This week, we're going to take a look at the biblical account of creation, but not in the traditional sense. We all know the story of creation as read in the book of Genesis, but we're going to compare the creation as recorded in Genesis with the account of the creation in the first chapter of the book of John. I think we will find that these two very different accounts do not in any way contradict each other, but rather, that they complement one another, and when read together, they help to form a more complete picture of the creation.
For the purposes of this study, we will be looking at only the first 3 verses of Genesis chapter one, because our intention is not necessarily to delve into the entire process of creation day by day, but rather to intertwine the Genesis account with that of the first 3 verses of the book of John. The goal of this study will be to shed light on the fact that Jesus was not only present at the time of creation, but had a pivotal role in the forming of the universe. Our focus will be on the parallels of the two accounts, and the revealing of the creative work of Jesus as read in the book of John.
We'll begin by looking at Genesis 1:1-3..."In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. 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. And God said, Let there be light: and there was light."
With verse 1, we see the inception of the creative process. However, the first four words of the verse, "In the beginning God", reveal far more than they at first appear to. We all understand that "the beginning" refers to the birth of the universe, a point at which things came into being, that is, before this time, there was nothing. Only God existed before the creation, as we read in Psalms 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." However, when we take a closer look at the first four words of the verse, we find that there is a fundamental, if not somewhat hidden, truth which is revealed. The original text of the Old Testament was written in Hebrew, and the word used for "God" in this verse, as well as the verses which follow, is the Hebrew word "Elohiym", which is a plural noun. This is not a grammatical error, as this word existed in a singular form, as well. The Hebrew vocabulary was vast, and contained more names which referred to God than any other language, before or since. So, what does this tell us? The phrase in verse one, "God created", is perplexing when we realize that the word "Elohiym" is a plural noun, and "created" is a singular verb. It is as if we are reading the phrase as "We created ". And this is exactly the point. This is the first mention of God, in Genesis 1:1, and here we see that there is a plurality with God, our first glimpse of the Godhead, the Trinity.
Verses 2 and 3 lend further credence to the concept of the Trinity, as we see the work of the Spirit..."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. And God said, Let there be light: and there was light." Here we have the first mention of the Spirit of God, the Third Person of the Trinity, and the fact that He moved upon the face of the waters. Further evidence of the plurality of God is found later in Genesis 1:26, on the sixth day of creation, where we read..."And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness:..." This is rather confusing until we realize that this was a consultation between the Trinity, a coming together for the purposes of forming man, because he was to be not only dedicated to Father, Son, and Spirit, but he was also to be the only creature with a living and immortal soul. It is humbling to think that mankind was the last of the creation, therefore, he had no role whatsoever in the creative process, and yet, the whole of creation was put under his dominion. This is our first indication of the love that God has for us.
With these thoughts in mind, let's now take a look at John 1:1-3, and the parallels which will help us to see a more complete picture of the creation..."In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. "
Let us first take a look at John 1:14, in order to establish the fact that it is indeed Jesus who is referred to in these verses..."And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth." This verse serves to demonstrate, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that Jesus and "the Word" are one and the same. With this truth firmly established, we begin to see the beautiful harmony which flows between the first 3 verses of Genesis and John, showing us the completeness of the Trinity. The plurality of God, that is, the Father and the Son, along with the Spirit, created the heaven and the earth, and came together to form mankind in their image, after their likeness. Furthermore, when we read in verse 3 of Genesis 1 that "God said, Let there be light...", this is an example of the Word of God in action. This coincides with verse 3 of John 1, as we read that "All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made." Jesus, the eternal Word of God, the Second Person of the Trinity, was and is the driving force behind all of creation. He tells us in Revelation 1:8..."I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty." Finally, we read in Colossians 1:12-17..."Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light: Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son: In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins: Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature: For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in the earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers; all things were created by him, and for him: And he is before all things, and by him all things consist."
One final thought...knowing what we know now, let's think about this: the hands that set the planets in motion, and formed the sun, moon, and stars, the hands that created all the animals and plants, and filled the oceans, the hands which created every human being who has ever lived, these same hands were nailed to a cross on our behalf. These same hands are, as we speak, preparing a home in glory for those who have believed on Him. All we need to do is to put our trust, and our life, in His hands.
This week, I'd like to take a look at a particular aspect of faith, the idea that faith exists in direct opposition to what we can understand by using our senses. This is a peculiar notion, and certainly worthy of study, because faith is not dependent upon our worldly faculties at all. In fact, it can be hindered by our dependence upon our senses. For this study, we will focus on two different verses, both of which have meanings that are somewhat difficult to comprehend, and both are often misunderstood. They speak of faith in its opposition to what we can see, or know, using our five senses. The first verse we'll take a look at is 2 Corinthians 5:7, but for purposes of study, we'll read it in its context, so that we can gain a clearer understanding of the overall idea being conveyed.
We'll begin by reading 2 Corinthians 5:1-9..."For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven: If so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked. For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened: not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life. Now he that hath wrought us for the selfsame thing is God, who also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit. Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord:
(For we walk by faith, not by sight:) We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord. Wherefore we labour, that, whether present or absent, we may be accepted of him."
Our focus in these verses is actually verse 7, "For we walk by faith, not by sight", but in order to bring it into clear understanding, it is important to look at the verse in its context, in order to grasp what is being said in its entirety. In these verses, Paul is contrasting the life which we now live, in the flesh, with the glory which is to be revealed in us. Comparing our earthly bodies with a tabernacle, Paul conveys to us the fact that if our tabernacle were dissolved, that is, if we die, that we have a much greater dwelling place which awaits us in heaven. Paul goes on to acknowledge the fact that we, in this earthly body, do groan because of burdens, both mental and physical. We yearn for something better, for a time when our burdens will cease. It is the shedding of this earthly body and of being clothed in righteousness that believers long for. Furthermore, Paul tells us that God created us with this purpose in mind, that we would not be enamored with this world, but rather, that His Spirit within us would lead us to desire to be present with Him. "For we walk by faith, not by sight." We live our lives by faith, because none of us have seen God directly, but we look forward to the day when "our faith shall be sight", when we can look upon His face. Jesus told Thomas in John 20:29..."Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed."
Contrary to what the world would have us to believe, it takes a lot of strength to have faith. The world tells us that faith is a sign of weakness, that a strong mind doesn't rely on faith, that "science" can teach us all that we need to know. However, even science must rely on some degree of faith, for example, have you ever "seen" electricity, or the wind, or gravity? No, but you must admit that they exist, because you have seen or felt their effects. Science wants to tell us that faith is foolishness, and yet they push us to believe in a "theory" of how the universe came into existence. With regards to evolution, there has not been a single shred of hard evidence to back this "theory", while, in contrast, the validity of the bible has been proven again and again. In fact, the bible has never, nor will it ever, be disproven by science or archaeology. No, faith is not foolishness. It is strength in action, it is a gift from God to help us through this life, and to bring us into a closer relationship with Him.
The other verse that we are going to take a look at is found in Hebrews 11:1, but, again, we will look at verses 1-3 in order to gain a clear understanding..."Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. For by it the elders obtained a good report. 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." Verse 1 is a rather cryptic statement, as Paul very eloquently describes the characteristics of faith. "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for..." Our faith brings to fruition the things which we hope to attain. We know that God is motivated by our faith, as we read later in Hebrews 11:6..."But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him." As Jesus healed the eyes of two blind men in Matthew 9:28-29, he asked them, "Believe ye that I am able to do this? They said unto him, Yea, Lord. Then touched he their eyes, saying, According to your faith be it unto you." The second part of verse 1 completes this thought, as Paul tells us that faith is "the evidence of things not seen." Faith provides us with convincing proof which our senses cannot perceive. The soul of the believer sees what the physical eyes cannot. Though the Lord may be hidden from our sight, from our five senses, He is hidden that He may be believed upon. It is our faith which is our link to the unseen. Despite the lack of physical affirmation, we rest our hopes solely on the Word of God, placing our trust in Him. This is the very definition of faith.
In verse 2, Paul goes on to tell us that by faith, "the elders obtained a good report." The "elders" which Paul speaks of are not elders of the church, but rather, the fathers of faith, men of old, whose faith put them in right standing with God. Paul goes on in the following verses to give examples of the faith of these men, one of which was Abraham, and the faith of Abraham is a prime example of a closeness and intimacy with God which we all should seek to emulate. We read, concerning the inspiring faith of Abraham, in Romans 4:20-25..."He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God; And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able to perform. And therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness. Now it was not written for his sake alone, that it was imputed to him; But for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead; Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification."
Verse 3 is a beautiful account of creation, and of the faith that we are to have in order to understand its beginnings..."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." Faith allows us to perceive the Hand of the Creator, though we cannot now see His face. All that exists, both seen and unseen, was formed by the Hand of God. When we read that "the worlds were framed" by His word, the original Greek text provides further insight, as the word "framed" is translated from the Greek word "kateertisthai ", which literally means "fitly formed." God made all things to fit together, to work in harmony. The stars and the planets, with their orbits, like a celestial dance, inspired David to write in Psalms 19:1..."The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork." The beautiful harmony of nature, even the microscopic processes which work together in unison as our bodies are healed, these are all the works of the Hand of God. We read in Romans 11:33..."O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!" This same God who placed the stars in the sky and set the universe in motion knows your name, and cares for you personally. Jesus confirms this as He reassures us in Matthew 10:30 that even..."the very hairs of your head are all numbered." May we strive not to rely so heavily on what we can see, or hear, or feel, in order that we might become more attuned to the Spirit, and hear His voice, allowing Him to be our guide rather than our senses. All it takes is a little faith.
