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Genesis 1:1

Where (is that a good word?) did God create everything?

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
May 11, 2022

The first verse of the Bible “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” has been the subject of more commentators than any other verse in the Bible. There are many different interpretations of This verse also. There are nearly as many interpretations as there are commentators! I want to scream, “More detail, God, would have been appreciated.” But no, that’s all we really get! Alright, then let’s use Kipling’s six brave men. He wrote in poetic form, “I keep six honest serving-men (They taught me all I knew); Their names are What and Why and When and How and Where and Who.” There is a lot more to that poem, but I’ll limit my research to these six honest serving men. Today, I’ll just look at the “Where.”

I expect that as the question of “when” refers to time, the question of “where refers to space.” Looking at the “when and where” of God’s creation we’re concerned with the idea of time and space. We see God in various places in the Bible. He’s in the Garden of Eden with Adam and Eve. He was in the burning bush when he addressed Moses and he was on the mountain when he called the Israelites to him. Do we assume then that God moves around? I don’t think so. Norm Geisler explains, “An omnipresent Being does not have to move, since He is already there. God is not a spatial Being and does not move in time and space, but for the purpose of communication He uses expressions that are understandable to finite humans who do move in time and space. Such nonliteral descriptions of divine activity reveal personal interaction with humanity.”[1]

Karl Barth said that God is “free, majestic and sovereign.” It is in a manner wholly determined by Himself. He is, therefore, One in such a way that He is omnipresent, constant in such a way that He is omnipotent, and eternal in such a way that He is glorious.”[2] The Omnipresence of God is something we just can’t comprehend because we’re trapped (for the time being) in the time space continuum. Is something that we don’t understand unbelievable. Absolutely not! Hodge writes, “…consequently reason, rational demonstration, or philosophical proof is not the ground of faith. We may rationally believe what we cannot understand. We may be assured of truths which are encompassed with objections which we cannot satisfactorily answer.”[3] Anselm is famous for saying this: “For I do not seek to understand in order that I may believe, but I believe in order to understand. For this also I believe-that unless I believe I shall not understand.”

[1] Norman L. Geisler, Systematic Theology, Volume Two: God, Creation (Minneapolis, MN: Bethany House Publishers, 2003), 195.

[2] Karl Barth, Geoffrey William Bromiley, and Thomas F. Torrance, Church Dogmatics: The Doctrine of God, Part 1, vol. 2 (London; New York: T&T Clark, 2004), 441.

[3] Charles Hodge, Systematic Theology, vol. 1 (Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1997), 42.

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Genesis 1:1, John 1:1

How did God do it?

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
May 10, 2022

The first verse of the Bible “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” has been the subject of more commentators than any other verse in the Bible. There are many different interpretations of this verse also. There are nearly as many interpretations as there are commentators! I want to scream, “More detail, God, would have been appreciated.” But no, that’s all we really get! Alright, then let’s use Kipling’s six brave men. He wrote in poetic form, “I keep six honest serving-men (They taught me all I knew); Their names are What and Why and When and How and Where and Who.” There is a lot more to that poem, but I’ll limit my research to these six honest serving men. Today, I’ll just look at the “How.”

God did it all with just his “word.” He simply spoke everything into existence. Augustine says, “O God…Thou hast made heaven and earth out of nothing—something great, yet something small. For, Thou art almighty and good to make all good things, the great heaven and the small earth. Thou wert, and there was nothing else from which Thou didst make heaven and earth”[1] Aquinas agrees, “The universe—all that exists except God—was created from nothing (ex nihilo). It is contingent; that is, it came from nothing, and it can go into nothingness. In fact, it would become nothing right now if God were to withdraw his causal power that keeps it in existence.”[2] Norm Geisler summarizes the result of this truth. He writes, “The world is not eternal. It came into existence by God’s decree. Its existence is totally contingent and dependent upon God. The universe was not created from preexisting material (ex materia), as dualism or materialism claims. Nor was it made out of God’s essence (ex Deo), as pantheism claims. It was brought into existence by God out of nothing that preexisted.”[3]

But there is a huge litany of modern scientists who argue that “nothing can come from nothing.” Thus the modern view is “ex materia.” There was some existing matter from which life as we know it evolved. Whatever that matter was, a big bang began the process that leads us to today. This seems to be the main view today. But my old professor observed, “Even Jastrow, a confirmed agnostic, said “That there are what I or anyone would call supernatural forces at work is now, I think, a scientifically proven fact” (God and the Astronomers, 15, 18). Jastrow adds some embarrassing words both for skeptical astronomers and liberal theologians: “Now we see how the astronomical evidence leads to a biblical view of the origin of the world. The details differ, but the essential elements in the astronomical and biblical accounts of Genesis are the same…[4] Norm concludes, “In view of the incredible order in the universe, it is difficult to draw any conclusion other than existence of a supernatural, super intelligent Being is behind it all. As one scientist quipped, you can lead a skeptical astronomer to order but you cannot make him think.” Let me add something from the bible to “think” about. John 1:1, intentionally focusing on Genesis 1:1 said, “In the Beginning was the Word…” Then in Verse 14 he adds, “And the word became flesh and dwelt amongst us.”

[1] Augustine of Hippo, Confessions, ed. Roy Joseph Deferrari, trans. Vernon J. Bourke, vol. 21, The Fathers of the Church (Washington, DC: The Catholic University of America Press, 1953), 373.

[2] Norman L. Geisler, Norman L. Geisler, and William D. Watkins, Worlds Apart: A Handbook on World Views, 2nd ed. (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1989), 28–29.

[3] Norman L. Geisler, Norman L. Geisler, and William D. Watkins, Worlds Apart: A Handbook on World Views, 2nd ed. (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1989), 39.

[4] Norman L. Geisler, “Big Bang Theory,” Baker Encyclopedia of Christian Apologetics, Baker Reference Library (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 1999), 106.

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Genesis 1:1-2

When did God Create Everything?

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
May 9, 2022

The first verse of the Bible “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth” has been the subject of more commentators than any other verse in the Bible. There are many different interpretations of this verse also. There are nearly as many interpretations as there are commentators! I want to scream, “More detail, God, would have been appreciated.” But no, that’s all we really get! Alright, then let’s use Kipling’s six brave men. He wrote in poetic form, “I keep six honest serving-men (They taught me all I knew); Their names are What and Why and When and How and Where and Who.” There is a lot more to that poem, but I’ll limit my research to these six honest serving men. Today, I’ll just look at the “when.”

Let’s think about “when.” This question has been another one of those “hot topics” in the theological community. There are many different opinions on this. There are really only two options as I see it. It’s either a short period of time or a long period of time. Bishop Ussher, using the various clues in the Bible argues that God created the world around 4004 BC, just a little over 6 thousand years ago. He made this calculation based on the genealogies from the King James Bible. There are still many adherents to this view today. John Lightfoot agreed with James Ussher and together their view is called the “Ussher-Lightfoot Calendar.” But Lightfoot called for a slightly earlier date of 3928 BC.

There are other orthodox believers who would argue that it’s possible that the earth is old like modern geologists suggest. The Bible simply says that God did it, it makes no determination on when. One of my old professors puts it this way, “Other orthodox Christians defend their stance by accepting the possibility of an old universe of billions of years and pointing to the fact that the Bible nowhere commits them to a young universe. They usually point to several factors. First, Genesis 1:1 only says there was a “beginning” but not exactly when that was. Second, the “days” of Genesis may represent long periods of time. Third, there may be a time gap before the days of Genesis begin (as in some form of Gap Theory). Fourth, there are known gaps in the genealogical record (see Genealogies, Open).”[1] In my opinion, both could be right. One thing is for sure. God created the earth to be inhabited by man. Then he created man. Let me end this article the way I did my last one on “why” God created. God created the world to demonstrate His love for us so that we would love him. 1 John also says that we can love God because He first loved us. But the fact of God’s loving creation did not convince anyone. So, as Romans 5:8 tells us, “God demonstrated His love for us in this, while we are yet sinners Christ died for us.”

[1] Norman L. Geisler, “Scientific Dating,” Baker Encyclopedia of Christian Apologetics, Baker Reference Library (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 1999), 701.

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Genesis 1:1, Revelation 4:11, Isaiah 43:7, 1 John 4:7

God Loves us!

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
May 8, 2022

The first verse of the Bible, “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth,” has been the subject of more commentators than any other verse. There are many different interpretations of This verse also. There are nearly as many interpretations as there are commentators! I want to scream, “More detail, God, would have been appreciated.” But no, that’s all we get! Alright, then let’s use Kipling’s six brave men. He wrote in poetic form, “I keep six honest serving-men (They taught me all I knew); Their names are What and Why and When and How and Where and Who.” There is much more to that poem, but I’ll limit my research to these six honest serving men. Today, I’ll look at the second one in this article. The “why.”

Why did God create stuff? According to no less than about ten bible passages, we learn that God created everything for His own glory. Let’s look at Revelation 4:11. It says, “Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will, they existed and were created.” Now let me also mention that according to the bible, in numerous places, mankind, you and me, and all human beings were also created for God’s glory. God created people for his glory as well. In Isaiah 43:7. Speaking of the restoration of his people Israel, he says, “…bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the end of the earth, everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made.”

But I struggle with this simple but biblically accurate answer. It seems to be somewhat narcissistic for God to create everything so that he would have people around to glorify or worship him. Let me look back about 800 years to the great theologian Thomas Aquinas. He argued that God created everything because of His great love. The things God created demonstrate his love for mankind. He created colors for me to look at! He created flavors and gave me taste buds to enjoy them. He created music and gave me ears to hear. God created everything for me and you to enjoy. The nature around us represents God’s wonderful intentions for us. 1 John 4:7 tells us that we’ll never know God if we don’t recognize his love for us in creation. It says, “Anyone who does not love does not know God because God is love.” So, did God create the world with the sole intention of providing a place for humans to live and have good things and enjoy life? Nope. God created the world to demonstrate His love for us so that we would love him. 1 John also says that we can love God because He first loved us. But the fact of God’s loving creation did not convince anyone. So, as Romans 5:8 tells us, “God demonstrated His love for us in this, while we are yet sinners Christ died for us.”

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Genesis 1:1, Isaiah 45:18, Job 38:4-7

He doesn’t make junk!

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
May 7, 2022

The first verse of the Bible “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” has been the subject of more commentators than any other verse in the Bible. There are many different interpretations of This verse also. There are nearly as many interpretations as there are commentators! I want to scream, “More detail, God, would have been appreciated.” But no, that’s all we really get! Alright, then let’s use Kipling’s six brave men. He wrote in poetic form, “I keep six honest serving-men (They taught me all I knew); Their names are What and Why and When and How and Where and Who.” There is a lot more to that poem, but I’ll limit my research to these six honest serving men. Today, I’ll just look at the first one in this article. The “what” in verse one.

What is referred to in verse one of the Bible. We can answer than easily grammatically. “The heavens and earth” were created. There is much to be said about the verb “created” and commentators make much of it. It deals more with creative and artistic creation that involves more than just the hands. The Septuagint (Greek translation of the Old Testament) uses the word from which we get our word “poem.” Paul used that word described that we were God’s “poems” in Ephesians chapter 2. It’s normally translated as “masterpiece.” It argues that we are God’s masterpiece. Well, whatever it is that God created in Genesis 1:1, it must be a masterpiece of creative brilliance. Thus, Pink argues that “we cannot but believe that these creations were worthy of Himself, that they reflected the perfections of their Maker, that they were exceedingly fair in their pristine beauty. Certainly, the earth, on the morning of its creation, must have been vastly different from its chaotic state as described in Genesis 1:2.”

The argument from these Gap theologians is that God only creates “good things.” There are some verses in the Bible that might support this idea. Many will quote Isaiah 45:18. I must admit it seems relevant. It says, “For thus says the Lord, who created the heavens (he is God!), who formed the earth and made it (he established it; he did not create it empty, he formed it to be inhabited!): I am the Lord, and there is no other.” There is another verse in the Book of Job that might be worth noting. Job 38:4-7 contains God’s address to Job who questions God’s actions. God says to Job, “Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me if you have understanding. Who determined its measurements—surely you know! Or who stretched the line upon it? On what were its bases sunk, or who laid its cornerstone, when the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?” When God created the heavens and the earth, they caused the angels to “shout for joy.” I’m thinking that the saying “God don’t make no junk” is correct.

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Genesis 1:2, Isaiah 45:18, Jeremiah 4:23

Without Form and Void

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
May 6, 2022

When you get down to it, the scholars do not agree as to what the Hebrew phrase, “Tohu VaBohu” as it appears in Genesis 1:2 means. There are various ways that it has been translated. My favorite translation the English Standard Version (ESV) says, “The earth was without form and void.” The Lexham English Bible (LEB) says, “formless and empty.” The New English Translations says, “without shape and empty.” The Good News Bible (GNB) says, “formless and desolate.” One of the looser translations, the Contemporary English Version (CEB) says, “barren with no form of life.” Going to an even less literal translation, the Living Bible (LB) says, “shapeless chaotic mass.” Eugene Peterson in his paraphrase called The Message (TM) says, “a soup of nothingness, a bottomless emptiness.” But most translations simply use some slight variation of the King James Version (KJV) of “without form and void.”

More than a couple commentators relate the idea of formless and void with the idea of “confusion.” I don’t want to quote a lot of commentaries here but many of them agree with Matthew Henry’s assertion, “The earth is stripped of all its ornaments and looks as if it were taken off its basis; it is made empty and waste (v. 1), as if it were reduced to its first chaos, Tohu and Bohu, nothing but confusion and emptiness again (Gen. 1:2), without form and void.”[1] I Agree with the Apostle Paul who says in 1 Corinthians 14:33 “For God is not a God of confusion but of peace.”

I would like to argue that God didn’t make the earth that way. Isaiah 45:18 (ESV) says “For thus says the Lord, who created the heavens (he is God!), who formed the earth and made it (he established it; he did not create it empty, he formed it to be inhabited!): I am the Lord, and there is no other.” Something had to have happened between verse 1 “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth” and verse 2 “the earth was without form and void.” What could that have been? I think it was the sin of Satan. As I understand it, Satan sinned in heaven. Satan and a third of the angels were cast down to earth. Heaven was saved but not the earth. It became formless and void. The earth is almost reduced to the same condition again by the sin of man, under which the creation groans.  Jeremiah sees the consequences of the sin of Judah as creating a similar effect and uses the same words to describe what he sees. Jeremiah 4:23 says, “I beheld the earth, and lo it was without form, and void.”

Sin caused the world to be “without form and void.” That’s the condition of man before he becomes a “new creation” through faith in Jesus Christ. Matthew Henry says, “If the work of grace in the soul is a new creation, this chaos represents the state of an unregenerate graceless soul: there is disorder, confusion, and every evil work; it is empty of all good, for it is without God; it is dark, it is darkness itself. This is our condition by nature, till almighty grace effects a blessed change.”[2]

[1] Matthew Henry, Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Whole Bible: Complete and Unabridged in One Volume (Peabody: Hendrickson, 1994), 1120.

[2] Matthew Henry, Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Whole Bible: Complete and Unabridged in One Volume (Peabody: Hendrickson, 1994), 4.

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Genesis 49:25, Proverbs 10:22

Blessings to you!

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
May 5, 2022

Proverbs 10:22 says, “The blessing of the LORD makes rich, and he adds no sorrow with it.” As a good meal satisfies our bodies, a good verse like this satisfies our souls. God’s word is indeed food for a hungry soul. The true source of all blessing, be it food on the table or food for the soul, is the Lord our God. Actually there is a word in the Hebrew text that’s left un-translated in the English version. It emphasizes the truth that it is God’s blessing and nothing else that makes a person truly rich. It doesn’t exempt us from troubles in life, but it describes the blessing of God as the best possible blessings one might acquire in this life under the sun.

In Genesis 49 we read about Jacob’s blessings on his 12 sons. He clearly marks out Judah as the heir apparent of the leadership of the family and thus the one from whom the ultimate leader of the Nation will come. We call the future figure the Messiah. He is referred to here as “the Lion from the tribe of Judah.” This is where the character in the Chronicles of Narnia, Aslan, comes from. He also refers to this messiah as the one to whom the legitimate rule belongs. But it wasn’t Judah’s blessing that caught my attention this morning, it was Joseph’s blessing. It seems that Jacob again reveals Joseph as his favorite. I’d like to have a blessing like this:

Genesis 49:25 says, “May the God of your father help you. May the Almighty bless you with all the blessings of heaven above and all the blessings of the watery depth below and all the blessings of the breast and womb.” I’m convinced that this is a figure of speech called a merism. It’s like Jesus saying, “I’m the Alpha and the Omega.” Jacob is giving Joseph the blessing above all other blessings. He calls upon his God to give this favorite son every spiritual blessing from above, every blessing from the depth of the earth hidden in the seas, and every blessing upon the earth in his children and relationships. May the Lord bless you that way! May he pour out heavenly blessings from above upon you? May he raise up from the depths all the joys hidden from your sight. May He bless you through all your human relationships.

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Genesis 1:10, Psalm 107:23-29

Peace, Be Still!

Filed Under: Devotions by Chuck
May 3, 2022

I spent 27 years in the Navy overall and served on three different ships. First I was on a World War II aircraft carrier that was converted to a communications ship. It went up and down the east coast. It was homeported in Norfolk, Virginia and spent most its time there. I made it as far north as Portsmouth, Rhode Island and as far south as San Juan, Puerto Rico with stops in between. I wanted to see more of the world, so I wrangled a transfer to the USS WALLER, a World War II destroyer on its way to the Mediterranean Sea. We even went into the Suez Canal and into the Persian Gulf with stops at many ports, one of which was Mitsiwa, Eretria (Ethiopia). After my tours of shore duty, I was assigned to the USS RATHBURNE another destroyer in Pearl Harbor. We made several Western Pacific Cruises from 1974 through 1977, with sometime in the Tonkin Gulf off the coast of Vietnam. During one of those cruises, we made a port call at Mombasa, Kenya in east Africa.  Mitsiwa is almost directly north of Mombasa. I claim to have sailed around the entire world during my tours on Navy ships.

All this just to say what an incredible experience to see the oceans roar and waves crash upon the brow and feel the pitch and yaw of a 5,000-ton ship that’s like a twig on the great waters. And God made those waters in Genesis 1:10. I can’t tell you how many times I stood on the deck of one of those ships in awe of the seas! One of my favorite Psalms is Psalm 107:23-29. It says, “Some went down to the sea in ships, doing business on the great waters; they saw the deeds of the Lord, his wondrous works in the deep. For he commanded and raised the stormy wind, which lifted up the waves of the sea. They mounted up to heaven; they went down to the depths; their courage melted away in their evil plight; they reeled and staggered like drunken men and were at their wits’ end. Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress. He made the storm be still, and the waves of the sea were hushed.”

In Genesis 1:10, God also made the dry land appear. He set boundaries for the sea that it could not cross. I don’t think anyone can appreciate “dry land” more than a sailor who has been through a storm in the South China Sea. Like the crews of the ship that Jonah was on, one is in fear for their lives at the onslaught of the sea and uncontrollable waves. But God says to the storms “be still” and they are. I often think of my life before Jesus became a part of it. I compare it to being at sea! I’m thrown every which way but loose by the waves of life and am afraid of just about everything. But Jesus, in Mark 4:39-40, “…rebuked the wind and said to the sea, ‘Peace! Be still!’ And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. He said to them, ‘Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?’”  When I put my faith in Jesus he said to the storms in my life “peace! Be still!” and they ceased and there is a great calm!

 

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