his orders are always obeyed." In fact, you can turn to the book of Revelation, specifically chapter 4, at verse 11, a text we did look at last week, but one we need to remind ourselves concerning tonight. Remember it was stated last week that it pleased God to create. He was not constrained.
There was no necessity imposed upon Him. He didn't make this world and all things in it because He was incomplete and He needed something to complete Him. It was according to the good pleasure of His will. It was not a necessity.
And this is what the angels praised God for in Revelation 4.11. You are worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power, for You created all things, and by Your will they exist and were created. So it's most important that we remember that. It wasn't necessity, it wasn't a lack of completeness why God created.
God is not dependent upon the creature. God does not derive from the creature, but rather the creature is dependent upon God and derives from God. God is independent. God is sufficient in and of himself.
God is not constrained by anything outside of himself to do specific things. There are things that He does according to the power or according to the pleasure of His good will. So that's the announcement. Then we see this command.
Again, this is in verses 3, 6, 9, 11, 14, 20, 24, and 26, corresponding to each day of the creation Let there be. So the Lord God says, and then specifically, let there be. And that is that authoritative statement of God in terms of creation. After that, let there be, we see fulfillment.
And it was so. As Dill says, his orders are always obeyed. There is none that can stay his end, or ask what doest thou? When the Lord commands that light shines, light shines.
When the Lord does what He does, it will in fact come to pass. After that, there is the evaluation. And God saw that it was good. That's repeated again.
Each day of the creation account, God saw that it was good. There's a complacency, there's an approval, there's an approbation. In fact, again, Wenham makes this observation. He says, God the great artist is pictured admiring his handiwork.
This account of creation is a hymn to the Creator. Creation itself bears witness to the greatness and goodness of God. I think that's a very important thing for us to remember. God muses on the creation and says that it was good.
That ought to be our approach to the creation as well. Not that it's bad, not that it's a necessary evil, not that it's somehow inferior to the spirit or soul, but rather creation or creature is good. God made it thus, and we look forward to the redemption not only of soul, but body in the eternal state in the presence of God. There is a definite movement in Scripture.
You see paradise lost in Genesis 1 to 3, and you see paradise restored in Revelation 21 and 22. You see this movement to a new creation, to a new heavens and a new earth. And it's not ethereal, it's not angelic, it's not us on a cloud playing a harp with the other cherub or seraphim around us. Rather, it is physical.
I believe in the resurrection of the dead, the creed confesses, and we confess with Holy Scripture. This is what we're going forward to. The intermediate state, when we drop dead prior to the arrival of the Lord Jesus, we enter into a state wherein our soul goes to be with the Lord. But that's not everything for the believer.
The Christian, or blessed hope, is the resurrection from the dead, the reuniting of body and soul and then entrance into that new heavens and new earth wherein righteousness dwells, there's no more sorrow, there's no more hunger, there's no more thirst, there's no more pain, no more tears, and absolutely no more death. That's what the people of God have to look forward to as a result of the work of the Lord Jesus. So God saw that it was good, we ought to imitate God and see the goodness of creation. And then each of the days is punctuated with a time or a temporal reference.
We see, so the evening and the morning were the whatever day it was. You see that at the very end. So that's the recurring formula. You see formulas used in Scripture very often, and it's a very excellent teaching technique, and it's a way to help one memorize what is happening in the space of a section of Scripture.
The Days of Creation
Now let's look specifically at the days of creation. And I want to notice three things. First, the progression, secondly, the pattern, and thirdly, the purposes. But with reference to the progression, as I suggested, verse 2 pictures God's creation, and it says that it was without form and void.
So we move from this place of without form and voidness to this place that is most excellent and most luxurious and a place that can sustain and nourish life. You have to appreciate the building blocks that go into this creation account. The time references obviously highlight progression. We move from the first day to the sixth day in terms of creation.
The seventh crowns it all. That's God's Sabbath. That is not only God's Sabbath, but it's also paradigmatic or representative for the people of God. We are taught to Sabbath not at Sinai, but we're taught to Sabbath in Genesis chapter 2.
That's the foundation for the Sabbath command at Sinai. That's the foundation for the Sabbath command in the New Covenant, though the parallels with reference to the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ are drawn out in Hebrews 4, and I would argue that that is the place where it is stated that the day of worship is Sunday. But it is nevertheless the doctrine of the Sabbath. We see that as God's crowning thing or crowning jewel with reference to the creation account.
So the initial act of creation, the earth was without form and void. The akin to seeing a house, you know, before it begins to be a house, it's a pile of lumber. And what happens is the men and the women that go in and they start to take the beams and they start to take the two by fours and they start to frame. and they start to put it all together. That's what's happening in Genesis chapter 1.
Verse 2 pictures that mass of lumber, verse 2 pictures that without form and voidness, and then verses 3 to 25 take us by the hand and show us God's handiwork as He fashions this world together and as it ends in the pinnacle of His creation, which is man. This is where the narrative is moving, and we'll see that as we look at the pattern that is employed. But with reference to the movement, notice the progress in the account, we see first the creation of light in verses 3 to 5. Now, some would suggest that is absolutely paradoxical because the sun wasn't created until the fourth day.
God doesn't need the sun for light. Revelation 21 tells us that. There is no sun there. The Lord is its light.
Now, the sun and the moon and the stars might consolidate that light, but they are not the source of that light. God is the source of the light. And we need to realize also that in 1 John 1, 5, it tells us that God is light. Most likely, in that particular context, it's highlighting or contrasting him with darkness or that which is sinful.
If we were to say God is light and not qualify it the way that I just did, in many respects, we need to make sure that we understand light is creature. God made the light. Remember we said God is not creature, God is creator. God does not have affinity with that which is created.
So if you want the technical definition, that would be called an analogical predication. In other words, there is something said concerning God In the created realm, it's applied to Him, but we need to understand that it's not exact parallel. God isn't creature. God manifests things that are indicative of what that is, but He is not something that is created.
You need to maintain, in order to have a good theology proper, this creator-creature distinction. So when we say God is light, we can say so speaking in the manner of men or speaking what's called anthropomorphically. We can say something true of God without necessarily saying that God is creature. The scripture uses the language that the eyes of Yahweh run to and fro throughout all the earth.
The prophet Isaiah says that the Lord demonstrates His mighty right arm. Those are anthropomorphisms. God doesn't really have eyes. He doesn't really have a mighty right arm.
Those are things or conventions or figures that teach us as creatures something true concerning God. And the same is the case with 1 John 1.5. God is light. But if we look here, light is creature.
God is not creature. There is a distinction, and we need to appreciate that so we don't jeopardize our theology proper. So we see here that God creates the light, and there was light. He said, let there be light, and there was light.
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. All those elements of the formula are there, present.
Now notice, secondly, the division of waters. Waters over the firmament and under the firmament, verses 6 to 8. Now there's a whole host of things that one could say with reference to verses 6 to 8. And as I said, there's the picture, there's the sculpture.
This whole idea of separating the waters above the firmament and below the firmament. Now, there are some who teach that the above the firmament waters are simply clouds. Others believe it was some sort of a hard dome that was sort of encasing the earth and that it was compromised ultimately when God sent the floodwaters. down on the earth. Again, there's some science behind all this that you can investigate further with reference to answers in Genesis or some of those other groups.
But the actual word means extended surface. If we ask what is firmament or expanse, the NIV translates at vault. and the ESV margin translates it canopy. Now, each of those are found as translations of this particular word, so it's a little bit difficult at times to nail down. But the dictionary definition, extended surface, solid expanse, the vault of heaven or firmament regarded by Hebrews as solid and supporting waters above it.
So, as I said, some take this firmament, or the waters above the firmament, as being clouds, others see it as this dome-type thing, and there is a view, and it's supported by other places in Scripture, that there's actually water before the heaven of God. Some actually believe that, there are some texts that seem to indicate that, I just commend to you for your further reflection on that. But Waltke explains it this way with reference to expanse or firmament. This seems to be the atmosphere or sky which in 1.8 is called heavens or skies.
The expanse separating the waters is part of the sky. Elsewhere, it is said to be hard as a mirror in Job 37.18 and like a canopy in Isaiah 40.22. And then water from water. The expanse separates the source of rain from the waters on earth.
So it was just a means by which God separated these waters. There's above the firmament and below the firmament. And then notice on the third day we have the separation of land and sea in verses 9 to 13. As well we get trees. we get plants and we get fruit and we get seeds and all the things that will be necessary to sustain the life that is going to ultimately inhabit the earth.
There is a particular pattern that is being followed here. The earth is being prepared in order to sustain life and ultimately it's going to be man that's the center in terms of the narrative. Not that the other or the animals are unimportant, but we'll see as we move through it that God has shown us in this account something specific concerning the creation of man. But in terms of the separation of land and sea, you'll see this referred to in Job 38, Psalm 33 7, and Jeremiah 5 22.
Wenham makes this comment. The narrative moves from the creation of light by which the works of God are seen through heaven, the throne of God, to earth, the abode of man. With the establishment of land and sea, the basic parameters of human existence in time and space are complete. But unlike the works of the first two days, the work of the third involved no new creation, but more an organization of existing material.
Remember we said that creation ex nihilo does not rule out the case that God can take existing matter and make stuff. He does that with reference to Eve. The idea of creation ex nihilo, God created all things out of nothing, means that act of creation. Once there is matter, God is free certainly to shape it, to mold it, and to bend it according to His will in order to accomplish the purpose for which He gave it.
The emphasis in creation ex nihilo means to indicate that there is not the eternality of matter. It's not that God arrived on this eternal mass of matter and then He went to work. There was nothing. God spoke it into being by divine fiat.
And then notice on the fourth day, the appointment of light bearers in verses 14 to 19. And notice, specifically with reference to these light bearers, we see it was to divide day and night. Certainly the sun and the moon do that. As well, it was to be for signs and seasons.
Many of the Jewish rabbis said that it was with reference to the Jewish calendar. In other words, the feast days and Sabbath were so important to Israel. This is one of the functions of these lightbearers, is to set the stage or to regulate conduct so that men observe the feasts that God had given, so that men would Sabbath in accordance with Israel's calendar, but also to be for days and years. And then notice the way that the stars are just kind of passed over.
It says, then God made two great lights, verse 16, the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night, the stars also. Now, He made is supplied there, but there are those who are caught up in the stars. I don't mean literally, I mean people that live their lives based on the stars. Well, this text indicates that one ought not to do so.
In other words, the stars are mentioned as God's creation to be sure, but they're not mentioned as things that should dictate our lives. We are not to be engaged in astrology. We're not supposed to look at constellations and fortune cookies and whatnot in order to figure out what we're going to do the next day. That is simply condemned by Scripture, and we need to understand with reference to verses 14 to 19, the sun and the moon and the stars do exist as signs, but not so you know your fortune, but so you'll know to rest on the Sabbath and to worship your God. so that you'll know the difference between day and night.
So you'll know the difference between a day, a month, a year. You'll know the difference that way. The sign indicated by these particular lightbearers is not tea leaves and holy horseshoes. It is the bigger events God uses by means of these lightbearers to regulate our lives.
Not to regulate the minutia, but the seasons, the times, the epochs, and the seasons for worship. That's what it means there to be signs and seasons for days and years, not so that we can read the stars like people read tea leaves. And then notice the fish and birds, verses 20 to 23. We have 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.
Dropping down to verse 22, 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, we're the fifth day. Now God blesses these creatures. Now most likely what it's attached to is this idea of being fruitful and multiplying.
But this starts off a long list of blessing in the book of Genesis. It's one of the major themes in the book of Genesis. The Old Covenant Hebrews didn't talk about success, they talked about blessedness. And God the Lord is the one or the source from which blessedness comes, with reference to the creature.
And then the sixth day sees the land creatures, especially man. So verses 24 to 31, deal with land creatures. We're going to stop at verse 25 tonight, and the Lord willing, pick up on the creation of man next Wednesday night. But notice in verse 24, 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. Now, that's the progression.
You see how the earth goes from this without form and void state to this place now that can sustain life. This place now that is teeming with life, both with reference to in the sea, in the sky, and as well on the land. There is a definite progression involved in the text that brings us from a without form and void state to a formed and filled state. now calculated to sustain the life that is in the land, specifically Adam and Eve. Now
Pattern: Realms and Their Rulers
that's where I want to introduce this idea of the pattern. The pattern in the creation account shows similarity in terms of the days. Now I should caution you that some have observed this and therefore they think that it doesn't mean to be taken literally. It's called the framework hypothesis.
Day one corresponds to day four. Day two corresponds to day five. Day three corresponds to day six. Some say, well, it's such a brilliant narrative, it must not be meant to be taken literally.
In other words, it's a beautiful literary framework that Moses has woven together to teach us certain theological truths. I say, why can't it be a brilliantly written theological narrative that does, in fact, convey to us six-day creation? I don't know that the two are mutually exclusive, but if you look at the text, there is that correspondence, and it is conspicuous. The first three days correspond to realms.
The last three days correspond to rulers of those particular realms. So on day one, you have light. Day four, you have light bearers. In fact, the text is conspicuous with reference to the two lights in verse 16.
God made the day and the lesser light, I'm sorry, 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." So you see, you have the realm of light, day one, now you have the ruler with reference to that realm, the sun, the moon, the stars. Well, actually the sun and the moon, not the stars.
Does everybody get that? Correspondence day 1, day 4. Now notice with reference to day 2 and day 5. Day 2 you have the creation of sea and sky.
That's the realm. Who's the ruler over the sea and the sky? You've got fish and birds. Now, these animals aren't rulers with thrones and crowns and scepters.
The idea is that this is their realm. They are to be fruitful and multiply and fill that realm. Birds in the sky, Fish in the sea. So you see you've got realm, you've got ruler, both with reference to day 1, day 4, day 2, day 5, and then as well day 3.
You've got land, which is the realm, and then with reference to the ruler, you have land creatures. Land creatures. Everybody understand? We've got correspondence.
Realm, ruler. Within each of these realms, there's a particular ruler. With reference to light, you've got sun and moon. With reference to sea and sky, you've got fish and birds.
With reference to land, you've got land creatures. Now,
Man as Vice-Regent Over All Realms
who's the ruler over them all? Yes, God, but God's vice regent is man. The narrative is moving to man. Not that animals are unimportant, not that creeping things should be stepped on and squashed, not that the environment should be polluted, not that we shouldn't look at the sun and the moon and the stars and say, wow, what a beautiful thing.
But the narrative is forcing us to consider what Psalm 8 says. What is man that you have made him? over all the works of your hands. This is what the narrative is doing. It is moving us forward to this particular apex or pinnacle of God's creation.
And then, of course, Sabbath crowns it all. Sabbath, should we understand, is the enthronement of God. Sabbath is a huge topic in the Bible. It's not just some odd doctrine that certain Reformed churches hold to because of tradition.
Sabbath runs through Scripture. Sabbath is most important because Sabbath is ultimately about God. And if we get that, we're going to hopefully explore that in more detail when we get to chapter 2, verses 1 to 3. Sabbath is a crucial concept, not only in the creation narrative, but throughout Scripture as well.
But there is this pattern and it is conspicuous and it does drive us to consider the creation of man with reference to the fact that he is in the image of God. Nothing else prior in the creation account has told us that, that this animal or this beast or this creeping thing was created in the image of God. We are more valuable. We are in his image.
It is murder. to terminate a human life. It's not murder to terminate a cow. It's not murder to terminate a cat. Now, I don't think we should just go out and willy-nilly terminate cats and cows, but it's not murder.
It's a different kind of thing. We bear the image of God, therefore when you assault man, you assault the image of God. That's why there's dignity in the sanctity of life. It's the argument for the death penalty.
Whoever sheds man's blood, by man his blood will be shed. Why? for in the image of God he made man." You don't find that with reference to killing a horse, to killing a dog, to killing a cat, because they're not made in the image of God. It is only man, and this is what the Psalter celebrates, specifically in Psalm 8. The realms are created, the rulers are installed, light, lightbearers, sea and sky, fish and birds, land and land creatures.
The progression and pattern lead to the creation of man, the image of God who is given to rule over all the realms under God. Notice, specifically in verse 26, 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 everything heretofore explained, everything previously described in terms of realms and rulers, man is to rule over it all under God. to be sure. Now from the hand of God, Adam was to function the way that ultimately Christ functions. Christ is prophet, priest, and king.
That's how Adam was to conduct himself. Adam wasn't in the first place a gardener or a farmer. Adam was in the first place a priest to God. mediating the blessings of God to the creation around him, and interpreting God's mind and heart for the creation around him. And Adam was a kingly figure that was supposed to exercise lawful dominion in the name of God, for the glory of God, and for the extension of what will be the garden temple.
Eden was a temple. It wasn't first and foremost a garden or a farm project. It was a temple. It was where God and man communed.
It was where God and man met. That's the very sum and substance of the concept of temple. Tabernacle is the temporary temple. You know what tabernacle means?
It means dwelling place. Temple is the same. And when we see movement, as I mentioned, from Genesis to Revelation, when John sees the holy city, New Jerusalem, descending from above, it's described in terms of temple. It's a cube.
It's a temple structure. What's the emphasis? This is the achievement. Because of Christ, God and man now dwell together.
It's a beautiful thing when you start to see this woven together throughout scripture and throughout redemptive history. Again, I want to encourage us. The brilliance of the narrative should not be taken as a rejection of the literal six-day creation view. God can use Moses, and he has, to write a brilliantly patterned narrative that expresses the specifics of a literal six-day creation.
In other words, appreciating this framework does not commit one to the framework hypothesis. The reality is, is that God did create all things out of nothing, by the word of his power, in the space of six days, and all very good. And God used Moses to weave this together in a narrative that is most excellent, most glorious, to show us the correspondence. We have realm, We have ruler and we have man as the ruler over the realms under God, seeking to honor him in the way that he has commanded.
It's a beautiful, beautiful thing.
Purposes of the Creation Account
In terms of the purposes, I think first and foremost, it is to demonstrate the supremacy of God. It is to demonstrate the supremacy of God. I mentioned last week, in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Verse 1 doesn't argue for the existence of God.
Verse 1 assumes the existence of God. Verse 1 is not preceded by another book trying to prove that there is in fact a God. We know that God exists, the Bible assumes that, and it begins with the beginning of creation, not the beginning of God. As well, this orderly account shows us the order and the function of creation.
In other words, this wasn't randomly thrown together. What we see about us isn't a collection of atoms and molecules and things that just somehow bang together and produce this. No, there is great artistic design involved in the creation account that reflects the great artistic design a designer, God himself. And we need to appreciate that.
There's function, there's order, he prepares the realms, he puts the ruler in, and then he gives man charge over the whole lot. And then finally, it does describe for us the creation of man in the image of God. We'll see him created, and then we move in the garden narrative in chapter 2 to see him then placed in a covenant of works. Then we see the whole religious aspect of God's creation of Adam and Adam's obligation to God in terms of obedience with reference to the specific prohibition to not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
So that is a brief look at this particular section. Again, I would suggest you probably have a lot of questions. I don't have a lot of answers beyond what I just offered. Verses 3 to 25 are packed, and as Calvin says, the dignity that matter, it's impossible to do it justice.
In conclusion,
Application
just a few thoughts. The first thing is
The Confession on Creation's Glory
we ought to appreciate what our confession of faith says concerning God's creation. It says, 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 it's a manifestation of the glory of His eternal power, His wisdom, and His goodness. When we come to Genesis chapter 1 in terms of the written revelation of God, when we look at the sun and the moon and the stars, when we look at God's handiwork in the created realm, in general revelation, we ought to be led to a consideration of His eternal power, His wisdom and His goodness.
You see, God has two ways of communicating to us. There is special revelation and there is general revelation. General revelation is God's revelation of himself in and through the created order. Psalm 19 highlights this.
Romans chapter 1 highlights this. Essentially, what those passages say is that when we look at the created order, we are led to consider the fact that there is a creator of that created order. That's general revelation. It shows us His eternal power, it shows us His Godhead, it shows us His wisdom, it shows us His goodness, but it doesn't ultimately show us redemption through blood.
That's why we need special revelation, and as well, special revelation helps us, helps correct our faulty thinking. To see, we look at the world and we start to define it in terms of Big Bang Theory or We look at the world and we start to define it in terms of gap theory or pre-Adamite peoples or, you know, it's a however many billion years old they're telling us it is now. And we need special revelation to correct that faulty thinking. Special revelation informs us who made, why he made, and it manifests indeed his eternal power, wisdom, and goodness.
I already mentioned the goodness of creation. Again, this is something we need to take seriously. Christians ought not to be, you know, wackos that run around the bush eating nuts and berries and singing Born Free. But at the same time, we need to make sure that we are responsible agents with reference to the created order.
We're not supposed to destroy the earth and not treat it as something that it's just bad, we can do whatever we want with it. No, we're not supposed to worship the creature, but we're not supposed to denigrate it either. We're not supposed to trash it. God made this world, it's good, and as his image-bearers, especially as his redeemed image-bearers, we ought to have a likewise view concerning creation.
I think at times the Christian Church is guilty of incipient Gnosticism. We have this idea that the physical is bad. We have this idea that it's only the spiritual, it's only the soulish. I think you see that in Roman Catholicism with reference to marriage and procreation.
Procreation is the only reason why any two persons should ever have relations. That's not true. The Bible doesn't say that. Certainly that is one aspect, but there's other aspects that the Bible holds for too.
And I think at times we're Gnostics. We treat things as if it's dirty or it's icky or it's somehow bad. God said that it was good. We ought to say it's good as well and not to denigrate that which God has said is a good thing.
Creation Account Is Not a Science Textbook
Thirdly, we ought to appreciate with reference to the presentation of the creation account. This is not a science textbook. I'm not suggesting we can't find references in here that support or that help us with our scientific theory, but Moses wrote for us. Moses didn't write for the PhDs in the school of Jerusalem, creational studies.
In many respects, brethren, as we take this brief tour, it is what it says. Not a whole lot more we can say with reference to the various aspects of things that are indicated here in terms of the creation account. So on the one hand, yes, we want to be in earnest, we want to be faithful, we want scientists that can explain all these things in light of God-hating, secularist, atheistic professors that are telling us otherwise. But on the other hand, we ought not to be scared off because we're simpletons.
We ought to enjoy Genesis 1. We ought to revel in the fact that the Psalter tells us that the law of Yahweh makes wise the simple. We don't need a Ph.D. to say, wow, God made the world, you know, all things out of nothing by the word of His power in the space of six days and all very good. You train your five-year-old with that question and answer from the Westminster Shorter Catechism, he is far wiser than any Ph.D. who denies any of that statement whatsoever.
We are not to shrink back, and we are not to fear the face of man when it comes to maintaining the doctrine of creation. For far too long, Christians have been giving away the theological form to our enemies in the name of trying to appear respectable to our enemies. Brethren, that is not our concern. Our desire ought to be to please, to honor, and to maintain fidelity to God.
Calvin said, with reference to the text, he says, Moses wrote in a popular style things which, without instruction, all ordinary persons, with common sense, are able to understand. I love that. You don't have to be a PhD. You can just read it and say, yeah, God made the world, all things out of nothing, by the word of his power, in the space of six days, and all very good.
So for my part, I don't get into long, protracted debates on the age of the universe and the days of creation. It's all very simple to me. It is what it says it is, and I just take it that way. And I think that's the emphasis in Hebrews 11.3.
By faith, we understand. You see, there's a particular order reflected in that verse. By faith, we understand. Far too often, Christians want to understand before they believe.
People want to know before they'll believe. Now, I'm not suggesting some blind existential leap of faith, but I am suggesting that it's the scriptures that give us the platform by which we interpret other things. By faith we understand. We don't understand in order to believe.
We believe in order to understand. Once we come to the Lord, that's when our minds are set straight. The fear of Yahweh is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding. You see, that's the order, and far too much.
Okay, we got to have all this data, we got to present all this data. No, we need to call sinners to believe the gospel and repent. That'll sort them out with reference to creation. You want to teach young earth creation?
You want to teach a literal six-dayism? Teach the gospel and have sinners get saved. Because then they read this narrative and they say, well yeah, that's exactly, they couldn't have been any other way. And then,
Polemics of Genesis One
fourthly, we ought to appreciate the polemics of chapter 1. Now, apologetics is when we defend the faith. Apologize does not mean, I'm sorry, in some feeble, weak way. Apology means defense.
And apologetics is tasked with defending the Christian faith. Polemics is tasked with destroying other faiths. And, you know, you do that nicely but swiftly and earnestly. There's polemics in Genesis chapter 1, at least in a couple places.
Remember that at the time that Moses wrote, remember Moses wasn't there. God by the Spirit gave him this to write. So Moses is shucking and jiving with the rest of the Israelites amongst the pagan nations around. Those pagan nations around worship all sorts of deities, all kinds of fake gods.
And so within this creation account, here in Genesis 1, I would suggest specifically verse 1, "...in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." That is polemical! That destroys or demolishes Baal's claim to fame. It destroys or demolishes Moloch, or it destroys or demolishes Asherah, or any of the pagan deities. But then, notice specifically in verses 14 to 19, Remember one of the things that we saw in the reforms under Josiah?
Remember what Josiah had to rid the temple of? Things devoted to the sun, the moon, and the stars. In fact, in the book of Deuteronomy, on the plains of Moab, prior to entering into the promised land, Moses, or God through Moses, tells the people in Deuteronomy 4.19 not to worship the sun, the moon, and the stars. As I said, we get to Kings 1 and 2, and you see these pesky sun, moon, and star worshipers keep affecting you know, the whole scene there in Israel.
Well, most likely, they had co-opted it from the Assyrians. Astral worship was big among the Assyrians, and, you know, wicked, idolatrous Israelites, or Judeans, co-opted that, and they brought it into the very Temple of Yahweh. Well, notice, in verses 14 to 19, that's a polemic. Not only do you not worship Sun, Moon, and Stars, but you need to acknowledge that Yahweh made Sun, Moon, and Stars.
Yahweh hung them in their places. They're not to be bowed to. John Gill observed this. He says, this was his own work, which he himself did, and not by another. and may be particularly observed to express the folly of idolaters in worshipping these luminaries, which were the creatures of God, and were placed by Him in heaven to serve some purposes on earth beneficial to men, but not to be worshipped.
There's certain utility, sun, moon, stars. I mean, if we didn't have sun and moon, we'd be in bad shape. We have to have that, but not to worship them. They're beneficial to us, but we don't bow to that.
And then notice in verse 21, this reference to the great sea creature. So God created. This is the only time after verse 1, at least up to this point, the only time since verse 1 that created appears. That's not to imply that he didn't create everything else.
He most certainly did, but the fact that Moses repeats this particular word in verse 21 might tip us off to consider why. And this reference to sea creatures, you see it throughout the Old Testament. Sea creatures were something big in pagan mythology. And so the authors of scripture, they're not subscribing to pagan mythology, they appeal to it to show the futility of it.
In fact, Wenham says this is the first time barah, which is created, has been used since verse 1. And it is probably significant that sea monsters are picked out for special mention. Isaiah 27, 51, Psalm 74, and Job 7 apparently use the language of Canaanite myth to describe God's victory over his foes. And it may well be that this verse mentions that the great sea monsters were created by God precisely to insist on His sovereignty over them.
So you can imagine, Israel is among a group of people that think that sea monsters are ultimately going to win the day. And Moses says, God made those two. They are not rivals that have to be defeated, just one of as many creatures. We sing this, Psalm 148.
It's in our hymn book, hymn number 105. But the great sea creatures, these big monsters in the sea, just another creature of God. created by him, they do his bidding, they don't ultimately rise up and win over the people. So I think there is a polemic thrust in terms of the particular context that Moses is in when he's instructing the children of Israel as they are going into the promised land, where they're surrounded by pagans, they're surrounded by pagan deities, and they need to get a good fresh dose of who Yahweh is and what he's done in terms of creation. Well, let's close in a word of prayer.
Closing Prayer
Our Father, we thank you for your Word. We thank you for the simplicity of the narrative and for its clarity. I pray that you would help us to embrace the reality conveyed here that you did create all things of nothing by the Word of your power in the space of six days and all very good. May you cause us to reflect upon this and may it lead us to worship and to praise, to see the manifestation of your glory, your eternal power, your wisdom, your goodness.
And may these things truly promote in us praise and worship and adoration towards you, our living God. We pray that you would go with us now, watch over us and help us to glorify you in our lives. And we pray through Jesus Christ, the Lord. Amen.