Chaos To Creation

1. God Transforms Chaos into Creation / God Contemplates Gen. 1:1-

2

2. God Creates Everything by His Powerful / Efficient /

Sufficient / Powerful / Sovereign Word

3. God Celebrates His Creation

I. God Transforms Chaos into Creation / God

Contemplates Gen. 1:1-2

Remember the historical context of Genesis 1. It is not the

beginning of the earth. It is God's people in captivity in Egypt.

God has told Moses at the burning bush that He will give Moses

what he is to say to the people when he gets there, and this is it!

Moses will bring affirmation from Almighty God that they are His

people, unique, and that Egypt and her gods are no match for Him.

He is there to let them know the the Creator God, who called them

out of Ur in Abraham and made them a nation for Himself, who

judged them and protected them, is not only ready to free them

from the Egyptians, but he is willing, and HE IS ABLE to do so.

The first two verses of this book are tone-setting to say the

least. These words let us know exactly what God wants His people

to hear first.

They are not primarily intended to explain HOW God did

what He did, although, as we have learned time and time again, the

Bible has a way of describing things with uncannily scientific

accuracy, at least when science gets around to getting it right.

If we didn't have verse 2 to deal with, we'd have it a lot

easier. Isaiah 45:18 (For thus says the Lord, who created the

heavens (He is the God who formed the earth and made it, He

established it and did not create it a waste place [tohu],But

formed it to be inhabited), "I am the Lord, and there is none else)

clearly states that what God made was not formless and void. In

fact, from Jeremiah 4:23 ( I beheld the earth, and indeed it was

without form [tohu], and void [bohu];) we see "formless and

void," always used together, as results of God's judgment on the

earth, not of His creative action.

We may take Gen. 1:1-2 in a three ways:

A. Either it describes original creation, and is simply

showing a sequence necessitating the word of God to

complete it. It's valuable for us to realize that the prime

ingredients of the universe, if you could go back and find

them, still don't spontaneously, by a process inherent in

them, produce anything orderly or complete. All of

creation continually awaits the emowering word of God

before it can really BE something.

B. A second possibility is called The Gap Theory. Genesis

1:1 describes the original, perfect creation. Gen. 1:2 describes

the effects of cosmic warfare between the angels when

Satan and his legions fell, and "without form and void"

the results of God's summary judgment on that rebellion.

C. A third possibility is the Relative Beginning view.

There is an original creation that cannot be dated. The

fall of Satan and some of the angels happened before

Genesis 1:1, with resulting judgment and chaos to the

prehistoric universe, and Genesis 1 describes the act of

God in restoring the universe in giving it new

inhabitants.

So, what we have in Genesis 1:1-2 is an affirmation of who did the

creating, and how the creation might look without His intervention.

If "without form and void" describe the result of some prehistoric

judgment of God, then Genesis 1 describes God as not only

Creator, but Redeemer, for His first recorded act here is one of

"redeeming" the "lost" creation.

In addition, Geneis 1:2 sets the format and the tone for the

remainder of Chapter One. The earth is formless and void in verse

two; God will form it and fill it in the remainder of the chapter.

And there is a tone of hope, because verse two concludes by

observing that the Spirit of God is at work, like a hen over her

chicks, surveying the scene in preparation for the mighty creative

act of Yahweh.

II. God Creates Everything by His Powerful /

Efficient / Sufficient / Powerful / Sovereign Word

(Gen. 1:3-2:1)

A. (In verses Gen. 1:3-13, Day 1-3...) God Gave His Creation Form

1. Day 1 Light (Gen. 1:3-5)

First recorded words of God. God said ... and there was.

Don't miss the significance of God's method and God's words --

they all count. God, who identified Himself to Moses as "I AM"

said "Let there BE [another form of the same verb]," "and there

WAS." Isn't that beautiful? And Jesus, called the Word of God by

John, was the one John describes as the one "through whom" all

things were created. It was God's word that made everything.

(I like the T-shirt I saw recently. It said, "I believe in the Big

Bang Theory. God said Let there be light,' and B-A-N-G!! there

was light!)

I guess we ought to comment on the question of "days" right

here. The word translated "day" YOM, doesn't always mean

twenty four hours. E.g. "The day' of the Lord" refers to the

Tribulation period ( seven years), or we read "in that day" such and

such will happen, clearly refering to a stretch of time. However,

when the word YOM is combined with a number, as here, it

ALWAYS refers to a literal day. That doesn't mean this isn't an

exception, that's always possible, but it would be an exception, and

we ought to have compelling reason to go with that view. Let's

put it this way: Hopefully no one would say God COULDN'T have

created everything in six, twenty-four hour days, would they?

Until there is irrefutable proof, I will go with the Biblical account,

and make it six days. In fact, we might wonder that God describes

the process in such slow' terms. I believe that when he spoke it

was instantaneously so...no reason to be otherwise. So, why wait?

Don't know. Maybe, like any good artist, God stepped back to

enjoy each stage of His handywork.

God separated the light from the darkness. In the Bible light

is always good, darkness evil and foreboding. God defines the

difference, and separates them. He separates His people to

himself. Separates the Holy place from people, separates the holy

of holies from the holy place. Man will go for a long time sensing

the separation of himself in the fallen state from God, until God

tears down the curtain, breaks the dividing wall, through Christ,

that all may come in.

God called, named. In the ancient world, naming was a

priviledge of authority. The one who named was the one in charge.

You give your children a name, they have it until they are legally

old enough to change it, when they are in charge. Until then,

you're in charge. Naming them is an act of authority.

2. Day 2 Sea and Sky (Gen. 1:6-8).

God created an expanse,we call sky, separating the waters.

Perhaps the entire atmosphere was like a heavy cloud. Being able

to fly now, we are able to go through clouds and get a feel for how

dense they are. It's like the thickest of fogs. Perhaps the entire

atmosphere was like that. And God made a separation, and the

clouds took their position above it and the waters of the sea below.

The expression "it was so" is very strong, indicating this was a

fixed and permanent entity decreed by God to separate the waters

above and from those below.

3. Day 3 Fertile Earth and first blessing (Gen. 1:9-13).

Again, without mentioning a mechanism other than the voice /

word of God, the earth began to separate into sea and dry land.

(The sea was all there was? Covered the entire earth? Sort of like

in the days of Noah?) Here we see God setting boundaries for the

sea, demonstrating His sovereignty over them (contra. The

worship and fear of the seas the Caananite religion practiced).

Vegetation - The Canaanite religion attributed fertility to their

god Baal. Every year he would die, captured by a god "death"

[Mot], and plants would go dormant or wither. In the Spring he

would be be rescued by the goddess Anat. They practiced all kinds

of fertility rituals to help this process along.

But God the Creator made the vegetation a self-perpetuating

thing. Plants had seeds and fruit. By the power of the Word of

God, earth bears vegetation and supports life.

After their kind - no evolution here. Everything made to

reproduce itself perpetually.

(Now, God has formed what was formless, light and dark, earth

and sky, sea and dry land producing vegetation aplenty. Thus

endeth the first three days of creation.)

B. (In verses Gen. 1:14-31, Days 4-6 . . .) God Gave His Creation

Fulness.

1. Day 4 Luminaries and temporal order (Gen. 1:14-19).

These objects were not to be worshipped or sought out for

direction (astrology). They were placed to keep darkness and light

separate, governing the distinction God made when He created

light.

2. Day 5 Animal life for sea and sky and blessing (Gen. 1:20-

23).

The great sea monsters, not identified but singled out over all the

denizens of the deep. They were objects of Canaanite worship,

too.

Notice that by simple word, the oceans and the air swarmed with

life of infinite variety, each after its kind.

The first blessing. God gave the blessing of reproduction to these

creatures. Didn't do so with the vegetation -- in the Hebrew mind,

plants were not life. Here we see God making a definite distinction

between plant and animal life in that the animal life is blessed with

fruitfulness.

3. Day 6 Land animals and Man in the image of God

with blessing and authority (Gen. 1:24-31).

That sixth day was the culmination of all God's creative activity,

and what a day it was! The creation of land animals is much after

the creation of those for the air and sea. But then...

God plans: "Let us . . ."

Man is distinct from all the rest of creation right away, because

God is seen to discuss / plan for man. The plural could be plural of

majesty, but certainly gives us a tiny hint of things to come,

including the Trinity. God was not lonely, man was not necessary

to Him for fellowship. He was complete and full in Himself.

In our image, according to our likeness... personality, nature,

capacity for moral decision, everything but physicality, for God is

spirit. Spiritual, moral, ethical, creative, intuitive, aware,

conscience, and the capacity to represent God. (Pictures of

Communist Leaders everywhere to remind the people constantly of

who's who, so God fills the earth with "images" to be a reminder

of who HE is. We are witnesses.

Rule. God gave man authority over His creation! Unique.

Special.

Male and Female. The seminal statement about the dignity of both

man and woman. Both in the image of God. Both His likeness.

Both ruling. Both blessed with life-giving ability.

Very Good. Again attests to the uniqueness and wonder of the

man and woman.

III. God Celebrates His Creation (Gen. 2:1-3)

A. God ceases His creative work (Gen. 2:1)

God deems creation complete. Nothing new will come. Nothing

to be added, no new species...

B. God celebrates, commorates His creative act by

sanctifying and blessing the seventh day (Gen. 2:2-3)

God rested -- rest does not signify entertainment, recreation, or

relaxation. It signifies enjoyment that comes out of

accomplishment. You know how it feels to finish a task? It was a

celebration of completion of a job well done.

God blesses the day, sanctifies it. This is a model of worship.

This is a day set apart for God, remembering what He has

accomplished, celebrating it, spending it in thoughts of who He is

and what he has done. We are never more like God than when we

worship Him.

CONCLUSION

1. Chaos becomes harmony / only by the work of God. The

equation is Chaos + God = Creation / harmony. It's that way

with life.

2. Christian is a new Creation

3. God both orders and fills life - makes it worthwhile. And only

God does this. "Things" don't.