In the Beginning (Part 2)
Text: Genesis 1:1-25
Core Idea: In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth in order to make a glorious home for His beloved people and to bless us so that we may be a greater blessing. Then trusting in the work of the Holy Spirit, let us go share this good news and point them to the Author of life for He alone is worthy of our praise.
INTRODUCTION
Good morning, Lighthouse. It is really good to see you. Last week, we started a new sermon series on the Book of Genesis – looking at how all things started. And I shared that Genesis 1 was written to show us that this world wasn’t created by random chance but that it was created by God with power and purpose. The God that we gathered to worship today, the God who we have a covenant relationship with, the God who knows us by name, the God who loves us, the God who we have the privilege of calling “Father” is the same God who literally just spoke the world into existence – He is the Creator and Sustainer of everyone and everything. Sadly, we often forget this truth – forget how amazing, glorious, and inconceivable our God is because our minds at times get hijacked by the busyness, the burdens, and the pleasures of life. But this creation account reminds us that our God is not to be trifled with – for He is the source of all life and the author of all our stories. All things are from Him, through Him, and to Him. He is eternal, infinite, and unchangeable in His power and wisdom – He sees all things, and nothing is ever hidden from him. He is always good, always just, and always loving – which is why we should never treat Him casually, take His blessings for granted, and nonchalantly disregard and disobey His Word. Our God is far greater, far stronger, and far more precious than we could ever imagine – which means that the only proper response is to give Him the worship that He deserves. Genesis 1 was written not just to show us who the Creator God is but also to humble us, inspire us, and move us to drop to our knees and exalt the name of the Lord – these words were written to cause us to be in awe of Him. Then I pray that you’ll do just that today. Friends, let’s not make our Sunday service a meaningless ritual – let’s seize this opportunity to sing to Him with all our hearts, minds, and strength for He alone is worthy of our praises. Now, there are a few more things that I wanted to point out from this passage – hence, part 2. So, please turn your Bibles to Genesis 1:1-25 again – and let me read this for us.
1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. 3 And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. 4 God saw that the light was good, and He separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light “day,” and the darkness He called “night.” And there was evening, and there was morning – the first day. 6 And God said, “Let there be a vault between the waters to separate water from water.” 7 So God made the vault and separated the water under the vault from the water above it. And it was so. 8 God called the vault “sky.” And there was evening, and there was morning – the second day. 9 And God said, “Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear.” And it was so. 10 God called the dry ground “land,” and the gathered waters He called “seas.” And God saw that it was good. 11 Then God said, “Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds.” And it was so. 12 The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. 13 And there was evening, and there was morning – the third day. 14 And God said, “Let there be lights in the vault of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark sacred times, and days and years, 15 and let them be lights in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth.” And it was so. 16 God made two great lights – the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars. 17 God set them in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth, 18 to govern the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that it was good. 19 And there was evening, and there was morning – the fourth day. 20 And God said, “Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the vault of the sky.” 21 So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living thing with which the water teems and that moves about in it, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 22 God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the water in the seas, and let the birds increase on the earth.” 23 And there was evening, and there was morning – the fifth day. 24 And God said, “Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: the livestock, the creatures that move along the ground, and the wild animals, each according to its kind.” And it was so. 25 God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.
Amen. This is the Word of God for you today. I divided this passage into three parts.
· CREATION AND THE SPIRIT
· CREATION AND SCIENCE
· CREATION AND BLESSING
1) CREATION AND THE SPIRIT
Let’s start from verse 1 again – “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.” In the early 1800s, evidence from rock formations was being used to argue that the earth was much older than what the Bible was teaching. Considering that the oldest rock discovered was approximately 3.6 billion years old, many people started questioning the validity of Genesis 1 because the combination of the Genesis 1 account of creation and the genealogical records found in the Bible would date the earth only at about 6000 years. That’s a huge difference. So, wanting to harmonize Scripture and science, Thomas Chalmers, who was a renowned theologian and a geologist, proposed what is known as the gap theory which argues that there must have been a large gap of time between verses 1 and 2 (possibly millions of years) – claiming that the earth was much older than many have originally thought. This view quickly gained traction because it was the perfect way to relieve the tension that existed between the Bible and science. Interestingly, G. H. Pember took this a step further and argued that this time between verses 1 and 2 was when Satan and his followers rebelled against God and that the earth was left formless and empty because God had destroyed the earth as a form of judgment against His enemies. Now, even though this is incredibly intriguing, the truth is that there’s nothing in the text that suggests a massive time gap or the rebellion of Satan between verses 1 and 2 – they’re nothing but assumptions. Then what can we learn from this? What was the author trying to show us through these two verses? The work of the Holy Spirit in creation. Verse 2 is not describing the state of the earth after God subdued Satan – it’s not the aftermath of this so-called “battle” between God and Satan. No, it simply describes the initial state of the earth before God created the rest of the world – it’s the “not-yet” stage. And we see three descriptions – that the earth was formless and empty, that darkness was over the surface of the deep, and that the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. Then let me briefly take this time to go through them one by one.
First, the earth was formless and empty – in that, the earth was bare and uninhabited. The earth was like a desert and was deserted. This is important to point out because we’ll see that the work of God in creating the world reverses these two specific conditions. Here’s what I mean. If you look at Days 1-3, you’ll notice that God addresses the formless state of the earth. The day and night are separated, the land and the sea are distributed, and the earth is made ready to sprout with plants and trees. In contrast, you’ll see God addressing the desertedness state of the earth in Days 4-6 – which is why He begins to create things that will inhabit the earth. The sun, moon, and stars are created to guide the day and the night, sea creatures are created to fill the waters, flying creatures are created to soar in the skies, and wild animals and livestock are created to move along the ground. And of course, the pinnacle of God’s creation took place when He created mankind in His own image. All that to say, God’s plan for creation was aimed at making a home and filling that place with those who would occupy and enjoy it.
Now, interestingly, this is the same pattern that we see in God’s work of redemption for His people. Think with me. Genesis 2 shows God creating a beautiful garden and putting Adam and Eve to cultivate and enjoy that place. Genesis 3 shows that the consequence of sin was the cursing of the land and the expulsion of the people. But in Genesis 12, God begins the work of salvation by calling Abraham to journey toward the promised land where they will flourish and be blessed. And ever since then, the people of God have been repeating this process – Moses brings the Israelites out of Egypt and leads them through the wilderness to the promised land, Joshua inspires the Israelites to courageously enter the promised land, the Israelites lose this promised land to the Babylonians and were forced to be on exile, Ezra and Nehemiah make a way for the Israelites to come back to the promised land to rebuild the temple. I could go on and on about how this pattern of land and inhabitants revealed in creation is evident everywhere in the Bible – and this is important to point out because even now God is pointing us and carrying us to our eternal home where we will dwell with the people of God in the presence of God. No wonder the Bible ends with the picture of a new earth coming down from heaven. God intended from the very beginning to make a glorious home for His beloved people – and He will achieve this through Jesus Christ who first made a dwelling among us. Isn’t this amazing? Maybe you’re not as excited as I am but I pray that this truth will still give you hope for today and the days to come – knowing that our God is closely involved in our lives to lead us to our home.
Okay, let’s move on. The second description of the “not-yet” state of the earth is that darkness was over the surface of the deep. This makes sense because light was yet to be created. So, it’s not surprising to see that the first thing God did was to create light so that His creation could see and have life. I’ll share more on this later.
Now, so far, we talked about all that the earth was lacking – it was bare, deserted, and dark. And reading this, we’re left to wonder, “How can anything good come out of this?” – but this is why the third description is really important. It says that the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. Now, I want to bring your attention to the word “hovering” because the same Hebrew word was used in Deuteronomy 32:11 to describe God as a mother eagle that hovers over her young to take care of them and sustain their life. Then in the same way, when it says that the Holy Spirit was hovering over the waters, it means that He was there to take care of the earth – to bring order, blessing, and life. And again, this is so relevant for us because the same is true of our lives today. At times, our lives may feel barren, empty, and dark. It may feel chaotic and hopeless – and we can’t help but wonder, “Can anything really change? Is there any hope for me?” If this is you, I pray that this verse will remind you of the difference that the Spirit of God can make in your life. If He could bring order and life to this empty and formless earth, He can certainly do that in your life today as well. Pastor Kent Hughes said, “Just as the Spirit of God fluttered over the dark waters, so He does over the dark hearts of humanity, preparing them for the Word of God that will make them into new creations in Christ.” Brothers and sisters, that’s what the Spirit is doing in your life today – recreating you to be someone who is fit to enter His glory. Then my prayer for you is that the Spirit of God will revive your souls today and breathe new life and passion in you.
2) CREATION AND SCIENCE
When St. Augustine felt that many Christians were focusing too much on science, and not enough on theology, he said, “In Genesis, God wanted to make Christians, not mathematicians.” In other words, he was basically saying, “Genesis 1 is not about science but about God. So, don’t be distracted.” Now, as I mentioned before, I too firmly believe that Genesis 1 was written not to scientifically explain how the world came to be but to introduce to us the Creator of this world. But that doesn’t mean that we should never talk about science – in fact, I’m sure this discussion will be helpful for many of us because, for some, this has become a stumbling block to their faith. Now, since it would be impossible to address everything, I’ll focus on just two issues – nonliteral approaches to Genesis 1 and the theory of evolution.
First, nonliteral approaches to Genesis 1. Until about three hundred years ago, Christians were in complete agreement that Genesis 1 was presenting creation in six literal days. But as I mentioned before, there were scientific discoveries that suggested otherwise – fossil records, ice layers, or rock formations seemed to show that the earth was a lot older than what the Bible taught. So, when this tension arose, Christians began to adopt nonliteral views of the creation days so that they could accommodate science. I mentioned one already (the gap theory) but here’s another one that they came up with – the day-age concordance theory which argues that the Hebrew word for “day” doesn’t necessarily mean a twenty-four-hour period but that it can also describe broader periods of time (possibly millions or billions of years). Now, if you hold this view, the chronology and sequence of creation in Genesis 1 may be similar to the claims that science is making in regard to the development of the cosmos – but without going into detail, this is not a strong view because the Hebrew word for “day” predominantly has always been translated as a twenty-four-hour day throughout the Bible. In fact, there are many other words that the author could’ve used to indicate broader periods of time. So, seeing that this view wasn’t going to hold, people came up with something else called the analogical-days view. They observed that the first six days all ended with the words, “And there was evening, and there was morning,” – but this pattern was not found on the seventh day. So, they argued that the seventh day must have been a longer period of time where God allowed His creation to grow and mature. But again, these are assumptions – there’s absolutely nothing in the passage that warrants this idea.
Then do you see the pattern here? When people try to conform the Bible with science, they always end up compromising the truth. In fact, there are Christians who even say this, “Well, the people who wrote the Bible didn’t have all the information. So, it’s okay to admit that the Bible could be wrong in matters of science and history. Then let’s just focus on theology – and let’s admit that the Bible is not perfect.” But I want you to know that the churches and denominations that have embraced this view are slowly but surely dying – the reason for that is because since their premise is that the Bible can be wrong, it became easier for them to compromise in other areas as well. As a result, many of them have become very liberal and loose in their stance on many things. Now, please don’t get me wrong – I’m not suggesting that we just blindly believe. But what I am suggesting is that we do our due diligence to wrestle with the passage and science. Let me ask you, “If you’ve felt the tension between your scientific knowledge and a certain passage in the Bible, have you ever taken the time to thoroughly study that passage? Have you read what other Christians said about that passage? Or were you just quick to doubt that passage because it doesn’t seem to fit your understanding of the world?” Friends, this shouldn’t be. John Calvin said, “If nature is a book for us to read, the Scriptures are the spectacles we must wear in order to read it rightly.” Now, it’s true that we can misinterpret the Scripture. In fact, that’s exactly what happened when the Roman Catholic authorities denied Galileo’s heliocentric theory of the solar system. The church leaders pointed to Joshua 10:12-13, where God caused the sun to “stand still” – and wrongly argued that the sun must be orbiting around the earth. But this was a misreading of Scripture – it doesn’t mean that the Bible itself was flawed. So, all that to say, what I want us to learn from this is that we should never be so quick to accommodate our understanding of the Bible to science. Now, if you’re wondering, “Then do we just blindly believe that God took six literal days to create the world just because that’s what the Bible says?” Well, the reformed scholars have come up with something called the mature creation approach to explain this phenomenon which argues that since Adam was created in an adult form, rather than growing from infancy, in the same way, there’s no reason why God couldn’t have created the universe with a mature appearance – hence, the rock that’s 3.6 billion years old. Now, does this take away any hint of doubt? Probably not. But it at least gives us something to think about.
Second, the theory of evolution. Genesis 1 makes it clear that God created everything with a clear purpose and role to play. The vegetations were created with seeds so that they could reproduce accordingly, the sun, moon, and stars were created to separate the day from the night and give light on the earth, fish, birds, and animals were created to multiply and fill the earth, and mankind was created to govern and rule over all that was made. This is important to point out because it teaches us that nothing about creation is random. It’s not by chance that the plants do what they do, the sun, moon, and stars do what they do, fish, birds, and animals do what they do – everything has been created according to God’s perfect wisdom and providence. Of course, over the last 150 years, an alternative to biblical creation has risen in the form of the theory of evolution which denies the idea of the Creator God. Instead, they claim that all living things gradually developed from lower forms by a random process of natural selection over time. Julian Huxley, a leading evolutionary biologist, said, “In the evolutionary pattern of thought, there is no longer either need or room for the supernatural. The earth was not created: it evolved. So did all the animals and plants that inhabit it, including our human selves, mind and soul as well as brain and body. So did religion.” Now, given the blatant opposition to biblical creation, it may seem surprising that some Christians would still try to accommodate evolution into their faith – their rationale is that evolution has been “proved” as a “fact” and that we would be ignorant and out with the times if we dare to deny it. But we must remember that science is never truly settled – in that, by its very nature, scientists must always be ready to consider new information which means that today’s accepted scientific “truth” might turn out to be tomorrow’s discarded theory. In contrast, we believe that the Bible is the infallible and inerrant Word of God – the perfect source of truth. All that says here is reliable because God is always trustworthy. Then here’s a bold claim: I firmly believe that as Christians, we should reject evolution – at least, macroevolution, which argues that new and different kinds of organisms have been created by natural selection. This is different from microevolution, which argues that organisms adapt to their environments – this has been widely accepted by Christians.
We should reject evolution not only because it’s not proven, in that, it has never been observed, but also because it goes directly against many of the essential Christian doctrines. In other words, if we accept the claims of evolution, it’ll require us to revise our entire theology. Let me explain. First, we would have to revise the doctrine of Scripture because we would have to admit that the Bible can be wrong – the Bible no longer is infallible and inerrant. This is significant because Christians who affirm evolution must place the authority of God’s Word under science. Second, we would have to revise the doctrine of man because, under evolution, our unique standing as God’s special image-bearer is shaken. We’re not above the animals, but rather just one of them. The value of human life can only be measured by the quality of their genes and their perceived usefulness to the world, not their unique standing as image-bearers of God. Third, we would have to revise the doctrine of sin because sin no longer is an offense toward God – it’s just a negative trait that can be corrected by natural selection. In fact, it would be impossible to define what sin is because there will be no absolute standard of right and wrong – everything becomes just subjective. Now, there’s obviously a lot more that I can point out but here’s the last one – we would have to revise the doctrine of Christ because apart from understanding the gravity of sin, His life, death, and resurrection mean absolutely nothing. Under evolution, Jesus is just an inferior version of us because we have a superior evolutionary stance. His story in the Bible becomes nothing but a myth because science is always skeptical of miracles. All that to say, evolution will force us to revise many of the essential Christian doctrines – if that’s the case, why would we look for ways to accommodate them? Then, brothers and sisters, we must be faithful to God by remaining steadfast to His Word. Now, some might be concerned because, “What if we lose our credibility by doing this? How can we change the minds and hearts of people who think that Christianity is out of date?” Well, we do it in the same way that the apostles and the Christians of the early church did – by the sovereign power of God that is at work within us. He will make it possible. Do you believe that He is able?
3) CREATION AND BLESSING
Of course, there’s so much more that I could say from this passage but the last thing that I want to point out is the fact that God created this world to bless us – and one of the best examples that convey this idea is found in verse 3 which says, “And God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light.” In the Bible and in our earthly experience, light is always associated with the flourishing of life. Think about it. Without the sun, there wouldn’t be any plants, animals, and people. No fossil energy sources such as coal, oil, and natural gas would be available to generate energy. Without light, there’s no life. But that’s not all – without light, we have no sense of direction because we can’t see where we’re going, we have no sense of safety because we can’t see what’s around us, we have no sense of identity because we can’t see ourselves clearly, and we cannot have community because we can’t see who’s around us. All that to say, light is the source of life and blessing – no wonder verse 4 says, “God saw that the light was good.” The point is that God created all things not only for His glory but also to bless us – to give us something to eat, drink, clothe ourselves with, use it as a shelter, and more.
Now, here’s an interesting thing about God’s blessing. God doesn’t simply bless us just that so we can say we’re a blessed people. There are two main reasons why God blesses us – first, because He loves us, and second, so that we can be a blessing to others. He generously meets our needs so that we can meet the needs of others. He comforts us so that we can comfort others. He gives us life so that we can point others to the source of this life. Blessings flow from God, but they should never stop with us – for these blessings come to us so that they can flow to others through us. Then let me ask you, “Do you believe that you have been abundantly blessed?” It’s true – sometimes it’s hard to believe that because life isn’t always easy. At times, it feels like the valleys are too low and the sun is hidden for too long. At times, it feels like we’re walking through the desert or drowning in storms. At times, God has led us to places where we never planned to go but He has also guided us away from where we wanted to go. But at the same time, it’s also true that our lives are not always like that. We have seen God provide in ways that we never thought possible, guide us to places where we needed to be, teach us so that we would grow and mature, surround us with wonderful people so that we would be encouraged, and refresh us so that we would not give up – in fact, He would often pick us up and carry us when our strength failed. Friends, our God is a good God, a faithful God, a God who wants to open up the gates of heaven itself to shower us with blessing – so much so that we would have no way to contain it to ourselves. Pastor Paul Tripp writes, “I could not have written my own story. I had no accurate vision of tomorrow, let alone any idea of where I would land and what I would be doing. I no longer have any doubt about who is the author of my story, who designs every chapter and rules every turn of the plot. I know that there is nothing random about my journey. I am the object of miraculous and glorious grace. My story is one of divine rescue and many divine interventions. I have not just been accepted; I have been loved. I have not just been loved; I have been inhabited. I have not just been inhabited; I have been empowered. I have not just been empowered; I have been transformed. I have not just been transformed; I have been kept. And I have not just been kept; I will be glorified. This is the plotline of my life. Nothing has been for naught. Every twist and turn and every high and low has been formed by the unrelenting power of divine grace. Every bit of it, even the confusing and painful things, are pieces of a puzzle, that, when assembled, says, ‘Blessing.’” Isn’t that amazing? Friends, we are recipients of His blessing. Then just as He has blessed you, let’s go and bless others. Let’s shine the light of Christ to a world of darkness and chaos and point people to the Author of life – the One who created the heavens and the earth.
CONCLUSION
Lighthouse family, in the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth in order to make a glorious home for His beloved people and to bless us so that we may be a greater blessing. Then trusting in the work of the Holy Spirit, let us go share this good news and point them to the Author of life for He alone is worthy of our praise.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1) In what ways does the hovering of the Spirit over the waters in Genesis 1:2 reflect the Spirit’s ongoing work in both creation and our personal lives today?
2) How can Christians respond when there seems to be a tension between scientific findings (e.g., the age of the earth) and a literal reading of Genesis?
3) What are some challenges in trying to reconcile the theory of evolution with the biblical account of creation? How do you think the acceptance of evolution challenges the authority of Scripture? Should Christians view the Bible as authoritative in all areas, including science, or just in matters of faith and practice?
4) How does God’s creation of light in Genesis 1:3 reflect His desire to bless humanity? How does the idea that God blesses us so that we can bless others resonate with your own experiences? How can we ensure that the blessings we receive from God flow through us to others?