Word of Salvation – Vol. 46 No. 03 – January 2001

 

Genesis 1 – The Framework For Understanding God, The Universe And Man

 

Sermon by Rev. T. J. Flanagan on Genesis 1

Scripture Readings: John 1:1-14; Genesis 1

Suggested Singing: BoW 104a, 404, 8a, 148, 533

 

Beloved in our Saviour and Creator!

When the Apostle Paul wrote to a young leader in the Church, called Timothy, he summed up what is most needed to equip us for living the Christian life.  Speaking specifically about the Old Testament, he says to Timothy, “…from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.  All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” (2Tim 3:15-17).

And, may I say, what a superb introduction to the Word of God we have been given in this first chapter of the Bible, Genesis 1!

This chapter is part of the framework all people need, to properly understand God, the universe we are part of, and ourselves.  It’s essential to see the world through the early chapters of Genesis if we are to understand the magnificence of the gospel!  Paul assumed this when he spoke to the biblically illiterate Athenians.  He makes it clear to them, in his gospel presentation, that there is only one Creator, and that we are descendants of but one man.

Let’s begin by taking a brief, but exciting stroll through this chapter, before we look at some implications for our lives right now.

1.  A Walk Through Chapter 1

[read vs 1]  Right from verse one the Bible makes it clear that there were no beginnings prior to the existence of Almighty God.  He has always been, and we’re told He created the heavens and the earth… the entire universe.  The word “created” means “brought into existence out of nothing”.  No wonder the Hebrew word is never used in the Bible to describe an action of anyone else but God!!

Now notice in Verse 2 that the universe is not explored further.  There is an entire universe to describe, but the Earth is God’s immediate focus.  Not the stars, nor the moon, nor the sun.  The Earth, we’re told, was a formless mass, with a watery surface.  It was empty and in darkness.

Hovering over this unshaped, watery surface is the creative, Holy Spirit.  He is the Person of the Trinity that is immediately involved with creating and giving life.  David puts it this way in Psalm 104:30, “When you send your Spirit, they are created, and you renew the face of the earth.”

From verses 3 onwards it’s repeated over and over to us that this creative work is made possible because God speaks.  “And God said…”, “And God said…” over and over- and, without any hesitation, everything happens exactly as God commands.

The exciting thing for us is that, it was only revealed 2,000 years ago just Who was involved in these spoken acts of creative power.  It was none other than our Saviour, the Son of God, the Word of God who became flesh.  It was He, your Brother, your Rescuer, who spoke the will of the Father here, bringing everything into existence by the working of the Spirit!  As his closest friend on earth, John puts it with amazement, “Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made” (Jn.1:3).

Paul puts it this way: “For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him.  He is before all things, and in him all things hold together” (Col.1:16-17).  On the first day, God brings light upon the earth without the sun or moon.  He then creates an ongoing succession of evenings followed by mornings, which together form a period called “day”.

In verses 6-8 we’re told that on the second day God creates the earth’s atmosphere, or sky, or firmament, and separates the water into two parts.  Literally the two parts of the “waters” are, a “lower side” of the sky (which is the surface water) and the “upper side”, which are the clouds.

In verses 9-13 we’re told that on the third day God gives more form to the earth by placing the water into one mass, or ocean.  In doing so He forms dry ground.  On this ground, plants and trees appear at the Word of God.  This vegetation exists without the sun!  The sun is not necessary for the day, or for plant life.  God has already provided a sun- less light on Day one.

In verses 14-19 the fourth day’s activity is described as follows.  The sun, moon and stars are created to govern the night, the day and the seasons.  They become the new instruments of light.

Day five is described in verses 20-23.  At God’s command the seas teem with fish and the air with birds.  Here, all these creatures are described as “living creatures” or “souls”.  Man and land animals are later described in the same way.  By contrast, plants are never described as “living creatures” or “souls”.  That’s why the eating of plant life by man and the animals prior to The Fall is not viewed in Scripture as the “shedding of blood” or the bringing about of death.

Finally, verses 24-31 tell us that, on the sixth day, animals and Man are created from the earth itself.  In verse 26 the uniqueness of Man is suggested in that God contemplates within Himself as He creates Man.  And in this contemplation we see a hint of the complexity of God Himself.  He is a plural of Persons within the One Being!  In verse 27 He says, “Let us make Man in our image”, yet the verse goes on to comment, “God created Man is His (not their!) own image.”

Of course, Moses, the author, is not explicitly revealing the Trinity here.  Nevertheless, Old Testament believers would be left in no doubt that there is a depth and mystery about God’s makeup that is beyond human understanding.

Up until the sixth day we also see the repeated statement that God saw the results of each day’s work and “it was good”.  Now, in verse 31, as He looks at ALL He created, HE declares it “Very Good!”

So, that was our stroll through the chapter.

Now, secondly,

2.  What Does this Reveal?

Well, all commentators agree that this chapter challenges every man-made idea of life on earth.  Other religions in the ancient Near East, Eastern religions today, have stated that the universe is made up of eternal matter.  The Bible meets that idea head on, by declaring the universe had a BEGINNING!

Furthermore, down through the ages men have often worshipped the sun, moon and stars.  Well, what a slap in the face this revelation is to that idea!!  THE HEAVENLY BODIES WERE NEVER EVEN NEEDED BY GOD for anything, let alone having no divine power.  Think about it!  They were even created after plant life.  These heavenly bodies are simply beautiful objects that serve God’s purpose.  They serve the day and night, the seasons, and they’re for our pleasure as well.

Because of sin, Man has tended to worship creatures and created things – but verse 28 makes it clear that animals and the environment have been placed under Man for him to carefully use and manage.  And far from the idea that people should offer a god food, we find in verse 29 the Creator serving us food to eat.

Every commentary agrees that Genesis 1 challenges Man’s religious ideas.  “But let’s not go too far!”, some seem to say.  Some scholars will not allow Genesis 1 to challenge current ideas about Man and the universe.  Some claim you cannot touch current theories of science!  So called “science” tells us that the universe is billions of years old (give or take a few billion depending on the latest opinion!).  So, it is claimed, Genesis is mistaken, or can’t mean what it appears to say.

It’s interesting to note that in his commentary on Genesis, Calvin had to challenge a scientific theory in his day which stated that everything  appeared in a single moment.  It sounds funny these days, but he spends some time explaining that the days in this chapter were actually a whole twenty-four hours long – and no less!  Creation didn’t happen in one moment.  It took seven whole days.

On the basis of the Hebrew text alone, most agree that the inspired writer of Genesis intended the word “day” here to mean a twenty four hour day.  It’s not linguistics or context which cause some to doubt this, rather, it’s the conflicting philosophies that have confronted readers of Genesis through the ages.

“Ah yes”, you might say, “but hasn’t it been proven that the world is infinitely older than when Adam was created?” But let us ask ourselves: “How can you prove the age of something?”

There is not time right now to go into detail, but radioactive dating methods have proven very unreliable.  Over and over again, rocks, recently formed in the twentieth century by volcanic activity, have been dated by such methods as being tens of thousands of years old.

We should keep in mind that Genesis reveals that God made the universe in a complete, “up and running” state.  If we had awoken with Adam on the sixth day in the Garden of Eden we could easily have assumed some of the large trees around about were many decades old, or that Adam was many years old for that matter!  The universe was created in a complete state.  So it isn’t as old as some claim it appears to be.

We have seen, then, that the implications of Genesis 1 are challenges to man’s corrupted notions of God and the Universe.  Now let’s reflect on our uniqueness as human beings and gaze upon what God is restoring in us through Christ.

3.  Our Uniqueness Being Restored in Christ

In verses 26-27 special and careful consideration is given by the universe’s Creator to our makeup.  In verse 27 man is described in a way that echoes God’s being.

[read vs 27].

The being of Man is made up of male and female, which when united become “one flesh”.  Man is a being created for intimate relationship.

This reflects something of the Creator, who is a Being that has always existed in a relationship – Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

The Triune God had the perfect relationship, yet He purposed that we would come into being so that we could share with Him in that glorious joy and relationship.  God desired to share what He had with us, when He had absolutely no need to do so!

Jesus knows that he reflects His Father’s heart when He says in His priestly prayer in John 17:24, “Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, be with me where I am, so that they may see my glory which you have given me, for you loved me before the foundation of the world, and I have made your name known to them, and will make it known, so that the love with which you loved me may be in them, and I in them.” [NASB]

Man was also created in God’s image and likeness to represent God’s rule across the earth.  It makes sense that if we are to properly represent God in His world we must be like Him.  So, like God, man was to be a spiritual being, intellectually self-conscious and conscious of God’s presence in all that he did.  He was to be able to reason with moral and spiritual godliness.  In other words, we are meant to be able to rule, and we are meant to know how to exercise that ability, to reflect God’s presence in His world.

Sadly, sin has limited man’s ability to rule, due to death and sickness.  Sin has also corrupted the manner in which man seeks to rule, since our spiritual and moral godliness has been twisted – affecting all of our lives.

But in Christ, God is committed to bring us back to how we were meant to be!  One day we will be completely restored physically, and at present – if you are a Christian – God is right at this very moment restoring you spiritually into the image of His Son.

And we are told to “put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator” (Col.3:10]; and “put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness” (Eph.4:24).

How can these commands be carried out in our ruined state?  It’s been made possible because Christ became one of us to save us.  He came to die for us to cancel out the ruin.  What’s more, He also lives forever as a Man with a body, as well as being God the Son.  He became one of us, taking on flesh forever, that we may become like Him forever.

Not even the angles had the honour of the Son of God becoming like them and dying for them!  God has bestowed that honour upon us by sending His Son to take on humanity forever.  The Son of God lived as one of us, He died for us, and He lives forever as one of us – to ensure we will be with Him and like Him forever.  How much more can God do to display His total commitment to ensuring men and women have a future with Him, as human beings in His image?

We can put on a new self, have a new life, because we can call upon the living Christ to live His life in us.  In the light of His Word, with His resurrected power, we can begin to become more and more like Him, being renewed into God’s image.  In other words, becoming more truly human.

I put it to you, if you are a Christian, then that same power of God, which spoke the universe into existence, has called you and I out of darkness back into God’s marvellous light of salvation.  And if any man is in Christ he is a new creation, a little foretaste of the remade universe to come!  As we seek to make disciples, calling people out of darkness, we go forth to multiply God’s image again wherever we are.  People being renewed into God’s likeness bring glory to Him, in a world at war with Him!

Yes, I know, things have changed since Genesis 1 but the heart of God hasn’t changed!  He calls us to duplicate His image, His likeness, in our lives and the lives of our children and others.

Let’s call upon the risen, reigning Christ to come with power to live His life in ours by the work of His Mighty Spirit.

Amen.