Creation (You Know the Story)

Nate Whitley

You Know the Story • Sermon • Submitted 7 years ago

Genesis 1:1–31

Creation

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You Know the Story

Creation

Genesis

The word genesis means beginning. Here in Genesis we find the beginning of everything. However, there is one thing that does not have a beginning and that is God. While the first two chapters of Genesis give an account of the beginning, we do not find a philosophical or scientific answer to God’s origins. Bible commentator Arthur Pink adds, “No argument is entered into to prove the existence of God: instead, His existence is affirmed as a fact to be believed.” God is eternal. He is uncaused, and infinite. God does not have a beginning, though He is the beginning. God does not have an ending though He is the end (). God was Himself before there was a beginning. God is the source of time and creation. Nothing created God. If something had created God then He could not be God. He would have to be subject to the source that caused Him. But such is not the case. Everything finds its source in the One who created all things. Therefore, if God has created everything then everything is subject to His authority and power. Nothing is higher or greater than God. Scripture does not seem to shy away from such fantastic claims. Pink continues, “This is the foundation truth of all real theology. God is the great Originator and Initiator. It is the ignoring of this which is the basic error in all human schemes. False systems of theology and philosophy begin with man, and seek to work up to God. But this is a turning of things upside down. We must, in all our thinking, begin with God, and work down to man.”

Genesis is the foundation for the rest of Scripture. The first two chapters of Genesis are two of the most important chapters in all of the Bible. Surely, there are not two other chapters in the Bible that have caused so much contention and debate. Science labs, college classrooms, and church pulpits all have their theories and opinions on the first two chapters of the Bible. However, God and Moses (who wrote the first five books of the Bible) were unapologetic about the creation of the universe and mankind. Other religions and cultures in Moses’ day held to their own myths concerning the gods and creation. Bible commentator R. Kent Hughes noted, “It was a polemic against the pagan mythologies of the surrounding nations. Each day of creation attacks one of the gods in the pagan pantheons of the day and declares that they are not gods at all. On day one the gods of light and darkness are dismissed. On day two, the gods of sky and sea. On day three, the earth gods and gods of vegetation. On day four, the sun, moon, and star gods. Days five and six dispense with the ideas of divinity within the animal kingdom. Finally, it is made clear that humans and humanity are not divine, while also teaching that all, from the greatest to the least, are made in the image of God”

Many people will reject God and Scripture because the answers to their questions concerning are not clearly defined. Certainly not everything about creation is found in Genesis chapter 1 and 2, considering it covers about two pages! Pastor and author Jeff Arnold said, “Many will reject the revealed while chasing the concealed.” In other words people refuse to see and believe what is revealed in Scripture because God, to an extent, has kept the creation process a mystery. Like a good chef, the kitchen is closed and the recipe is kept a secret. Nineteenth century preacher and writer Joseph Parker wrote concerning the creation account, “This account of creation is deeply religious, and from this fact I infer that the whole book of which it is the opening chapter is intended to be a religious and not a scientific revelation.” What the Lord wanted us to know about the creation account is in . God’s main concern is found in the other 1,187 chapters of the Bible. The entirety of Scripture is about God and his devotion to what He has created.

From Chaos to Creation

“In the beginning” (1:1) can be taken as a summary, or an introduction to the entirety of the creation account. Some would consider this the headline with the details following. Now, some commentators believe that there was a pause in the creation process. Bible commentator John Butler wrote, “After the original creation, there is an indefinite pause in the creation process. This helps us to see the condition of the original creation before it was perfected by the six-day work of God.” The heavens and the earth describes all creation by identifying that God created everything from the heavens to the earth.

“The earth was without form and void and darkness was over the face of the deep” (1:2a). The phrase “without form and void” in the Hebrew means “waste and void,” “not finished in its shape,” or “unproductive, out of order, and incapable of fulfilling its purpose of producing life-sustaining food.” In other words there was some sort of chaos. From the formless matter that was initially created, God began to shape and mold what would declare His glory (). Darkness had settled over the face of the deep. Darkness throughout the Bible signifies evil and death (; ; ; ). Some Bible commentators and scholars believe such chaos and darkness had come from the fall of Satan (). Satan’s demise from the heavens to the earth brought about a catastrophic outcome. God would not allow the earth to stay in the condition that it had become due to Satan’s fall.

The answer to the darkness and chaos was God’s Spirit hovering over the face of the waters (). Bible commentator Allen Ross says, “The arena is now the life-giving water and not the chaotic, abyss-like deep.” The Hebrew word for “hovering” means to “flutter” or “fly.” Ross comments, “it is used in to describe an eagle stirring up the nest, fluttering over its young. In much the same way, the unformed, lifeless mass of the watery earth was under the care of the divine Spirit, who hovered over it, ensuring its future development.” The Spirit of God brought life to the chaos. It still takes the Spirit of God to remove the chaos of sin and darkness. The waste and void of sin’s empty promises can only be healed through God’s Spirit.

A Speaking God

“By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible” (). The writer of Hebrews explains that everything that was created was crafted by the Word of God. God did not borrow other materials to craft and shape the universe. The only tool that God used was His word. He spoke everything into existence. Our God speaks and His words have creative power. Ten times in the first chapter of Genesis the phrase “God said” is recorded (, , , , , , , , , ). Every utterance had a purpose and intention. Behind every word spoken was God’s will and power. Like a carpenter driving a nail into a wood board, God hammered out His will with each word that He spoke.

Forming and Filling

The first three days remedy the waste and void that was once prevalent. Looking at the creation account one can see the order in which God worked. God created everything in six days. The first three days reveal God forming and the last three days filling. Hughes adds, “The two sets of days are a direct echo and remedy to the opening statement that the earth was ‘without form and void.’ The earth's formlessness was remedied by its forming in days one to three, and its emptiness by its filling on days four to six. This is exactly what happened, and Moses was at pains to make sure his hearers did not miss it.” God first prepared the atmosphere and earth for mankind. Man could not have survived had God not first made provision for survival.

Day One

The first three days remedy the waste and void that was once prevalent. God’s first recorded words were, “let there be light” (). The light mentioned here is not the sun, for that will be created on the fourth day. God’s initial remedy for the darkness was light. God’s Spirit hovered, but it was God’s Word that brought light. A world that was enveloped by darkness is suddenly illuminated. “God saw that the light was good” (). Everything that God speaks into existence is considered good (, , , , , , ).

Light and darkness have to be separated. Darkness and light cannot dwell together. You are either in the dark or in the light. This is a common theme that will unfold throughout the rest of Scripture. Just as darkness signifies evil and death, light represents that which is good (; ; ; ; ; ). Likewise, the ultimate picture of light is found in Jesus, for He is the light of the world (; ; ). As children of God we are to be light to the world we live in (; ). Just as the light had to be separated from the darkness, we are to be separate from the darkness of this world: “Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness” ().

The theme of separation pervades the creation account. Light and darkness are to be separate (). The waters were separated to form an expanse, which is called heaven (). Land and water were separated (). God separated the day from the night, and separated the seasons (). God separated man from the animals in the sky and on the ground (). God did not create chaos, he created order. He is not the author of confusion (). Just as there are differences between light and darkness, day and night, and land and water, there must be a distinction between the Christian and the world. Distinction between the saint and the sinner. Paul wrote, “Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you” ( KJV). The word separate in the Greek means: to be or to become separated or isolated from another and placed in a group apart from others. Christians may live in this world, but they are to be living for another world. Just as God separated the light from the darkness, we too, must be separated from the darkness of this age.

Day One Creation: Light and Darkness

Day Two

“And God said, ‘Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters’” (). On day one God separated light from darkness, and on day two he separated heaven from earth. On the second day God created the firmament and then separated it. Pastor and author John MacArthur adds, “As day two began, when the dawning of the day came, the universe was light and dark, the earth was an undifferentiated mass of elements completely engulfed in water.” The word “firmament” in the Hebrew speaks of something being spread out. The same Hebrew word is used in when it is used to describe the hammering of gold into thin sheets, which covered the Ark of the Covenant. MacArthur adds, “The firmament described here- the overlay that divided the waters below from the waters of above is the first heaven. According to , the heavens of outer space has already been created. So the firmament described in verses 7-8 is the earth’s atmosphere.”

The expanse separated the waters from the waters. The word “expanse” has been defined as “canopy.” It is quite possible that this is the atmosphere that humans can live in. This is the earth’s breathable atmosphere. In this context it also refers to what humans see above them, that is, the sky that contains both the heavenly lights and flying creatures.

Day Two Creation: Sky and Sea

Day Three

“Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear” (). The earth is still covered with water by day three. The atmosphere has been created and earth is starting to become habitable to vegetation, animals and humans. God continues the separation process by gathering together the waters and dry land appearing.

Day Three Creation: Land

Day Four

Day Four Creation: Sun, Moon, and Stars

Day Five

Day Five Creation: Birds and Fish

Day Six

Day Six Creation: Animals and Humans

Day Seven

Conclusion

The Creation account is significant to everyone and everything as it reveals the Author of every story. The creation account is not so much about the things that were created and how they were created as much as it is about Who created. All of Scripture is a testimony about God. All the stories of the Bible are not about heroes and heroines. Instead they are historical accounts about God.

If we are not careful we will make the stories of the Bible about us. We will cast ourselves as the victors and miss the true meaning as they are indicators and instructors pointing us to Jesus Christ, who is the main character of all of Scripture. It is Scripture that testifies of Jesus Christ (). In fact, Jesus even said that Moses wrote of Christ (). The story of creation is a word picture about Jesus Christ who has created all things (); will redeem all things (); and He will make all things new, which includes a new heaven and earth (, ).