The Beginning of the World (1)

Dr. Peter Masters

Setting aside evolution and affirming a literal six-day creation, this article focusses on the rich spiritual significance and the lessons of the order of events.

The first chapter of a new book on Genesis due to be published in 2015.

The book of Genesis is in every way the foundational book of the entire Bible. It is the supreme book of beginnings, chronicling the origin of the universe and the human race, the entry of sin into the world, and the launching of the history of redemption.

Many Christians do not know that all the great doctrines of the faith are introduced in this book, and portrayed in its pages.

This is in character a book of history, describing literal events. That is clearly how it presents its material, and how it expects to be understood. That is also how the rest of the Bible treats it. There is no human literature to equal the book of Genesis in depth and richness, explaining as it uniquely does the sinful human condition and situation.

Written by Moses, much of Genesis may have been drawn from pre-existing histories, compiled by inspired patriarchs of each generation, but if this is so, Moses would also have received a perfect revelation of all that took place. He did not have to sift and validate records like an uninspired historian. If they existed, he would have been moved by the Spirit to bring them together, and if necessary to correct them, by special inspiration.

In surveying the message of the opening chapters of Genesis, we will not give attention to the theory of evolution, or seek to demonstrate the scientific integrity of the biblical record. There are many books that do this very well, leaving us free to focus on the spiritual purpose and message. We certainly affirm that the Genesis record is literal, and not fictional, or analogical poetry.

The opening words are almost breathtaking for their dogmatic assertion of God. He is simply declared as the God who exists and rules over all. No attempt is made to justify belief in him. There could be no grander beginning, disregarding the insolence of mortal specks of dust who might demand a justification of God. The words, ‘In the beginning, God created…’ point in adoration and submission to the one true God, who pre-exists all material things, and is the Creator of all.

There was a beginning, we are told, when God brought everything into being out of nothing, and then created an ordered earth in stages. The point and message of these stages interests us considerably.

The first stage shows the earth without form and void. It appears to have been liquid mass, presumably containing suspended in it all the materials needed for the composition of the dry land, together with its biological decorations, and its creatures. At the very beginning it had no shape or form. Not that this indicated a disorganised mess, for ‘without form’ only refers to the absence of detailed features.

But why did God not bring the finished creation into being immediately, at a word, instantly forming dry land and seas, vegetation, hills and valleys? Why were there distinguishable stages of creation over six days?

In a way, a six-day creation is as good as an instantaneous creation, because only God could work so quickly. The unique and mighty power of God is just as fully demonstrated over six days, as in one. A creation period of six months may begin to suggest a limitation in God’s power, but a mere six days does not. But there is a reason to be sought for the elongated period.

One day there was a formless, inert, empty mass, lacking energy or movement. There was no character to it, and yet it would not be correct to say it was chaos in the modern sense of the word.¹ Though formless and inert, it was a latent treasure store, an untapped source of wonders, a masterpiece in waiting.

It is the theory of evolution that starts the world as a disorganised, confused mass and puts disorder, confusion and meaninglessness at the forefront of its process. But God began creation with a first stage like an artist’s canvas, prepared as the foundation of a most marvellous work. It is evolution that must conjure order out of chaos by a cataclysmic accident.

We come back to the question – Why did God start with the formless stage? Part of the answer is that in Genesis 1 we see God presenting himself as the incomparable divine craftsman, building something wonderful. He calls us to see and follow his work, and to marvel at each stage. If all had been done suddenly, it would certainly have been marvellous, but we would not be able to appreciate the details.

However, the supreme reason for a phased creation is that God is exhibiting the significance of man, showing that he was working to a grand conclusion. The steadily building picture shows God fashioning everything especially for mankind, who would be the pinnacle of creation; the end-point, the highest peak. The great tapestry of creation unfolds in stages to show how much God has done for mankind.

_____________________________________

1. When our forebears used the word ‘chaos’ they simply meant that it was a formless mass, but in modern times the word chaos has assumed another meaning, signifying a disordered and confused mess.