The Glory of God's Creation -- 2/10/08

Sunday, Feb. 10, 2008

THE GLORY OF GOD’S CREATION
Gen. 1:1-2

[Call for a couple of young volunteers. Ask them to make a tower of 25 quarters. Don’t provide any quarters for them…]

When Jesus concluded the Sermon on the Mount, He emphasized the importance of building on a good foundation. That principle runs throughout life. Genesis 1-11 is the foundation of the truth we find in God’s Word. For some this section of the Bible proves to be controversial. Is it history? Or, is it allegory? Can we trust a writing that claims to know what went on before man existed? Facing these kinds of questions, many who call themselves biblical scholars have concluded that Genesis 1-11 is not historical. In other words, Adam and Eve weren’t real people. Rather, the story is just a figurative way of saying that God was somehow behind the formation of mankind.

I’m glad we don’t have to spend our time dealing with such questions and conclusions. Not only are the first 11 chapters of Genesis true history and absolutely trustworthy, but they give us the foundation of almost everything we can think of. Where do we find the beginning of the universe, the beginning of mankind, the beginning of sin, the beginning of redemption, the beginning of marriage, and on and on? We find it all in these early chapters of the Bible.
Lord willing, we are going to spend some time here. My prayer is that we will not find this study to be just review and routine. But as we study this vital part of God’s Word, may our hearts rejoice. May we be stirred to give glory to the faithful Creator.

“In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth” (Gen. 1:1). As you know very well, those are the first ten words of the Bible. Those ten words speak volumes. They answer some very important questions concisely and completely. What happened? The creation of the heavens (that is plural in the Hebrew) and the earth. Who did it? God. When did He do it? In the beginning. That is certainly concise, but I also said that these ten words answer those questions completely. Indeed they do. Perhaps they don’t answer as completely as we would like, but they answer as completely as God desires and therefore as completely as is necessary for us.

This morning let’s take time to dwell on the truth taught by these ten words. I would like to entitle our study “The Glory of God’s Creation.” While we will look a bit at the following verses, our focus will be verses 1 and 2. Right now let’s go ahead and read Gen. 1:1-5…
In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. 2. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of
the waters. 3. And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. 4. And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness. 5. And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.

I. God

Our starting place is God Himself. Notice that the Bible assumes the existence of God. “In the beginning God…” We might expect the biblical record to begin with some proofs of God’s existence, but that isn’t the case. As a matter of fact, you can search the scriptures from beginning to end, and you will never find a section on the proofs or evidences of God’s existence. The Bible assumes the existence of God.

That is not to say that the scripture doesn’t provide evidence of God’s existence, but God doesn’t feel a burden to defend His own existence. Why should He? Do you ever feel like you have to prove your existence? If I asked you to prove that you exist, you might let it pass the first time, but if I persisted, you would probably begin to wonder about my sanity. Anyone in his right mind knows that you exist. So it is with God. Why should the God who created everything feel a need to prove that He is. Any right-thinking person knows that God exists, and it is this truth that the Bible affirms. The burden for God’s existence is not upon God, but upon us. God has never questioned His own existence, but a messed-up man sometimes does. Both the 14th and 53rd Psalms begin with these words, “The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God.”

Why is a person a fool if he contends that there is no God? Because to do so, he must deny the witness that God has put within every person. In Romans 1:18 Paul speaks of those who hold back (suppress) the truth in unrighteousness. He further explains in 1:19, “Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath showed it unto them.” It is the fool who denies this inner witness that God puts within every man. Not only has God given us a witness within, but His creation screams out, “Look at me! God made me!” We read of this in the very next verse, Rom. 1:20, "For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse…" The creation – the mountains, the sunset, the moonrise, and all the rest – testify to the fact that God exists and that He is the eternal and powerful God. We read of this same powerful testimony in Ps. 19:1, “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament showeth his handiwork.” This witness is so unmistakable that those who deny it are without excuse, “because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things” (Rom. 1:21-23). Paul says that they knew; they knew who God was, but they refused to give Him the glory due Him and to simply give Him thanks. And when a person responds in that way, everything is downhill from there.

To the witness of the conscience and the creation, add the simple testimony of scripture. To deny the existence of God, a person must reject the truth of God’s Word. While God does not undertake to prove His existence in any formal manner, His Word affirms His existence thousands and thousands of times. And it beings with the first four words of the Bible, “In the beginning God…”

While we may wholeheartedly receive this truth, that doesn’t mean that we never have any questions. How many millions of children have asked in humility and simplicity, “Where did God from?” And how many adults have scratched their heads, when asked that question. While the Bible contains statements about how we can know that God exists, it never seeks to answer the question, “Where did God come from?” Why not? Because there is no answer. God has always been. He had no beginning. In the beginning He is. So why is it so natural to ask the question, “Where did God come from?” Because of our experience in God’s world. Everything we see has an origin. We can trace everything back to its beginning. Suppose we go out here and cross the bridge west of La Luz. Our child sees the water running down the creek bed and asks, “Where does that water come from?” He asks because he intuitively knows from experience that everything has an origin. Though it may not be easy, we can check it out. I suspect that the water currently in the creek comes from melting snow up above or from some springs. I don’t know the exact origin of that water, but if I needed to, I could find out.

It’s different with God. We cannot trace His origin. Since the beginning of time, God is. Did time have a beginning? Yes. It was God who brought time into existence. God Himself stands outside of time. Go back as far as you want to, and God is there. In our minds, we conclude that everything has a cause behind it, but God has no cause. That is why when Moses asked about His name, the LORD simply said. “I am that I am” (Ex. 3:14). I love the truth of Ps. 90:2, “Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God.”

This week let those words echo in your heart and mind: “In the beginning God…”

II. Creator of the Heavens and the Earth

“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” In the King James, it is “heaven.” Every single time the word “heaven” (NIV translates it “sky” throughout Gen. 1, except here in the first verse) is used here in Genesis 1 it is in the plural. That is not vitally important, except to note that here in verse 1, “the heavens and the earth” designate everything there is outside of God Himself. In our day, it would be accurate to say, “In the beginning God created the entire universe.” Whatever terms you want to use, understand that God created everything there is.

That is a very powerful statement. There is no cause for God, but God is the cause for everything else in existence, and there are no exceptions, not a single one. God is not only Creator, but He is the one and only Creator.

Now comes the question that must be asked? Where did God get the materials to make it all? Every creator has to go out and get the raw materials for whatever it is he is going to create. Consider the four presidential faces that loom so large in South Dakota. That work of sculpture is amazing. But where did the sculptor get his raw materials? His raw material was Mount Rushmore. The sculptor carved it right out of the mountain. What about my young volunteers and their stack of quarters. They couldn’t create a stack of quarters, because I wouldn’t give them any raw materials. If they couldn’t create a few quarters, then how could God create the entire universe?

The answer is simple and yet absolutely amazing. God made it all out of nothing. He had no raw materials to work with. “In the beginning God…” There was nothing else. Down through the years a Latin term has been used to describe this miraculous work of God. God created the universe ex niholo. Those words simply mean “out of nothing.” We find this great truth emphasized in Heb. 11:3, "Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear." In others words, everything in existence was created by God out of nothing. The things we can see and the things we can’t see, such as bacteria and cells in the body – they were all created by God out of nothing. Who is like unto the Lord our God, who made everything out of nothing?

The phrase “heaven and earth” is used 31 times in the Bible. It is used again and again as a designation for the entire universe, sometimes with the additional words “and the sea, and all that in them is” (Ex. 20:11 and five other occurrences). Not only is this phrase used to designate the entire universe, but it is also used as a way to identify the Creator as the great and majestic Lord of all. 2 Kings 19:15, "And Hezekiah prayed before the LORD, and said, O LORD God of Israel, which dwellest between the cherubims, thou art the God, even thou alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth; thou hast made heaven and earth." Ps. 121:2, “My help cometh from the Lord, which made heaven and earth.” Ps. 124:8, "Our help is in the name of the LORD, who made heaven and earth." Ps. 146:5-6, "Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the LORD his God: 6. Which made heaven, and earth, the sea, and all that therein is: which keepeth truth for ever:" And then the Lord Himself speaks, saying, "Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him? saith the LORD. Do not I fill heaven and earth? saith the LORD" (Jer 23:24). Upon the release of Peter and John, who were threatened and told not to speak or teach in the name of Jesus, the disciples began their prayer with this quotation of scripture: Acts 4:24, "And when they heard that, they lifted up their voice to God with one accord, and said, Lord, thou art God, which hast made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all that in them is…" The Psalmist is saying basically the same thing in Psalm 96, calling to mind this same creation by simply using the word “heavens.” Ps. 96:4-5, "For the LORD is great, and greatly to be praised: he is to be feared above all gods. 5. For all the gods of the nations are idols: but the LORD made the heavens."

This brings up another question: How did God create the universe and everything in it? After all, that’s a pretty tall order. That kind of feat requires tremendous power. When God made the mountains, He had no heavy equipment. When he put together the human body with all its complexity, there was no consultant with whom God could confer. So how did He do it all?
This is not a difficult question to answer, for the scripture answers it with clarity and simplicity. Let’s read down through all of chapter 1. As we do, please allow me to emphasize the phrase that occurs over and over… (Gen. 1:1-31)
In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. 2. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. 3. And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. 4. And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness. 5. And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day. 6. And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters. 7. And 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. 8. And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day. 9. And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so. 10. And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good. 11. And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so. 12. And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good. 13. And the evening and the morning were the third day. 14. And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years: 15. And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so. 16. And 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. 17. And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth, 18. 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. 19. And the evening and the morning were the fourth day. 20. And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven. 21. And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good. 22. And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth. 23. And the evening and the morning were the fifth day. 24. And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so. 25. And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good. 26. And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. 27. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. 28. And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth. 29. And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat. 30. And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so. 31. And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.

There it is. God created everything by simply speaking a word. Over and over we read, “And God said, “Let there be light… Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters,” etc. God’s spoken words were His means of creating the entire universe and everything in it. Scripture confirms what we read hear in Genesis 1. Ps. 33:6-9…
By the word of the LORD were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth. 7. He gathereth the waters of the sea together as an heap: he layeth up the depth in storehouses. 8. Let all the earth fear the LORD: let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him. 9. For he spake, and it was done; he commanded, and it stood fast.

As we read this scripture passages, don’t miss the truth that they are intended to stir within the heart great fear of God and great praise for His name. Let’s see that in Ps. 148:1-5…
Praise ye the LORD. Praise ye the LORD from the heavens: praise him in the heights. 2. Praise ye him, all his angels: praise ye him, all his hosts. 3. Praise ye him, sun and moon: praise him, all ye stars of light. 4. Praise him, ye heavens of heavens, and ye waters that be above the heavens. 5. Let them praise the name of the LORD: for he commanded, and they were created.

So we see the plan of God. Let’s come back now and focus again on the God who was in the beginning.

III. The Triune God

Let’s read again Gen. 1:1-2, "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. 2. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters." So in the beginning God… And then in verse 2 we read about the Spirit of God moving (hovering) over the face of the waters. Then come down to verse 26, “And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness…” Why did God say, “Let us…”?

Before we answer that question, we need to look for a moment at the initial creation of God. We are told that the earth was without form and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep. The Hebrew words translated “without form” and “void” (tohu and bohu) are very interesting. The first refers to a wilderness, a waste land. The second basically means “empty.”

It is helpful to look at another passage where these two words occur together, even as they do here. Come to Jeremiah 4. Because of the sins of God’s people, the destruction of Jerusalem and Judah is looming large on the horizon. Now listen to Jer. 4:19-22…
My bowels, my bowels! I am pained at my very heart; my heart maketh a noise in me; I cannot hold my peace, because thou hast heard, O my soul, the sound of the trumpet, the alarm of war. 20. Destruction upon destruction is cried; for the whole land is spoiled: suddenly are my tents spoiled, and my curtains in a moment. 21. How long shall I see the standard, and hear the sound of the trumpet? 22. For my people is foolish, they have not known me; they are sottish children, and they have none understanding: they are wise to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge.

Jeremiah was absolutely heartsick because of what was happening. Now listen to what he says in 23, "I beheld the earth, and, lo, it was without form, and void; and the heavens, and they had no light." There are those same Hebrew words, tohu and bohu = without form and void. Jeremiah was so overtaken that he borrowed the language of Genesis 1 to describe the great devastation that was coming. With these two little words the prophet describes a wasted and devastated place without inhabitants, a place which has lost its form and beauty.

The same phrase is used in Isaiah 34:11, where the context speaks of God’s judgment coming upon the nations. And because of that coming judgment, devastation is about to fall on the nations of the world. Now 34:11, "But the cormorant and the bittern shall possess it; the owl also and the raven shall dwell in it: and he shall stretch out upon it the line of confusion, and the stones of emptiness." “Devastation” and “emptiness” are the words tohu and bohu. The New American Standard Version renders the last part of the verse: “And he will stretch over it the line of desolation and the plumb line of emptiness.” It will be a waste place without anybody dwelling there.

So these words “without form and void” picture for us a place without shape and without inhabitant. When God created the universe, that’s what it was like. The raw materials were there – matter, space, and time – but it was unformed and unpopulated. God had spoken the world into existence, but these raw materials had not yet been differentiated and organized. It was a creation of God, but it was unfinished and unpopulated.

But now come to the end of verse 2, “And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.” Yes, darkness was upon the face of the deep, but the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. In the scriptures, “deep” is sometimes used as a synonym for “sea” (for example, Is. 51:10). So up to this point the creation is a waste place, uninhabited and engulfed by darkness, but now the Spirit of God is literally hovering over the face of the waters. We can see that at this time the waters covered everything, as confirmed by Ps. 104:5-6, "Who laid the foundations of the earth, that it should not be removed for ever. 6. Thou coveredst it with the deep as with a garment: the waters stood above the mountains." The creation was without form and void; darkness was over the face of the deep. But don’t despair, because the Spirit of God was moving upon the face of the waters. We see here very clearly that the Spirit of God was vitally involved in the creation. It is the Spirit of God who provides the power to shape this creation into a beautiful and inhabitable world.

I mentioned a few minutes ago the words of verse 26, “And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness…” Some will say that “us” is simply the editorial “us.” In other words, it is just a manner of speaking. However, the scripture itself gives us a much better explanation of why God said “us.” We have already seen that the Spirit of God was present there at the creation, but He isn’t the only one there with Almighty God. Let’s read John 1:1-3, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2. The same was in the beginning with God. 3. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.” Literally, “All things were made through him.” Through whom? Through the Word. And who is this Word? John 1:14 makes it very clear: “And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us…” The Word is none other than Jesus, Jesus of Nazareth, the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus didn’t come into being 2,000 years ago. “In the beginning was the Word.” He has always been, though He didn’t always have the name “Jesus.” He was there at the creation, because we are told that all things were created through Him.

So from the very beginning we see the Almighty God (the One we call Father); we see the Spirit of God; we see the Word, the Son of God, the One who would come to earth and be named Jesus, Savior. While there are many who will dispute the doctrine of the trinity because that exact term is not used in the Bible, its truth confronts us from the very beginning, from the first chapter of Genesis. Though we don’t have perfect understanding of this truth, we rejoice that God is indeed, Father, Son, and Spirit.

Conclusion -- The New Creation

That’s as far as we will go this morning, but there is one other thing we should consider. In order to do that, let us be reminded of the greatness of God’s creation. Really, when we talk about the wonder of creation, we are speaking about the greatness of our God. Behind the glory of creation is the glory of the Creator! Remember that He made it all out of nothing. As we continue through the first chapter of Genesis, we will repeatedly find this comment: “And God saw that it was good.” And when it was all done, including the creation of man, we read in verse 31, “And God saw everything that he had made, and, behold, it was very good.” If God said it was very good, then it was indeed very good!

So that was the end of creation. Since that time, God has been lovingly watching over His creation. Well, that’s true, but it’s not the whole truth. There is another creation we must not forget. Paul describes it in Eph. 2:10, “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.” Notice the word “we.” That includes Paul, the Ephesian believers, and all those who have been saved by grace through faith (2:8-9). This new creation was crafted by God in Christ Jesus unto good works. The origin of this creation is in God the Father; the agent and sphere of this new creation is Christ Jesus; the purpose is that we might do the good works God has appointed for us to do.

Now let me give us a warning. Our tendency is to interpret most all of scripture individualistically. In other words, “I am a new creation in Jesus Christ.” We sang that little song just two weeks ago – “I’m a new creation; I’m a brand new man…” And so we are told in II Cor. 5:17, “If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature [creation]…” While that truth must not be overlooked, here in Eph. 2:10 is Paul not emphasizing the fact that we are a new creation in Christ? While we might construe verses 1-9 as pertaining primarily to a group of individuals, verses 11-22 not only speak of the corporate body of Christ, but there Paul goes to great lengths to emphasize that truth.

You might point to Eph. 4:24, which speaks of the creation of the new man. Let’s read 4:24, “And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.” Doesn’t he use the singular term “man” to speak of this new creation? But let’s go back and read Eph. 2:13-18…
But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. 14. For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us; 15. Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace; 16. And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby: 17. And came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh. 18. For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father.

Where Paul speaks of “one new man” the whole emphasis is upon how all believers, both Jews and Gentiles, make up that one new man. The focus is clearly upon all believers having access by one Spirit unto the one God and Father. Altogether, we who are in Christ Jesus have been created. Together we are the workmanship of God, created in Christ Jesus.

Can we praise God for creation this morning! Can we think of the creation of the universe without also considering this new creation in Christ? We were without form and void and darkness totally covered us. We were enemies of God and under His wrath. We had absolutely no hope and were without God in the world. BUT GOD, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in sins, made us alive together with Christ and raised us up together and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ. Yes, He saved us by grace through faith. It wasn’t our works, but His grace, so that no one can ever boast. To sum it all up, “We are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works,” which God has appointed beforehand that we might walk in them (Eph. 2:4-10).

Praise be to God!