Great efforts are being made today even among Christians to substantiate the divine account of creation in Genesis 1, using principles of man’s science and wisdom. While true science will always support the Word of God, it is the height of arrogance for man to use his feeble wisdom as the standard by which he dares judge the Bible. We earnestly caution believers about man’s increasing efforts to use “science falsely so called” (1 Tim. 6:20) to validate or, worse yet, to seek to repudiate the Word of God.
Our glorious God who created the universe and this world needs no confirmation from man’s puny scientific knowledge. His majesty and eternal glory demand total subjection of mind and heart to all He has revealed in the Bible. We trust that the following article will be a help and an encouragement to our readers. Ed.
Introduction
God has not told us the age of this vast universe. He simply tells us that He created it. In Hebrews 11:3 we read, “Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.” In Genesis 1:1 we are told, “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.”
It is noticeable here that “the earth” (the planet on which we dwell) is singled out of the whole universe because it alone was to be inhabited, as we read in Isaiah 45:18, “Thus saith the Lord that created the heavens; God Himself that formed the earth and made it; He hath established it, He created it not in vain, He formed it to be inhabited.” It is the place where God was to display His character and ways. Genesis 1:1 is, if one may so speak, the beginning of “time,” as far as the universe is concerned, though God has not told us when this was.
The Ruin Between Genesis 1:1 and Genesis 1:2
In verse 2 we read, “And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep.” The words “without form” used in this verse are the same in the Hebrew as is translated “in vain” (tohuw) in Isaiah 45:18, quoted above. God has not told us how it got into the condition spoken of here, “without form and void,” nor how long was the time that elapsed between Genesis 1:1 and Genesis 1:2.
It is interesting and instructive to notice in Jeremiah 4:23 that the same expression “without form and void” is used prophetically to describe the earth after man has ruined it by his sin, as it was described before the six days when God made it a suitable place for man. We read there, “I beheld the earth, and, lo, it was without form, and void; and the heavens, and they had no light.” We see from these verses in God’s Word that there was a ruin between Genesis 1:1 and Genesis 1:2, and there will be another ruin as the result of man’s sin, as described in Jeremiah 4:23.
How good to know that last of all, and best of all, there will be “new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness” (2 Pet. 3:13). That will be the eternal earth (Rev. 21:16) with the second man, the last Adam (1 Cor. 15:45-47), the Lord Jesus Christ, God and man in one person, as the center of new creation.
God Revealed: Light, Love and Purpose
God’s purpose in the Bible is not to satisfy our curiosity with all the details of His creation, but to reveal Himself in all the glory and majesty of His person as light and love and to reveal His purpose in creation. We read of this in Ephesians 1:10: “That in the dispensation of the fullness of times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in Him.”
The Bible does not tell us when the angels were created, but Job 38:1-7 shows us they were there when the earth was created. Satan, the greatest of these created beings, is presented to us under the figure of the king of Tyrus in Ezekiel 28:11-19. He fell through pride (see also 1 Timothy 3:6) and other angels fell with him. He is the prince of the devils (Matt. 12:24-32; Rev. 12:9).
Life and Death Before Genesis 1:2
Between Genesis 1:1 and Genesis 1:2, there may have existed some forms of life, and though the Word of God is silent about this and about when the fall of Satan took place, we do know from the Scripture that he had access to the earth. Since “the wages of sin is death” (Rom. 6:23), he may have brought death into that original creation.
However, if God’s Word is silent in these matters, it is good for us to be careful not to make statements as facts which cannot be supported by the Word of God. “Thy word is truth” (John 17:17).
Some have a difficulty about the question of sin, because Romans 5:12 says, “Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin.” They believe, because of this verse, that there could not have been any forms of life or the death of such creatures before Adam’s sin. However, it is important to see how Scripture speaks. “The world” is spoken of as a system of things over which Adam, the first man (1 Cor. 15:45), was placed as head.
As to the physical earth or world as such, Satan brought a lie to Eve when he said, “Ye shall not surely die” (Gen. 3:4), and this was before Adam or Eve had sinned. However, it is surely true that Adam brought sin into the present system of things, called “the world” (1 Cor. 1:21), for he was the responsible head of that creation (Gen. 1:26; Psa. 115:16).
God’s Word and Science
All God has been pleased to tell us of the time between Genesis 1:1 and Genesis 1:2 is that (in verse 2) it was not in the condition in which He made it. If He wanted us to know more, He would have told us.
Another has said, “Never let the things we don’t know spoil the things we do know.” God has not made it necessary for us to appeal to the findings of science to prove the truth of His Word. “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works” (2 Tim. 3:16-17). There is no conflict between true science and the Bible. Any problem that seems to exist is “science falsely so called” (1 Tim. 6:20).
Six Days of Creation
The account that is given in Genesis 1:3-31 is to show us how in six days God, who has all power and wisdom, made the earth a suitable dwelling-place for man, arranging all for his good and happiness (Prov. 8:22-36). The universe had already been created in Genesis 1:1, and then in Genesis 1:2 we read, “Darkness was upon the face of the deep.”
Exodus 20:11 speaks of these six days using the word “made.” “In six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is.” On the first day He said, “Let there be light.” On the second, He made what He called “Heaven,” on the third day He made what He called “Earth,” and in the following days, “all that in them is.” Last, Adam (with his wife) is placed at the head of that creation, giving them just one command necessary for their good and blessing.
Glories Far Greater Than Creation
How wonderful that God has given us such a revelation! Even though man sinned against His Creator, His grace has provided for our blessing at so great a cost to Himself! “God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).
More than this, there are many glorious things revealed in the Bible. We read in 2 Peter 1:34, “According as His divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him that hath called us to glory and virtue: whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.”
Knowing Him As More Than Creator
We trust that each who read these lines has already come to the Lord Jesus as a guilty sinner, finding that His precious blood cleanses from all sin and that He imparts a new life. “The gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Rom. 6:23). Upon believing the gospel, He gives the Holy Spirit as the power needed to live pleasing to the One who died for us and rose again.
May each be encouraged to read the Bible not just to learn facts about such things as creation but to find, as you read it, the wisdom of God for your whole pathway learning where to find Christian fellowship, where to gather together according to His Word, assured that “if any man will do His will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of Myself” (John 7:17).
“Unto Him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in His own blood... to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen” (Rev. 1:56).
G. H. Hayhoe