Last year I took up the topic of Apologetics, which is the defense of the Christian faith. We looked at the truth claims of Christianity, the reliability of the Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John) and the witnesses to the resurrection of Jesus, and the reliability of Jesus’ testimony of himself as God, proved by his resurrection, and finally, the proofs of the resurrection itself. (If you would like copies of these articles please email me at Pastor@WattsWhat.net or Visit lcmsgrandmaraismn.org).
This month we will be taking up the topic of creation. To be sure, there are many Christians, who have questions about the nature of how the world came into being. I will be presenting what the bible says about the topic. If you have questions you are in good company. The creation of the world is an article of faith. God receives sinners for the sake of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit, who comes with the gift of faith, will convince you of the truth of God’s Word, and over time, to take his word as true, even in the case of creation.
Just to be clear, I believe in (and the historic church rightly teaches) a literal six-day creation (more on the word “day” in a future article this month). The question is not “Did God create the world in six days?” but rather “Could God create in six days, and what does he say about it?” My articles this month will cover what God says about creation
1.
“In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” (Genesis 1:1, ESV) begins God’s account of creation. (It should be noted that no one was present at creation, God himself, is the only witness. All other theories about the beginning of the universe are just that, theories.) “In the beginning…” means just that; “before everything that was” or “at first.” Before God began the creation, there was nothing.
When he began creating, it was the first appearance of anything in the universe. All that is in the universe, “the heavens and the earth” were created at that moment by God. The word “created” (Hebrew bara’) is only used in the bible with God as the subject. God created everything from nothing. If he created everything from nothing “In the beginning” is the first miracle of the bible. You could say, “At the very first, God created matter.” Verse 2 of Genesis leans on the creation of matter. In verse 1 God creates matter, in verse 2 he begins shaping it.
The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.” (Genesis 1:2, ESV)
The statement describes four things about the newly created earth; it was formless, it was empty, it was dark, and there was water. God will give it form and substance, a proper place for human beings to live. The Holy Spirit is present, indicating that God is in control, he will bring blessing to all that he has made.
Some would place a long period of time between verse 1 and verse
2. But verse 2 begins with an untranslated “and”, it speaks against that
2. “And then,” is the thought that goes with the verse. Grammatically, it indicates continuous action. “God created and then…”
God is in control. It is evident as he begins the account of creating the universe. He alone is present through the Holy Spirit, inspecting all that happens. In the rest of the account (Genesis 1) his love and care for all that he creates is shown. He will create an incredibly special place for human beings to live. It is a beautiful and complete creation.
For comments or questions please email pastor@WattsWhat.net.
(Endnotes)
1. For a simple yet more in-depth discussion of six-day creation as presented in Genesis, I like In the Beginning God, Joel Heck, (Concordia Publishing House, 2011).
2. See Selected Works of Thomas Chalmers (Edinburg: Thomas Constable and Co. 1855) for information on the “Gap Theory” rejected by the Historic Christian Church.
Each month a member of the Cook County Ministerium will offer Spiritual Reflections. This month our contributor is Pastor Jonathan Watt of Life in Christ Lutheran Church in Grand Marais. Please feel free to contact him with comments or questions. Pastor@ WattsWhat.net
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