If we shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, we do so by the first line. Nobody wrote first lines better than Charles Dickens. A Tale of Two Cities begins with It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. Perhaps good first lines are only in the eyes of the reader. My favorite first line also comes from Dickens’ A Christmas Carol: Marley was dead: to begin with. There is no doubt whatever about that.
If you were charged with writing the Bible, how would you start? What would the first line be? Genesis 1:1 is a remarkable assertion! You would think the Bible would start with philosophical arguments for the existence of God—motion, efficient causes, contingent being, gradation of being, and design. No, not the Bible. It simply starts with the assumption that God exists and everything that exists was made by Him. Genesis l begins the grand story of the Bible that takes us from creation to fall to redemption to new creation.
If that is not enough, as you read through Genesis 1-11 you will find stories of God making man from dust and woman from his rib, a talking snake inciting rebellion in the Kingdom, people living nearly a thousand years, a global flood through which 1 family and pairs of animals survive in an ark, and the construction of a tower that moved God to confuse the language of the people to disperse them.
Without doubt Genesis 1-11 is the most controversial section of the Bible, and Genesis 1 is the most controversial section of Genesis 1-11. To the modern mind, Genesis 1 raises more questions than it answers, but the text is simply not interested in the questions we ask of it. Some of the classic questions are; What about the dinosaurs? The fossil record? What is the origin of evil? What was the forbidden fruit? Who did the children of Adam and Eve marry? Did Adam and Eve have belly buttons? The Bible is simply uninterested in these questions.
I would not address this because it is purely a secondary issue, but I will because I know it’s on everybody’s mind. The issue is, What is the age of the earth? Some in centuries past have tried, using genealogies, to calculate the age of the earth. The problem is the genealogies are selective. One thing is certain, however: the time period covered in Genesis 1-11 is longer than from Genesis 12 to the present day. If the age of the earth is your primary issue when it comes to Genesis 1, you have ignored the text.
To satisfy minds so you can listen to the sermon, there are 3 evangelical positions on the age of the earth: age-day/old earther, literary framework, and literal day/young earther. No position answers all the questions. The view that a Christian cannot hold is naturalistic evolution. This philosophy has brought great harm to human society (Frame, DoG, 310-11). A straight forward reading of the text favors a young earth position. It’s funny how the questions change in different periods of history. In the 16th century, Calvin encountered skepticism because it took God 6 days to complete His creation. Now the problem is that He did it so quickly.
One aside to help us think about Genesis 1 in a scientific age is that the world of Genesis 1 was a perfect world. We’ve never experienced that world. It has more in common with the world to come than with the world that is. We have no empirical basis from which to judge or study it. It was a miraculous world, a world with light before there was a sun. It anticipates the new creation. (Movie Noah)
A sermon from Genesis 1 should not have as its primary emphasis the age of the earth, but rather it should concern itself with the concerns of the text. The main character of Genesis 1:1-2:3 is God, who is in covenant with His creation. He is mentioned 35 times in 34 verses. Whatever we say must have God as its first concern. This texts tells us about much about God.
Paul in Romans 1, speaking of the inexcusable nature of unbelief and God’s righteous wrath said, For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. (Rom 1:19-20)
I could comment on many of God’s attributes and show their basis in Genesis 1, but I want to limit my discussion to 3. What we see first from Genesis 1:1 is the eternality of God.
Verse 1 says that God created the heavens and earth and all that exists (2:1). If God created all things, the implication is that He Himself does not have a point of origin. That’s what it means when we say God is eternal. Eternality implies self-existence. He is dependent on nothing outside of Himself for His existence. Rather, all things that exist are dependent on Him for existence.
Additionally, God is distinct from His creation. Creation did not come from pre-existing matter nor is creation an emanation of the divine essence. God is distinct from His creation; He is not mixed with it.
God created a mature, fully functioning universe. For example, he not only made the stars, He made the light waves radiating from the stars. If you had cut a newly created tree in Eden, it would have had rings. So the universe has apparent age, which in my view reflects eternality of God.
The Bible asserts that He created the heavens and the earth. This is the concept of creation ex nihilo, out of nothing. We tend to think of God creating things and putting them into an empty space. We speak of nothing as if it is something.
John Frame wrote, Imagine making a stone, when you have nothing to make it out of and not even a place to put it. And if time is a creation, you have not one moment in which to accomplish your task. To say God created the world from nothing is to say He had no material to use and no space or time for creation to occupy (DoG, 298-202).
10 times in this text we are told that God spoke. God commanded light (3), the expanse (6), land (9), vegetation and trees (11), sun, moon, and stars (14), sea creatures (20), and land animals (24) to exist, and they did. The text changes a bit when it comes to man to draw special attention to his creation. Heretofore, the recurring words are “And God said.” When it comes to man, the text says, “Then God said.” The change in wording focuses our attention. God created man and spoke blessing over their lives.
I do not have the power to make what I say happen. Whatever God says happens. 7 times after God spoke the text says, “and it was so” (3, 7, 9, 11, 15, 24, 30).
This is what it means when we say God is eternal and powerful. God is also wise
Who could create a universe? More than that who is wise enough to create one that actually works, that holds together, that does not collapse into utter chaos? Out of all the universe, one small planet is situated perfectly to sustain life. This planet not only has sustainable life forms, it has intelligent life, life that ponders its own existence and the existence of the universe. This text shows us that God did not make a planet and then design life that could live on it. He, rather, designed a planet suitable for the man He would create. Man was not made for the earth; the earth was made for man. Jesus said, man was not made for the Sabbath, but the Sabbath was made for man.
This is the language of design. God designed a world for the man. It has night and day, a cycle of days, seasons, and plants and animals. It is here for the man to enjoy and explore and rule. What a wise God! The attributes of God are clearly seen in the things He made.
Genesis 1 is the greatest argument against polytheism, the belief in many gods (and henotheism and pantheism for that matter). In the world of Moses’s day, people believed in many gods. To them the earth itself was made from the carcass of a dead god. Everything was related to a god who wanted to make life difficult. The darkness was a god, the waters were a god, the creatures in the waters were gods, and the sun, moon, and stars were gods. The gods controlled the fertility of the earth by their own lewd behavior. Everything was to be feared, and out of fear, the gods had to be manipulated for men to survive.
Genesis 1, however, towers over all pagan cosmologies and worldviews and reveals that God made the darkness (Isa. 45:7) and the light. The one He called day, the other He called night. God made the deep and named them seas. He made the sun and moon, but the text intentionally calls them a greater and lesser lights (16) to downplay pagan notions about them, as if they are of less significance than to warrant a name.
Seven times God evaluated what he had made: “God saw that it was good” (4, 10, 12, 18, 21, 25, 31). The creation is not ominous, but it is good. And God is takes delight in it. For us not to delight in it is sin.
Genesis 1 also teaches us of a plurality in the One Being of God. Commentators balk at any Trinitarian concept in the OT. In this text, we clearly see God, the Spirit of God, and God in conversation with God (26). I know that as early as the 1st century, John identified the Word of God in creation as the Son of God.
God relates to His creation is terms of covenant from the beginning to end. The entire passage displays God’s covenant Lordship over creation. He made it. He made the stuff of it and space and time for it. He alone is the undisputed owner of it. His covenant Lordship is demonstrated in the original creation (He caused all things to exist. v1) and in the subsequent creation (He formed and filled the earth. v2ff).
If you are like me, you don’t expect to read verse 2 after verse 1. I would expect to read, In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth, and the heavens and the earth were beautiful and perfect. No further work was needed. Verse 2 is abrupt and unexpected. Its presence has led to all kinds of interpretations that have more in common with pagan mythology than biblical revelation.
The writer of the Pentateuch uses this abrupt technique when he wants to get our attention and narrow our focus (Sailhamer, EBC, 11). He is narrowing our focus from the entire created order to the earth. The Hebrew word for earth and land is the same. Context determines meaning. Outside of verse 1, the word earth or land is used at least 16 times.
1:3-2:3 answers verse two. The earth was formless and empty. In the 6 days of creation, God gives form to and fills the earth. The question is, Why? Why would God bring into existence a world without form and empty? He is demonstrating His covenant relationship with all that exists, especially man. Does this text have the elements of covenant in it?
Yes, it does. When reading the text you notice three interrelated, covenant themes that make up the thematic core of the Pentateuch: blessing, seed, and land. These concepts are present in all subsequent covenants. If they are covenantal elsewhere in Scripture, they must be covenantal here. Blessing is a standing. It is living in covenant relation to God. God’s purpose in creation, redemption, and new creation is to bless the nations. With what? With Himself.
How will God get at blessing the nations? This comes through seed and land. Subtly, we are introduced to the concept of seed in verses 11-12. The man and woman are instructed to multiply, which leads to the promised seed. Through genealogical tables we see two lines emerge: the seed of the serpent and the seed of the woman. Since both came from the same fathers, we see the concept of election at work--who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh or the will of man but of God (Jn 1:12-13). The seed of the woman led to Christ who restores the son-ship of all who receive Him. Again and again in the OT, we see the seed in jeopardy through barrenness, exile, and the crucifixion of the Son of God, but nothing can thwart the purpose of God to bless the nations through His Son, the last Adam, Whom He raised from the dead.
The land shows the scope of God’s purpose to bless. In the creation story, God blesses the entire world. This sanctuary of blessing is seen in the Garden and is to be expanded globally. Then, due to sin, it is reduced to a Tabernacle (the instructions to build reflect the creation week), then a Temple, then to Christ. In Christ, the church is to take the gospel to the nations in anticipation of the consummation of all things when the entire created order is again a sanctuary of blessing.
Jeremiah 33:19-26 grounds all subsequent covenants (with David, the offspring of Jacob and David and Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob) in the purpose and steadfastness of God’s creation covenant.
When we read Genesis 1, we tend to read the text as a standalone text whose sole purpose is satisfy our curiosity about who made the world and how He made it. This text has to be read in the context of the Pentateuch. The purpose of Genesis 1 is to show us that the God of the Sinai covenant is the covenant Lord of creation. When we read the text, we should look for covenantal elements. What we discover is they are there, and texts like Jeremiah 33 show that the people of faith always read this as a covenantal text.
In the creation covenant, God is establishing His Kingdom. Even in a perfect world, God establishes His Kingdom through covenant. We learn that God’s covenantal kingdom established in creation is global, and the re-establishment of His kingdom is the aim and basis of all subsequent biblical covenants.
In the beginning (1) anticipates the ending. From the very start, the Pentateuch points beyond itself to the new heavens and the new earth in Revelation 21-22. The writer picks up on the theme of the beginning pointing to the ending through 3 characters: Jacob (Gen 49:1), Balaam (Num 24:14), and Moses (Deut. 31:28). All three, using the same vocabulary, assemble people around them to show them what will happen in days to come. (Sailhamer, EBC, 7-10).
The point being, God is moving history along to His goal of blessing the nations. The Pentateuch points us forward because the giving of the law, the covenant at Sinai, did not bring redemption. The purpose of the law is to show us our need of Christ. Indeed, it not only reveals sin but increases our transgressions. Humans have the uncanny ability of self-deception and self-justification. Our sin, our way of living, can be killing us, and we will not make the association between our sin and our condition. We, rather, blame others. All the while Sinai is thundering over us, “Wake up, man! Sin is killing you.” We are like those bitten by the fiery serpents in the wilderness who would not look at the brass serpent and live.
The earth is formless and empty. In the first three days of creation, God formed the earth for us. He did this through 3 separations: He created light to separate light from darkness (3-5, first day); he made the atmosphere to separate the waters below from those above (6-8, second day). He separated the sea and the land (9-10, third day).
In the second three days, God filled the earth. He actually started filling the earth on the 3rd day (11-13) (Some want to show parallelism in the days, but it is not clean by any scheme). He made sun, moon and stars to measure time and seasons (14-19, fourth day), so He filled the heavens. He made the sea creatures and the birds (20-23, fifth day), so He filled the seas and the sky. He made the land animals and man (24-31, the sixth day), so He filled the land.
The rhythm of our lives is set by this creative sequence. He brings order to our lives. He has determined boundaries for the day and the night, the seas and the land, the earth and the skies. He set the boundaries for the species, each producing according to its kind (11-12, 21, 24-25). God moves our lives from formless and empty to ordered and full. This is life in covenant with God.
This covenant rhythm of life leads us to relationship with God. The seventh day He blessed and sanctified, and rested from His creation work. The seventh day is picked up in the Sinai covenant. It is not accidental that God speaks 10 times in Genesis 1 and gives 10 words at Sinai that we call the 10 commandments. The 10 words at Sinai are grounded in the 10 words of creation. The Sabbath command is bound to creative order (Ex 20:8-11), For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day (Ex. 20:11).
Why a 7 day week? In the Hebrew calendar the days, months and years were related to the solar and lunar cycles. The Sabbath is not tied to any solar movement. It points to the covenant God who stands outside of nature (Mathews, TNAC, 179). No one ever said, Look at the sun or moon or stars. It’s the Sabbath. The 7th day leads man to God.
God orders our lives to bring us into covenant with him. Without a covenant relationship with God, we live life in verse 2—our world is formless and empty. Jeremiah, in describing God’s judgment on His people, referenced Genesis 1:2, I looked on the earth, and behold it was without form and void and to the heavens and they had no light (Jer. 4:23). The land becoming formless and empty is exactly what happened in the flood and in the exile and will happen in the judgment to come.
Without Christ, meaningless and emptiness will characterize every life. Ultimately, every hope, every plan, every dream, and every ambition will perish in a wasteland of a godless life.
The 6th day is highlighted by the space given to it. The writer wants to put our attention on the creation of man in covenant with God. God made man after His likeness and in His image. This implies two things about man: son-ship and representing God. Man is related to God as a son. The implication of likeness is son-ship. We know this is the case because Adam had a son in his own likeness (Gen. 5:1-3). Luke interprets Adam’s creation in the likeness of God to mean son-ship (Lk. 3:38). The point of son-ship is ruling.
The implication of image is representing God. To be created in the likeness and image of God is to represent God in His ruling the earth. God created the heavens as His throne and the earth as His footstool (Isa. 66:1; Acts 7:49). He set man made in his image and likeness to rule and reign on the earth in covenant with Him. So God commissioned man to subdue the earth and have dominion.
God made you to rule. He did not make you to be ruled by this world but rule over this world under Him. Since the fall, we find ourselves in every relation to the world but the right one. We are under the dominion of things; we are controlled and manipulated by people; we try to control things, not under God, but under our own sovereignty. We move from one disaster to another. In covenant relation to God through Christ, we begin to sort out what it means to rule and reign with Christ. In the present life, it means suffering with Him and serving others for Him. It means submitting to His Lordship in every area of life. We cannot rule and reign independently of Christ any more than Adam and Eve could in the Garden.
Conclusion:
As we come to the Lord’s Table, we come to God firmly rooted in the covenant cut in the blood of His Dear Son. We are those who in Christ have come to experience the new creation: If any man is in Christ, he is a new creation. By the Word of God, we are created anew. Just as He commanded light to shine in darkness, He command the light of the glory of God in Jesus Christ to shine on our hearts.