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| From Emmanuel |
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. And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light. God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. God called the light "day," and the darkness he called "night." And there was evening, and there was morning--the first day. Genesis 1:1-5 (NIV)
This is how everything began. There was no destructive "BANG." There was only God saying, "Let there be …" and it was just as He planned it to be, and it was good.
Notice that already here in the first few verses in the Holy Bible we see the Triune God. Do you see Him? When we see the word "God" we take for granted that it refers to God the Father, and that is true. In verse two the Holy Spirit is said to be "hovering over the waters." The eternal Son of God is there in the Word that God speaks as described by the Evangelist, St. John: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made." (John 1:1-3)
| From Emmanuel |
The Triune nature of God is also seen in the original Hebrew language where the word for "God" is found in the plural form. In Hebrew the singular form of the generic word for a "god" is "el." This elsewhere can refer to anything that is seen to be a god, whether true or false. The Hebrew Scriptures refer to the true God using the plural form "Elohim" but the contextual pronouns refer to this God in the singular as "He" and not "They." Jewish scholars, and others who do not wish to acknowledge the Triune nature of God explain this away as simply a literary convention where the majesty of God is demonstrated by using the plural form, while simulataneously refering to Him in the singular, as there is only one God.
| From Emmanuel |
Another interesting thing to note about the seven days of creation is that God does everything in an orderly manner. This reflects God's nature as a rational, orderly, intelligent being, who is involved with His creation, and not absent or uncaring. "The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands." (Psalm 19:1) And, "God is not a God of disorder, but of peace." (1 Corinthians 14:33) This refutes the idea of creation as an "accident" which miraculously evolved over an impossibly long time. Science does not contradict the account of creation in Genesis, and actually confirms it in many ways, as long as the scientists are not ignoring any evidence which suggests that creation is God's handiwork. Unfortunately many scientists (though by no means all) use their God-given talents to vainly try to disprove God through God's own creation.
You may find it strange that God creates light several days before He creates a natural source for the light. This wonderful fact shows us that God is in control of His creation and not the other way around. God can separate light from darkness so that there is "day" and "night" without any natural source for either light or darkness. This is very reassuring that God is with us through the gift of His creation. This is not to say that creation is God -- it is not. However, God remains active in keeping creation from going the way of all entropy, and He does it out of love for us. God does not need His creation, He is above it. We need creation and God's power to sustain our lives, and God provides that for all people, even all those who do not acknowledge Him as creator. Note also that "day" and "night" clearly denote one day, and not an impossibly long period of evolution.
"God saw that the light was good." Everything that God created was good, as God Himself is good. Whatever we see in this world that is not good did not get that way because of any deficiency in God. Many ask the question, "If God is so good, then why is there so much evil in the world?" That is the wrong question to ask because it assumes that God is the cause of everything in the world, and if you answer this question you will always get the wrong answer.
A better question to ask is, "Why is there so much evil in the world?" People rarely ask this question because if they honestly seek the answer they will find that God is not the cause of any evil. We are the cause of all evil in the world. All people have rebelled against God and are sinners and have brought sin, death, and destruction into God's beautiful creation. I will discuss this more in the post on Day Six of creation, but here is the good news: Even though we rebellious, sinful people have corrupted God's good creation, God Himself has fixed the problem of our sin by sending Jesus Christ to redeem us from our sin and its deadly consequences. We are not perfect yet, but we live by God's grace in this wonderful world that God made for us and we still may enjoy God's blessings until we reach that new earth where we will live forever free from the evils of this world.
The Seven Days of Creation
In the Beginning
The Orderly Creation
Distinctions in Creation
The Center of the Universe
Designed by God
The Crown of God’s Creation
A Sabbath Day Rest
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