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In the Beginning | Part 3: Day One
IN THE BEGINNING
Part 3
Day One
“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” (Gen. 1:1) The first things that God made was the heavens and the earth. In order to fully comprehend what we will learn next, it is important to understand what is meant by the heavens. Is it talking about the dwelling place of God or something else? Actually, the word heaven or heavens is used in the Scriptures in three different ways, whether in the Old Testament Hebrew or the New Testament Greek. Sometimes its use is in reference to the sky where the birds fly. We will see this usage in verse 8 where the second day of creation is described. Sometimes the word heavens is referring to what we would call the universe where the stars exist. By the context we will understand the verse under consideration (vs. 1) to have this meaning. But obviously, the same word is often used in reference to the dwelling place of God. An example of this is found in 2 Cor. 12:2 where Paul refers to “...a man in Christ who...was caught up to the third heaven.” In verse 4 he refers to “how he was caught up into Paradise and heard inexpressible words which it is not lawful for a man to utter.” So, it is by the context that we are able to understand which of those three usages of the word heaven is referring.
The first thing that God created was what we call the universe (the hea-vens). But keep in mind that it would not be until the fourth day of creation that He would make the Sun, Moon and stars. (see vss. 14-19) Therefore, God created what we might consider to be empty space. Basically, He first made a place to put everything that He would create. As we will see, there is a logical sequence in which God made everything. We will notice that each day of creation would depend on what was created before. Therefore, the first thing to create would be a place to put all the things that He would afterward make. However, as we will see, there is far more to this empty space that He created than meets the eye.
When you think about it, how did God create something that is nothing? How did He create empty space? There is no doubt that what we are about to consider is pretty deep, so bear with me here and try to comprehend the implica-tions of this part of God’s creation. First, remember that God is eternal. He has no beginning and no end. As David wrote, God is “...even from everlasting to everlasting.” (Psm. 90:2b) Keep in mind that he also noted the fact that God was “Before the mountains were brought forth, or...had formed the earth...” (Psm.90:2a) God’s past eternal existence presupposes the idea that His dwelling place also was in existence before the creation began to take place. So, what God creat-ed when He made the (then) empty universe was the physical realm - as opposed to the spiritual realm of God’s dwelling. Let me explain.
We understand that “God is Spirit...” (Jn. 4:24) and that His dwelling place (Heaven) is a spiritual realm. In other words, it is not a physical realm. Of course, trying to understand what spirit is is quite a challenge to us mortal beings. Jesus explained the nature of the spirit when He talked to Nicodemus and ex-plained to him that “The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Sprit.” (Jn. 3:8) If you look outside on a breezy day and see the leaves on the trees moving and the moss swaying, you might say that you see the wind, but actually, you really don’t see the wind - do you? You see the evidence of the wind. The wind is not visible. In the same way, “so is everyone who is born of the Spirit.”
Jesus was talking about the rebirth of our spirit, not our physical body. Each of us is a spirit - dwelling inside a physical body. (We know this by faith and will consider this in more detail later when we get to the sixth day of creation.) If it weren’t for the fact that God has revealed this to us through His word, we could not know this. But Paul explained this when he wrote about our resurrection at the end of time. He said of our physical body that “It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.” (1 Cor. 15:44) Later, he explained that “...flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does corruption inherit incorruption.” (vs. 50) Why? Because the realm of God’s dwelling place (that He seeks to eventually share with us) is a spirit realm - and our physical body is not compatible there. Therefore, he further explained that “...this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal (that is, our physical, temporary body, gvw) must put on immortality.” (vs. 53) In order to enter Heaven, we must have a different kind of body that does not die or deteriorate as our physical body does. We will have a spirit body that is immortal - and does not die or wear out.
So what does all this have to do with God creating the universe (the heavens)? Simply this. When God created what we have described as empty space, He was actually creating the physical realm that we know as our universe. And, as with all physical things, it conforms to what our five physical senses are able to comprehend (by God’s design). If you can physically see it, hear it, touch it, taste is, or smell it, then it is physical in nature. That which is spirit cannot be comprehended with our physical senses - because it does not conform to the physical.
Here is another aspect of the physical realm that most people probably don’t think about. All that is in the physical realm is measurable. Think about it. The definition of matter is “anything that has weight and takes up space.” It is something tangible because it has form and substance and you can measure the limits of that form. If you can measure its length, its width, its height, its volume, or its weight - then it’s something that conforms to the limiting characteristics of the physical. In regard to the physical characteristics of the various types of energy, notice that we are able to measure it also. For example heat energy is measured in degrees Fahrenheit, Centigrade, or Kelvin. Electrical energy can be measured in watts, volts, amps, etc.. Light energy is measured in Angstroms. Even time is a physical entity. We measure time in years, months, days, hours, minutes and seconds. Yet God has no need for time measurements because He is eternal - without limits. As Peter said, “...with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.” (2 Pet. 3:8) This is not some formula for computing prophetic revelation, but it is a way of expressing the irrelevance of time to an eternal God.
By the way, you may have noticed how many times I referred to measur-ing the limits of these various facets of the physical universe. Fact is, everything in the physical universe has limits - it has to in order to be measurable. The process of measuring something is based on a standard of measurement in order to determine the extent or dimensions of a thing. The definition of the word extent is: “The space, amount, or degree to which a thing extends; size; length; breadth; scope; limits; comprehensiveness; coverage.” (Websters) The limitations of the physical universe is a major characteristic that sets it apart from the limitlessness of the eternal, spiritual realm.
So - God created the physical realm which we call the universe (that was originally empty space), and He made it from nothing. That’s a very hard thing for us to comprehend. But perhaps this biblical description of what God has planned at the end will help. John described it in this way; “Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them.” (Rev. 20:11) At the end of time, when the universe is removed, this physical realm will cease to exist. It will be as it was before the creation - non-existent. No doubt these are mind-stretching concepts that press the limits of our comprehension - and helps to confirm the greatness of our God. As we continue to study the creation account, we will be reminded that it is “By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible.” (Heb. 11:3) As we will see, God made everything from nothing (with one exception - which we will notice much later in our study).
In our next issue we will begin to focus our attention of the second thing that God created (the earth) along with all else associated with this our terrestrial home.
To be continued...
- Gary V. Womack -
- In the Beginning Part 3.doc (40.96 kB)
