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 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. 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. 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 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, 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. 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, just a few thoughts. The first thing is 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. 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, 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. 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.
