In the beginning, God created everything that exists out of nothing….and it was all very good!

This week, we are looking at the opening section of the very first letter in the Bible, called the book of Genesis, which records for us the creation of the universe. Yesterday, we looked at six different views of how God created the universe. Both Young Earth Creationism and historic creationism align with what the Bible teaches regarding God’s creation of the Heavens and the earth. How God created the universe is an open handed issue.

What is a closed handed issue is that God did create the universe from nothing. Since no one was around when God created the universe, whether young earth or historic creationism is right we will not know until we go to be with Jesus. The Bible was not written by God as a scientific textbook to explain every detail of God’s creative process. Instead the Bible was written as God’s revelation to humanity of Him being the Creator and sustainer of the universe. Today, let’s look at how God created the universe, beginning in Genesis 1:3:

Then God said, "Let there be light"; and there was light. God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light day, and the darkness He called night. And there was evening and there was morning, one day.

Moses records for us God’s activity on the first day of creation. God said “let there be light and there was light. But this morning, did you know that all three members of the Trinity were actively involved in creation? In the gospel of John, we read that all things came into being through Jesus. In addition, in the book of Colossians, Paul explains that all things have been created through Jesus and for Jesus.

What the Bible teaches us is that Jesus was the hands of creation; all of creation was brought into existence through His activity throughout all of history. Here is an analogy to help us wrap our minds around what John is saying here. Let’s say Rachel and I are at home. I’m watching a football game and during the course of the game I became hungry. Rachel was in the kitchen, so I asked her if she would make me a peanut butter and banana sandwich. Rachel then asked me some questions about how I wanted my sandwich, and then went to work making the sandwich. When she was finished, she brought me a delicious peanut butter and banana sandwich, which I quickly devoured.

Now let me ask you a question: who created the sandwich? Did Rachel create the sandwich or did I create the sandwich? Would Rachel have created the sandwich if I had not asked her to? We both had a role in creating the sandwich. I spoke the sandwich into existence; Rachel was the hands of creation who made the sandwich.

In a similar way, Jesus was the hands of creation; God spoke to universe into existence and Jesus was the hands of that creation. In addition, as we saw in Genesis 1:2, the Holy Spirit was also actively involved in the creative process. And here, in Genesis 1:3, we see Moses record for us that on day one, God created time. When Moses says that God separated the light from darkness, the word separated here literally means to assign to a specific sphere of existence or order.

So God created time and assigned time to function in a specific sphere and in a specific order. Moses then records for us what happened on day two, beginning in Genesis 1:6:

 Then God said, "Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters." God made the expanse, and separated the waters which were below the expanse from the waters which were above the expanse; and it was so. ⁸ God called the expanse heaven. And there was evening and there was morning, a second day.

Here we see Moses reveal for us the reality that on day two, God created space. The wording of these verses, in the language that this letter was originally written in, paints a word picture of someone spreading out or stretching something out. God spoke and Jesus took the play dough of the elements that they had created and stretched and spread out those elements to create space from where there had previously been no space.

God, through Jesus stretched out the universe above and the skies of the earth. And in the skies of the earth there was created water that was suspended in the air like a think dense fog. We then see what God did on day three of creation in verse 9:

Then God said, "Let the waters below the heavens be gathered into one place, and let the dry land appear"; and it was so. God called the dry land earth, and the gathering of the waters He called seas; and God saw that it was good. Then God said, "Let the earth sprout vegetation: plants yielding seed, and fruit trees on the earth bearing fruit after their kind with seed in them"; and it was so. The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed after their kind, and trees bearing fruit with seed in them, after their kind; and God saw that it was good. There was evening and there was morning, a third day.

On the third day, God spoke and Jesus gathered the waters that He suspended in the air above the earth to make the seas. In addition, God spoke and Jesus molded the play dough of the elements in such a way that there were masses of land and areas of water, or seas. In addition, God spoke and Jesus created from the play dough vegetation. Now when the Bible uses the phrase after their kind, this phrase means that God created vegetation according to a specific species or order.

Take apple trees, for example. God created an apple tree, which resulted is subsequent apple trees that could produce Gala apples, or red delicious apples, or Fuji apples. But God did not create apple trees that evolved into orange trees. And as God looked at all that He had created, Moses tells us that God saw that it was good. Moses then records for us what happened on day four in Genesis 1:14:

 Then God said, "Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night, and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and years; and let them be for lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth"; and it was so. God made the two great lights, the greater light to govern the day, and the lesser light to govern the night; He made the stars also. God placed them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth, and to govern the day and the night, and to separate the light from the darkness; and God saw that it was good. There was evening and there was morning, a fourth day.

On the fourth day, Moses tells us that God created the sun, moon, and stars. And as God spoke and Jesus shaped and molded the sun moon and stars into motion, Moses explains that these luminaries had a specific purpose in God’s creation. The function of the sun, moon, and stars in God’s creation was to separate between day and night.

In other words, these luminaries purpose was to serve as signs that would mark the passage of time and provide light to the earth. Moses then records God’s creative activity on day five, beginning in Genesis 1:20:

 Then God said, "Let the waters teem with swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth in the open expanse of the heavens." God created the great sea monsters and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarmed after their kind, and every winged bird after its kind; and God saw that it was good. God blessed them, saying, "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth." There was evening and there was morning, a fifth day.

On the fifth day, we see God create fish and birds. God spoke and Jesus shaped and molded the elements of creation in order to form various fish and birds, according to their kind. So God created birds that became a variety of different birds, but the birds did not become dogs. God created fish that became a variety of different kinds of fish, but the fish did not become lizards. So, in the Bible we see that there is microevolution within species, but not macroevolution between species.

And for the first time, we see God speak to the creation in verse 22. In a one way conversation, God blesses the birds and fish. This blessing conveys the sense of fruitfulness and fertility. God created and blessed His creation to fill the creation. Moses then records what happens on day six of creation in verse 24:

Then God said, "Let the earth bring forth living creatures after their kind: cattle and creeping things and beasts of the earth after their kind"; and it was so. God made the beasts of the earth after their kind, and the cattle after their kind, and everything that creeps on the ground after its kind; and God saw that it was good. Then God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth."

On the sixth day, God created land animals and humanity. God spoke and Jesus shaped and molded the elements of creation in order to form various types of land animals and to create human beings, according to their kind. The phrase after their kind means that God created the land animals according to a specific species or order.

So God created cows to become different types of cows, but the cows did not become pigs. God created snakes and lizards that became a variety of different kinds of snakes and lizards, but the snakes and lizards did not become monkeys. God created monkeys that became different species of monkeys, but monkeys did not become humans. So there is microevolution within species, but not macroevolution between species.

Instead in verse 26, we see that God created humanity to have a unique role when it came to their relationship with God and their relationship with the rest of creation. Next week, we will spend our entire time together unpacking the unique role that humanity has in creation. However, let’s look at how Genesis chapter one ends as God describes what He saw as He looked over His creation in verse 31:

 God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.

And it is here that we see God reveal for us the timeless answer to the timeless question “where did we come from?” And that answer also reveals for us a timeless truth about God. And that timeless truth is this: In the beginning, God created everything that exists out of nothing….and it was all very good! You see, we are not a product of chance. We are not the result of evolutionary process of random mutation and natural selection. And we are not here on earth on a cosmic journey to get in touch with the spark of the Divine within you. We are not here on earth on a journey to become God.

There is a God, and you are not Him. There is a Creator and you are not Him. Instead we are the result of God’s creative activity. There is a Creator who created us for a life of meaning and purpose. Next week, we will see Moses record for us the unique role and purpose that God has given humanity in His creation.