Jesus in Genesis
Genesis Chapter 1 - Creation and Restoration
· Genesis 1:1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
It would be correct to say that this is all that is said about the original creation. Nothing is said that would enable us to know the date of the original creation, or about the appearance of the heavens and the earth or the inhabitants; little is said about the method used to create the heavens and the earth or about the Creator. We don’t know whether the primitive heavens and earth were created a few thousand years ago or many millions of years ago. We will not get ourselves bogged down in a debate on these issues at this time. The bare fact is that: In the beginning God created and nothing is added to satisfy the curious mind.
“In the beginning God created.” The word “created” is a translation of the Hebrew word “bara”. It precludes the use of existing material---God created something out of nothing.
· Hebrews 11:3, By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was made out of what was invisible.
God spoke existence out of non- existence. He spoke material out of immaterial. He spoke, and His speech became earth, planets, stars, water, beasts and man.
No evidence is presented to prove the existence of God: instead, His existence is affirmed as a fact to be believed. This opening sentence of the Bible repudiates atheism, for it assumes as true the existence of God. It refutes materialism, for it distinguishes between God and His material creation. It abolishes pantheism, for it logically necessitates a personal God.
“In the beginning God created,” tells us that He was Himself BEFORE the beginning, and therefore, Eternal. This first phrase also tells us that He is a personal being, because an abstraction, an impersonal “first cause” could not create. The first sentence of the Bible also argues that God is infinite and omnipotent, because no finite being possesses the power to create and none but an Omnipotent Being could create the heavens and the earth.
“In the beginning God.” This is the foundational truth of all real theology. It is the ignoring of this that is the basic error of all human schemes. We must begin with God in all of our thinking and work down to man. It therefore follows that the heavens and the earth were worthy of Him who created them and we might, or must, wonder if on the morning of their creation, weren’t they vastly different from the chaotic state described in Genesis 1:2. (At this point I must tell you that there is great debate over the interpretation of verse 2, but there does seem to be a certain logic to the position that I am now going to describe.)
· 1:2 Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.
One must wonder if God really created the heavens and the earth without form and void. Many believe that the word “was” in verse two is incorrectly interpreted and should be interpreted “became”. Well what could have happened to cause God’s original creation of the earth to become formless and void? It would have taken some great catastrophe. Those who take this position believe that that catastrophe was the rebellion of Satan. Partial support for this position (that the earth was not created void) is found in Isaiah 45:18, For this is what the Lord says---he who created the heavens, He is God; He who fashioned and made the earth, He founded it; but He did not create it to be empty, but formed it to be inhabited.
The rest of Genesis 1 refers not to the primitive creation but to the restoration of that which had fallen into ruins. So the reasoning goes that Genesis 1:1 speaks of the original creation; Genesis 1:2 describes the condition of the earth before the six days that are to be soon described. If this interpretation of these two verses is correct, then we must say that we have no idea of what remote point in time 1:1 takes us or how long an interval passed before the earth “became” a ruin. We have no way of knowing. But if the beliefs of geologists and others were able to be proved, there would be no conflict between the findings of science and the teachings of Scripture regarding the age of the earth. The unknown interval between 1:1 and 1:2 could be wide enough to embrace all prehistoric ages. But it is my belief that all that which took place from Genesis 1:3 onward took place less than six thousand years ago.
The other side of the creation debate is that there was no time interval between verses one and two. In one respect I must say that it may not make a lot of difference to you and me whether there is an interval or not. But in another sense which I will shortly describe, it does make a difference.
I guess that this is a good time to alert you, or warn you, that it will be very easy and even enticing to believe right away that the types that I am going to describe are going well beyond what the Holy Spirit intends and that we are “spiritualizing” the text. Your patience will serve you well if you will look at the picture of types as they unfold and then conclude if these are all just coincidences.
Verse one tells us that God, in the beginning, created the heavens and the earth. Now the very first act of creation that we are told of requires that we ask ourselves a question: Can we believe that these creations in verse one were worthy of God Himself, that they reflected the perfections of their Maker, that they were created with a pristine beauty? We will see later that God created all things good and some things very good. Is it possible that He created the heavens and the earth in the chaotic condition of verse two?
· Genesis 1:2 Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.
Tohu and Bohu are the two words that are used here and interpreted confusion and emptiness. It was shapeless and useless. We should not deny that God could have originally created things like this. BUT IN THIS WHOLE STUDY I WOULD LIKE FOR YOU TO BEGIN TO SEE HOW EVERYTHING THAT GOD DOES HAS RELEVANCE TO LATER EVENTS. NOT ONLY WHAT HE DOES BUT HOW HE DOES IT. In these stories there is a spiritual message for us. We will call these spiritual messages typology.
What we will find in the rest of Genesis refers not to the primitive creation but to the restoration of that which had fallen into ruins. So Genesis 1:1 speaks of the original creation and Genesis 1:2 describes the condition of the earth six days before the creation of Adam.
I want to digress a bit and share some interesting things about Genesis chapter one. In 1:1 a single verse speaks of the original creation. In 1:2 the chaotic condition of creation is described. In less than thirty verses more we are told of the six days of creation during which all that was made was made. When contrasted with the formulae of scientists, the secular laws of man, the verbose writings of literature, the uniqueness of this Divine Creation and Restoration are unrivalled.
Notice that in the six days of creation, ten times God said, “let there be”. (vv.3, 6, 9, 11, 14, 14, 20, 24, 26 & 30). In Hebrew there are just seven words in the opening verse of ch.1 and these are composed of twenty-eight letters, which is 7x4. Seven is the number of perfection and four of creation.
There were seven stages of restoring the earth:
· the activity of the Holy Spirit (1:2)
· the calling of light into existence (1:3)
· the making of the firmament (1:6-9)
· the clothing of the earth with vegetation (1:11)
· making/arranging of the heavenly bodies (1:14-18)
· storing of the waters (1:20-21)
· stocking of the earth (1:24)
The word “good” is used seven times indicating the perfection of God’s handiwork. (VV.4, 10, 12, 18, 21, 25, 31). The word “made” is found seven times in this section. The word “Heaven” is mentioned seven times in this chapter (vv. 1, 8, 9, 14, 15, 17, 20).
Now for the types illustrated here:
· Genesis 1:1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
· The original creation was vastly different from the state we observe in verse two.
· There were no groans of suffering to mar the harmony.
· There was no corruption to defile the perfection of God.
· There was no rebel to challenge the supremacy of God.
· God reigned supreme with no rival. All was very good.
So too, in the beginning of the world’s history:
· Man was created perfect in the image of God.
· He was without any problems to mar his environment.
· There was no sin in him or the world.
· He lived in perfect harmony with God.
· He walked and talked with God.
· Genesis 1:2 Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.
Some terrible catastrophe must have occurred. That which was perfect became a ruin, chaotic, dark. A primitive earth, created by God “in the beginning” became a ruin. No less tragic was that which happened to the first man. Like the original earth before him, Adam did not remain in his originally created perfect condition. He became evil and was in spiritual darkness. God did not abandon the primitive earth which had become a ruin. Why should He condescend to notice that which was now a desolate waste?
But here is where sovereign mercy intervened. God had gracious designs toward this formless void. He planned to resurrect it and restore it. And the first thing we read in bringing about this was that the Spirit was hovering over the waters. There was a movement of the Holy Spirit. How could the earth resurrect itself? How could darkness change itself into life? The ruined creation was helpless.
The type holds true in the spiritual realm. Fallen man had rebelled against his Maker. But God had designs of grace toward him to bring about a “new creation”. The first thing in bringing about restoration was the activity of the Holy Spirit. Fallen man in himself was as helpless as the fallen and ruined earth. Since man was fallen due to rebellion (sin) against God, payment for the sin debt had to be paid for the Holy Spirit to be able to move over the fallen individual. And that payment was the perfect sacrifice of Jesus. Jesus said, “Search the Scriptures for they are they which testify of Me. “In every part of the Bible we will find allusions, types or analogies referring to Jesus.
In the first chapter of Genesis we see in the creation story a type of the need for redemption. In the first four days of God’s creative work we will see typically pictured the Incarnation, Death, Resurrection and Ascension of Jesus.
The First Day
· Genesis 1:3 And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. God saw that the light was good.
The initial step in the work of human redemption must be the Incarnation of Deity. The Word must become flesh. God Himself must come down to the presence of fallen humanity. The Son of God must take on Himself the form of a servant and be made in the likeness of men!!!!
First there was the activity of the Holy Spirit over the waters and then there was the spoken Word. No less than ten times in the first chapter do we read “and God said.” Here we see that God plainly intended to work out His plan by speaking. The first thing God said was “Let there be light”, and immediately we read, “And there was light.” This light was produced by God’s Word.
It does not take a great deal of imagination to see the type here. The activity of the Holy Spirit and the ministry of the Word of God are inseparably joined together. John 1:1 says, In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. It is by the working of these two persons, The Spirit and The Son that man becomes a new creation. The first step in this new creation is for there to be light coming into the darkness of the fallen creature’s life. He is unable to see his need for a savior because he is in spiritual darkness. Light comes to the sinner through the Word applied by the Spirit.
· Psalm 119:130, The unfolding of your words gives light.
Just as the shining of the light in Genesis 1 showed the desolation upon which it shone, so the entrance of God’s Word into the human heart reveals the darkness of sin.
· Genesis 1:3 .and He separated the light from the darkness. God called the light “day” and the darkness He called “night.”
These words need no explanation as they apply to the first day of God’s creative work.
· 1 Thessalonians 1:23, “May God Himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ”.
It has been said that the spirit is capable of God-consciousness; the soul is the seat of self-consciousness; and the body of sense-consciousness. In the day that Adam sinned, he died spiritually. Physical death is the separation of the spirit from the body; spiritual death is separation of the spirit from God. His spirit fell to the level of the soul, and the soul being the seat of self-consciousness, he was separated from God. Now notice God’s word in Hebrews 4:12, “For the Word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow….”
God’s dividing the light from the darkness tells us that this happened as God spoke it into existence. Typically, likewise, His Word, sharp as it is, penetrates the human heart and reaches the spirit. Remember it is our spirit that is capable of communicating with God.
The Second Day
· Genesis 1:6-8 And God said, “ Let there be an expanse between the waters to separate the waters from the waters.” So God made the expanse and separated the water under the expanse from the water above it. And it was so. God called the expanse “sky.”
In the second days work the second step in the accomplishment of human redemption is typically shown. The prominent thing in this second day is division and separation, the death of Jesus. Here on the second day of God’s creative activity we see an interesting phrase for the first time, we read that “God made” something. This was the formation of the heaven, the firmament, and the sky. You see, there is a difference between “creating” and “making.” He created “ex nihilo”, out of nothing. But once He had created, He then took the material He had created and “made” something.
That which corresponds to this in the new creation, is the imparting of the new nature. Regeneration is not the improvement of the flesh, or the cultivation of the old nature; it is the receiving of an altogether new nature, a changed nature. Just as God said, “Let there be an expanse (firmament), and it was produced by His Word, so it is by the written Word of God that the new birth is produced.
Think simultaneously of creation and redemption:
· First, there is the work of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit moved over the waters of the deep. And the Holy Spirit came upon Mary and Jesus was conceived.
· Second, the word comes forward as light. God spoke and there was light. Jesus was and is the Light of the world.
· Third, the light was approved by God. God saw that it was good. God said of Jesus, the light of the world, “This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.”
· Fourth, The light was separated from the darkness. The Light of the world was separated from the darkness of the world in that He was sinless. Though He shared our humanity, He did not share our depravity.
· Fifth, the light was named by God. It was not left to Mary and Joseph to name their child. An angel from God was sent to Joseph and told him to name the child Jesus.
The Incarnation itself would not meet our need for redemption. John 12:24, “I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies it produces many seeds.” The Lamb of God must be slain.
The firmament, or sky, that was created by the dividing of the waters is a type of the cross. Remember that the firmament was set in the midst of the waters, those above and those below. It is well known among Bible students that in Scripture “waters” symbolizes “peoples” or “nations.” So the typical application tells us, let there be a cross in the midst of the peoples. And the cross has certainly divided the peoples of the world. Now think about it; do you suppose it was just a coincidence that the cross of Jesus separated the believing thief from the unrepentant thief?
And finally, it temporarily separated Jesus from His Father.
· Genesis 1:9-11 And God said, “ Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear.” And it was so. God called the dry ground “Land” and the gathered waters He called “seas.” And God saw that it was good. Then God said, “Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds. And it was so.
The earth (land) was raised out of the waters and then it was clothed with vegetation. Where there was only desolation before, life and fertility now appeared. So it is with regeneration. The one who was dead in his sins, has been fitted to bring fruit to the glory of God. It is by the Word (Jesus) that we are fitted for this fruit bearing.
The Third Day
In the third day’s work Jesus’ resurrection is typically pictured. The third thing necessary in the accomplishment of the work of redemption was the resurrection of the crucified One. A dead Savior could not save anyone. The Scripture says that on the third day of creation the land appeared. Previously it had been submerged but now it not only rises out of the waters, but vegetation appears. No life had existed before, but now the earth is commanded to produce vegetation (life). This happened not on the second day or the fourth day, but on the third day. What a perfect picture of the Resurrection of Jesus on the third day as he came alive, according to the Scriptures. What Scriptures? Well for starters, the verses 9 through 12 of chapter 1 of Genesis, where we have the typical picture of His resurrection, for those who have ears to hear.
The Fourth Day
The resurrection did not complete Jesus’ redemptive work. For that He must enter the heavenly place where He becomes our advocate with the Father.
· Genesis 1:14-19 And God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark seasons and days and years, and let them be lights in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth.” And it was so.
God made two great lights---the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars. God set them in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth, to govern the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the fourth day.
In the fourth day’s work our attention is drawn from the earth to heaven. As we look skyward, we see two great lights, typically, Jesus and His people. This is not easy to grasp at first, but consider this: The sun speaks of “the Sun of Righteousness (Malachi 4:2), and the moon tells of Israel and the church (Rev. 12:1). The idea here is that the moon borrows its light from the sun and reflects that light. Both are supposed to give light to the earth and they are to rule over the day and the night. So it is with Jesus and His people. During this present age of darkness, the world’s night, Jesus and His people are the light of the world, but during the Millennium they will rule and reign over the earth.
So in the first four days of creation in Genesis 1, we have foreshadowed the four great stages in the accomplishment of the work of Redemption. The Incarnation, the Death, the Resurrection, and the Ascension of Jesus are shown in types.
God completed His creative work on the remaining two days by creating living creatures, the crowning of which was the creation of man. Man was created perfect which prefigures the advent of the perfect Jesus who came in the likeness of man.