Eternity to Eternity 01 Genesis 1:1 — Joseph Balsan

Creation and the First Day of Light

Shall we turn to Genesis chapter one? Genesis chapter one, and the first verse of Genesis chapter one. In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth, 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, 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.

The Light of the Glorious Gospel

Now to the New Testament, second Corinthians chapter four. Second Corinthians chapter four, and verse three. Second Corinthians four, verse three. But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost, in whom the God of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.

For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord, and ourselves your servants for Jesus' sake. For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. And then the twelfth chapter of John, John chapter 12, and verse 31.

Christ Draws All People to Himself

John 12, and verse 31. Now is the judgment of this world. Now shall the prince of this world be cast out, and I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me. This he said, signifying what death he should die.

The people answered him, We have heard out of the law that Christ abideth forever. And how sayest thou the Son of Man must be lifted up? Who is this Son of Man? Then said Jesus unto them, Yet a little while is the light with you.

Walk while ye have the light, lest darkness come upon you. For he that walketh in darkness knoweth not whither he goeth. While ye have light, believe in the light, that ye may be the children of light.

These things spake Jesus, and departed, and did hide himself from them. May the Lord bless to us the reading of his word. Shall we look to the Lord in prayer? Our gracious God and Father, we desire to thank you this evening for the privilege we have of coming together to listen to thy precious word.

We thank you that thou hast not left us in darkness as to the past, as to the present, or as to the future. We thank you that thou hast revealed all these things in thy precious word, and thou dost make them known to us through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

We thank thee for everyone in this audience this evening who knows him as Lord and Savior. We know that such are the children of light, and we pray that we might be blessed and build up on our most holy faith as a result of listening to thy word.

We pray for any amongst us who are still unsaved in darkness, knowing not whither they are going. We pray that thou wilt speak to them tonight, that they might see the light of the world, the Lord Jesus, and return to him.

Give help, then, in speaking thy word. We realize that it is only by thy spirit that we can so speak that souls will be helped, and souls will be led to the lead. Pour out upon us a blessing, and to thee we'll give thanks and praise, since we ask it in the name of the Lord Jesus.

Amen. Now, you notice that the chart that is before me is entitled, The Course of Time from Eternity to Eternity, and it is taken, of course, from the first chapter of Genesis and the first part of the second chapter, where we have brought before us the account of God's creation and restoration of the heavens and the earth.

The Six Days as Reformation of the Earth

Now, I realize that oftentimes people speak of the first chapter of Genesis as the account of the six days of creation, but really and truly, when we turn to these six days, we find that on only three of the days did God create anything.

In the other three days, as well as in the three days in which there were things created, it is said that God made, or God formed, so that rightfully we cannot speak of the six days as being six days of creation, but really and truly we could speak of them as days when God remade or reformed the earth for man to dwell upon it.

This chart, of course, is taken on the premise that we have in Acts 15. Let us turn for a moment to Acts chapter 15. Here we have brought before us an account of the first and only church council that we read about in the word of God.

In the 13th verse of the 15th chapter of Acts, it says,. And after they had held their peace, James answered, saying, Men and brethren, hearken unto me. Simeon hath declared how God at the first did visit the Gentiles to take out of them a people for his name, and to disagree the words of the prophets, as it is written, After this I will return, and will build again the tabernacle of David which is fallen down, and will build again the ruins thereof, and I will set it up, that the residue of men might seek after the Lord, and all the Gentiles upon whom my name is called, saith the who doeth all these things.

And then note the 18th verse. Known unto God are all his works from the beginning of the world. Known unto God are all his works from the beginning of the world, and the events that took place on these six days, six days which we believe are days of 24 hours each, the things that took place on those six days, they foreshadow for us the six ages of human history in which God is dealing with men, and God is definitely bringing about the fulfillment of the great purpose which he had in mind before the world ever began.

Time Within Eternity

You notice this chart is called a chart on the course of time from eternity to eternity. You notice that we have two blue spheres, one at the beginning, and the other, or two great spheres, one at the beginning, and the other at the end of the chart, and these two spheres they picture for us eternity, because really friends, eternity is without beginning and without end.

Sometimes people speak of the past eternity and the future eternity, but really and truly there is no such thing as the past eternity and the future eternity, because eternity is like a vast sea. You know, when you're on a boat in the ocean, no matter where you look, you see nothing but the horizon of the sea, and if you were on a little island, someone has likened it to being on a little island of six miles width, and you come out of the sea onto that little island, walk across that little island of six miles length, and once more you step out into the sea.

That is like time. Time is like that little island of six miles or six ages of human history which is in the midst of eternity. Just as that island pictures for us time, time is in eternity. It is true that there are the past ages of eternity, and there are the future ages of eternity, but at the same time my friends, eternity is without beginning and without end.

God's Eternal Being and Purpose

And before time ever began, why dare you and I find the eternal God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit? Sometimes people ask the question, well, where did God come from? Where did God come from?

Well, my friends, it's impossible for us to understand, but nevertheless, God never came. God always was. Before there was any such thing as time, or this earth, or this universe, or before there was matter, space, or time, or anything else, there God was in the solitariness of his being, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit with a definite purpose in mind.

And these six ages are the unfolding and the accomplishment and the fulfillment of the great purposes that God had in mind before the world ever began. No, my friends, nothing is by chance. You are not in this world by chance.

Every one of us are put here for a specific purpose and for a specific reason. Every one of us owe our origin and our being to God. And my friends, just as sure as we are in this world, just as sure as we are in this life, you and I are going to be someplace for all eternity.

You and I can never, never, never cease to exist. When you and I were brought into being, you and I received something from God, my friends, that is going to live as long as God lives. We're going to live forever, but the question is, where will we be?

Heaven, Hell, and Eternal Judgment

Will it be in heaven with Christ because we have trusted him as our Savior and had our sins washed away? Or is it going to be in the everlasting lake of fire? I know that's not very palatable preaching.

People don't like to hear about hell. They don't like to think about the lake of fire. They don't like to think that God would ever punish their sins, or that their sins could be so awful in God's sight that those sins would merit eternal punishment.

But, my friends, the same Bible, the word of God that tells us about heaven, that same Bible tells us about hell. It tells us about the lake of fire, and it tells us that in the last day whosoever is not found risen in the book of life is going to be cast into the lake of fire.

Yes, my friends, you and I are going to be someplace forever and ever. We're going to be someplace for eternity. The hymn writer has put it, saved or lost. Saved or lost, one or the other, you must be.

Saved or lost, saved or lost, where will you spend eternity? Trust in Christ who died for thee. Take salvation full and free. Now and for eternity you'll be saved, saved, saved. Eternity. Friends, that's a word we can't exhaust.

That's a thought you and I cannot fathom. We cannot measure. It's beyond us, and yet each one of us are going to be in eternity. The question is, where? You notice that we have not only on this sphere, on this chart, a sphere that represents eternity, but you notice we have three other spheres here.

One is the original creation of Genesis 1 and on. Then we have a chaotic state, and then we have the Edenic state into which man was brought when he was created and made on the sixth day. How old is the earth in which you and I live?

How did it ever come into being? You know, there's a lot of theories about how this world came into being. Somebody would tell us that a number of years ago while there were gases revolving around in space, and suddenly through force, and suddenly through various things, while these were condensed, and then they were formed into matter, and then they began to cool off, and the earth began to come into being.

And then suddenly there was moisture there, and then from that moisture a little atom of matter began to develop, and gradually evolved, and man was brought into being. Now, of course, that is the so-called scientific theory as to where man came from and where the universe came from.

You know, the ancients, they had some very strange ideas as to how this world came into being, and as to how this earth is supported. The Hindus, for instance, believe that this earth is supported on the back of an elephant, and this elephant in turn is standing on a great big sacred turtle, and this sacred turtle is swimming his way through space, and that's how they believe everything is at the present time.

Well, we laugh at that, but my friends, couldn't we laugh just as easily at man's ideas? You know, a number of years ago there used to be a radio character on the air, and whenever he was brought into a predicament, or he made a statement, why the question was asked, was you there, Charlie?

Was you there, Charlie? And we might ask of those who would tell us how everything came into being, we ask the question, well, was you there, Charlie? Did you see it? Did you behold it? So that you can speak to us with authority.

Genesis 1:1 as the Authoritative Beginning

Well, it's wonderful, my friends, that you and I can come to the word of God, which speaks to us with authority, and we fathom the one who was there, how everything came into being, and you notice in the first verse it says, in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

Now, my friends, what you and I have from the second verse down through the rest of the chapter is not an explaining of how that first verse was brought about. You know, some people seem to have the idea that the first verse is like a paragraph heading, and that the following verses, they are an explanation of that first verse, but that is not so, my friends.

The first verse is a verse that tells us of something that happened long ago, and that first verse ought to be in a chapter all by itself. After all, the chapter headings are made by men, so I don't see why we couldn't have the first verse in a chapter by itself, because it tells us a story all of its own.

It tells us, in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth, and we see that first sphere. I'm going to have to get myself a pointer for tomorrow night. That first verse tells us about the original creation.

It doesn't tell us how long ago this was. The Bible doesn't tell us how old the world is. Men may tell us the world is four billions of years old. Nobody has to argue with that, because the Bible does not tell us how old the earth is, but it does tell us that when it began, in the beginning God created the heavens, the universe, and the earth in which you and I live, and my friends, when God created it, it's like everything else that he created.

He created it perfect. He created it perfectly, but he created it perfect too. There was nothing lacking. What that original creation was like, we do not know. We have hints of it in the Bible, like in the 28th chapter of Ezekiel, where we find that great angelic being, Lucifer, walking in the midst of the paradise of God, a paradise that was resplendent with beautiful stones and gems, which seemed to be a mineral creation.

But nevertheless, we are not sure what it was like, but we are sure of this, that when God did create it, he did not create it as we have it in the second verse, and the earth was without form and void.

Isaiah 45 and the Purposeful Creation

How do we know that? Well, my friends, let us turn to the 45th chapter of Isaiah. Isaiah 45, and this is a very important verse, I think, regarding this creation. Isaiah 45, and verse 18, it says,. 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, he formed it to be inhabited.

I am the Lord, and there is none else. Now, notice, my friends, how perfectly and accurately the Spirit of God uses these various verbs in this verse. 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.

Now, that means he created it not a waste, he created it not empty, and that is what you and I find in the second verse of Genesis 1, and the earth was without form and void, and that word void there is the same word as is translated vain in Isaiah 45 and 18, and there we find that God didn't create it vain, God didn't create it void, he formed it to be inhabited.

Notice, the forming of it speaks of the six days of work after the heavens and the earth were created. So, when God originally created the heavens and the earth, they were perfect. They were for a definite purpose.

How long ago that was, we do not know. How long it remained in that condition, we do not know, but we do know that after that original creation, we find in the second verse, 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.

The Chaotic State and Lucifer's Fall

We find that from that original created condition, the earth was brought into a chaotic state. It was without form and void, and that expression the earth was without form means the earth was in chaos.

The earth was empty. The earth was in darkness. The earth was submerged in water, because it tells us here darkness was upon the face of the deep, and we do not know exactly why it was brought into that chaotic condition.

There are hints that perhaps it was Lucifer who was set over that creation, and that when Lucifer, because of his pride, lifted himself up against God, and he was brought down and became Satan, the devil, the dragon, the adversary of God, that his kingdom was brought down with him and brought into a chaotic state.

Submerged in water, darkness upon the face of the deep, nothing but thick mist all around, no fruit, absolutely barren and in chaos. How long it was in that condition, we do not know. All the geological ages that science needs for the formation of beds of coal, and beds of oil, and all the other things that scientists tell us, geologists tell us, that this earth underwent, my friends, that could have all happened in that chaotic state.

We don't know anything about what transpired in that chaotic, barren, fruitless state. It could have been in that condition for millions of years. After all, scientists can throw around millions of years.

Why can't we just as easily throw around millions of years? Because, after all, what is good for one is good for the other as well. But then we find that in that chaotic state, God begins to move, and the Spirit of God begins to act.

Light as the Beginning of God's Work

The Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters, 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. My friends, there we have brought before us the account of the first day.

I'm going to speak a little bit more about that tomorrow night, but I would just like to look at these three phases of creation tonight as a picture to us of the natural man, of each and every one of us who are sitting in this meeting tonight.

Because, my friends, when we turn to the fourth chapter of 2 Corinthians, we have the Apostle Paul saying, God who commanded the light to shine out of darkness has shined in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

Just as God in that first day spoke into that chaotic condition and brought light, my friends, that is the very same thing that God does in human experience. Because, you know, these three spheres of creation, they picture for us the threefold condition of man.

Humanity's Original Uprightness

First of all, as he originally came forth from the hand of God. I hope that we all believe that man was made by God. That when God made man and placed him in the garden of Eden, he was a perfect being.

He was innocent. He was without sin. He was intelligent. He was not the fool. He was not the beast that men tell us he was. Because that first man, he named every beast of the earth that was within the realm in which he lived.

He was a very intelligent man. And yet this man, my friends, who came forth from the hand of God, and in the seventh chapter of Ecclesiastes, it says that God made man upright. God made man upright. Man came forth from the hand of God.

He was formed from the dust of the earth, and God breathed into him the breath of life, and man became a living soul. You know why people like to believe in the theory of evolution? You know why so-called philosophers try to tell us that man is the product of evolution rather than the creation of God's hand?

Because if man is the product of evolution, of blind fatuous forces or circumstances, why then is he not responsible to God? If God did not make man, why then does man have to answer to God? But as soon as you bring in the fact that God created man, why then the word comes to us that God will have a desire to the work of his hand, and that man must one day give an account of himself to God?

Human Accountability Before God

As you sit in this meeting tonight, I wonder, friend, if you were called into the presence of God to give an account of yourself, I wonder what your account would be. Would you meet him in your sins? Would you meet him with your whole life lived for yourself, your whole life lived without God, your whole life groping through life without Christ?

Every idle word that men speak, they're going to give account thereof in the day of judgment. The very thoughts of men, the thought of foolishness is sin, and man's very thoughts are going to have to be answered for to God.

Is there any one of us that could stand before God? Is there any one of us that could excuse ourselves? There's not a single one of us, friends, that would not have to hide our faith and flee to the rocks and the mountains and cry to them to hide us from the face of God.

People sometimes think that when they stand before God, it's going to be a light, frivolous thing. I haven't had too much to do with criminals, but I've seen men in jail who were very brazen, and they were very flippant and very scornful.

But I've seen those same men stand before the judge, and my friends, their attitudes were altogether different. There was no flippancy. There was no scorn. There was no mockery. There was no lightness.

When they stood before the judge, my friends, their attitude was altogether different. And when men and women stand before God because of their sins, it's not going to be a pleasant experience, because whoever stands before God in his or her sins will hear him say, depart from me ye cursed into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and sin.

The Chaos of the Unsaved Human Condition

How did man fall from that original creation? Christ in the Garden of Eden, innocent, in fellowship with God, and yet how do you and I find him in experience? How do you and I find him in history? How do you and I find ourselves in daily life?

We find ourselves in chaos. You know, if there's anything today that I think expresses the disorder that there is in the world, it's the confusion that there is in the thinking. Why, you look at the art today, and my friends, what does the art express?

The art today expresses a fuzzy way of thinking, a fuzzy inability to express itself and convey its mind to an ordinary intelligent person. And it's the same with the music that we have today. I don't know what they call it, the boop-boop, or whatever it is, but nevertheless the so-called music today is so wild and so frenzied that these teenagers, they're brought under a spell of a mass movement that leaves them without their reason, and they're not able to, as it were, divest themselves from the force of that which carries them along with it.

Yes, my friends, you and I look in various spheres today, and what do we find? We find that people today are in confusion. People today are in chaos. People today are just like that creation. Their creation was barren.

There was nothing there for God. And my friend, that's true of every unsaved person. There's nothing in your life for God. If you're unsaved, God never received anything from you, because as long as you're in your sins, you can do nothing to please him.

The Bible says of the unsaved person, there is none that doeth good, no not one. They are all together become unprofitable. There is none that doeth good, no not one. My friend, you're a spiritual liability to God.

God gets nothing from you if you're unsaved. You're barren. And it tells us here that it was in darkness. It was in darkness. And how many people are in darkness tonight? They don't know where they stand.

The Blindness of Those Who Reject the Gospel

Let me ask you tonight, are you sure that it's well with your soul? Are you sure that you're saved? Are you sure that your sins are forgiven? You say, well, I don't know. I hope so. If that's your answer, my friends, it shows you're in spiritual darkness.

The Bible tells us in the verse that I read, if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost. If our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost, in whom the God of this world has blinded the minds of them which believe not in darkness, knowing not where you're going.

You know, isn't it strange that people will sit down and plan for months ahead for a vacation or for a trip? They'll study roadmaps. They'll make all kinds of inquiries. They'll begin saving money and denying themselves to plan and prepare for a two-week or a four-week vacation trip.

And yet, my friends, here is eternity before them, and they go on through life careless, indifferent, unprepared, knowing not that there is only a step between then and then. Just think, you may be in eternity before the meeting again tomorrow night.

The Spirit of God and the Beginning of Salvation

And if you should be, where would it be? Are you saved or still in darkness? And then notice what it tells us here. It tells us that into that chaotic state, it says, the Spirit of God began to move. The Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.

My friends, that's where salvation begins. Salvation begins when the Spirit of God begins to move in the heart of a man or a woman. That's why you're in this meeting tonight. If you're unsaved in this meeting, you're in this meeting tonight because the Spirit of God has brought you here.

And because the Spirit of God wants to work in your heart. Just as He worked in that chaotic condition, the Spirit of God moves in the hearts of men and women, and boys and girls. And with the movement of the Spirit of God, we have the voice of God speaking.

My friends, God still speaks today. He speaks through His Word. He speaks to us by means of His Word. The Spirit of God, God said, let there be light. And there was light. The first thing that God brought in was light.

The Glory of God Convicts the Sinner

My friends, that's the first thing that man needs is light. You know, they tell us that light is composed of three outstanding parts. Three parts are, first of all, the yellow ray, secondly the red ray, and thirdly the blue ray.

Those are the three great rays that constitute light. And, my friend, those three rays in light, they picture for us what the light of God is that speaks, and that awakens within us, and brings us to the Lord.

The yellow, my friends, the yellow, that speaks to us of the glory of God. And, you know, when the first thing that God brings before the soul is His glory, that is what awakened and convicted Isaiah of his sin.

He says, in the year that King Uzziah died, I saw also the Lord lifted up upon a throne, high and lifted up. And when he saw that vision of the glory of God, he was convicted of his sin. My friend, the first thing that God speaks to us about is His glory, His standard.

He shows us how far short we come of His standard. If God is so holy, God is so just, God is so righteous, what hope is there for a poor sinner like me? The first thing that happens when God begins to speak to a person is, He begins to show that person his or her sin, his or her guilt.

And He does it by showing that person how holy, and just, and righteous. How can I stand before that person? How can I meet that person? Then we have the red ray. And what does the red ray have, friends?

Christ's Blood as the Remedy for Sin

The light brings before us the message of Him who died on Calvary's cross and shed His precious blood. You know, friends, the thought of God's holiness and glory, it would be terrible, it would be terrifying if it didn't have associated with it that that God who is holy and righteous and just, that He loves the sinner so much that He gave His Son, the Lord Jesus, to die on the cross.

My friends, that's why the Lord Jesus died. And let me say tonight, there's no other remedy for your sin. There's no other way to get peace with God. There's no other way to have the guilt removed. There's only one thing that can meet the need of the sinner, and that is the blood of Christ.

And then, my friends, we have the blue. And the blue speaks of that peace. It speaks of ministry of the Holy Spirit when He brings peace into the heart, when a sinner believes the testimony of God concerning His Son, the Lord Jesus.

Faith in God's Testimony and Christ's Substitution

After all, that's what the gospel is. That's what believing is. Somebody said to D .L. Moody one time, I can't believe. And D .L. Moody said, whom can't you believe? What do you mean? Well, you say you can't believe.

Whom can't you believe? Can you believe God? What is salvation? Salvation is believing God. Believing God about what? Believing God, first of all, that I'm a sinner, that I deserve the wages of sin, which is death.

And then believing God concerning what He did when He gave His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, to die in this sinner's place. Now, when Christ died on the cross, He suffered once for sins, but just for the unjust to bring us to God.

And He not only died, but He rose from the dead, and He ascended to heaven. And my friend is able to make good in the soul of a man or a woman, a boy or a girl, the peace that He provided by His death on the cross.

Assurance Through the Light of Salvation

Blue. Blue is that phase of the light which spells assurance. I know. When the light comes in, I know. When God's truth comes into my heart, I know. Nobody has to try to explain it to me. Friends, I could stand here all night and all week and explain what it means to believe.

And unless the Spirit of God shines into your heart and illumines it, you'll never understand. And I could never convey it to your mind. But the moment the person believes, that very moment, a light enters into his soul, the light of God, which gives that person assurance, which gives that person absolute certainty.

They may not be able to explain it. They can't expound it. They can't describe it. They're like the man in the ninth chapter of John when the theological Pharisees got a hold of him, and they were trying to unsettle him.

Why, they raised questions that he couldn't answer. But he did say this, whether he be a sinner or not, I do not know. But one thing I do know, that whereas I was blind, now I can see. I know that. I know the darkness is gone, and I know I can do the very same with God's salvation.

Once that light comes into the heart, once that person is born to go above, you don't have to worry about theological questions. You don't have to worry about difficult problems. You know that Jesus died on the cross for you, that Jesus went down into death and rose from the dead, and because he lives, I live also through believing in him.

Believing in the Light

God said, let there be light. My friend, has that light come into your heart? Have you been born of God? The twelfth chapter of John says,. Yet a little while is the light with thee. Why do you have the light?

That you may believe in the light, that you might become the child of light. God saw the light. God saw that it was good. My friend, I want to say that whenever a person receives that light into the heart, it's good, and it's the work of God, and it's something that lasts.

Whenever God shines into a heart, it's something that lasts. Sometimes we preachers can make converts. Sometimes Christians make converts. Lead a person into a profession, and they don't last. They don't go on.

But you know, when God does something, when God shines into the heart, when God brings light into the soul, it's good. God sees that it's good. It's something that's real. It's something that lasts. It's something, my friend, that delivers.

The Separation of Light from Darkness

God saw the light, that it was good. God divided the light from the darkness. A separation takes place between light and darkness. God divided the light from the darkness. God called the light day, the darkness He called night.

Two classes there, light and darkness. There are two classes in this meeting tonight. Those who are children of light, those who are the light because they have believed in the light, the light has shined into their hearts, and there are those who are still in darkness.