D. God created the material universe to be inhabited with intelligent, free moral agents, to whom He could reveal Himself, and who could enjoy all the rich blessings of life and the goodness of the Creator forever. Then too, God created plant and animal life as well as all other things necessary for sustaining life. (Dake)
III. THE CREATION
The Father willed it. The Son planned, programmed and was the architect of it. He was the agent and purpose of it. The Spirit is the executor. The Spirit carried it out. He made it appear. (Ray Stedman)
A. Created by Christ Col. 1:13-19; (Remember John 1:1-3)
Col 1:13 “Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated [us]
into the kingdom of his dear Son:”
Col 1:14 “In whom we have redemption through his blood, [even] the forgiveness of sins:”
Col 1:15 “Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:”
David Guzik --Image (eikon) expresses two ideas: likeness, as in the image on a coin or the reflection in a mirror; and manifestation, with the sense that God is fully revealed in Jesus.
(1) If Paul meant that Jesus was merely similar to the Father, he would have used homoioma, which speaks of similar appearance
(2) "God is invisible, which does not merely mean that He cannot be seen by our bodily eye, but that He is unknowable. In the exalted Christ the unknowable God becomes known." (Peake)
(3) Philo equated the eikon of God with the Logos
David Guzik -- Firstborn (prototokos) can either denote priority in time, or supremacy in rank; this probably has both ideas in mind, with Christ being before all created things, and of a supremely different order than all created things
(1) Firstborn is also used of Jesus in Colossians 1:18; Romans 8:29, Hebrews 1:6
and Revelation 1:15
(2) The ancient Rabbis called Yawhew Himself "Firstborn of the World"
(Rabbi Bechai in Lightfoot)
(3) Rabbis used firstborn as a Messianic title: "God said, As I made Jacob a first-born (Exodus 4:22), so also will I make king Messiah a first-born (Psalm 89:28)"
(R. Nathan in Shemoth Rabba, cited by Lightfoot)
(4) "The use of this word does not show what Arius argued that Paul regarded Christ
as a creature like 'all creation' . . . It is rather the comparative (superlative) force
of protos that is used" (Robertson)
The word "image" comes from the Greek word eikon, a document that described a person in photographic detail. Jesus was the "image" or manifestation of God. The word "firstborn" comes from the Greek word prototokos and signifies "preeminence" rather than first
in order of birth. "The Creator, First, Beginning of every creation" would be a
correct translation. Chuck Smith
Col 1:16 “For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether [they be] thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all
things were created by him, and for him:”
The "Colossian Heresy" seemed taken with an elaborate angelology, which effectively placed angels as mediators between God and man; Paul emphasizes that whatever ranks of spirit beings there may be, they are all created by Christ and they all ultimately answer to Him.
There is no doubt that Jesus is the author of all creation; He Himself is not a created being.
David Guzik
Col 1:17 “And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.”
Arius and his modern disciples teach that there was a time when Christ was not; this is explicitly refuted by He is before all things and who is the beginning. David Guzik
Col 1:18 “And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all [things] he might have the preeminence.”
Col 1:19 “For it pleased [the Father] that in him should all fulness dwell;”
B. Created by the word of God Heb 11:3 atoms -- not seen?
“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.”
1. Through faith we understand
3539 noeo {no-eh'-o} from 3563; TDNT - 4:948,636; v
AV - understand 10, perceive 2, consider 1, think 1; 14
1) to perceive with the mind, to understand, to have understanding
2) to think upon, heed, ponder, consider
Faith demonstrates to the eye of the mind the reality of those things that cannot be discerned by the eye of the body. Matthew Henry
we understand--We perceive with our spiritual intelligence the fact of the world's creation by God, though we see neither Him nor the act of creation as described in Gen 1:1-31 . The natural world could not, without revelation, teach us this truth, though it confirms the truth when apprehended by faith ( Rom 1:20 ). [Bolded portions from Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset and David Brown]
2. Faith gives understanding to the invisible world -- David Guzik
a. How were the worlds . . . framed by the word of God? When God simply commanded Let there be light (Genesis 1:3); it happened. As the Psalmist explains: By the word of the Lord the
heavens were made, and all the host of them by the breath of His mouth. . . . For He spoke, and it was done; He commanded, and it stood fast." (Psalm 33:6,9)
worlds--literally, "ages"; all that exists in time and space, visible and invisible, present and eternal.
framed--"fitly formed and consolidated"; including the creation of the single parts and the harmonious organization of the whole, and the continual providence which maintains the whole throughout all ages. As creation is the foundation and a specimen of the whole divine economy, so faith in creation is the foundation and a specimen of all faith [BENGEL].
by the word of God--not here, the personal word (Greek, "logos," Jhn 1:1 ) but the spoken word
(Greek, "rhema"); though by the instrumentality of the personal word ( Hbr 1:2 ).
b. We did not see this act of creation; we only know of it by faith
c. This text does not say that God created the world with faith; since God sees and knows all things, "faith" in a human sense is superfluous to Him
d. Most scientists at the time Hebrews was written believed the universe was created out of existing matter, not out of nothing, not out of the invisible
not made, &c.--Translate as Greek, "so that not out of things which appear hath that which is seen been made"; not as in the case of all things which we see reproduced from previously existing and visible materials, as, for instance, the plant from the seed, the animal from the parent, &c., has the visible world sprung into being from apparent materials. So also it is implied in the first clause of the verse that the invisible spiritual worlds were framed not from previously existing materials. BENGEL explains it by distinguishing "appear," that is, begin to be seen (namely, at creation), from that which is seen as already in existence, not merely beginning to be seen; so that the things seen were not made of the things which appear," that is, which begin to be seen by us in the act of creation. We were not spectators of creation; it is by faith we perceive it.
God created the world from materials that are invisible to the naked eye. Chuck Smith
We have here one of the first acts and articles of faith, which has a great influence on all the rest, and which is common to all believers in every age and part of the world, namely, the creation of the worlds by the word of God, not out of pre-existent matter, but out of nothing, v. 3. M. H.
That God made the world by his word, that is, by his essential wisdom and eternal Son, and by
his active will, saying, Let it be done, and it was done, Ps. 33:9. 5. That the world was thus framed out of nothing, out of no pre-existent matter, contrary to the received maxim, that "out of nothing nothing can be made,’’ which, though true of created power, can have no place with God, who can call things that are not as if they were, and command them into being. These things we understand by faith. The Bible gives us the truest and most exact account of the origin of all things, and we are to believe it, and not to wrest or run down the scripture-account of the creation, because it does not suit with some fantastic hypotheses of our own, which has been in some learned but conceited men the first remarkable step towards infidelity, and has led them into many more. M. H.
C. Creative Order:
1. Third Heaven -- God's Abode
2. Angels -- Lucifer
3. Second Heaven -- Space, stars, etc.
4. First Heaven and Earth
5. Pre-Adam "Man"?
6. Man
D. Gen. 1:1 Heaven?
1. Heavens--more than one
I Chron 16:26 “For all the gods of the people [are] idols: but the LORD made the heavens.”
Ps 102:25 “Of old hast thou laid the foundation of the earth: and the heavens [are] the work of thy hands.”
Prov. 8:27 “When he prepared the heavens, I [was] there: when he set a compass upon the face
of the depth:”
Isa 40:22 “[It is] he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof [are] as
grasshoppers; that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in:”
Ps 33:6 “By the word of the LORD were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth.”
2. Three Heavens
a. The third Heaven
(1) God's Abode
Ps 33:13-14 “The LORD looketh from heaven [08064]; he beholdeth all the sons of men.”
(v. 14) “From the place of his habitation he looketh upon all the inhabitants of the earth.”
08064 shamayim {shaw-mah'-yim} dual of an unused singular shameh
{shaw-meh'} from an unused root meaning to be lofty; TWOT - 2407a; n m
AV - heaven 398, air 21, astrologers + 01895 1; 420
1) heaven, heavens, sky 1a) visible heavens, sky 1a1) as abode of the stars
1a2) as the visible universe, the sky, atmosphere, etc
1b) Heaven (as the abode of God)
Job 22:12 “[Is] not God in the height of heaven? and behold the height of the stars, how high they are!”
Is not God in the height of heaven? Yes, no doubt he is. No heaven so high but God is there; and in the
highest heavens, the heavens of the blessed, the residence of his glory, he is present in a special manner. There he is pleased to manifest himself in a way peculiar to the upper world, and thence he is pleased to manifest himself in a way suited to this lower world. There is his throne; there is his court: (M. H.)
Ps 2:4 “He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision.”
Ps 102:19 “For he hath looked down from the height of his sanctuary [06944]; from heaven did the LORD behold the earth;”
06944 qodesh {ko'-desh}from 06942; TWOT - 1990a; n m
AV - holy 262, sanctuary 68, (holy, hallowed,...) things 52, most 44, holiness 30, dedicated 5, hallowed 3, consecrated 1, misc 3; 468
1) apartness, holiness, sacredness, separateness
1a) apartness, sacredness, holiness
1a1) of God
1a2) of places
1a3) of things
1b) set-apartness, separateness
Ps 103:19 “The LORD hath prepared his throne [03678] in the heavens; and his kingdom ruleth over all.”
03678 kicce' {kis-say'} or kicceh {kis-say'} from 03680; TWOT - 1007; n m
AV - throne 127, seat 7, stool 1; 135
1) seat (of honour), throne, seat, stool
1a) seat (of honour), throne
1b) royal dignity, authority, power (fig.)
* I Kings 8 -- Solomon discusses God‘s habitation when he dedicates the temple.
(2) Visited by Paul II Cor. 12:2 - 4
“I knew a man in Christ above fourteen years ago, (whether in the body, I cannot tell; or whether out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;) such an one caught up to the third heaven [3772].” (v. 3) “And I knew such a man, (whether in the body, or out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;) (v. 4) “How that he was caught up into paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter.”
3772 ouranos {oo-ran-os'} perhaps from the same as 3735 (through the idea of elevation);
the sky; TDNT - 5:497,736; n m
AV - heaven 268, air 10, sky 5, heavenly + 1537; 284
1) the vaulted expanse of the sky with all things visible in it
1a) the universe, the world
1b) the aerial heavens or sky, the region where the clouds and the tempests gather, and where thunder and lightning are produced
1c) the sidereal or starry heavens
2) the region above the sidereal heavens, the seat of order of things eternal and consummately perfect where God dwells and other heavenly beings
Paul is using a common reference to the first heaven as the "blue sky," the second heaven as the "starry sky," and the third heave as the place where God dwells. He identifies this third heaven as Paradise; the word is taken from the Persian word for an enclosed, luxurious garden (as a king
would have) (David Guzik)
(3) No Sin Rev. 21:27 -- New Jerusalem
“And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither [whatsoever] worketh abomination, or [maketh] a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb's book of life.”
b. The second heaven -- Stars, heavenly bodies and space
*Ps 8:1-3 “O LORD our Lord, how excellent [is] thy name in all the earth! who hast set thy glory above the heavens. (v. 2) Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast thou ordained strength because of thine enemies, that thou mightest still the enemy and the avenger. (v. 3) When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained;”
Gen 1:14 - 17 “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: (v. 15) And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so. (v. 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. (v. 17) And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth,”
Now unclean Job 15:15 Job 25:5 (Probably Skip at this time.)
c. The first heaven -- Earth and atmosphere
--Again Gen 1:1 “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.”
Gen. 7:11 “In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened.”
Gen. 8:2 “The fountains also of the deep and the windows of heaven were stopped, and the rain from heaven was restrained;”
d. Old Heaven(s) II Peter 3:5 “For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water:”
e. New Heaven(s) Rev. 21:1 “ And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first
heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.”
Isa. 65:17 “For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind.
Isa. 66:22 “For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before me, saith the LORD, so shall your seed and your name remain.”
E. Angels Created Beings
1. Angels (means messenger) --at first -- in third Heaven Ps. 148:1-5
(v. 1) “Praise ye the LORD. Praise ye the LORD from the heavens: praise him in the heights.”
(v. 2) “Praise ye him, all his angels: praise ye him, all his hosts.”
(v. 3) “Praise ye him, sun and moon: praise him, all ye stars of light.”
(v. 4) “Praise him, ye heavens of heavens, and ye waters that [be] above the heavens.”
(v. 5) “Let them praise the name of the LORD: for he commanded, and they were created.”
Col. 1:16 "For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether [they be] thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:”
Job 38
(v. 4) “Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? declare, if thou hast understanding.”
(v. 5) “Who hath laid the measures thereof, if thou knowest? or who hath stretched the line upon it?”
(v. 6) “Whereupon are the foundations thereof fastened? or who laid the corner stone thereof;”
(v. 7) “When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?”
a. Multitude of Angels Rev. 5:11
“And I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne and the beasts and the elders: and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands;”
b. Two Orders
(1) Seraphims (burning ones) Isa 6:1-3, 6-7
v. 1 “In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple.”
v. 2 “Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly.”
v. 3 “And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, [is] the LORD of hosts: the whole earth [is] full of his glory.”
Seraphims -- majestic beings with 6 wings, human hands or voices in attendance upon God.
(2) Cherubims
Gen. 3:24 “So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.”
Ezek. 1:5-28 -- Ezekiel describes creatures believed to be Cherubims
c. Activities, Etc.
(1) Appear as men in real spirit bodies Genesis 19 (Lot)
(2) Can wage physical combat
II Kings 19:35 “And it came to pass that night, that the angel of the LORD went out, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians an hundred fourscore and five thousand: and when they arose early in the morning, behold, they [were] all dead corpses.”
(3) Can be bound with chains and confined
Jude v. 6 “And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day.”
Rev 9:14 “Saying to the sixth angel which had the trumpet, Loose the four angels which are bound in the great river Euphrates.”
Rev 20:2 “And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years,”
(4) Sing praise and worship Luke 2:13-14
v. 13 “And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,”
v. 14 “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.”
(5) They drive horses, keep gates, etc
II Kings 2:12 “And Elisha saw [it], and he cried, My father, my father, the chariot of Israel, and the horsemen thereof. And he saw him no more: and he took hold of his own clothes, and rent them in two pieces.”
(6) Protect saints
Ps. 34:7 “The angel of the LORD encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth them.”
d. Free moral agents
