As we begin this sermon series on Beholding Christ In Genesis, we discover that Jesus is none other than our Creator God, not only involved in the first physical creation, but also in the new spiritual creation.
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Christ – The Creator
Genesis 1:1-31
Just who is Jesus Christ? That’s the question we are going to seek to answer today, and in order to do that we are going to go all the way back to the first book in our Bibles, and look at Genesis chapter 1. In fact, we are going to begin a new series this morning called “Beholding Christ In Genesis.” We will be studying through the book of Genesis with a specific goal – we want to see Jesus Christ in the prophecies, types, and shadows in Genesis, so that we might trust Him, love Him, and serve Him in a greater way.
Now, why in the world would we be looking for Jesus in Genesis you might be thinking? Wouldn’t it make more sense to study Matthew, Mark, Luke or John if we wanted to see the person of Jesus Christ? Well, of course, those 4 gospel accounts do give us wonderful portraits of Jesus Christ, but in actuality, we can see wonderful truths about Christ in every book of our Bibles! In fact, this is what Jesus taught while He walked on the earth. Listen to what He said:
“You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me” (Jn. 5:39)
“For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me, for he wrote about Me” (Jn. 5:46)
“Then beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, He explained to them the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures” (Lk. 24:27)
“Now He said to them, ‘These are My words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things which are written about Me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled” (Lk. 24:44)
So what did Jesus believe about the Old Testament Scriptures? He believed they were written about Him! He said that the Old Testament Scriptures testified about Him, that Moses wrote about Him, that Moses and all the prophets were concerning Him, and that Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms were written about Him. Conservative Bible scholars for centuries have believed that Moses is the author of the first 5 books of our Bible – Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. Jesus said Moses wrote about Him. Since Moses wrote Genesis, that means Genesis is about Jesus Christ. So, let’s make this really simple – your entire Bible is about Jesus Christ. From Genesis to Revelation, Jesus Christ is the central theme of the entire Bible.
With that in mind, let’s turn in our Bibles to the Book of Genesis. The word “Genesis” means beginnings. This book describes the beginnings of just about everything (creation, plant life, animal life, man, marriage, family, sin, agriculture, music) except for God, for God had no beginning. If you want to be able to remember quickly and easily what the book of Genesis is about, just remember that it is about 4 Events, and 4 Human Persons. The 4 Events are Creation, the Fall, the Flood, and the Tower of Babel. The 4 Human Persons are Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph, But just remember that behind those 4 Events, and those 4 Persons we will discover the true subject of this book – the Lord Jesus Christ.
You also need to realize the general timeline of the Old Testament. From Genesis 1 – 11, there was a span of about 2,000 years. Then from Genesis 12 to the coming of Jesus Christ there are about 2,000 years. That means that there God compresses a lot of time into just a few chapters in Genesis 1-11, and then He begins to become very detailed and specific about what took place starting in Genesis 12.
This morning we are going to talk first about the Theories of Creation, then the Days of Creation, and then finally the Person behind Creation.
1. The Theories Of Creation:
All Christians don’t interpret Genesis 1 the same way. Actually, that is a huge understatement! I keep finding more and more interpretations of Genesis 1, the longer I read and research. Most of these theories are an attempt to harmonize science with what we read here in Genesis 1. Just a side note – science is in a continual state of flux. Scientists have what they call a “five year half-life.” That is, 5 years from now half of what is now “known” to be fact will be proved false and will be replaced by new theory. In addition to that, we also need to remember that the only one who was there when creation took place was God. Therefore, He is the only One qualified to tell us exactly what took place. If the Bible is the infallible, inspired, authoritative Word of God, then we can trust it. I need to also say that here at The Bridge, this is an open handed issue. We have other things that are in the closed hand, like the Deity of Christ, and salvation by grace apart from works. But there have been many good and godly Christians who have taken different positions on how to interpret the creation account. So, having said all of that, let’s take a look at some of the more popular theories for the creation account in Genesis 1.
- The Age-Day Theory: In this theory, each day is an epoch or age of vast periods of time that roughly coincide with the geological ages. However, there are problems with this theory. Evolution teaches that birds evolved from land animals, and dolphins and whales evolved from land animals that went back to the sea. However, Genesis 1 teaches that birds appeared before land animals, and dolphins and whales appeared before land animals.
- The Revelation Theory: In this theory, the days are 24 hours in Moses’ life in which God revealed to him what took place, not the 24 hours in which God actually did the creating. If that is true, then we don’t have any time specified as to how long the creation took place. This view simply states that God gave revelation to him on 6 consecutive days. However, there is also a problem with this view. Ex.20:11 states, “In six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth.” It doesn’t say, “in six days the Lord revealed to Moses how He made the heavens and the earth.”
- The Gap Theory: In this theory, there is a gap of time between Genesis 1:1 and 1:2, perhaps billions of years. Proponents of this view say that God originally created the earth perfect, but at some point there was a cataclysmic event that made the earth formless and void. They usually point to the rebellion of Satan as that cataclysmic event that brought ruin to the earth. Thus, they see Genesis 1:3 on, not as the creation of the world, but as the restoration of the world. However, again the problem is Ex.20:11 which states, “In six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth.” It doesn’t say the Lord restored the heavens and the earth.
- The Ideal Time Theory: This theory states that the earth was created as though it looked old, although it was brand new. In other words, God created the world with fossils and relics already planted in it. He created the earth with a certain amount of uranium already turned into lead. He created Adam and Eve with belly buttons. Yes, it is true that God did create man and woman, not as babies, but fully mature. However, the problem with this theory is that it stretches our intellectual credibility to suggest that God would make a world with fossils and relics already in place.
- The 24-Hour Theory: This theory teaches that the days are literal 24-hour days. Notice that with each day the Bible says, “and there was evening and there was morning.” A geologic age doesn’t have an evening and morning. When the Hebrew word for day (yom) is accompanied by a definite number (1st, 2nd) as here, it always means a 24-hour day. Also, the plants created on the 3rd day could not have survived a geologic age without the sun, which was not created until the 4th day. If you add up the genealogies in the Bible, even if you allow that there may be some gaps in them, you have to conclude that man was probably created between 6,000 and 15,000 years ago. Although this does not fit with modern scientific theories, this seems to me to be what the Bible is saying. If we sat down 10 different people who had never read the Bible before, and asked them to read Genesis 1, and then asked them, “so what’s going on in Genesis chapter 1?”, what do you think they would come up with? I believe that if they didn’t have any previous bias, they would all probably say something like, “I don’t know how this can be reconciled with modern scientific theories, but this chapter seems to be saying that God created the world in six days.” Now, I completely understand those that are trying to come up with some other theory that harmonizes modern science and the Bible. I won’t divide with them over their understanding of Creation. However, my job as a faithful Bible teacher is to seek to give you the correct meaning of the Scriptures. The “correct” meaning is going to be the natural, plain meaning. Friends, it appears to me, that the natural, plain meaning of this chapter is that God created the heavens and the earth in 6 24-hour days. With all of the other theories, we have to inject something into the Bible, that’s not there. We have to inject the idea of each day really being millions of years, or that animals evolved from one kind of species into an entirely new kind of species, or that there was a gap of time of millions of years between verse 1 and verse 2, or inject the idea that these days were not the period of time in which God did the creating but the period of time in which He communicated to Moses what He did, or we have to inject the idea that God created the world with fossils already in it. The Bible doesn’t say that God did any of these things. It is far safer, even though it doesn’t appear as intellectually savvy to say that God created the heavens and the earth in 6 literal days.
2. The Days Of Creation:
Day 1 – Light. You’ll notice that Moses makes no effort to prove the existence of God. Moses simply assumes that God exists. But that makes sense when you remember that the Bible is really God’s autobiography. If you were going to write your own autobiography, would you spend time trying to prove that you exist? No! The mere fact that you had written your autobiography proves that you exist! Literally God said, “Light be!” and light was. When God created the heavens and the earth, He did it without the use of any pre-existing materials. So how did He do it? He simply spoke and it was. God’s word was so powerful that it actually brought into existence what God commanded.
Day 2 – Separation of waters above and waters below. It appears that originally this globe was just a huge mass of swirling water. Now God separates the water into those that are in the seas from the water in the sky. Many scholars believe that what may have been going on is that there was a water canopy in the sky like a great blanket protecting the inhabitants from the ultra-violet rays of the sun. This might explain why people lived for hundreds of years originally, and then why people gradually died younger and younger. In Genesis 7:11 it says, “the floodgates of the sky were opened” leading some scholars to believe that during the flood the water canopy surrounding the earth collapsed, deluging the earth, and eliminating the protection from the harmful aging effects of the sun. This water canopy would have made the earth a giant greenhouse with tropical climate over the entire globe. If this is true, that would mean that the entire world would be like Hawaii today. Interestingly, scientists have found fossils of tropical plants and great deposits of oil and coal in places like the north and south poles! How in the world did those tropical plants ever get there? Scientists have also found giant wooly mammoths that look like they were quick frozen in places like Siberia. A wooly mammoth was roughly the size of an elephant, and would have to eat huge quantities of vegetation daily to survive. Well, today there isn’t the vegetation in Siberia to enable these animals to survive. Well, this water canopy could provide the explanation.
Day 3 – Land and vegetation. At this point God caused the waters to recede so that there are now seas and dry land. Then He caused the dry land to sprout vegetation, plants, and trees bringing forth fruit.
Day 4 – Sun, moon, and stars. Up until day 4, there was light given directly by God. Now, God creates luminary bodies which will give light to the earth: the sun, moon and stars. I love the way verse 16 ends, “He made the stars also.” In 5 little words, God describes the billions and billions of galaxies of stars that fill a universe so large we can’t even comprehend it. Evidently, when God created the universe, His interest was on this planet we call earth, not all of the other stars He made to adorn the universe.
Day 5 – Birds of the air and creatures of the sea. There are over 10,000 different kinds of birds, and over 230,000 different kinds of creatures that live in the seas. Oh, what an incredible creative imagination our great God possesses!
Day 6 – Land animals and man. Creeping things would include insects, snakes, and lizards. We have been able to classify 1.3 million species of living things on the earth so far, but every year we find and classify another 13,000, and there doesn’t appear to be any letting up on that figure!
Day 6 is obviously the most important of God’s creation days, since the most space is given to it. God’s final and crowning creation was man. That which distinguishes man from everything else God had made was that man is created in the image of God. When God created all the plants and animals he looked to His own imagination. When He created man He looked to Himself. God made man like Himself. God endues man with some of His divine attributes, thereby separating and making him different from the beasts. What are these special Godlike qualities which man is permitted to share? Well, among others, we could mention language, creativity, love, holiness, dominion and immortality. The context here in 1:26 tells us that at least part of this image of God includes dominion (rule over the fish of the sea…). It is because all humans are made in the image of God that it is so wrong to abort unborn babies. Abortion, in reality, is the murder of a human being who has been made in the image of God. Now, having said that, I need to also say that if you have had an abortion, there is forgiveness in Christ. Abortion is not the unforgivable sin. However, because we are made in the image of God, life is sacred, and we are not to take it, in spite of how inconvenient that life will be to us.
Day 7 – God rested. Since the Sabbath is such an important subject in Scripture, we are going to reserve our discussion of it until next Sunday.
Well, now that we have looked at the theories of creation, and the days of creation, let’s focus in on the Person behind creation.
3. The Person Behind Creation:
The word God in Genesis 1:1 is the Hebrew word Elohim. In Hebrew the word El refers to God. The Hebrew word Elah is the dual form, meaning 2 gods. Elohim is the plural form of El. Sometimes this Hebrew word is translated as gods. Interestingly Elohim is plural and the verb for created is singular. So, who is this God or gods who created us? Genesis 1:26 says, “Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness.” Us – Our – Our. These pronouns are plural. Who does it refer to? At one and the same time God seems to be singular, but yet plural. So, is God singular or plural? Yes! He is both at the same time. Here we run smack dab in the first chapter of the Bible into the mystery of the Trinity. There is 1 God who has eternally existed in 3 persons – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. So, what we discover in Genesis 1 is that The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit were all involved in the work of creation.
Now, can this truth that Jesus Christ is the Creator, be substantiated from the clear writings of the New Testament? Let’s examine some New Testament writings to see.
John 1:3 “All things came into being through Him (the Word), and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being.”
John 1:10 “He (the Word) was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him.”
Hebrews 1:1-2 “God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world.”
Hebrews 1:10 “You, Lord, in the beginning laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the works of Your hands”
Col. 1:16 “For by Him (the beloved Son of vs. 13) all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities – all things have been created through Him and for Him.”
The New Testament is absolutely clear on this subject. Jesus Christ is the Creator. Together with His Father and the Holy Spirit, He created the universe! I know that is an absolutely mind-boggling concept! Jesus of Nazareth, the One who walked this earth, and died on a cross 2,000 years ago, is also Creator God! That is a stunning and overwhelming truth.
Jesus is the One who made every angel, whether holy or fallen. Jesus is the One who made Hell to demonstrate His wrath and justice. Jesus is the One who made this planet, who made our sun and solar system. In fact, He’s the One who created the 100 billion galaxies which each have an average of 100 billion stars! He’s the One who made every microscopic organism, and every giant sperm whale, elephant, and dinosaur! Jesus is God, and He commands you to fall on your face, acknowledge Him as God, and serve Him as God, because He is!
Life Application:
As we bring this message to a close, I want to draw your attention to Genesis 1:1-3 and show you a parallel between what God did on His first creation, and what He does in His New Creation.
1) The Earth Was Formless, Void, and Dark: Genesis 1:2. The world was in a state of chaos, confusion and darkness. The darkened, chaotic state of the world pictures the state of every human soul outside of Christ. The Bible says that we are born in sin and shaped in iniquity. Ephesians 4:17-19 says this about the unsaved, “So this I say, and affirm together with the Lord, that you walk no longer just as the Gentiles also walk, in the futility of their mind, being darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart; and they, having become callous, have given themselves over to sensuality for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness.” My friend, if you are not in Christ this morning, this is a true description of your life. You are living in the futility of your mind. You are darkened in your understanding. You are excluded from the life of God. You have a hard and calloused heart, and have given yourself over to sensuality for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness. The sooner you realize your lost and desperate condition the better. If God is opening your eyes to see that you are lost and undone, that is wonderful! Most people live and die without ever realizing their lostness. Yes, this revelation may cause alarm and fear now, but as long as your alarm causes you to flee from sin and cast yourself on the mercy of Jesus Christ, thank God for it!
2) The Spirit Of God Was Moving: Was the earth able to change its state? Could the earth just decide that it was going to stop being formless and void and dark? Of course not! It was what it was, and could not change what it was without a power from outside itself. But God did not leave the earth formless, void and dark. He sent His Spirit to hover over the surface of the waters. God was going to transform this formless, void and dark earth into a beautiful, inhabited place filled with light and beauty. How did He do it? By His Spirit. That’s exactly what God does for people who have made a mess of their lives, which is all of us. All of us have rebelled against God, gone our own way, and brought pain and misery into our own life and the lives of others. Unless the Holy Spirit begins to move upon your life, you will remain in sin and darkness. O Holy Spirit come! Come and bring life, and hope, and light, and truth!
3) God said: Not only do we find the Spirit moving, but we find the Word being spoken. The Spirit of God does not work in isolation. He works through the Word of God. Just as human life is created when an egg is united with sperm, so spiritual life is created when the Holy Spirit unites with the Word of God in a person’s soul. 1 Peter 1:23 says, “for you have been born again not of seed which is perishable but imperishable, that is, through the living and enduring word of God.” We are born again of the Spirit, and we are born of the Word. That’s why all of us must be about the business of spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ. That’s why, if you are not in Christ, you need to be here on Sunday mornings where the gospel will be preached to you week after week. If you want to be saved from sin, you need to be sitting under the Word, where the Spirit is most likely to give you life.
4) Let There Be Light: God commanded that light would flood into darkness. In order for any person to be born again, God must command that light come in. 2 Cor. 4:4,6 says, “the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving, so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God…For God, who said, ‘Light shall shine out of darkness,’ is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.’” If you or I or anyone ever becomes a Christ, it is because God has commanded that there shall be light. When we are lost, we are in darkness, and we can’t change that darkness into light. If God decides to save someone, He commands that light shine in our hearts. For what purpose? To give the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. What that means is that God enables a lost sinner see, really see, the glory of God. God enables an individual to see His worth, and beauty, and value, and how He is so much greater and better than anything else. He is better than money, or position, or power, or husband, or wife, or children, or possessions or sex, or drugs. When God shines His light into a dark heart, that heart which was once blind, now sees!
This is what must happen in your life if your are ever to be saved. The Spirit must move on you. He must apply God’s Word, His gospel to your life. He must shine light into your heart. You must be born again. You must become a new creation. And Bridge folks, this is what we long for. This is what we are laboring for. This is why we witness, and serve, and love. God help us to give our lives to see this!
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