Genesis 1:1-2
The Founder
Gen 1:1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Gen 1:2 And the earth was waste and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep: and the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.
In the beginning God. First of all, God created the heavens and the earth from no preexisting material. He spoke all materials into being. His sole Presence at the beginning is necessary for production. If you take his Presence out of this passage then there is still nothing and I am not writing anything on my computer. Because nothing exists without Him. John B Phillips adequately remarks about the authenticity of God’s claim as Creator when he said, “If the Holy Spirit cannot be trusted when He tells of creation, how can He be trusted when He tells of salvation? If what He says about earth in Genesis 1 can be questioned, then what He says about heaven in Revelation 22 can be questioned. If the Holy Spirit cannot be trusted in Genesis 1, how can He be trusted in John 3:16?”
God created the heavens and the earth. Not overly descriptive but poignantly accurate. The atheist is infuriated by this text because it assertively announces God’s existence. The polytheist is left speechless with countless wasted deities as the Bible affirmatively reveals a Lone Deity as the reason for all existence. The One who had no beginning gave everything a beginning. His sole preeminence leaves all others beggars.
Notice plurality of heavens and the singularity of earth. Think about it. There are endless stars, galaxies, formations of suns and immeasurable numbers of planets spinning out there in space. And then there is earth. One place in such a vast expanse of materials and mysteries. What would be formed in the earth would be a spiritual reflective of what God would eventually desire to form in the church. The God who formed the earth as we know it out of darkness also forms the believer in that we are “called out of darkness into marvelous light.” (I Peter 2:9) A Universe born was called out of darkness and a church born was called out of darkness. There is no waste in the Word. No void in the blood of the Lamb. No desolation in Grace. A single purpose is seen from the beginning.
The Bible Knowledge Commentary keys in on the redemptive nature of Genesis 1, “The account reveals that God is a redeeming God. It records how He brought the cosmos out of chaos, turned darkness into light, made divisions between them, transformed cursing into blessing, and moved from what was evil and darkness to what was holy.”
And the Spirit of God moved. Yes, a shifting power is certain from the beginning. You see desolation is what you get when God punishes a place. Edom realized this confusion and emptiness when God’s vengeance was enacted on their land. “…and he shall stretch out upon it the line of confusion, and the stones of emptiness.” (Isaiah 34:11)
This same desolation is experienced when God parts from a place. Idolatrous Judah regretfully understood this timeless universal justice as they faced Babylonian Captivity. The weeping prophet, Jeremiah, pulled from history to condemn Judah, “I beheld the earth, and, lo, it was without form, and void; and the heavens, and they had no light.” (Jeremiah 4:23)
Sometimes the Spirit of God moves and it means something has to be eliminated. The clutter is removed so the promises and powers of God can be at work. The threshold of revival cannot be blocked with sin-blame and destructive iniquity (lawlessness). Something has developed that is not good.
Then at other times the Spirit of God moves and something has to be illuminated. Something is developing that is of God. It must come to light. It needs only revelation. Revelation is not creative; it merely unveils what’s already created.
“I had an enormous feeling that there had to be a power greater than any of us – that there was a God, that there was indeed a beginning.” Who made this statement? Frank Borman, a legendary NASA astronaut who was one of only 24 humans to ever circle the moon. Beyond all his mathematical equations, geometric calculations, pinpoint formulas for space travel, he returned to the simplicity of the Word of God to describe his otherworldly adventure.
A simple pattern reminds us who gave us the beginning. No matter what educational path you walk; no matter the physical circumstances that cripple you and create the doubting questions; no matter the pleasures of life experienced at the expense of faith; no matter the culture you are raised in or adapted to; the true conscience of Who is above all things preexists in the depths of our soul.
“As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God.” (Psalms 42:1)
Genesis 1:3-5
Gen 1:3 And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.
1. God is foundational light. It is the light that reveals.
2 Corinthians 4:6
6 For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
2. He is faith light. It is the light that redeems.
Revelation 21:23
23 And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof.
3. It is future light. It is the light that remains.
The created light came from the Creator’s own essence. “God is light.” (1 John 1:5) So to come to God is to come to light. The light exposes what is wrong with us. How can we know what to fix of the light is extinguished? Let a man walk in a path in total darkness and another in light. Who will make better progress? Who will keep a straighter line of steps? We know what to avoid when the light shines on our path. Pitfalls of pride. Shares of cynicism. Predators of mind and soul that would devour us.
Gen 1:4 And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.
Gen 1:5 And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.
“The creation of light also inaugurated the measurement of earth’s time by periods of day and night. Regular intervals of light began to be interspersed with intervals of darkness.” John MacArthur
We know that this is achieved by by “daily revolution of the earth round its axis.” JFB
“At first, as in the physical creation, your heart and life may seem to be “without form and void.” Do not be discouraged, the Spirit of God is within you, brooding amid the darkness, and presently His Light will shine through. It is the blessed presence of the Lord Jesus that stirs in your heart and will presently rule your life, Joh 1:4. His Presence divides between the good and evil. You must distinguish between Christ and self. Follow the gleam, and you shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life. God’s days begin in evenings, and always end in mornings.” FB Meyer
We are often discouraged by what we can’t see. The darkness of circumstance offends us for answers that seem obscure and far away or even non existent. The nebulous meanings of certain trials pushes us further in the night of grief and despair. But one glimmer of truth. One fraction of shining hope. One ray of possibility and we feel the warmth of anticipation. Light has come. Darkness recedes. Vision is restored. Faith has evidence. And what was cloaked in aimless mystery is now clearly seen. This is the light that divides the darkness. The light of JESUS. The revelation of his grace and mercy. More to come…