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Tag: Bereshis

God created the heavens and the earth

Written by LWOM Amsterdam on . Posted in Genesis, What’s new?.

What does it mean that God created the heavens and the earth (Genesis 1:1)?

The first verse of the Bible is packed with meaning: “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1, ESV). We can learn many things from this verse: First, God is the ultimate being, who exists independently of time, space, and matter. For this reason, He cannot be identified with the universe. The universe is not God, and God is not the universe. God is God, and He transcends the created order. He is not limited by time because He is eternal (1 Timothy 1:17). And He is not limited by space or matter because He is omnipresent (Psalm 139:7–12).

Second, God is the source of everything that exists. In Genesis 1:1, the Hebrew word for “created” is bārā’, which is always used in contexts relating to God (cf. Exodus 34:10). When humans “create” something (poetry, music, and skyscrapers), we use preexisting materials. But when God created the heavens and the earth, He did not use preexisting materials because, prior to the act of creation, God alone existed.

Third, God created the universe ex nihilo, or “out of nothing.” The NRSV translates Genesis 1:1–2 as follows: “In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, the earth was a formless void.” This translation implies that matter existed prior to God’s special act of creation. The ESV translation, however, offers a better rendition of the opening verses: “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void.” This may seem like useless hairsplitting, but it is crucial to emphasize that God created the universe ex nihilo.

Adherents of ancient pagan religions believed that their gods used pre-existing materials to mold and fashion the world. The Bible insists, however, that God brought everything into existence by the “word of His power” (Hebrews 1:3; cf. Genesis 1:1—2:3; John 1:1–4).

Fourth, the universe was not created in its final form. Genesis 1:2 states, “The earth was without form and void.” Initially, the universe was without form or shape, but God would soon mold it into something good and beautiful (cf. Psalm 19:1). Humans also make things that are beautiful (let us think of Beethoven’s Third Symphony or Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa). Thus, to be created in the image of God partially involves a creative element (Genesis 1:26–27).

How should we respond to the doctrine of creation? First, God should be worshiped as the creator and sustainer of the universe: “In him we live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:28; cf. Job 12:10). This means that everyone is dependent upon God and accountable to Him (Romans 3:19). We owe everything to God because, without Him, we would not exist. May we, therefore, dispel the lie that we are autonomous, independent, and self-sufficient.

Second, creation should not be viewed as inherently evil (as some pagan religions have taught). God is good, and creation reflects His goodness. Initially, evil did not exist. It was introduced into the universe by creatures who misused their freedom (Genesis 3:1–24). Nevertheless, God promised that our fallen world would be restored to perfection, and the children of God would one day dwell in the “new heavens and new earth” (Revelation 21:1).

A proper understanding of Genesis 1:1 ensures that we give God all the glory, praise, and honor for creating and sustaining the universe. The appropriate response is to “present [our] bodies as a living, sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is [our] reasonable worship” (Romans 12:1; cf. 1 Corinthians 6:19–20). We were made by Him and for Him.

In the beginning God created

Written by LWOM Amsterdam on . Posted in Genesis, What’s new?.

What does it mean that in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth (Genesis 1:1)?

The significance of Genesis 1:1 is well articulated by apologist Frank Turek in his book Stealing from God (NavPress, 2014). He asserts, “The greatest miracle in the Bible is the first verse: ‘In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.’ If that verse is true, then every other verse in the Bible is at least believable” (p. 187).

God’s act of shaping the world forms the basis for Christianity. If a Divine Being created this world, then that Being would be the center of our existence. Similar to how we create things for specific purposes, this Being would have had a reason behind making the world and humanity. Our main goal should be to discover the right revelation of this Being and align with His desires.

Many other Bible verses support the concept of God creating the world in the beginning. An example is Colossians 1:16, “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.” (Also see Psalm 33:6; Hebrews 11:3; John 1:3.)

The Bible takes Genesis 1:1 as an established fact, which aligns with the cosmological argument for God’s existence. By combining scientific facts and philosophical reasoning, one can reasonably conclude that the universe had a beginning and a cause. The cosmological argument can be summarized as follows:

  1. Everything that begins to exist has a cause.
  2. The universe began to exist.
  3. Therefore, the universe had a cause.

The first two statements are uncontroversial. Premise 1 is based on the law of causality, which states that every event has a cause. The second statement is supported by evidence such as the second law of thermodynamics, the expanding universe, and the big bang theory. Philosophers, both past and present, have also presented viewpoints for the universe’s beginning, with the kalam cosmological argument by William Lane Craig being a popular modern example.

The main point of contention lies with the third statement. Should we posit that God is the First Cause of the universe? Once again, we can draw insight from Frank Turek, who argues,

If space, time, and matter had a beginning, then the cause must transcend space, time, and matter. In other words, the cause must be spaceless, timeless, and immaterial. This cause also must be enormously powerful to create the universe out of nothing. And it must be a personal agent in order to choose to create, since an impersonal force has no capacity to choose to create anything. Agents create. Impersonal forces, which we call natural laws, merely govern what is already created, provided agents don’t interfere (ibid., p. 2).

The implausibility of something arising from nothing also lends support to the first verse of the Bible. If the universe is not eternal, then it either came out of nothing or was created by a self-existent Being called God. The latter is more reasonable, especially when considering other evidence such as fine tuning, objective morality and the irreducible complexity of cells.

Therefore, we can reasonably say that the first sentence of the Bible is true and that the Creator God aligns with the theistic worldview. The truthfulness of the statement that God created the heavens and the earth also makes miracles possible. Genesis 1:1 lays the foundation for other truths.