The end of "What happened in the beginning?"

So, in the previous post I talked about a couple of different ways to view the first day of creation.  On the one hand I noted that many Christians seek to understand Genesis in a way that harmonizes with science, so that what is discussed in the first few verses would be what science understands as the big bang.  But, I went on to note that there is another way to read this text.  In the second way we might read the text, which would be a more theological and bible-centered approach to reading the text we first needed to do a little further reading to understand the text, to really grasp exactly what the bible says happened.

Our goal in looking at this section is to see the picture of creation that God paints in Genesis.  In order to do this we must not only study the text, but try to approach in an educated way while at the same time preserving the power of looking at the text for the first time.  We must act as art critics who are well versed in the history of a particular movement and who know the rules of style governing that movement who are nonetheless looking at a particular piece for the first time.  We must look at the creation story in this way because there is an awe factor, a wonder that the text seeks to speak to, and for that reason we must not let the repetition of reading the text dull us to its impact.

So, with that being said, I hope you read the last post because I want to build on that post without having to repeat myself too much.  Last time I spoke of our goal of trying to understand what the first day of creation might look like, now I want to flesh that out and then speak to its meaning so we can really understand what happened when God said, "Let there be light."

As I noted last time, we must look to the text to understand what is happening, so let us do so again with a bit of education from reading the rest of Scripture as well.  When we read about God creating the heaven's and the earth we must understand that before God created there was nothing.  There was no time, no matter, there was literally nothing.  When God created the heavens and the earth the first thing he had to do was create the stuff from which the earth would be formed.  So, God created the heaven's and the earth, but the earth was without form and void.  There was as of yet no separation between heaven and earth, all of what would become creation was a chaotic abyss, comparable to a wild and untamed sea.

Thus, when we see that God created the heavens and the earth what God did was to make something that was other than him.  He did not "decide" to do this, he did not consider and make a plan, rather, in existing outside of time God simply did what he willed to do.  This is important for us to remember because it will affect the meaning of what really was happening in the text.  The plan of God was not something he had to think up, rather as God knows all things and has all knowledge he does not "remember" things or "forget" things, he is unchanging, he simply knows all things.  That means the plan of creation was something that existed within the mind of will of God outside of time so that when time began God simply was bringing to fruition what he intended eternally.

God first created something other than himself, for before there was creation all there was, was God.  Creation, if you will, was a hole in God, a separation he made in himself so that there would be something not him that existed.  Yet that metaphor breaks down because God is intimately in creation, imminent, in all things at all times upholding all of creation by the power of his word (as Hebrews tells us).  So, God created space, literally, as a space where he would fill and indwell, but as something that would also be other than himself.  But, as Scripture says, "The Spirit of God hovered upon the face of the waters."  So that even as there was this other from God, he was there the whole time guiding and directing what would happen.

Then, God spoke and said, "Let there be light."  Up until now there was simply God existing and the chaotic creation he was about to bring order to, but with these words God suddenly begins to establish an order, and all throughout creation there was light.  The light was everywhere, diffused into everything, overwhelming all of creation.  This would be like standing in pitch black and suddenly an incredible light is turned on so that everywhere, all around you is nothing but light shining out, no darkness, no shadow, simply light everywhere all at one time.  And this was because God desired to have light, "and he saw the light, that it was good."

But, God's will was for an order in creation, and so God separated the light from the darkness.  Now the light was confined, it was in one area, shining in one place.  There was a cycle established: darkness was everywhere (for darkness is the absence of anything else, it is really nothing) and light came, and now darkness would follow light.  "And there was evening, and there was morning, the first day."  Now there is order, now creation is not only distinct from God, but is beginning to have form.  Instead of a chaotic and formless mass there is light and dark, there is space and something that light is shining on.  What the light is shining on will come into view in the rest of the creation week, but for now it is enough that we understand that in creating light God has differentiated creation from himself, for as the source of that light there are parts he shines upon, and there are parts he does not shine upon; there are parts of creation in the light, and there are parts in the dark.

But, there is something more here too. What we have discussed so far is the mere technical details with a little bit of the surface layer of theological understanding.  Now I want to posit what I think is a deeper theological reality of what we see happening in creation.  This part of creation was a mystery for the ages and is something that science will never be able to understand.  Understanding the creation story as I am about to lay out takes us beyond merely seeing one part of a painting to realize that the creation story is part of an amazing mural that God wants us to see as one contiguous piece of art work.

So then, let us look from Genesis to John.  In John 1:1-5 we read, "In the beginning was the Word, and  the Word was with God, and  the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it." (John 1:1-5, ESV)  This passage adds so much to our understanding of Genesis.

First what we see is that Genesis is a beautiful picture of the Godhead working in tandem.  Each person of the trinity is doing a distinct work, but all of them are present and are supporting and working with one another.  The Spirit of God is preparing the chaotic sea for the revelation of God, brooding over it, imbuing it with his presence so that God's will will be done.  Then the Father speaks, and his Word is Christ, so that Christ acts on the will of the Father, and the Father shows the Son what he is doing so that the Son acts as the Father wills.  And Christ brings forth the will of the father, so that there is light.  And in this God, in all his glory and all three persons in glorified, each one acting in accordance with the others.  The Father wills, the Spirit prepares, and the Son accomplishes the Father's will by the power of the Spirit.

But, there is one more thing happening in Genesis, something we may miss if we do not pay attention.  God has created and has begun history, but from the beginning of history God is telling a story.  God is telling the story of salvation before the earth is even formed, before man existed.  So God's plan was to act in history, but to act in a way that would show forth the story of salvation and how God would glorify himself from the very beginning thus imbuing history with significance.

Here is the story of salvation as seen in the first day of creation:  In the beginning Christ existed with the Father as God, and God spoke Christ forth, announcing his Son as the one would show forth his glory into creation.  The unseen God would be seen.  And Christ shown forth from the Father, light flooding into all creation so that there was no where that Christ was not, no where that was beyond him and nothing that existed that he had not brought forth.  The darkness that was upon the face of the abyss was wiped out, utterly defeated at the coming of Christ as he revealed the glory of the Father.  Then the Father, seeing the goodness of his revelation chose to bring that goodness into stark contrast, so he separated the light from the darkness.  But, though separate, the darkness would never conquer the light, for the light would always follow the darkness, every evening would be followed by a morning.  Though men would live through darkness, they would always be able to rejoice that the light of God was shining forth into creation, and in the light of God men find life.

Where before there was no life in creation, where darkness ruled because God had not revealed himself, now there was life.  In the revelation of God his presence brought life and that life was light, so that all might see.  Christ, as the Word, as the light, as the life of men, was the first declaration of God.  Before sin, before death, before man, God was already declaring that Christ would be the focus of creation.  His plan was to redeem, even before there was anything to redeem.  God's love is so great that he imbued the story of salvation into the very first day of creation so that we might read the Scripture and see that from the beginning to the end it is about Christ and his glory, as he brings glory to the Father.

So it is in our lives.  We are each "the new creation" if we have received Christ.  We were without form, and void.  We were the abyss upon which darkness rested.  But "the Spirit of God hovered over the face of the deep.  And God said, 'Let there be light,'  and there was light.  And God saw that the light was good, and God separated the light from the darkness.  God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening, and there was morning," a new Christian.  In our walk coming to Christ is only the beginning of the story, the first day of creation.  History is our story, because history is His story, and we are in him, and Christ is the Word of God.

Genesis chapter one is the story of creation.  The first day is the story of how God first separated creation from himself, ordering it and bringing forth light.  The first day is the story of how God would save all of creation, sending forth his Son as his image bearer to shine forth his glory into a world of darkness.  The first day is the story of every Christian, of how we were dead in our trespasses and sin and how the Spirit of God worked upon us so that as we heard the Word of God we were bathed in his light and life came into us and filled us and brought us out of death.  Genesis chapter one is the story of Christ.