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How big is God? (Part One)
Genesis 1:1-5
In the beginning God created … the heavens and the earth.
Why? How? When?
Why did God create the earth? To make a place for human beings to live out their lives. We will address this more fully when we get to 1:26.
How and when He created are somewhat tied together.
Ge 1:2 The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.
Controversy exists regarding the age of the earth. Non-believers reject creation because they do not believe that there is a God. To explain how earth and the universe got here … the only option open to them is chance: that is, one of the theories of evolution.
We might talk more about the fallacies wrapped up in such theories at a later point but for now I want to simply address the controversy that exists among Bible believers.
The controversy is centered around the age of the universe. It is either very old or relatively young. Since believers all use the same Bible, what is the basis for the disagreement? And what is the reason?
Those Christians who argue for an older creation do so by interpreting scripture in one of the following ways:
Those Christians who argue for a young earth, do so for these reasons:
I believe in an almighty God and accept the record of creation exactly as it is given. This is the standpoint from which I wish to present this and all studies in Genesis which are to follow.
God asked Job a question;"Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation? Tell me, if you understand. Job 38:4
From reading this account we are given to understand that Job was, at that time, the most upright man on the earth. But this is a good question to ask so-called (self-appointed) authorities. “Where were you?”
No one was there to witness God's work of creation. No one has a genuinely scientific method of determining the age of the universe.
Christians who take the 'old earth' theory because they suspect that 'science' really knows … must realize that these same scientists vocally, vehemently reject the biblical account of a global flood. Why? Because if they were to consider the flood of Noah's day they would end up re-evaluating much of their accumulated data … and ascribing it not to eons of time and multiple ice-ages but to the flood instead, which in turn, would cause them to have to consider the bible and ultimately Divine creation.
By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible. Hebrews 11.3
Psalm 33:6 By the word of the LORD were the heavens made, their starry host by the breath of his mouth.
Isaiah 40:26 Lift your eyes and look to the heavens: Who created all these? He who brings out the starry host one by one, and calls them each by name. Because of his great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing.
Ac 17:24 "The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands.
Col 1:17 He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.
Ge 1:1 ¶ In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
2 The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.
God is a Trinity, that is, three persons in one. Up to this point, and up to verse 26 we see the words, And God said … And now we read that the Spirit of God is mentioned as being there. In verse 26 we will read the words,
“Let us …” Who is the 'Us' referring to? To God and the Spirit? Partially that would be true but we need to consider what John says in the beginning of his Gospel.
John 1:1 ¶ In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
2 He was in the beginning with God.
3 All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.
John is telling us that Someone called the Word was with God in the beginning. That the Word who was with God … was actually God as well. And then tells us that every single created thing was made by the Word. If you were to read more of John 1 you would correctly come to the conclusion that the Word is Jesus. And just in case it might slip by you I will give you this verse in Revelation.
Re 19:13 He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God.
God says, Let us make man … That would be the Father and the Son speaking. The Holy Spirit has already been mentioned as being present. What we clearly have in the creation account is the work of God … the Trinity.
The Hebrew language (the Language of Genesis), makes use of three different endings for nouns.
In English we are used to seeing singular nouns and plural nouns. For example if I were to say, “I want to have supper” it is obvious I am speaking of one person, singular … and that would be me. If I were to say, “Let us have supper” you would know that I am no longer speaking of singular, I am speaking of more than one, so I am using US, a plural noun. But you would have no way of knowing if I am speaking of two people having supper or a group of six or ten. ‘US’ is not specific. I would have to add a phrase … “both of us” have supper, " if I wanted to indicate only two. Why am I saying this? The Hebrew language makes use of a dual noun … which would mean two. But the Hebrew plural noun is a triple noun. The ending of the word is not singular or dual .. it is triple.
When the scripture says, “And God said.” He is using a triple ending. The word for God is 'Elohim'. Literally translated, the word Elohim is 'three self-existing mighty ones'. He is saying “Let us … all three of us, mighty ones, make man in our image.
Why then, do Jehovah's Witnesses … and others who do not believe in a trinity (for example the Jews) continue to insist that God is One? In order to do so they must take the plural ending which means three (or more) and come up with a different result. The Jews and Jehovah's Witnesses say that God is not plural in his nature but plural in his many attributes. It becomes quite a stretch to take this definition of Elohim. I think it very fitting that God the Father, God the Son and the Holy Spirit are all named at the time of Creation.
Questions: Is the creation of heaven and earth God's first acts of creation … according to scripture?
Was Lucifer still a 'good' angel when God said, Let there be light? When did his fall occur?
The simple answer is that since angels witnessed God's work of creation … and Satan already existed and shows up in the garden as the already fallen angel, the devil, this means he and all angels were created before the universe in which we live was created.
And God said, Let there be light!
How could light be produced the first day, when the sun … the source of our light, was not made until the fourth day? Probably in the same way as -
Re 22:5 There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign for ever and ever.
Re 21:23 The city had no need of the sun or of the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God illuminated it. The Lamb is its light.
1Jo 1:5 ¶ This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all.
God was the source of the light that shone on the earth on that first day. As a matter of fact, the days did not start 'counting' until then.
It is likely that the separation of light from dark, and the names for the light and dark … which were day and evening mark the beginning of the rotation of the planet. Darkness is an absence of light.
From this point on he says evening rather than darkness. This could be that even in the darkest of our night … it is not total darkness. There is always a little light present. This is certainly true spiritually. In the midst of the despair and darkness of our lives, the light … God is still there.
How big is God? Science tells us that light travels at 186,000 miles per second. They also tell us that the earth is 93 million miles away from the sun. If the sun burned out at noon tomorrow … we would not know it for 8 and a half minutes. That's how long it takes for the light of the sun to reach the earth.
When God created the sun, did it take 8 and a half minutes for the light to reach the earth? When he created stars … did it take light years for their light to reach the earth? Science would say so.
But, how big is God? As the almighty … the creator, the One who spoke things into existence … the One who only had to say the words … “Let there be light” … he could have the light to appear instantly! After all … He is Almighty!
Why? How? When?
Why did God create the earth? To make a place for human beings to live out their lives. We will address this more fully when we get to 1:26.
How and when He created are somewhat tied together.
Ge 1:2 The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.
Controversy exists regarding the age of the earth. Non-believers reject creation because they do not believe that there is a God. To explain how earth and the universe got here … the only option open to them is chance: that is, one of the theories of evolution.
We might talk more about the fallacies wrapped up in such theories at a later point but for now I want to simply address the controversy that exists among Bible believers.
The controversy is centered around the age of the universe. It is either very old or relatively young. Since believers all use the same Bible, what is the basis for the disagreement? And what is the reason?
Those Christians who argue for an older creation do so by interpreting scripture in one of the following ways:
- The gap theory. This is the idea that between Genesis 1:1 and 1:2 there is a gap of billions of years. That is to say … God created it by His power and He created it perfect in every sense. He created animals. Dinosaurs roamed all over the earth. Lucifer (at the time – a good angel) was the care-taker, not only of the earth but of the entire universe. Then Lucifer got it in his mind to take over God's position and lead a number of angels in a rebellion. He lost the battle. God confined him to earth. He came down to earth with incredible anger, and like a rebellious child, threw a tantrum that destroyed God's perfect earth, rendering it 'without form and void'.
- Or the creative evolution theory. This is the idea that God created all matter as one huge lump, squeezed it really hard and then let it explode in a 'big bang', and the rest is history. In this view time is irrelevant. The six days of creation are not to be taken literally. They represent huge periods of evolutionary time. They attribute the facts and statements of Genesis to be merely a literary style that Moses opted to use. In this view both Adam and Eve are fictional. They somehow are just supposed to portray the idea of a loving God.
Those Christians who argue for a young earth, do so for these reasons:
- They believe that God is mighty enough to have created exactly as it is written in Genesis in just 6 literal days.
- They believe in the full inspiration of scripture and take statements literally if possible.
- They believe that genuine science supports scripture and does not contradict the idea of a 'young' earth.
- They appreciate the essential consistency, from Genesis to the fulfillment in the gospels that is necessary in the doctrine of salvation (called soteriology). In other words …there was an actual first man called Adam, created perfect, who sinned and needed salvation. His sinful act produced the first death. Death did not exist until he sinned. Jesus provided/accomplished a salvation. He is called the Second Adam.
I believe in an almighty God and accept the record of creation exactly as it is given. This is the standpoint from which I wish to present this and all studies in Genesis which are to follow.
God asked Job a question;"Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation? Tell me, if you understand. Job 38:4
From reading this account we are given to understand that Job was, at that time, the most upright man on the earth. But this is a good question to ask so-called (self-appointed) authorities. “Where were you?”
No one was there to witness God's work of creation. No one has a genuinely scientific method of determining the age of the universe.
Christians who take the 'old earth' theory because they suspect that 'science' really knows … must realize that these same scientists vocally, vehemently reject the biblical account of a global flood. Why? Because if they were to consider the flood of Noah's day they would end up re-evaluating much of their accumulated data … and ascribing it not to eons of time and multiple ice-ages but to the flood instead, which in turn, would cause them to have to consider the bible and ultimately Divine creation.
By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible. Hebrews 11.3
Psalm 33:6 By the word of the LORD were the heavens made, their starry host by the breath of his mouth.
Isaiah 40:26 Lift your eyes and look to the heavens: Who created all these? He who brings out the starry host one by one, and calls them each by name. Because of his great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing.
Ac 17:24 "The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands.
Col 1:17 He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.
Ge 1:1 ¶ In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
2 The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.
God is a Trinity, that is, three persons in one. Up to this point, and up to verse 26 we see the words, And God said … And now we read that the Spirit of God is mentioned as being there. In verse 26 we will read the words,
“Let us …” Who is the 'Us' referring to? To God and the Spirit? Partially that would be true but we need to consider what John says in the beginning of his Gospel.
John 1:1 ¶ In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
2 He was in the beginning with God.
3 All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.
John is telling us that Someone called the Word was with God in the beginning. That the Word who was with God … was actually God as well. And then tells us that every single created thing was made by the Word. If you were to read more of John 1 you would correctly come to the conclusion that the Word is Jesus. And just in case it might slip by you I will give you this verse in Revelation.
Re 19:13 He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God.
God says, Let us make man … That would be the Father and the Son speaking. The Holy Spirit has already been mentioned as being present. What we clearly have in the creation account is the work of God … the Trinity.
The Hebrew language (the Language of Genesis), makes use of three different endings for nouns.
In English we are used to seeing singular nouns and plural nouns. For example if I were to say, “I want to have supper” it is obvious I am speaking of one person, singular … and that would be me. If I were to say, “Let us have supper” you would know that I am no longer speaking of singular, I am speaking of more than one, so I am using US, a plural noun. But you would have no way of knowing if I am speaking of two people having supper or a group of six or ten. ‘US’ is not specific. I would have to add a phrase … “both of us” have supper, " if I wanted to indicate only two. Why am I saying this? The Hebrew language makes use of a dual noun … which would mean two. But the Hebrew plural noun is a triple noun. The ending of the word is not singular or dual .. it is triple.
When the scripture says, “And God said.” He is using a triple ending. The word for God is 'Elohim'. Literally translated, the word Elohim is 'three self-existing mighty ones'. He is saying “Let us … all three of us, mighty ones, make man in our image.
Why then, do Jehovah's Witnesses … and others who do not believe in a trinity (for example the Jews) continue to insist that God is One? In order to do so they must take the plural ending which means three (or more) and come up with a different result. The Jews and Jehovah's Witnesses say that God is not plural in his nature but plural in his many attributes. It becomes quite a stretch to take this definition of Elohim. I think it very fitting that God the Father, God the Son and the Holy Spirit are all named at the time of Creation.
Questions: Is the creation of heaven and earth God's first acts of creation … according to scripture?
Was Lucifer still a 'good' angel when God said, Let there be light? When did his fall occur?
The simple answer is that since angels witnessed God's work of creation … and Satan already existed and shows up in the garden as the already fallen angel, the devil, this means he and all angels were created before the universe in which we live was created.
And God said, Let there be light!
How could light be produced the first day, when the sun … the source of our light, was not made until the fourth day? Probably in the same way as -
Re 22:5 There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign for ever and ever.
Re 21:23 The city had no need of the sun or of the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God illuminated it. The Lamb is its light.
1Jo 1:5 ¶ This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all.
God was the source of the light that shone on the earth on that first day. As a matter of fact, the days did not start 'counting' until then.
It is likely that the separation of light from dark, and the names for the light and dark … which were day and evening mark the beginning of the rotation of the planet. Darkness is an absence of light.
From this point on he says evening rather than darkness. This could be that even in the darkest of our night … it is not total darkness. There is always a little light present. This is certainly true spiritually. In the midst of the despair and darkness of our lives, the light … God is still there.
How big is God? Science tells us that light travels at 186,000 miles per second. They also tell us that the earth is 93 million miles away from the sun. If the sun burned out at noon tomorrow … we would not know it for 8 and a half minutes. That's how long it takes for the light of the sun to reach the earth.
When God created the sun, did it take 8 and a half minutes for the light to reach the earth? When he created stars … did it take light years for their light to reach the earth? Science would say so.
But, how big is God? As the almighty … the creator, the One who spoke things into existence … the One who only had to say the words … “Let there be light” … he could have the light to appear instantly! After all … He is Almighty!