The Origin of Life and the Universe
Clarence E. Lunden
Table of Contents
Summary
God has been pleased to tell us a little of what was before His first act of creation. The eternal pre-creation glory gives us an insight into the communion and happiness found in His eternal presence, as well as into His eternal counsels concerning Christ and the Church.
The tremendous power manifested in the creation of the heavens, the earth, the vegetation, the inhabitants, as well as the accompanying glory, has been exceeded only by the mighty power and glory that raised Christ out from among the dead.
And what is the exceeding greatness of His power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of His mighty power, which He wrought in Christ, when He raised Him [out] from [among] the dead and set Him at His own right hand in the heavenly places. Eph. 1:19,20.
There must be faith or there can be no understanding of God’s creation or His ways. “Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” Rom. 10:17.
In speaking of the creation, the psalmist opens with an outburst of praise and honor to God (Psa. 104:1). Then the different parts of creation are given in order. The creation of the angels preceded the creation of the earth. The earth was a new, special creation after all of the other heavenly bodies were created. In the earth God’s ways are now being manifested — redemption and the preparation of man for an eternal glory in which God Himself dwells. In God’s counsels, His “delights were with the sons of men.”
God’s and man’s arch enemy, Satan, was seen early on the scene of creation to seek to frustrate God’s purposes. Perhaps the “mystery of God” (Rev. 10:7), which will be finished at the time spoken of in Revelation 11:15, began when Satan fell. It seems to be a mystery that God will allow evil to continue until nearly the time that the Lord Jesus takes His rightful place and binds Satan to destroy him later. Perhaps there is a mystery because it is very difficult for man to discern both God’s actions and Satan’s efforts to withstand them; evil will mature and be judged.
Although the earth was originally formed to be inhabited, after the creation something unrecorded happened. The result left the earth without form and empty, perhaps for centuries. We are not told how long. While the sea was covered with a swaddling band of darkness and clouds, God commanded the waters to recede. The mountains were out of the water and the valleys were formed as God gave command for the waters to remain in their boundaries.
The Spirit of God moved over the waters, and God called for light, not light from the sun, for the sun was put in its place on the fourth day. The present earth was formed during six literal days of 24 hours each and needs little explanation; in them God made creatures of every kind. He made man after His image and likeness and gave him dominion over the earth and every living thing.
While we see the glory and power of God in the present creation, we know it has been spoiled by sin and we look for the new creation when present things will have passed away and all things will become new.
Pre-Creation Glory
Before creation there was life only in the three persons of the Godhead: the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
Eternal Counsels: Christ and the Church
In Proverbs 8 we are given some of the thoughts of the Son of God before creation:
The Lord possessed Me in the beginning of His way, before His works of old. I was set up from everlasting, from the beginning, or ever the earth was. When there were no depths, I was brought forth; when there were no fountains abounding with water. Before the mountains were settled, before the hills was I brought forth: while as yet He had not made the earth, nor the fields, nor the highest part of the dust of the world. When He prepared the heavens, I was there: when He set a compass upon the face of the depth: when He established the clouds above; when He strengthened the fountains of the deep; when He gave to the sea his decree, that the waters should not pass His commandment: when He appointed the foundations of the earth: then I was by Him, as one brought up with Him; and I was daily His delight, rejoicing always before Him; rejoicing in the habitable part of His earth; and My delights were with the sons of men. Prov. 8:22-31.
Understanding Creation
The key to understanding creation or any of God’s works or words is faith.
Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which do appear. Heb. 11:3.
The Creation of the Universe
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Gen. 1:1 JND.
Bless the Lord, O my soul. O Lord my God, Thou art very great; Thou art clothed with honor and majesty: who coverest Thyself with light as with a garment; who stretchest out the heavens like a curtain; who layeth the beams of His chambers in the waters; who maketh the clouds His chariot; who walketh upon the wings of the wind. Psalm 104:1-3.
Who hath measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and meted out heaven with the span, and comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance? Isaiah 40:12.
Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who hath created these things, that bringeth out their host by number: he calleth them all by names, by the greatness of His might, for that He is strong in power; not one faileth. Isaiah 40:26.
Angels
Who maketh His angels spirits; His ministers a flaming fire. Psalm 104:4.
These angels in serving God serve His people, as well (Heb. 1:14).
Who laid the foundations of the earth, that it should not be removed for ever. Psalm 104:5.
The angels were created before the creation of the earth as seen in the following verses:
Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? declare, if thou hast understanding. Who hath laid the measures thereof, if thou knowest? or who hath stretched the line upon it? Whereupon are the foundations thereof fastened? or who laid the corner stone thereof, when the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy? Job 38:4-7.
(In the Old Testament “the sons of God” are angels.)
Satan
Satan was in the highest position among the angels and the most intelligent. In the following, God speaks of Satan’s place and his fall in symbolic language.
Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created. Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire. Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee. By the multitude of thy merchandise they have filled the midst of thee with violence, and thou hast sinned: therefore I will cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God: and I will destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire. Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty; thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness: I will cast thee to the ground, I will lay thee before kings, that they may behold thee. Ezek. 28:13-17.
Formed to Be Inhabited
For 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 [not as a waste did He create it (JND)]. He formed it to be inhabited: I am the Lord; and there is none else. Isa. 45:18.
Water Covers the Earth
Or who shut up the sea with doors, when it brake forth, as if it had issued out of the womb? When I made the cloud the garment thereof, and thick darkness a swaddling band for it, and brake up for it my decreed place [boundary], and set bars and doors, and said, Hitherto shalt thou come, but no further; and here shall thy proud waves be stayed? Job 38:8-11.
Thou coveredst it with the deep as with a garment: the waters stood above the mountains. At Thy rebuke they fled; at the voice of Thy thunder they hasted away. They go up by the mountains; they go down by the valleys unto the place which Thou hast founded for them. [The mountains rose, the valleys sank, unto the place which Thou hast founded for them (JND).]
Thou hast set a bound that they may not pass over, that they turn not again to cover the earth. Psa. 104:6-9.
Earth Without Form - Empty
And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep, and the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. (KJV)
And the earth was waste and empty, and darkness was on the face of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. (JND)
Light
And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness. And God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.
Heavens
And God said, Let there be a firmament [expanse (JND)] in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters. And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so. And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day.
Dry Land and Seas
And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so. And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called He Seas: and God saw that it was good.
Grass, Herbs and Fruit Trees
And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so. And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good. And the evening and the morning were the third day.
Sun, Moon and Stars
And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven, to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years: and let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven, to give light upon the earth: and it was so. And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: He made the stars also. And God set them in the firmament of the heaven, to give light upon the earth, and to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that it was good. And the evening and the morning were the fourth day. Gen. 1:2-19.
Animals
(Thou sendest forth Thy spirit, they are created; and Thou renewest the face of the earth. Psa. 104:30 JND.)
And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven. And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good. And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas; and let fowl multiply in the earth. And the evening and the morning were the fifth day. And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so. And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good. Gen. 1:20-25.
Creation of Man
And God said, Let us make man in Our image, after Our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. So God created man in His own image, in the image of God created He him; male and female created He them. And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish [fill (JND)] the earth, and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth. And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat. And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so. And God saw every thing that He had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day. Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them.
Rest
And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had made; and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had made. And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it; because that in it He had rested from all His work which God created and made. These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens, and every plant of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew: for the Lord God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was not a man to till the ground. But there went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground. Gen. 1:26-31; Gen. 2:1-6.
New Creation
While there was glory and honor in the physical creation, yet what greater glory has been manifested in the new creation (John 12:28) when Christ gave Himself as a sacrifice of a sweet-smelling savor to God. Marvelous as the first creation is, we look on to the “creation of God” (Rev. 3:14), a creation not only good, like the first, but a creation where “all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to Himself by Jesus Christ.” 2 Cor. 5:18.
And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God, out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself shall be with them, and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. And He that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And He said unto me, Write; for these words are true and faithful. And He said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely. He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be My son. Rev. 21:17.
Woe unto him that striveth with his Maker! Let the potsherd strive with the potsherds of the earth. Shall the clay say to him that fashioneth it, What makest thou? Isaiah 45:9.
Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness. 2 Peter 3:13.
Sirs, what must I do to be saved? And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house. Acts 16:30,31.
O God, how wide Thy glory shines,
How high Thy wonders rise!
Known through the earth by thousand signs,
By thousands through the skies.
Those mighty orbs proclaim Thy power,
Their motions speak Thy skill:
And on the wings of every hour,
We read Thy patience still.
Part of Thy name divinely stands
On every work impressed;
Each is the labor of Thy hands,
By each Thy power’s confessed.
But when we view Thy strange design
To save rebellious worms,
Where vengeance and compassion join
In their divinest forms:
Here Thy bright character is known,
Nor dares a creature guess
Which of the glories brighter shone —
The justice or the grace.
Now the full glories of the Lamb
Adorn the heavenly throne,
While saints on earth that know His name,
Their Lord and Saviour own.
How blest are we, who have a part
In the immortal song;
Wonder and joy become our heart,
And praise and thanks, our tongue.
Little Flock #335
The Origin of Life and the Universe
Pre-creation glory
Eternal counsels — Christ and the Church
The creation of the universe
Creation of angels and Satan
Creation of the earth
Earth without form — empty
Light
Seas
Heavens
Dry land appears — waters recede
The present creation
The new creation