God
Created Heaven and Earth
By
Shelby
G. Floyd
The only
inspired, infallible and historical account of the creation is found in God’s
holy word. In the book of Genesis we read of the beginning of all things of a
material nature.
In
the beginning God…
Moses said, “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the
deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.” (Genesis 1:1-2.)
This statement is both simple, and at the same time very profound. It is simple
because there are only ten words in the first verse that speaks of the creation
of the heaven and the earth. Seven of those ten words are of one syllable,
which within itself impresses upon us the divine origin of the scriptures.
It would
have taken man volumes to have said what Moses said, by inspiration, in Genesis
the first chapter and verse one. By way of analysis, we know that the creation
took place in the beginning; thus, matter is not eternal, it has not always
been here. Matter, is not God, for matter clearly had a beginning.
The
Godhead is Eternal
The existence, eternity and power of God are affirmed in
the very first verse of Genesis. In the beginning when the heavens and the
earth were created, there was God. God has always existed, and he always will exist. (Psalms 90: 2.) God was independent
of the material creation; he was before the material creation. (Micah 5:2.)
Therefore, our faith in the existence of God begins in the very first verse of
Genesis. In the letter to the Hebrews, the writer says, “But without faith
it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he
is, and that he is a rewarder of them that
diligently seek him.” (Hebrews 11: 6.)
Man is Made in God’s Image
In the first verse of Genesis the word God in the original Hebrew is in the plural, and indicates that there was the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, who makes up the divine Godhead and who created the heavens and the earth. We do know that on the sixth day after God had created the heavens and the earth with all of its tenants that God said, “Let us make man in our image, and after our likeness.” The plural pronouns “us” and “our” expresses society within the Godhead. The Father was not speaking to himself but was speaking to the Son and the Holy Spirit. In the prologue of the gospel according to John we read, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not anything made that was made.” (John 1: 1-3.) The tense of the verb “was” in the original is in the imperfect, which indicates continuous action in past time; therefore, the Word--Christ has always been. There never was a time when he did not exist; therefore, Christ is eternal, because he was with the Father in the beginning, that is, the absolute beginning of all things.
All Material Things Had a
Beginning
In contrast to the eternity of the Father and the Son all things of a material nature were made by him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. The creation then had a beginning; it was made, it was brought into being by Jesus Christ, and therefore, material things are not eternal, they have not always been here, but they had a beginning and that beginning was when God created the heaven and the earth. While John uses the word “made” in reference to the creation, Moses uses the word “created.” God created the heaven and the earth. The word created means that he brought into being that which formerly had no existence. In other words he created the heavens and the earth out of nothing. This indicates the mighty creative power of God. This is exactly the idea taught elsewhere in the Holy Scriptures, “Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.” (Hebrews 11:3.)
The
heavens and the earth with all of its tenants did not come about by evolution,
but it was brought into being by a mighty fiat of God’s power. He simply spoke
and it was done; he commanded and it stood fast. (Psalms
33:6, 9.) The false theory of organic evolution then is refuted in the
first verse of Genesis. If one will take the time to read the entire chapter of
Genesis One, he will notice that the events that took place on each day of the
creation were preceded by the command, “And God said”; therefore, it was by
the mighty power of God’s spoken word that the world was brought into being.
The
Five Manifestations of the Unknowable
Years
ago, the scientist, Mr. Herbert Spencer, announced to the world that there were
only five manifestations of the unknowable: time, force, action, space and
matter; and that everything in the universe are based on these fundamental
facts. Whether this is true or not, we do know that in the first verse of
Genesis we find these five facts. “In the beginning God created the heaven
and the earth.” Within that verse we read of time, force, action, space and
matter. It is within the wisdom and power of God to conceal a thing, but it is
the glory of kings and rulers to discover the great laws that God has impressed
within nature since the beginning of time. “It is the glory of God to
conceal things, but the glory of kings is to search things out.” (Proverbs 25:2
The first
verse of Genesis is like a mighty camera that sweeps over the entire universe,
which was the product of God’s creative power. Therefore, to correctly
interpret the first chapter of Genesis, we must look upon the first verse as a
generic statement that comprehends the whole creation. Having stated that God
was the originator and creator of heaven and earth, the author then brings the
zoom lens of the camera in for a closer look at the six days of creation.
(Exodus 20: 11.) Copyright © 2006
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