Creation of the Cosmos

Genesis 1, including its first verse, makes the point that there is only one true God. Ancient Israel was surrounded by cultures that worshiped many gods. Israelites themselves frequently fell into idolatry, even though God warned repeatedly against it (for instance, Deut. 32:15–18).

Genesis 1 is important in affirming and establishing a fundamental aspect of the Bible’s
worldview: God is God, and he alone is God. Israelites and all people in subsequent generations must take it to heart.

There are practical implications. God alone is to be worshiped (Ex. 20:3). He alone has the right to specify the conditions and the means through which he is worshiped (Ex. 20:4–6). He alone has the mastery of every created thing and the course of its existence (Ps. 103:19). He alone has the right to specify to human beings, as his creatures, the moral guidelines by which they should live. He does so in the Ten Commandments (Ex. 20:1–17) 
By asserting that God made everything, Genesis 1 also makes a negative point. The things in heaven and on earth and in the seas are not God; they are creatures. God made them. They are completely subordinate to God. They are not divine or even semidivine. Genesis 1 affirms forcefully the distinction between the Creator and all creatures. Creatures display the glory of their Creator (Rom. 1:18–23). But they are distinct from the Creator. 

This distinction runs through the entire Bible.

It is an important distinction because sinful people have a continuing tendency to replace God with idols. As Romans 1:25 puts it, they worship the creature rather than the Creator:
They exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature
rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.

Underneath the outward practices, people worship themselves. That is the ultimate form of idolatry. Idolatry continues in the Western world up to this day, especially in the form of repeated advice that each person has a right to develop his life in whatever way he wants. God and his rules are treated as if they were an unwanted imposition. Each person is invited instead to worship himself as the center of the universe. But Genesis 1:1 declares, “Worship God, and him alone.”

The distinction between Creator and creature is also important in the Gospels. The opponents of Jesus thought that he was blaspheming by claiming divine prerogatives (John 5:18; 8:58–59).

These opponents knew that no mere creature is on the same level as God. No mere creature can rightly claim the honor due only to God (Isa. 42:8). The opponents would have been right in their accusation, were it not for the fact that Jesus is God, come in the flesh (John 1:1, 14). 

After his incarnation (v. 14), Jesus has two distinct natures—a divine nature and a human nature. He is fully God; he is also fully human. The distinction between the Creator and the creature continues to hold. In Jesus Christ, there is no confusion between the two natures; there is no mixture that would make a third thing.

Creation from Nothing
Next, observe that God did not use preexisting material when he began to create. Theologians have described this lack of preexisting material as “creation out of nothing”—in Latin, creatio ex nihilo. 

Does Genesis 1:1 teach that concept? Interpreters have disputed it, but the best reading
is that Genesis 1:1 describes the very first act of creation. 1 It implies that no finite thing
preceded the point at which the infinite God initially brought the world into existence. This view is confirmed by later verses in the Bible:

He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him
was not any thing made that was made. (John 1:2–3)
For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether
thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and
for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. (Col. 1:16–17)
The point is important because of the way in which it impinges on God’s sovereignty. Suppose, hypothetically, that “stuff” had already been there when God began his work. This stuff would be a second eternally existing thing, competing with the ultimacy of God. Moreover, it would put God in the position of having to do the best he could, so to speak, with stuff whose origin and composition he did not initially control. It would be a barrier to his complete mastery.

Genesis 1, by contrast, shows his complete mastery.

Absolute Mastery
The theme of absolute mastery, established in Genesis 1, continues in importance through the rest of the Bible. It has practical implications. If God rules comprehensively, we can trust him to take care of us in all circumstances, even circumstances that are the most threatening from a human point of view.

If God rules comprehensively, it also assures us that he can take care of everything concerning salvation comprehensively. He is just as wise and caring and omnipotent in salvation as he shows himself to be in creation. God’s works of creation are a comfort when we look to him for salvation.

The Psalms declare it:
Yet God my King is from of old,
working salvation in the midst of the earth. . . .
Yours is the day, yours also the night;
you have established the heavenly lights and the sun.
You have fixed all the boundaries of the earth;
you have made summer and winter. (Ps. 74:12–17)

The sea is his, for he made it,
and his hands formed the dry land.
Oh come, let us worship and bow down;
let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker!
For he is our God,
and we are the people of his pasture,
and the sheep of his hand. (Ps. 95:5–7)

My help comes from the Lord,
who made heaven and earth. (Ps. 121:2)

Our help is in the name of the Lord
who made heaven and earth. (Ps. 124:8)

To him who by understanding made the heavens,
for his steadfast love endures forever; . . .
the moon and stars to rule over the night,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
to him who struck down the firstborn of Egypt,
for his steadfast love endures forever. (Ps. 136:5, 9–10)

Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob,
whose hope is in the Lord his God,
who made heaven and earth,
the sea, and all that is in them. (Ps. 146:5–6)

These passages all appeal to the fact that God created the world, in order to assure the people of God that he can and does effectively care for them in his redemptive acts.

God’s Working Throughout Genesis 1, 

God works. The beginning of his work is the first action of creating out of nothing. Then he works to shape and fill during six days. He rests from his work at the end, on the seventh day:

Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the
seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day
from all his work that he had done. So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy,
because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation. (Gen.2:1–3)

The whole of Genesis 1 is composed of instances of God’s working. The theme of God’s work is an overarching theme for all six days. And it forms the pattern for human work (Ex. 20:8–11)
(see chapters 2, 4, 11, and 12 on God’s work).

Creation of Particular Things
Later in the picture of Genesis 1, God creates many particular things: the light, the expanse, the dry land, the plants, the heavenly lights, the sea creatures, the flying creatures, the land creatures, and man himself. In these cases, some materials already exist—an environment already exists. For example, when the plants spring up, the environment includes the dry land that God has already formed (Gen. 1:9–10). God creates Adam using dust (2:7), and Eve using dam’s rib (2:21–22). The original act of creating out of nothing in Genesis 1:1 is unique in this respect.
But the thorough mastery that God shows in creating out of nothing has implications for the later acts of creation. Though some of these acts may use existing materials, such as dust in creating Adam, God is thoroughly master of the materials. So he has just as much mastery of the result as if he had created each separate thing out of nothing. The environments that he has already created are formed to be suitable environments for new creatures such as plants and sea creatures. The presence of things already formed underlines the coherence of creation.
The parts of creation belong together and work in harmony. That harmony might not be so evident if, hypothetically, God had created each separate individual thing directly out of nothing, with no environment.

Providential Origin of Animals

The principle of complete mastery has similar implications when one moves to consider God’s later works of providence, after the six days of work in creation. In providence, God continues to bring into being each new creature. Psalm 104:29–30 indicates that the creation of the next generation of animals and plants is God’s work:
When you hide your face, they [animals] are dismayed;
when you take away their breath, they die and return to their dust.

When you send forth your Spirit, they are created, and you renew the face of the ground.

The next-to-last line speaks about God’s creation of the new generation of animals. The very last line is a poetic reference to the new generation of plants, which newly cover “the face of the ground.” God shows his care and his mastery with respect to both animals and plants. His mastery is as thorough as if they were repeatedly created from nothing (ex nihilo).

Providential Origin of Human Beings
The principle of mastery extends also to God’s creating each individual in each new generation of human beings. David reflects on it in Psalm 139:
For you formed my inward parts;
you knitted me together in my mother’s womb.
I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
Wonderful are your works;
my soul knows it very well.
My frame was not hidden from you,
when I was being made in secret,
intricately woven in the depths of the earth.
Your eyes saw my unformed substance;
in your book were written, every one of them,
the days that were formed for me,
when as yet there was none of them.
How precious to me are your thoughts, O God!
How vast is the sum of them! (Ps. 139:13–17)

God’s mastery of the original works of creation in Genesis 1 forms a backdrop for his mastery of each new individual human being that he brings into the world. That includes you and me. God created you. He formed you in the womb.

Redemptive Re-Creation
Now consider the arena of redemption. The Bible uses creation themes in speaking of
redemption. Redemption is re-creation.
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold,
the new has come. (2 Cor. 5:17)

Isaiah brings in themes of creation in prophesying about the rest-ration from Babylonian exile, a restoration foreshadowing the climactic redemption in Christ:
It is he who sits above the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers;
who stretches out the heavens like a curtain, and spreads them like a tent to dwell in;
who brings princes to nothing, and makes the rulers of the earth as emptiness.
(Isa. 40:22–23)
To whom then will you compare me,
that I should be like him? says the Holy One.
Lift up your eyes on high and see:
who created these? (Isa. 40:25–26)
Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer,
who formed you from the womb:
“I am the Lord, who made all things,
who alone stretched out the heavens,
who spread out the earth by myself,
who frustrates the signs of liars
and makes fools of diviners,
who turns wise men back
and makes their knowledge foolish,
who confirms the word of his servant
and fulfills the counsel of his messengers,
who says of Jerusalem, ‘She shall be inhabited,’
and of the cities of Judah, ‘They shall be built,
and I will raise up their ruins.’” (Isa. 44:24–26)
“I made the earth
and created man on it;
it was my hands that stretched out the heavens,
and I commanded all their host.
I have stirred him up in righteousness,
and I will make all his ways level;
he shall build my city
and set my exiles free,
not for price or reward,”
says the Lord of hosts. (Isa. 45:12–13)
For thus says the Lord
who created the heavens

(he is God!),
who formed the earth and made it
(he established it;
he did not create it empty,
he formed it to be inhabited!):
“I am the Lord, and there is no other.
I did not speak in secret,
in a land of darkness;
I did not say to the offspring of Jacob,
‘Seek me in vain.’
I the Lord speak the truth;
I declare what is right.” (Isa. 45:18–19)
Listen to me, O Jacob,
and Israel, whom I called!
I am he; I am the first,
and I am the last.
My hand laid the foundation of the earth,
and my right hand spread out the heavens;
when I call to them,
they stand forth together.
Assemble, all of you, and listen!
Who among them has declared these things?
The Lord loves him;
he shall perform his purpose on Babylon,
and his arm shall be against the Chaldeans.
I, even I, have spoken and called him;
I have brought him, and he will prosper in his way. (Isa. 48:12–15)
I, I am he who comforts you;
who are you that you are afraid of man who dies,
of the son of man who is made like grass,
and have forgotten the Lord, your Maker,
who stretched out the heavens
and laid the foundations of the earth,
and you fear continually all the day
because of the wrath of the oppressor,
when he sets himself to destroy?
And where is the wrath of the oppressor? (Isa. 51:12–13)
And I have put my words in your mouth
and covered you in the shadow of my hand,

establishing the heavens and laying the foundations of the earth,
and saying to Zion, “You are my people.” (Isa. 51:16)

The new life given to believers is to be compared with the new heaven and new earth that God will create:
The creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the
freedom of the glory of the children of God. (Rom. 8:21)
God provides the light of revelation in the gospel in a manner that is analogous to God’s word of creation that called forth light:
For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the
light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. (2 Cor. 4:6)
The first part of 2 Corinthians 4:6 alludes to Genesis 1:3, when God first spoke to create the light. 

The second part of the verse speaks about redemptive re-creation: God provides the
“light” of salvation in Christ. God’s power to create light in Genesis is exercised again when he saves people with redemptive light, which he shines “in our hearts.”

The Consummation Compared to the Beginning
Finally, the consummation is the coming of a new heaven and a new earth, comparable to the creation of the world in the beginning:
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had
passed away, and the sea was no more. (Rev. 21:1)
Many features in Revelation’s description of the consummation correspond analogically to features in the first heaven and earth. The creation of the world in Genesis 1:1 corresponds to the creation of the new heaven and the new earth in Revelation 21:1–5. The light in Genesis 1:3 corresponds to the light filling the world in Revelation 21:23 and 22:5. The tree of life in Genesis 2:9 corresponds to the tree of life in Revelation 22:2. The blessing of the first world in Genesis 1:28–31 corresponds to the blessing of the second world in Revelation 22:3–5. The marriage of Adam and Eve in Genesis 2:24–25 corresponds to the marriage of the Lamb and his Bride, the church, in Revelation 19:7–9, 21:9, and 22:17.

The two worlds correspond, but the new world is not merely a repetition of the old world; it is not a return to the beginning with no progress. Rather, the new world is the fulfillment of the old world. 2 God dwells in the new world more intensively, and the communion between God and man is brought to its consummation:

And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is
with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be
with them as their God.” (Rev. 21:3)
This combination of analogy and distinctiveness expresses a broader principle, applicable not only to the consummation but also to all the later events that thematically connect themselves to Genesis 1. The later events are never identical to the first events when God created the world. But they are analogous.

Christ as the Center of New Creation
As we will discuss later on (chapter 26), all three persons of the Trinity were involved in the initial creation of the world. The second person, the Son of God, was involved in the work of creating as the Word (Greek logos; see John 1:1–3). First Corinthians 8:6 teaches that all things were made “through him”: “one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist.” The second person of the Trinity is also the one who rose from the dead, and thereby became the starting point for the new creation (Rom. 8:11, 19–23).

Understanding the Meaning of the Created Order
The analogical connections between creation and redemption have implications for how we should understand the created order. As mentioned in chapter 1, the aspects of creation have meanings, given by God. Contrast this situation with an atheistic view. According to an atheistic view, there is no inherent meaning in the world. So human beings have to create all the meanings. And the meanings that they create are merely human. They do not belong innately to the world, but are imported. They are imposed, artificially, by the human mind. And since human beings differ among themselves, there is no guarantee that different human beings will see the same meaning.

The atheistic view and the view of modern secularism have the effect of evaporating meaning from the world. The result is a world that is grim and inhuman. It is barren of meaning. But in fact, the world is created. It is created with meanings and with purposes, including purposes that are not immediately evident. All things have meanings in the mind of God. And all things have purposes. The purposes are all God’s purposes. They are personal purposes. They connect to us personally. God does not treat us as mere machines. Many meanings become evident as God later teaches about the meaning of redemption and the consummation (the new heaven and the new earth).

Creation Does Not Necessitate Redemption
A word of caution is in order. God knew from the beginning of time about all of history,
including the fall of Adam and Eve into sin (1 John 3:20). But sin is not innate in creation. It is not fated. God’s personal plan and his personal knowledge of the future are quite different from an impersonal fate, which would destroy human initiative and human responsibility. 

Sin resulted from the moral decision of Adam and Eve.

When God brings redemption, it undoes the fall into sin and its effects. But it also builds on creation and the created order. Sin is a deviation from the created pattern. As a deviation, it is parasitic on the originally good creation. So the themes of redemption, including overcoming sin, naturally take up meanings already inherent in creation. As a result, creation and redemption have deep thematic connections. But they remain distinct. 

Redemption presupposes the creation and a fall away from original goodness. Creation, by contrast, does not presuppose the fall or redemption.

More Biblical-Theological Themes
In pondering the meaning of Genesis 1:1 and later verses, many more biblical- theological themes are potentially relevant. This chapter has considered only those that are most evident in 1:1. A later chapter (chapter 25) considers each portion of Genesis 1–3 from the standpoint of John Frame’s triad for lordship, consisting in authority, control, and presence. Chapter 26 considers each portion from the standpoint of the Trinity and God’s action in the world as the Trinitarian God. Chapter 27 considers each portion from the standpoint of the ten perspectives in the lex Christi framework, closely related to the Ten Commandments. Those themes are taken up only after the chapters that treat the paragraphs of Genesis 1–3 one by one.

Study Questions
1. What is the doctrine of creation out of nothing?
2. Why is creation out of nothing important?
3. How do the later acts of creation in Genesis 1 relate to the first one, in verse 1?
4. What do we learn about God from Genesis 1?
5. Why is our view of God important for considering providence and salvation?
6. To what later events is the creation of the world analogous?