In The Beginning God Created
Genesis 1:1
By Dr. R. Bruce Montgomery
Introduction
• Where did we come from?
• How did our universe around us come into existence?
• When and how did animate life begin?
• Why are we here?
• Are we merely the products of chance, or is there a purpose and plan behind our existence?
Questions about the mysteries of life and its origins have always fascinated thinking people. Where shall we go for answers?
Leave such inquiries to science, some would say. That is not the domain of faith and religious inquiry.
There was a most interesting article in March 1998 National Geographic entitled The Rise of Life on Earth. It encapsulated the latest scientific views of prominent scientists about life’s origins.
They’ve narrowed the kind of place life began into three possibilities:
• Either a ball of ice
• Or a pond . Interesting that Charles Darwin never addressed the question in Origin of Species. All we have is a letter he wrote in to a friend in 1871 suggesting that simple organisms might have arisen from a mixture of organic chemicals in a "warm little pond" over eons of time
• Or a cauldron.
Doesn’t that give you a lot of confidence, to know that science can look back and be that contradictory re. the kind of environment in which life began!
Problem = not science, but presuppositions and prejudgments made by those who would call themselves scientists.
If approach from a perspective that rules out even the possibility of God, have to look for other alternatives. Reduced to "silliness."
Problem, of course, is that none of us were there when it happened.
Like God asks Job in Job 38:4ff. “Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation? Tell me, if you understand. 5Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know! Who stretched a measuring line across it? 6On what were its footings set, or who laid its cornerstone – while the morning stars sang together and all the angels shouted for joy?”
No, we weren’t there. If we had been, we couldn’t have seen it before it came into existence.
No video, no CNN or FOX reports. What reliable sources do we have?
Have in Genesis the most reliable source of information there is – first hand eye-witness account written by the Creator himself.
If we want to know where we came from and why we’re here, Genesis 1:1 is the proper place to start.
What we know
• about God
• about creation
• about ourselves
• about salvation - all begin in Genesis.
As commentators and preachers and missionaries have stated in various language for the past 2,000 years, Genesis provides the foundation upon which we build a biblical theology.
As we noted last week, the focus of the Bible, beginning in Genesis 1:1 is on God. His name, Elohim, dominates this first chapter of Genesis, appearing 35 times. Not just this section, but the whole book of Genesis is first and last about God. To read it any other way is to misread it.
We saw last week that the mystery of the triune nature of God is discovered in the first phrase: Bereshith bara Elohim, because the name “God” Elohim, is plural and the verb bara, created, is in the singular.
God was there in the beginning – at the beginning of time, and this universe as we know it. As Moses expressed it in Ps. 90:2 Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting you are God.
Whether we look back, or look ahead, to the vanishing points of beginning or end, God is there already and forever.
Continue with verse one this morning. In the beginning God. Doesn’t stop there. In the beginning God did what? created the heavens and the earth. Science begins with what we have now, and attempts to work backwards. The Bible begins at the beginning – the origin of the universe, the origin of life, the origin of matter itself was when God called it all into being.
Hebrews 11:3 By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.
Did you ever wonder why, In Hebrews 11, that famous “hall of faith,” why is faith in God as creator mentioned first? The doctrine of God as creator is perhaps the most basic conception of God we know. Therefore extremely important to understand it and believe it.
Hebrew word for “create” is אּרּבּ barah This Hebrew verb occurs 49 times in the OT. It is greatly limited. It describes a unique event. Barah is used to express clearly the incomparable nature of God’s creative work. It is in contrast to all secondary products and likenesses made from existing material.
A different word, yatsar is used of fashioning or shaping an object. Biblical creation is more than manufacture or artistic arrangement of what was already there. God is not just an architect or builder who works with what is at hand. He creates out of that which was not previously in existence - namely, the cosmic system in its entirety.
אּרּבּ barah is NEVER used with any other subject than God! It is only used to describe God’s activity. Creation is completely outside the sphere of man’s abilities. God is the only creator in the strict sense of the word -
Important to understand. Will keep you from many disappointments and disillusionments. Have read and heard many popular Christian pastors, teachers and authors who talk about “the creative power of our words.” They talk about “calling into being” that which does not exist. They are mistaken! It WON’T WORK! The word is only used of God! Only God creates in the sense of calling into existence that which was not.
Moses’ assertion that nothing existed before God existed was a shocking statement to his contemporaries, totally in contrast with the polytheism and pantheism of the cultures of the day. The gods of Canaan and Egypt represented natural forces, with no clear dividing line between nature and the gods.
Genesis 1 and 2 demonstrate from the beginning that God is distinct from nature. He brought nature into existence and he controls nature. The God of the Old Testament is from the beginning God who stands apart from nature and rules over it.
The idea that God created "ex nihilo" (out of nothing) shattered cyclical views of time and history. The biblical view provides a linear view of time and history marching toward their consummation in the purposes of their absolutely sovereign Creator.
This statement also stands in direct contrast to the philosophies of materialism and naturalism that are so prevalent today.
Of all the myths humans have devised over the millennia of their existence, none is more unbelievable than Darwin’s creation story. Evolution is unreasonable. It doesn’t make any sense at all.
Evolution, with its theory of unintelligent matter organizing itself by chance into highly complex forms and ultimately to the level of human intelligence and personality is so preposterous as to be impossible. Evolution is scientifically inaccurate - a violation of all that modern science knows to be true.
Future generations will dismiss it as utter nonsense and silliness. They will scratch their heads, and wonder how so many people could have bought into its lie.
Malcolm Muggeridge wrote: “I myself am convinced that the theory of evolution, especially to the extent to which it has been applied, will be one of the greatest jokes in the history books of the future. Posterity will marvel that so very flimsy and dubious an hypothesis could be accepted with the incredible credulity it has.”
Hebrews 11:3 "what is seen was not made out of what was visible."
Back in the late 1940’s, in an appearance at a Hyde Park "Speaker’s Corner," Catholic author and publisher Frank Sheed had described the extraordinary order and design in the universe. A persistent heckler retorted by pointing out all the world’s ills, and ended shouting, "I could make a better universe than your God!"
"I won’t ask you to make a universe," Sheed replied. "But would you make a rabbit - just to establish confidence?"
What did he create? The heavens and the earth. That is a way of saying God created everything.
Col 1:16 ff. The Message: "For everything, absolutely everything, above and below, visible and invisible, rank after rank after rank of angels - everything got started in him and finds its purpose in him. He was there before any of it came into existence and holds it all together right up to this moment."
Some ask, "couldn’t God have used evolution after creating the original matter?" Call this theistic evolution. No, God couldn’t have used evolution because evolution is impossible!
The irrationality of the evolutionary hypothesis requires a tremendous amount of faith in unproven assumptions. Dr. Bruce Simeck (now professor at Northwestern College in Minneapolis), microbiologist, geneticist and pathologist - trained in evolutionary biology. Its incompatibility with the facts is what caused him to "back into God" and become a Christian.
Many of you will remember my friend Don Bierle, a Ph.D. biologist and geneticist. Has been our guest here at Grace Church several times for Bible conferences. [How many of you attended his full seminar on Creation/Evolution? Several copies still available for purchase in our library].
Evolution has many weaknesses. Just mention a few (many resource available – in our library, through Christian bookstores, on line, etc.)
Don talked in detail about the principle of irreducible complexity . Gave the examples of bombadier beetle and the flagellum bacteria. Even at the level of bacteria, there are multi-component parts essential to the functioning of a system. All must be present simultaneously. Evolution would say such systems “evolved” gradually.
Organic compounds organized themselves into something that was self-replicating, says Stanley Miller. Once that happens, away you go. You’ve got Darwinian evolution.
Problem: there has never been single shred of evidence that matter on any level chemically either can or will organize itself all by itself.
Nothing mutates upward. In fact "natural selection," a phrase Darwin leaned on, demonstrates that change or mutation is always downward, never upward. It actually prevents evolution from taking place.
Dr. Michael Behe is a microbiologist who disagrees with evolution based on his ongoing research. Wrote book entitled Darwin’s Black Box a few years ago that caused a huge stir in the scientific community.
Recent discoveries of the DNA code, the “language of life,” with its precise arrangement of codes that are carried out in precise sequence to build every cell in a living organism. Amino acids cannot “self-assemble” into proteins, the building blocks of cells, by chance, as evolution requires.
E.g. fossils - no evidence of gradual changes in species. Rather fully formed species suddenly appear, and the species change very little throughout their appearance in the fossil record.
Then why do evolutionists cling so vigorously to their position?
Bottom line is that Darwinism is less a scientific theory than a philosophy, - an attempt to explain the world apart from a Creator.
Because evolutionists disallow the possibility of an intelligent creator, they assume life on earth evolved in a random, unguided process.
They are hostile to the idea of God and the role such a Being might have played in creation - for to acknowledge God would be to admit something important exists outside the realm of natural science. It is intolerable for sinful man to accept creation, because the creator is also the moral authority of the universe, and the judge of all men.
Another alternative has been gaining prominence in scientific circles and gathering a growing number of adherents. It is called “intelligent design,” and is espoused by such scientific leaders as William Dembski, scientist and professor at UC Berkley.
(Fuller explanation ask Biola/Talbot professors William Lane Craig or J.P. Moreland, who are currently giving lecture series at SWCC).
Attitude towards other positions
Purpose isn’t to "be right at all costs," alienating those who disagree with us. Do not belittle those who sincerely are questing for truth. Applaud them for that purpose, come humbly alongside and suggest they "think outside the box."
Science is supposed to be a search for what is true about the world. Urge them not to rule out potential causes before the evidence has even had a chance to speak.
Ask if they’ve read Dembski, or if they’ve read Phillip Johnson’s Darwin on Trial or Michael Behe’s book Darwin’s Block Box.
CONCLUSION - our proper response
The fingerprints of God are everywhere in nature! Faith - at least in part - is the spiritual seeing or perceiving of the fingerprints on the things he has made. We see the order, the beauty, the greatness, the complexity of what he has made - and these are the evidence that God made the world as he said!
Have to be looking to see it.
E.g. friends Dale & Marge Toynton - house full of hidden 3-D image posters. At one level are one thing, but at another level, quite another. At first glance, all you see is the surface presentation. But let your eyes focus through the page and , you may see something else not only appearing, but actually standing up off the page.
Some can stare and stare, and only see the surface. Others see almost immediately the head of Abraham Lincoln or a lamb. If someone says, "how do you know the lamb is there?" you reply, "because I see it! Your seeing is your proof, your evidence. Someone else may not be able to see it, but it won’t change your mind!
So some people look at the universe God created and only see color and chaos and the surface. Others have a deeper view and suddenly God’s fingerprints come into focus. And no one can talk you out of it.
So when the author if Hebrews says in 11:3 that we understand by faith that God created the world, it is not that faith is just a response of the soul - it is also a perceiving or understanding act. Understand means "to perceive with reflective intelligence."
Faith is a spiritual act that uses all the intelligence God has given a person; an intelligence that reflects, and sees the fingerprints of God and acknowledges his hand at work.
It doesn’t mean you believe them into being - that would be wishful thinking, positive thinking, which is not authentic faith. Real faith is based on real Truth. It looks deeply at the world God has made - looks through it, so to speak, and by the grace of God it sees the glory of God standing forth off the creation like a 3-D image.
Although knowledge of God through his creation is important in our love for him, it is not enough. It was never meant to be.
While it is important to examine the various views and why we hold to the Christian view of origins, we can easily miss the purpose of a contemplation of these themes, which is a WONDER at God’s creation and an acknowledgement of the fact that He alone is God! The only one who is worthy of our worship.
Biblical writers never fall into this pit. When they look at creation they inevitably end up praising God. Above all, a study of Genesis 1:1 should evoke our praise!
Rev. 4:11 "You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being."
Ps. 148:1-5 Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord from the heavens, praise him in the heights above. 2Praise him, all his angels, praise him, all his heavenly hosts. 3Praise him, sun and moon, praise him, all you shining stars. 4 Praise him, you highest heavens and the waters above the skies. 5Let them praise the name of the Lord, for he commanded and they were created.
Ps. 19:1-4 The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge. There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard. Their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world.
God gave his creatures freedom to explore the universe, and the most important discovery leads to the praise and glory of the Creator God!
Our proper response to Genesis 1:1 is one of awestruck wonder at God’s might and being and incredible power! How can we but burst forth with songs and declarations of praise?
Hymn of response - "HOW GREAT THOU ART"
