Who is God and What Can He Do? (Genesis 1)

This sermon was preached on Sunday, 5th October, 2010

Introduction
The Book of Genesis is about beginnings, not only describing the origins of the universe and the creation of Adam and Eve, but also detailing the appearance of human sin and the onset of God’s plan of redeeming the sinful human race.

As with all other books in the Bible, Genesis was written under divine inspiration and contains details that were given to its author Moses by divine revelation. It is likely that Moses included details concerning the lives of the patriarchs Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Joseph that were handed down through the generations of Israelites. He may have had access, when he was a royal official in Egypt before his flight from Pharaoh, to government records that described geographical areas and political groups. Nevertheless he was divinely guided by God concerning the selection of material to include in his book and divinely controlled as to the words he used when writing these details in his book.

In addition to material that Moses may have obtained from human resources, his book contains information that he could not have known about apart from divine revelation. An obvious example is the account of the formation of the universe, climaxing with the creation of the human race, in Genesis 1 and 2. There are other such passages throughout his book. The Bible in its entirety is a special revelation from God and of God.

We are to respond to divine revelation
The writer to the Hebrews tells us that in 11:3 that ‘by faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible’. This does not mean that we look at evidences for the hand of the Creator and then believe that he was involved. No doubt, there is a place for looking at such evidences, but what the writer means is that we accept as true what God says in his Word about the method of creation. God speaks to us in a twofold manner concerning creation.

First, he speaks through the creation. Psalm 19:1-2 tells us that ‘the heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. Day to day pours out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge.’ Paul, in Romans 1:19-20, writes: ‘For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.’ But this form of divine revelation is limited, because it does not tell us about God’s mercy, about his love for sinners who have rebelled against him.

Second, God speaks about the creation in his Word. This is what he does in Genesis 1 and 2. He tells us how he brought it into existence. We are no longer listening to creation speaking of the Creator, but of the Creator speaking of his creation. By faith, we affirm that what he says is true and rest upon it. This response of faith was expressed well by Robert Candlish: ‘But now, God speaks, and I am dumb. He opens his mouth, and I hold my peace. I bid my busy, speculative soul be quiet. I am still, and know that it is God. I now at once recognise a real and living Person, beyond and above myself. I take my station humbly, submissively at his feet. I learn of him. And what he yells me now, in the way of direct personal communication from himself to me, has a weight and vivid reality infinitely surpassing all that mere deductions from the closest reasoning could ever have.’

When we read the first two chapters in Genesis, we should recognise that we are not reading scientific descriptions of the creation of the universe. This is not to say that God did not take seven days to complete the original work of creation. Moses, in the Decalogue in Exodus 20, makes it clear that the ordinary human cycle of six days for work and one day of rest follows the divine pattern set in Genesis 1 and there is no biblical reason for thinking that the days in Genesis 1 are not literal days. Nevertheless, to treat the chapter as if its main focus was the number of days is to miss the fact that it is a chapter about God. So what does it tell us about God?

What Genesis 1 tells us about God
The first aspect of God that the chapter highlights is his pre-existence. God existed before all else. There is a sense of grandeur in the opening verse, not merely that God did something, but that God was there before anything created appeared. The opening verse of the Bible introduces us to a God who is not only above his creation but before it. Linked to his pre-existence is his self-existence. God is not a creature. Rather he is the eternal God who has always been, existing in the fullness of his glory. Because he is self-existent he is eternal, with no beginning.

The details in the chapter make it clear that God has a purpose or programme according to which he works. On each of the days he did particular activities. God was capable of creating everything in one second, but that was not his plan. Instead he worked according to his own purpose. This is a reminder that God is sovereign (he alone decides what to do), that he has power (he is capable of bringing about his purposes), that he is patient (he is willing to wait for his purposes to come to fulfilment), and that he is orderly (every detail has its use and prepares for what comes next).

The chapter also tells us that within the one God there is a plurality of persons. It is hinted at in the first two verses where we read of God (a plural noun with a singular verb) and of the Spirit of God. But it is explicit in verse 26 where God says, ‘Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.’ Although some scholars attempt to dismiss the obvious by suggesting God is including the angels in the work of creation or is using the grammatical technique of plural of majesty, a straightforward reading indicates this plural reality in the Godhead. Verse 26 is not the only time such language occurs in the Old Testament. Another example is Isaiah 6, where Isaiah heard the exalted Lord ask, ‘Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?’ (v. 8).

When we come to the New Testament, we see the Trinity in each of its pages, with nearly every occasion describing their involvement in the plan of salvation. It informs us that the three persons are the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit and describes the different roles that each plays in the working out of God’s purposes.

The incarnation of the Son involved each of the divine persons: the Father prepared a body for his Son, the Spirit sanctified the womb of Mary and enabled her to conceive without the involvement of a man, and the Son united that human nature to his divine person. At the baptism of the Son, we also hear the Father’s voice and see the Spirit descending on Jesus in the form of a dove. On the cross, the Son through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God.

So we see that the New Testament gives more information regarding the triune nature of God. For example, in Ephesians 1:1-14, Paul describes the roles of each of the persons: the Father chooses and adopts his people, the Son redeems then and shares his inheritance with them, the Spirit indwells them and gives them foretastes of the glory to come. Our Christian life is a life lived in fellowship with each person of the Trinity: we are the sons of the Father, brothers of the Son, having the Spirit of sonship in our hearts; we are the heirs of the Father, joint-heirs with the Son, having the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts. The benediction we enjoy includes experiencing the grace of Christ, the love of the Father, and the fellowship of the Spirit.

The Bible tells us that each person in the Trinity was involved in the original creation. Hebrews 1:2 reminds us that it was through the Son that the Father made the worlds (the Greek word includes the extent of time as well as the expanse of space). John states regarding Jesus that ‘he was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made’ (John 1:2-3). In the book of Job, it is said that ‘by his Spirit he hath garnished [made fair] the heavens’ (Job 26:13).

Returning to the Genesis account, we are to bring these New Testament insights with us and remind ourselves that the God who made the universe is the God who was anticipating giving his triune blessing to the human creatures he would make in his image.

A fourth detail that the chapter tells us about God is that he took pleasure in his work of creation. At the close of each day, apart from the second, the divine cry of delight was heard, ‘It is good.’ Perhaps it is to this cry of joy that the Lord refers to when addressing Job in Job 38:7 about the times ‘when the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy’. In that chapter in Job, the Lord reminds Job of what took place at the creation and it is not difficult to think that the angelic song is a response to the divine delight expressed daily at the beginning. The days of creation echoed with the songs of the heavenly choir until they reached their climax with the creation of humans, when God saw that it was very good.

Responding to this divine revelation
Sadly we know that God’s perfect world has been marred by human sin and the subsequent curse put on it by God. But it was to sinners that God has given this revelation of how things once were, of what our original environment was like. We were created to respond to the God who is pre-existent, who has a purpose, who is a plurality of persons, and who takes pleasure in what he has made. The good news of the gospel is that we can, even in our sinful condition, respond to him. By believing in Jesus we can know God in this fourfold way.

It was the pre-existent Son of God who came down to this world in order to provide salvation by his life and death. Although he was eternally God he became a man in order to be the Redeemer. If the angelic host and unfallen Adam and Eve could worship the pre-existent God who became the Creator, we can worship the pre-existent God who became the Saviour. This is the worship described in Revelation 4 and 5. Come, let us worship with wonder the eternal God of salvation: the eternal Son, sent by his eternal Father and equipped by the eternal Spirit for this great work. We worship, to begin with, by trusting in Christ; when we have done so, then we can praise God.

The God of purpose has a plan of blessing for those who trust in him. It is marvellous to reflect on the way God controls the elements in the week of creation. It points to the fact that God always has a plan. He was not surprised by human rebellion; he had the remedy in his plan. This plan can be viewed at the macro level as we sweep the span of the ages and see God accomplishing his great design of having saved sinners gathered around his presence in the new heavens and new earth. Or it can be viewed at the micro level, where we observe this wise and mighty God working all things together for our good. When you come to Jesus, you will find purpose in life. In John 10:10, Jesus reveals that he came to give abundant, satisfying life to sinners.

Once in Christ, we can have fellowship with each person of the triune God. I have already mentioned some of these details above when speaking about the Trinity. But what life can compare to the one in which a sinner enjoys living contact with the Father, the Son and the Spirit. The only life that is better than it is the life experienced in heaven by glorified sinners.

The God who took great pleasure in his work of creation takes greater pleasure in the objects of redemption. He delights in his people; indeed he sings to them: ‘The LORD your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing’ (Zeph. 3:17).

Says David in Psalm 35:27: ‘Let the LORD be magnified, which hath pleasure in the prosperity of his servant.’ David’s praise was stimulated by the wonderful fact that he his God took pleasure in him. It says in Psalm 147:11 that ‘The LORD takes pleasure in them that fear him, in those that hope in his mercy’. Indeed, he takes pleasure in all his people (Ps. 149:4).

Jesus encouraged his disciples by informing them in Luke 12:32, ‘Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom.’ The mighty God, who brought the universe into existence, is more than able to ensure that they will receive it from him.

The Christian life involves experiencing the purpose, company and pleasure of God. In the gospel, this life is offered freely to each of us. Don’t turn your back on the God who offers it to you.