IN THE BEGINNING
GENESIS PART 1 – ANTEDILUVIAN HISTORY
THE DOCTRINE OF CREATION: EX NIHILO
GENESIS 1:1-5
INTRODUCTION
- In our modern age of scientific discoveries and breakthroughs, the miracles recorded in Scripture are often set aside as fairy tales in favor of more naturally plausible explanations for the events the Bible tells us about. This is done because science, by its very definition, is limited to natural, observable, repeatable, testable processes. The miracles in Scripture are not observable, repeatable, or testable; and they are defined as miracles because they are supernatural. There is nothing natural about them. So often times the honest student of Scripture is faced with a decision that our modern knowledge makes difficult: am I to believe these stories at face value?
- I would suggest that it is wise for all Christians to remember that when all the facts are known, true science and a proper interpretation of Scripture harmonize perfectly. Since, however, we don’t yet know all the facts about everything in our world, we are left with hard, but invigorating challenges as we read God’s word to mankind. One of those great challenges is the question of the origin of the universe. I prefer to call it the miracle of creation. Science has come a long way in explaining certain things about our universe, but there is one question it fails to satisfactorily answer: where did this universe come from?
- As we begin our look at Genesis we are going to answer some intriguing questions. And yet, you will find that some of your questions will remain unanswered. We are going to take a glimpse into the beginning of the world and cosmos we see around us. We’re going to attempt to tackle difficult issues to the best of our Scriptural ability. And we’re going to seek to make sense of the Genesis account of the creation of the world.
- In doing so we are going to be making some assumptions that many modern scientists would not make. We make these assumptions because they are scriptural, and some modern intellectuals reject them for the same reason. The first assumption is that the natural world is not all that exists. There exists a spiritual realm that we cannot see but are often influenced and affected by. The second is that this spiritual realm includes the existence of an omnipotent, omniscient God. The third is that this God is the Creator and Sustainer of our universe.
- So keep those things in mind as we work our way through the text. But before we start with the very first verse of the Bible, let’s get some background information on the book of Genesis:
INTRODUCTION TO GENESIS
- Probably the most important thing to remember about the book of Genesis is that it is a part of a larger body of work. This body of work is known as the Pentateuch. The word Pentateuch means “five books or scrolls” and describes the first five books of the Hebrew Bible – our Old Testament. This is vital because in order to understand the author’s purposes in Genesis we must understand his overall purposes in the Pentateuch. Themes such as land, blessing, law, and covenant that are important in the other four books are important in Genesis as well. I will highlight these themes as we encounter them.
- Speaking of the author, Moses is the generally recognized writer of these five books. Recently some textual critics have suggested that Moses did not write some or any of these works. The arguments put forth for such a claim go beyond our scope this morning, and there are good reasons to believe that Moses did in fact write the Pentateuch as tradition tells us he did. So we are going to hold to Mosaic authorship as we study this book. If your interest is peaked and you would like to study further, do some research on the Documentary Hypothesis. We will largely assume Mosaic authorship, not because I am unaware of the other theories, but rather because I am convinced they are incorrect and Moses is the primary author of these texts.
- Our English title Genesis comes from the LXX or Septuagint, which is a valuable Greek translation of the Hebrew Old Testament. The original Hebrew title is בְּרֵאשִׁ֖ית which is actually the first word of the text and is translated “In the beginning”. So Genesis, as its name implies, is about beginnings. It tells of the beginning of the universe. It tells of the beginning of mankind. And it tells of the beginning of the formation of the nation of Israel, God’s elect.
- This book of beginnings can be outlined in several ways. Throughout our look at it I will make reference to these various methods of outlining. One way is to divide the book into antediluvian and postdiluvian history. In other words, the events that took place before and after Noah’s flood. Another way is to separate the book into primeval and patriarchal history. Primeval history includes all of the events up to Abraham, who was the first patriarch (or father or male head of the Jewish nation). From then on, of course, the books tells of patriarchal history.
- One last way to organize the information in Genesis is to divide the book into what Moses calls generations or in Hebrew תוֹלְד֧וֹת. There are ten generations, so to speak. The first is found in 2:4 where Moses says “These are the generations of the heavens and the earth...” From there you read similar statements throughout the book: “These are the generations of Adam, Noah, etc.” As I said, we are going to use a combination of these methods, so just try to keep some of these things in mind as we study.
- Now, there is much more that could be introduced here, but I think that will provide for us an adequate foundation as we seek to understand Genesis. So let’s look at Genesis chapter 1 as we start our look at antediluvian (pre-flood) history. As you know, this chapter informs us of the doctrine of Creation. Today we will look at vv.1-5, as these verses will jump start our discussion.
[READ GENESIS 1:1-5]
- Our goal today is going to be to present an overview of the different biblical views of Creation. Before we get into the day by day description of what happened during the Creation week, we need to decide what framework we are going to use to understand what we read. And we’re going to start with this fundamental principle:
GOD IS THE CREATOR OF EVERYTHING...FROM NOTHING
- No matter how we decide to view this chapter, we must admit that it clearly teaches us that God made this entire universe, and that he did so without using anything. The theological term is ex nihilo which is Latin for “out of nothing”. Before this physical universe existed, nothing physical existed. And once God, in his sovereign power, decided to create a physical universe, the universe came into being. That is the meaning of the simple phrase: In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.
- This does not refer to the beginning of God, because God has no beginning. This probably doesn’t even refer to the creation of the spiritual world – angels, and eventually Satan, and his demons. Because when we move into chapter 3 Satan is already there. He is an assumed foe. The Bible here clearly speaks of everything we see around us on this earth, and everything we’ve discovered in this universe as being created by the hand and power of God.
- And Scripture repeats this point in various places. In Job 38:4-7 God, speaking to Job says: “Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding. Who determined its measurements—surely you know! Or who stretched the line upon it? On what were its bases sunk, or who laid its cornerstone, when the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy? Here we see a picture of the angels in heaven, who had already been created, singing for joy as they saw the physical creation of God.
- In the familiar words of John 1:1-3, the gospel writer says: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. This speaks of Jesus Christ being the Creator of all things. In fact, these verses would include angelic and demonic beings – the spiritual realm – because it says without him was not any thing made that was made. So not just the heavens and the earth, but everything except God himself owes its existence to him.
- Paul wrote in Colossians 1:16-17: For by him [Jesus] all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities – all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.
- Jesus Christ is the reason everything is and the reason everything continues to be. Without him, there would be nothing. The testimony of Scripture is vividly clear on this. And our account in Genesis speaks specifically to the creation of the physical universe. Moses calls it the heavens and the earth. So Scripture elsewhere reveals that God made everything – both spiritual and physical. Genesis 1 emphasizes his making of everything physical.
- Now there are a few different ways to interpret this chapter. I don’t have to tell you that the reason there is so much debate as to the meaning of this chapter is that much of our modern scientific literature suggests that this universe is billions of years old. How do those theories fit with this Genesis account? Should we expect them to fit at all? Some say yes, others say no.
- I’m going to mention three views on this Creation account. They can be divided into two categories: old earth creationism and young earth creationism. As you might expect, old earth creationism views science and being correct in asserting a very old universe and sees this Genesis account as fitting very well with that. Young earth creationism is the opposite. The earth and the surrounding universe is very young, usually only thousands of years old. Let’s start with old earth views.
OLD EARTH CREATIONISM: THE GAP THEORY
- Proponents of the Gap Theory believe that secular modern science accurately assesses the age of the universe. It is rightly discerned to be billions of years old. In order to fit these billions of years into the Genesis account, they propose a period of time (or a gap) between v.1 and v.2. Usually what is said to have transpired during this gap is the fall of Lucifer (or Satan) from his place in heaven. This fall resulted in the chaos of the physical world. That’s why v.2 says that the world was without form and void. God created the universe billions of years ago. Some time during those years Satan rebelled and was expelled from heaven. Then v.2 picks up with rather recent history. That is the general idea.
- The problem with such a theory is that there is no indication in the text that any gap exists. Nor is there any indication from any other Scriptures that a lengthy period of time took place between v.1 and v.2. A plain reading of the text does not suggest anything of the kind. Also, even though the Gap Theory attempts to harmonize modern secular scientific theories with the biblical account, it fails to do so. The cosmological and geological timelines given by most secular scientists don’t square well with a period of millions or billions of years of little action with a sudden burst of physical creation and life. The two just don’t match up. That’s all I really want to say about this view because of the three we are going to discuss I think it is the least convincing.
- Secondly, there is:
OLD EARTH CREATIONISM: THE DAY-AGE THEORY
- This theory also agrees with the secular modern scientific theorized age of the universe. The Day- Age Theory is very simple. When the Bible says: And there was evening and there was morning, the first day, and so on with the second through seventh days, the word day does not refer to a regular 24 hour day as we know them, but unspecified ages of time. So then, billions of years of formation fit well into these day-ages.
- The interesting thing about the Day-Age Theory is that it tends to fit very well with modern scientific research. The order of what happens during each day-age follows a similar (not exact, but similar) order to the proposed order of evolution; though Day-Age Theorists oppose evolution and vouch for the special creation of organisms by God.
- It is here that we must talk about the million dollar word of Genesis 1. The Hebrew word יוֹם that is translated as day in Genesis 1 can have three basic meanings. Others suggest more, but at least three. One: it can refer to a portion of a 24 hour day. Two: it can refer to a full 24 hour day. Or three: it can refer to an undisclosed length of time that has a definite starting and ending point. How one interprets יוֹם impacts the entire interpretation of this passage. Old Earth Day-Age Creationists, of course, see יוֹם as referring not to a regular day but to a lengthy period of time.
- Now, to give you an idea of the scope of this issue, this word occurs over 2000 times in the Old Testament. It is a very common word. So to discern its proper usage in a given context is not an easy task. Therefore, I give more credibility to the Day-Age Theory than to the Gap Theory. I think the Day-Age Theory is a more plausible option for biblical Christians.
- However, I will lay my cards on the table now and tell you that I favor this last view:
YOUNG EARTH CREATIONISM: RECENT CREATION IN 6 LITERAL 24-HOUR DAYS
- Young Earth proponents believe in exactly what the title suggests – that this earth and the surrounding universe is relatively young. It is not billions of years old. When Genesis speaks of days the author means to convey regular 24 hour days.
- Now the immediate difficulty that arises is that this goes against almost all modern scientific theory. Now science is not our ultimate source of truth, but we believe God’s creation is an accurate and truthful reflection of his glory. So we shouldn’t simply dismiss honest science. What is interesting, however, is that there are many very intelligent scientists who would argue that most evidence actually points to a rather young earth and universe. I am not going to pretend to be a scientist, nor am I going to pretend to understand all of the scientific arguments on both sides. I simply want you to be aware of the fact that there is considerable debate within the scientific community; even though most secular scientists would tell you that their theories are almost irrefutable.
- So my concern is not with the specifics of the science, but with the proper interpretation of Scripture, which I believe science will verify when done perfectly and properly. And here is why I favor a Young Earth interpretation of Genesis 1:
EXEGETICAL REASONS FOR ASSUMING A YOUNG EARTH
- We could spend a significant amount of time on such reasons, but for the sake of brevity I’m going to give you two simple reasons for understanding this Creation account as speaking of a relatively recent event. The first is that there is a sense of immediacy in this whole account. God speaks and commands something to happen, and it happens. Now this certainly doesn’t necessitate an immediate result. God could have given a command and then allowed that command to work itself out over millions or billions of years. But that’s not the general sense you get when you read the words of Moses here. It seems he is emphasizing the creative power of God by portraying these magnificent physical creations as immediately responding to the command of the Creator.
- The second and more important reason to see this as referring to a recent event and therefore a young earth is the interpretation of יוֹם. I read that every single time this word is used with a qualifying numerical adjective (such as one day, or the first day) it refers to a normal 24 hour day. Now I have not independently verified this, because honestly, I haven’t checked the over 2000 usages of this word in the Old Testament. But if this is accurate, and we have no reason to assume it’s not, then there is strong textual evidence that Moses is referring to a regular day.
- So as we work our way through the Creation week next time, I am going to be using this Young Earth model. If you happen to hold to a different model, you should still be able to appreciate the central truths we will be discussing and the applications you can make to your life from them. I know we’ve gone through a lot of information in a short period of time. But you did need to understand how I am going to be approaching this text.
- Now I would like to close our introduction with a “bottom line” truth that needs to be emphasized:
THE BOTTOM LINE: THE CREATOR OF THE UNIVERSE IS THE CREATOR OF FAITH
- In 2 Corinthians 4 Paul is discussing the fact that Satan has blinded the minds of unbelievers. Then he turns to address believers and writes in vv.5-6: For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
- The same God who created this universe out of nothing has called you to know him if you have Christ as your Savior. In the same way God said “Let there be light.” in this physical universe he said “Let there be light.” in your soul. And the darkness and death that once characterized your spiritual existence has been replaced by the light of the gospel which brings life through faith.
- So while I hope you found this initial survey of views helpful and informative, I am more concerned that you understand the sovereignty and power of the Creator. And when you read this account, remember that this Creator had you in mind as he uttered those famous words “Let there be light.” He knew that in the not so distant future he would speak those same words over your soul, and your eyes would be opened to his saving power and glory.
- Next week we will expand on that thought more, as we see what God creates on each day, and look at the pinnacle of his creation: man and woman created in the image of God.
