"In the beginning...."

The word genesis means “origin” or “coming into being.” Thus one would expect the book of Genesis to be about origins and it is. In the first three chapters, for example, there is the record of the beginning of the heavens and the earth, vegetable and animal life, the human race, marriage, sin and the first promise of the One who would rescue men from the consequences of their sin. Genesis was written by Moses and is the only authoritative history of that period.

Genesis addresses the beginning of all material things that make up what we call the heavens and the earth: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” The heavens and the earth have not always existed – they are not eternal; they had a beginning and the beginning was God - “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” In one brief sentence, with no effort toward embellishment, the greatest material accomplishment known to men is told. “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” I agree with R.L Whiteside who wrote: This “statement itself bears the stamp of inspiration, for uninspired men use many words in telling of the beginning of anything they consider important.” (Bible Studies, Genesis-Deuteronomy, 11)

“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” This takes us to the “time” before the six days of creation; how far back we cannot know and it would be vain to speculate. But we do know this, before the six days of creation began, the earth was not like it is now. For the text says: (vs. 2) “The earth was formless and void,” that is, it was in a state of chaos – utter confusion – and desolation. Furthermore “darkness was over the surface of the deep.” Here, then, is what we have on the day when God created the heavens and the earth: The earth was a chaotic mass undistinguished from the firmament (cf., vss. 6-8) and unformed; it was covered by “the deep” - an abyss of waters – which was wrapped in darkness. But it was not destined to remain in this chaotic state. According to Genesis one, within a time frame six consecutive days, the chaos was turned into order and plant and animal life as we now know it came into existence.

Many find the story of Genesis one to an unbelievable story. “How can it be true that in six twenty-four hour days chaos could be turned into order and all plant and human life as we now know it created? Hasn’t science proven Genesis one to false – to be just a myth, not to be taken seriously?” The short answer is “NO!” Nothing that science has learned proves the hypothesis of macroevolution; nothing that it has discovered proves that the story of Genesis one is anything less than a true account of the creation of all physical things.

But returning to record, we learn that all material things came into being through the fiat of God. Fiat is a Latin word that means: let it be done or let it be; and so we read throughout Genesis one where God says: “let there be light … let there be an expanse … let the waters … be gathered into one place … let us make man in Our image, according to our likeness” and so on. What God willed to happen happened and this is expressed by words like “and it was so.” He said: “‘let there be light,’ and there was light … ‘let there be an expanse’ … and it was so … ‘let the waters … be gathered together into one place’ … and it was so.”

Though we marvel at the complexity of the universe and the power that must have been necessary to bring it all about, it was nothing to God; He willed it “and it was so.” The ease with which God accomplished the creation is specifically addressed in the 33rd Psalm 33: (vs. 6) “By the word of the LORD the heavens were made, and by the breath of His mouth all their host.” No wonder the Psalmist admonishes the whole earth to “fear the Lord … to stand in awe of Him” (vs. 8). “For He spoke, and it was done; He commanded, and it stood fast.” (vs. 9) There is no other who is like the Lord, the God who created all things. Only He can say: (Isa 45:12) “It is I who made the earth, and created man upon it. I stretched out the heavens with My hands and I ordained all their host.” For Him to have turned chaos into order and to create all forms of physical life in six consecutive twenty-four hour days was nothing to Him.

When people say that they find the story of Genesis one to an incredible story – that God did all of this in six consecutive days, I am tempted to tell them that I do too. I find it incredible that the all-powerful God took the better part of a week to accomplish what He could have done in a blink of an eye? “Why did it take Him so long?” is my question. God does not tell us and I, as a Christian, refuse to speculate. Instead, I believe because the Bible tells me so. “By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things which are visible.” (Heb 11:3)

Genesis one also tells of God’s satisfaction with the work of His hands: “And God saw that it was good.” The first time such a statement is made is with respect to the light: (vs. 4) “God saw that the light was good.” Finally, after all His will has been accomplished with regard to the creation, we are told: (vs. 31) “God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good.” God was satisfied with the work of His hands for it was precisely what He wanted it to be. (Edward Young, In the Beginning, 16) “It was very good.”

The Lord willing, in my next blog I will write about the beginning of marriage.