Creation Ex Nihilo (Genesis Chapter One - Part 1)

Thank you for listening to this message from the ministry of Morse Corner Church in Leverett, Massachusetts. Morse Corner is a non-denominational church that is committed to the preaching and teaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Our church was founded in 1896 by two students of the famous evangelist D .L. Moody. We seek to encourage and edify the body of Christ through the proclamation of God's word through the ministries of the local church.

If you'd like more information, visit our website morsecornerchurch .com. We hope you enjoy the message. So Genesis chapter 1, and the title of this message is In the Beginning. You probably know how the Bible begins.

The Beginning of Genesis and the Existence of God

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. And of course, the word Genesis means beginnings, or it's the book of origins. And, you know, it's just interesting how it starts out. In the beginning, God.

In the beginning, God. There's no explanation. The idea of a creator is not defended. There are no elaborate arguments trying to prove God and his existence. Rather, the existence of God is just assumed.

It's obvious. And, you know, it's been obvious to man from the beginning that there is a God, that he is the eternal creator, and that he is all-powerful. And this is the record he has given of his creation.

Prayer and Reading from Genesis 1

So before we begin reading, let's open in a word of prayer. Lord, we thank you for your goodness, and we thank you for your mercy. We thank you that the heavens themselves declare your glory. As your word says, the firmament shows your handiwork.

And, Lord, when we consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars which you have ordained, what is man that you are mindful of him? And the son of man, that you visit him. For you have made him a little lower than the angels, and you have crowned him with glory and honor.

Lord, we ask that you would teach us this morning through your word and spirit, I pray. It's in Jesus' name.

Amen.

Amen.

Genesis chapter 1, go ahead and look at it. We'll read verses 1 through 5. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. And the earth was without form and void. And darkness was on the face of the deep.

And the spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. Then 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.

God called the light day. And the darkness he called night. So the evening and the morning were the first day. So logically, everything has a beginning, right? Everything has a beginning. Well, except the one who created in the beginning.

In fact, the Lord tells us in the book of Revelation, he says, I am the beginning. I am the alpha and the omega. I am the beginning and the end. So we know that this world and this universe, everybody recognizes this, that this world, this universe had a beginning.

Also, it's logical that if something exists now, that means something must have always existed. This is pretty basic stuff, I think. And that something that has always existed or that someone is God. You know, I would say there was a time when the only thing or being that existed was God.

I don't know that that's accurate because even time itself seems to be a creation or part of the creation. You know, when we think of eternal things, we're stuck in time and space. We really can't comprehend anything outside of that.

We don't know anything else. The scripture tells us in Isaiah 57, verse 15, that God, the high and lofty one, he inhabits eternity. Now, since the scripture doesn't find it necessary to defend God's existence, I don't really feel compelled to do it either.

Except to say that the Bible is clear, all men know there is a God. You've heard and you know people who profess to be atheists, right? And they say, no, there is no God. We don't believe in God. Well, I don't believe in atheists, personally.

I think they know full well there is a God. Romans chapter 1, verse 20 says, for since the creation of the world, his invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made.

That's mankind. Even his eternal power and Godhead, so that they, us, are without excuse. But because man doesn't want God telling him what to do, man has that knowledge, but he suppresses that knowledge.

Creation Ex Nihilo and the Trinity

Now, it's an important thing to understand. And if you take notes, write this down. The scripture teaches that God created, the technical term is ex nihilo. Okay, ex nihilo. That means that God created everything essentially out of nothing.

So there was a time, you say, only God existed, but then he created everything out of nothing. He didn't take matter that already existed and shape and mold that into what we have now. No, God created out of nothing, and God created, don't miss this, God created simply by speaking the word.

God created by speaking the word. The New Testament book of John, which we just heard some of the verses through the responsive reading, it tells the story of Christ Jesus. And the apostle John begins his gospel much in the same way, well, exactly the same way as Genesis starts, right?

What did John say? In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God. What is the word, or who is the word?

Who knows?

Right, it's a title for Jesus Christ. So the word was with God, and the word, Jesus, was God. He was in the beginning with God, and all things were made through him, and without him, nothing was made that was made.

And then verse 14 says, the word became flesh and dwelt among us. And we beheld his glory, the glory of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. So imagine this, if you can. In the beginning was God the Father, God the Son, the word, and God the Holy Spirit.

And we see God the Holy Spirit in Genesis chapter 1, look at verse 2. It says the Spirit of God, which is the Holy Spirit of God, he was hovering over the face of the waters. So it is the triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, all three were involved in the creation.

Why God Created the World

Now why did God create all things? We can talk about what the Bible says, and teach the doctrine. But the question that people have often times that's a little more difficult is why? Why does God do what he does?

Why did God create all things? Well, I think we get a biblical answer in Revelation 4 verse 11. It says, thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory, and honor, and power. For thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.

Why did God create? Really, he created for his own glory according to his own good pleasure. And within the Godhead, how many members in the Godhead?

Three.

Because there are three members in the Godhead, there is a relationship within the Godhead. So because of that, God is a God who cares about relationships. So he created man in his own image. And God desires fellowship with man.

Don't you know that God desires to have fellowship with you? God desires to have a relationship with every man, woman, and child. And really that's what the Bible is all about. God creates man in the garden.

God has fellowship with man. Man sins, that fellowship is broken. And then the whole message of scripture is the Lord restoring that fellowship. So the Bible is one big redemption story. And everybody loves a redemption story.

But as you read through the first chapter of the Bible, after the Lord creates, and you would see this, and I would encourage you this week, you know, read the first few chapters of Genesis and acquaint yourself with it.

When God would create, he would declare a blessing. He would say, and it was good. He would look at what he created, and it was good. The first time God, along the same lines of how he cares about relationships, the first time God said something was not good, what was it?

He said, it is not good that the man should be alone. So relationship and fellowship is key. So in the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. But then notice the earth and everything he created, it was void.

It was void and without form, and everything was dark. I think it's necessary to spend a moment or two on this. Because in modern times, who knows what the gap theory is? Raise your hand if you know what the gap theory is.

You've at least heard of it.

Okay.

Rejecting the Gap Theory and Defending a Literal Creation Week

In modern times, what people have done is they've tried to make the Bible fit. Because if you go to school, you go to university, you're going to be taught that the earth, you know, the Big Bang Theory, the universe is 15 billion years old, the earth is four to six billion years old, and all of that.

And that obviously doesn't jive with the Bible, right? So people, in order to make the Bible fit with atheistic ideas, some people have proposed the gap theory. So the idea is that in between Genesis 1, 1 and verse 2, there is this gap.

Maybe billions of years went by in this gap. Well, does it say anything about that? Is that recorded in the Bible? And notice it's the gap theory. Notice that word, theory. It's the gap theory. I know they teach evolution as a fact, but evolution is what?

It's a theory. Well, I have a theory for you. How about you just believe God's word and take it at face value? How about that? Well, I guess that's not really a theory, is it? But it's good advice, because it's called faith.

But the gap theory, this idea that some have proposed, that there's billions of years in between verse 1 and verse 2, that kind of helps, they think, fit the Bible with so-called science. And, of course, we believe in science, but we don't believe this theory.

Well, the Bible doesn't say anything about this. In fact, Exodus chapter 20, verse 11 says, For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, and the sea, and all that is in them. And He rested on the seventh day.

That's what the Bible says. So scripture teaches no such thing in terms of the gap theory. It was created in modern times, again, in an attempt, and it may have been well-meaning by some people, but it's trying to blend, really, atheistic science with scripture.

I know most of you know this, but evolution is not science. Evolution, the Big Bang, it's not science. Nobody was there to observe it. You cannot test it. It is not science. There's an agenda behind this, right?

There's an agenda. I think we understand that. What's the agenda? To push God off of His throne so that man can sit on the throne. That's the agenda. So the earth is not 4 to 6 billion years old. According to the Bible, the earth is about 6 ,000 years old, maybe 10 ,000 at the very most.

So how do you know that? Well, if you take the six days of creation, Adam was created on what day? Day six. And we know how many years Adam lived. And then we have the genealogy. So it's, you know, you add it up.

It's simple math that the earth is about 6 ,000 years old. Now, the reason why the atheists and the agnostics have gone at this idea of attacking the literalness of Genesis 1, 2, and 3, they've gone after it so hard because they know if they can shake someone's faith in the first few chapters of the Bible, then the rest of it is pretty easy.

I mean, if you can't take the first few chapters of Genesis literally, and you know how people don't take the book of Revelation literally, if the beginning isn't literal, and the end isn't literal, maybe everything in between isn't literal.

So we're not ignorant of his devices. This is a satanic attack on the word of God. Now, don't get me wrong. I'm not saying a person's salvation, I don't mean to imply that anyone's salvation hinges on their view of a literal six-day creation.

But if, yeah, if you're willing to kind of bend on that, that's a danger that you might be bending on some other things later on. Thanks for listening. I'm Pastor Michael Grant from Morris Cornick Church.

If you'd like to listen to the complete message, or if you'd like more information about the ministry, visit our website, morriscornickchurch .com. And we'd love to have you join us some Sunday morning here in Leverett.

Until next time, may the grace of God be with you.