Introducing God

Genesis 1:1-2

“In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.” (Genesis 1:1)

No explanation or description of when or where he came from, just the simple statement, “In the beginning God…” We want to know where he came from, if there are others, how long he has been there and a lot of other details, yet Genesis just makes this simple statement. If one takes the time to thoroughly study the scriptures, in Isaiah 46:9 we learn, “…for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me,” but some of the questions are never answered.

For people like Thomas, who, when informed about Jesus’ resurrection stated, “Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe,” in John 20:25, such a simple statement is hard to accept. They want scientific explanations. After all, he had to come from somewhere.

Modern evolutionary “science” posits that millions or billions or even trillions of years ago, (the actual number doesn’t matter, they’ll add zeros until you are satisfied), some electrons and protons began to form molecules which over the millennia evolved into the universe we know. The numbers quoted seem tangible and people fail to recognize they haven’t answered the questions. Where did the particles come from? What made them come together and form the universe? It takes at least as much blind faith to believe the world evolved in a series of accidents as to believe God created it, but evolution currently has the stamp of public approval.

If we accept the verse at face value, we learn several things One of the first is that God exists, and that he was there in the beginning of the things we know about. He created them, so he has some power, and an ability to think and plan. The word created is translated from a Hebrew word meaning to just that, to make something that has never existed before. We make things but they are made of things which were already there, God created the things from which everything is made. We can only comprehend this through faith according to Hebrews 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.” It is his refusal to believe in God which makes the creation story seem so unbelievable to the atheist or agnostic.

“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.” (Genesis 1:2)

Prior to God’s creating it there was no matter, as we know it. The first step in creation was to make something to make things out of. The matter God created was without form, it literally had no specific form or structure, and was empty or void. A probable reason for the lack of explanation of where God came from its that we simply have basis on which to comprehend such an explanation, making it a waste of time. The things which we can understand simply didn’t exist.

One of the first steps in making something is to get material to do it with, and in creating the world, God first created the materials to use. That it was unstructured and empty is entirely logical. Since light had not yet been created, everything was dark. While God had a plan, he did not simply create everything complete in one single action, but developed it in a logical manner. When I build something, I enjoy toying with each completed part before making the next, and that is how I picture God, creating the world, and savoring each days work. Revelation 4:11 declares, “Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.”

Some believe that God created the world complete and that verse two refers to the world having been messed up after Satan was cast out of heaven. They consider the fossils of extinct animals, such as dinosaurs, and petrified wood as indicating such a conclusion. The period involved, they believe, accounts for the supposed periods of the dinosaurs and ice ages. While Satan was clearly cast out of heaven for his rebelliousness, there is no scripture which indicates such a “gap”, and the discoveries of various “living fossils” raise further doubt about the theory. Ezekiel 28:13’s statement about Satan in the Garden of Eden contradicts this teaching, implying that Satan was not cast out of heaven until the temptation of Adam.

Verse two also introduces the Holy Spirit as an active participant in creation stating, “And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.” The idea of a triune God, having multiple personas, yet a single existence is thus introduced. It is reinforced in Genesis 1:26, “And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness:…” The Hebrew is very clear, he did not say let me, make man in my image, but let us make man in our image. Both times he used the plural form, and not the singular, reinforcing the nature of God.

That Jesus was active in the creation is clear from Revelation 4:11, as previously quoted. Colossians 1:16-17 makes the same claim. “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: And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.” “All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made,” according to John 1:3. Jesus himself said, “I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven,” in Luke 10:18. He is God, just as God the Father and the Holy Spirit are.