CREATION and RESTORATION- Genesis

Please Read Genesis-1

“In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.” And that is all that is recorded concerning the original creation. From this statement we understand that God created first the heaven and then the earth and strong>. Nothing is said which enables us to fix the date of their creation. We do not know whether the primitive heaven and the earth were created a few thousands, or many millions of years ago.

“In the beginning God created”. No argument to prove the existence of God. This tells us that God was Himself before the beginning and hence, Eternal. This tells us what came from the hands of God. It must have been perfect, beautiful and glorious. Such was the creation of man. Made in the image and likeness of His creator, he was pronounced “Very Good” by the creator.

But the next words present a very difficult picture- “And the earth was without form and void” (Gen 1:2) or as the original Hebrew literally translated, “The earth BECAME a ruin” So we understand, the perfect, beautiful, glorious earth from the hands of God became a ruin. Between the first two verses in Gen 1, a terrible calamity happened. The ‘earth’ mentioned in Gen 1: 1 is different from the “earth” mentioned in Gen1:2. Now we know that ‘God is not a God of confusion” (I cor 14:33) Whatever God created was perfect. So that the waste and void’ of the earth spoken in verse 2 was not the original condition of the earth as God created. “Thus saith Jehovah that created the heavens, the God that formed the earth and made it, that established it and created it not a waste, that formed it to be inhabited: I am JEHOVAH and there is none else”(Isaiah 45:18).

Between the first two verses of Gen 1, SIN entered the universe. The mightiest of all God’s creature was filled with pride. Satan had dared to oppose the will of the Almighty. He was driven out of the third heaven. The effects of his fall reached our earth

This is so with the history of man. Man was created perfect. He too fell. He also, like the earth, became a ruin. The effects of his sin reached every human being.

“And darkness was upon the face of the deep” (Gen 1:2) Darkness is the opposite of light. God is Light. Darkness is the symbol of Satan. This became the condition of man. Separated from God, Man became spiritually blind. “Darkness was upon the deep” What is Man’s deep? BODY, SOUL and SPIRIT. The Spirit is Man’s deep. Man’s spirit became dark totally out of contact with God. He could not worship or pray or have communion with His creator. “alienated from the life of God” (Eph 4:18)

If fallen and sinful men are to be reconciled to the thrice Holy God, What must be done? Only answer- the heavenly light must shine upon the ruin- Since there was no light on the ruined earth, Light must come from heaven. The Word must become flesh. The SON of God must be made in the likeness of men.

“And the spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters” (Gen 1:2). This is what happened. Concerning Mary we read, “And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee and the power of the HIGHEST shall overshadow of thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall born of thee shall be called the Son of God” (Luke 1:35) The Spirit of GOD was moving upon Mary in the dark sin filled world.

“And God said let there be Light and there was light” (Gen 1:3). So Mary brought forth the HOLY CHILD. He was the only light because “all have sinned and come short of the Glory of God “. The light which shone on the dark world was not the SUN LIGHT. Because sunlight shone only on the fourth day. This was a heavenly light. Similarly, the heavenly light, God’s son, became flesh and was born of Mary through the working of the Holy Spirit.

So when JESUS was born, “The glory of the Lord shone round about” the shepherds (Luke 2:9). And when He is presented in the temple, Simeon was moved by the Holy Spirit to say, “For mine eyes have seen Thy salvation, which Thou hast prepared before the face of all people: a light round  to lighten the Gentiles and the glory of Thy people Israel”

That light was approved by God “And God saw the light, that it was GOOD was ” (Gen 1:4) God saw the Light. God saw His son and the very first words of the Father concerning His son were, “This is My beloved SON in whom I am well pleased” Yes, that light was Good.

That light was separated from the darkness. “And God divided the light from the darkness” (Gen 1:4). CHRIST was separate from the sinners. “For such a high priest became us who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners” (Hebrews 7: 26)

That light was named by God. “And God called the light Day” The same thing happened to the Holy child. Neither Joseph nor Mary selected the name for the Holy Child. “Listen, O isles unto me; and hearken, ye people, from far; the Lord hath called Me from the womb; from the bowels of My mother hath He made mention of My name ” (Isaiah 49:1) An angel was sent to Joseph, “And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call His name Jesus”.

Remember, God did not create the light on the first day. He only commanded that light which was already in existence to shine on the dark earth. Similarly, God’s son, the Lord Jesus, was not created but was already in existence, co-external and in the bosom of the Father. Now, when the father commanded, the son took upon Himself the form of a servant to lighten this world.

Why should God restore that which lay under His righteous judgement? The sovereign mercy of God intervened. He had a great plan to execute the “formless void” into a beautiful paradise. He purposed it. To bring it to this desired end, “the spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters”. There was Divine activity. If there was to be restoration, Divine power must act, the spirit of God must “move”.

Man fell in sin and lost his image of likeness that God had given him in the beginning. God could have left man to his doom as He did with the fallen angels. But God’s sovereign mercy intervened. God had great designs towards man. “Today you shall be with Me in paradise” God purposed a restoration. And the first thing in this process is the Divine activity, the activity of the Holy Spirit. The sinner can no longer restore himself by his own efforts as the earth submerged under the waters could not. It must be accomplished by God Himself.

The first thing God said was, “Let there be light” and we read, “There was light” Light came after the word of God. These two are inseparable. The activity of the Spirit and the ministry of the Word of God. It is by this man is restored. “The entrance of Thy words giveth light “(Psalms 119:130)

“And God divided the light from the darkness” Heb 4:12- the word divides asunder what is of soul and spirit-“The Spirit is capable of God- consciousness; the soul is the seat of self-consciousness; the body of sense-consciousness” physical death is the separation of spirit from body. Spiritual death is the separator of spirit from God. When Adam died, his spirit was not annihilated but alienated from God. There was a fall. The spirit fell to the level of the soul. But God’s word “pierces asunder even to the dividing of soul and spirit”(Heb 4:12) and the spirit is rescued or restored and brought again to have fellowship with God.

LET THERE BE A FIRMAMENT

And God said let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from waters …….and God called the firmament heaven” (Gen 1:6-8)

The prominent thing in this second day’s work is division, separation and isolation. The firmament divides the waters from the waters. The firmament divides the waters which were under it from those which were above it. What had been salty, murky and dark waters have now evaporated and have ascended into the sky. By means of the “firmament” God divided the pure from the impure, and He caused them to stay in their respective places. This firmament is called ‘heaven’. This ‘heaven’ refers only to ‘air’ or ‘atmosphere’ above our earth.

We believe the ‘firmament‘ here typifies the ‘cross’ because in the work of the second day, separation is the main theme. This division came forth in two parts:

• 1. To make a firmament in the midst of the waters; and

  2. To divide the waters above and below the firmament.

There on the cross our Blessed Lord was divided and separated from God Himself “My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken Me?” and there on the cross he was separated from Man also, “cut off out of the land living”

God purposed the ‘firmament’ before it was actually made. In verse 6 He said, “Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters”- this was God’s predetermined plan. In verse 7 He said, “And God made the firmament”-this was the act of God. Long before the cross was erected on Golgotha, it was something predetermined. “The Lamb slain from the foundation of the world, but was manifested at the end of the times for your sake” (I Peter 1:20).

The firmament was put in the midst of the waters. Waters in the scripture represent peoples:” He saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest…are peoples, and multitudes, and nations and tongues” (Rev 17:15). As a type we can say, “Let there be a cross in the midst of the peoples”. It would seem that all the time the position of our Lord Jesus Christ whether in heaven or earth is in the midst of His people. “Where two or three are gathered in My name I am in their midst”. “They crucified Him and two others with Him on either side, and Jesus in the midst of“(John 19:18).

The firmament also divided the waters. So the cross has divided the ‘peoples’. When He was crucified, the cross divided the believing thief from the impenitent thief. It was an eternal separation. So it is even now. “For the word of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us who are saved foolishness; is the power of God”(I Cor 1:18). It does not depend on the person but on how one treats the cross.

The firmament was designed by God. “And God made the firmament” Him being delivered by the determined counsel and foreknowledge of God” (Acts 2:23) “Jehovah hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all” (Isa 53:6). Thank God for the firmament which separates and shields the wrath of God from men.

The firmament was filled with air or oxygen. Oxygen that we breathe is free. Imagine if you have to pay for the oxygen that you breathe, (like the cooking gas), what will be our condition! The cross is free. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you are saved. No money. No human effort. No wisdom of men, Praise the Lord! The cross is our breath, our life support. Remove the ‘cross’ from the scriptures, there is nothing for us to be saved. The other religions of the worlds may be good, may teach good, may have good pandits to preach, but there is no cross for  to wash your sins. Your breath is only oxygen. Nitrogen may be good; hydrogen may be good; but you cannot breathe with them; You need only oxygen. Without the cross, there is no salvation.

Here the usual expression, “God saw that it was good” is omitted why? Because Christ was without sin and yet He was ‘made sin for us’. The father in heaven could not see His son suffering with the load of sin and so the words ‘God saw that it was good’ is omitted.

“Let the Dry land appear”

“And GOD SAID, LET THE WATERS UNDER THE HEAVEN BE GATHERED TOGETHER UNTO ONE PLACE, and let the dry land appear; AND IT WAS SO” Gen 1:9

Now the light had come (though not the sun light) and the waters had been divided above and beneath the firmament, the earth at this point was still covered with waterstrong>. There was yet no dry ground. So God once again commanded the dry land to appear. God did not create the dry land except that He ordered because it was buried beneath the waters. Psalms 104: 5-9 describes how God in the beginning created the earth; then how He judged the earth.

God performed yet another work. When the land came out of the waters, there were no grass or trees upon it. God decorated the land with grass and fruit trees.

The Third day’s work foreshadows RESURRECTION. After crucifixion, it is Resurrection that is important. A dead Saviour could not save any one. ” Wherefore He is able to save them to the Uttermost that come unto God by Him” Why? “Seeing He ever liveth” (Heb 7:25). What Paul says in I Corinthians 15, “He hath been raised on the third day according to the scriptures” (I Cor 15:4) Isaiah 57:20 tells us how water symbolizes wickedness. The land was buried in the waters just as the Lord Jesus was buried in the tomb. Yet the land did not remain forever under the waters because it appeared on the third day. That is Resurrection.

But this is not all. “And let the earth bring forth grass etc” Before this occurred there was no life on the watery earth, but now life appeared. Formerly death reigned, but now life had come. “We were buried therefore with Him through baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we also might walk in newness of life“(Rom 6:4). First resurrection, then life. After resurrection, there must be new life. “But now being made free from sin and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto sanctification, and the end eternal life”” (Rom 6: 22). ” Wherefore, my brethren, ye also were made dead to the law through the body of Christ; that ye should be joined to another, even to Him who was raised from the dead, that we might bring forth fruit unto God” (Rom 7:4)

“Let there be lights in the firmament of heaven”

“And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days and years: and let them be for lights in the firmament of heaven to give light upon the earth and it was so” Gen 1:14-19.

The work on this day is vastly different from the former work. The scene is now shifted from the earth to heaven. And as we lift our eyes heavenwards what do we see? – “TWO GREAT Lights”- the SUN and the MOON. Typically the ‘sun’ stands for CHRIST, and the ‘moon’ for the CHURCH. The ‘SUN’ speaks of the “sun of Righteousness “(Malachi 4:2) and the ‘Moon’ borrowing the light of the ‘SUN’ and reflecting it. (Song of Solomon 6: 10). Typically it shows the Ascension of Christ and our position with Christ. Observe their functions. The ‘sun’ is the luminary of the day. It is a source of the heat and light for the earth. Its light is self- emitting, unchanging and constant. It is therefore a type of the real ‘Heavenly Man’, the Lord Jesus Christ. John 1:9 says, ” He was the true light, even the light which lighteth every man, coming into the world”. Today His light does not lighten the world, except those who believe in Him. “And the world beholdeth me no more; but ye behold Me”. (John 14:19)

So the world is passing through a night season, the ‘sun’ physically absent from us. Yet the ‘moon’ (church) sees that sunlight, for she has ascended to heaven. Just as the ‘moon’ reflects the light of the sun in the night time, so the ‘church’ which dwells in the light of Christ becomes the light in the morally dark world which rejects Christ. “Believe on the light, that ye may become children of light” (John 12:36). The moonlight serves as a light only for the dark night; it is subject to change varying from full moon to crecent moon. The extent of the moon’s light depends on its angle to the sun. She “shall be established forever as the moon, and as the faithful witness in the sky” (Psalms 89:37)

There are also ‘STARS’. They are type of individual saints of God. For saints, ” are seen as lights in the world” (Philippians 2:15)

Secondly, these luminaries, ‘Sun’, ‘Moon’, and the ‘STARS’ are to ‘rule over the day and over the night’ (Gen 1:18) So it is with CHRIST and His People. Yet what believers rule is the dark night (Moon and STARS) The Greatest authority invested in the ascended Christians lies in ruling the power of darkness!

“Let the waters swarm with living creatures and birds fly above the earth”

On the fifth day God prepared and created living things to inhabit the earth. “Let the waters swarm with swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven. ” Gen 1:20,21

Here God created the fishes and the birds (Gen 1:21). The waters could not produce fishes by itself nor could the earth produce birds by itself. The waters signify our sinful flesh. Once the waters were dark and no life in them. But now coming into light they are full of living creatures. Once we are brought from darkness into His marvellous light, we are transformed into a new life-style or new creatures in Christ Jesus. The earth coming out of the waters stands for a new position. Once the earth was under the dark waters, submerged. But now totally out of its dry and able to support life. So the earth coming out of waters signifies the purified soul life. Our life has ascended to the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. But always remember that we are human beings in the world whose feet touch the earth. The birds cannot be flying always; they have to come down to touch the earth.

Therefore, we must manifest the life of God through our mortal flesh. Our ascended position in Christ causes us to leave the world; nevertheless, we are still in the world. Neither the waters nor the air above the earth manifest life there. So at the beginning of our Christian life, there was no life in our flesh and soul. But now in our ascended position in Christ in heaven the life of God is manifested daily in our life.

Life is devoid of expression if it has no body. It is through the body of a bird or through the body of a fish a bird life or a fish life is expressed respectively. It is therefore a kind of discipline for the saints of God. ‘Whom the Lord loveth, He chasteneth’. The present work of Lord Jesus is to discipline the saints of God.

Let us make man

“Let us make man in our own image, after our likeness” (Gen 1:26)

On the sixth day man was created. He was created according to God’s image. It does not mean that we have to be ‘image-worshippers’. The Bible categorically denies image worshipping. God is a spirit and therefore, we must worship Him in spirit and in truth. Do not worship the creature, but worship the Creator. All images that we worship are created by man according to his whims and fancies but God is an ‘Eternal being’ and cannot be confined to any sort of human design.

In the first chapter of Genesis it mentions the creation of man. But in chapter 2 the origin of man is described in detail. This indicates man’s supreme relationship with God.

Man was created (Gen 1:27) by God. He was not ‘evolved’. People would rather believe what the evolutionist says than the word of God. Man is distinct act of God and not the result of natural selection.

Now before God created man, there was a pause. There was a council among the God head, and the decision was: ‘Let us make man in our image, after our likeness; and let them have dominion …….” (Gen 1:26). On that sixth day man was created in God’s image and after His likeness. This does not refer to the flesh, it shows man in a position to represent God on earth since he alone of all creature created by God bears similarity to God in both mind and morals. He alone could worship God and pray to Him. He alone could listen to Him and obey His word. Paul says that ‘man is the image and glory of God” (I OCR 11:7) Man was created for God’s glory.

So God created Adam in His own image and commissioned him to rule the earth. (Gen 1: 26-28). Man was to represent God on earth. And this is a type of the “SECOND COMING of the Lord Jesus”.

Eve was built to be Adam’s wife. Eve is a type of the ‘church of God”. Together they shall rule the world. At that time she shall be His bride. All powers were given to them. God did not rule the world directly. He delegated His authority to Adam. Similarly when the Lord Jesus comes again He will set up His Millenial kingdom.

Adam shared his authority with Eve. Even as Christ rules over all things, the ‘bride’ (church) shall share in the ruling. Furthermore, the saints will experience ‘redemption, of their bodies. (Romans 8 : 23 -25). JESUS IS COMING. Are you ready to meet the Lord?

He rested on the seventh day from all His work” (Gen 2:2)

“Thus the heavens and the earth were finished and all the host of them. And on the seventh day God ended His work which He has made; and He rested on the seventh day from all his work which He had made. And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it He had rested from all His work which God created and made” (Gen 2 : 1-3)

Genesis chapter 2 : 1-3 should really be an extension of chapter 1. On the seventh day God finished His work and rested. One thing worth noticing here is that the rest mentioned is God’s rest, not man’s. The Bible declares that this is God’s Sabbath.

JESUS CHRIST is the FOUNDER of the True New Testament church of God. But when did Christ actually found God’s church? Was it when He was a mortal human or after His resurrection and Ascension to heaven?

Actually Christ merely taught His Message to His disciples during His mortal human lifetime. But the church of God was founded on the day of Pentecost after Christ had been resurrected, glorified and ascended to the throne of God in heaven!

The church is described in Ephesians 2 : 20 as being “built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, JESUS CHRIST Himself being the chief corner stone” Here Christ is plainly said to be the CHIEF or HEAD.

“CHRIST is the HEAD OF THE CHURCHstrong>” (Eph 5 : 23) Read it. Also Eph 4 : 15; 1 : 22; Colossians 1 : 18; 2 : 19. The LIVING HEAD of the CHURCH is not PETER but CHRIST. So the infallible Authority to settle this Sabbath question, is JESUS CHRIST and His written word.

God’s rest, however, was not physical, because God is never tired: ‘Hast thou not known? Hast thou not heard? The Everlasting God, Jehovah, the creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not; neither is weary” (Isa 40 : 28). What, then, is the meaning of His rest? It is not physical but spiritual in nature. It signifies God’s satisfaction. As He looked at what He has made, He was satisfied. He had not set up the Sabbath for man to keep in the beginning. Man had done no work yet. Only after Adam sinned, man started working (Gen 3 : 19). So the Sabbath at the beginning was God’s Sabbath.

All six days of ‘restoration’ and ‘creation’ were characterized by both ‘evening’ and ‘morning’. But on the seventh day -there was neither evening nor morning mentioned. It is a type of a perfect, complete, glorious and endless day, a type of eternal rest.

“Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labor and do all the work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God” (Exod 20 : 8-11)

There are two things joined here :

0. Man should work six days of the week.

1. On the seventh day all work must cease.

The important thing to be noted here is that the Sabbath is not termed, “the SEVENTH DAY of the WEEK” Nor is it ever so styled in scripture. SEVENTH day is different from the seventh day of the week. So any day after six days of work is the seventh day. It is not correct to say that the Sabbath can only be SATURDAY. There is not a word of the scripture to support that the Sabbath could only be Saturday. So after JESUS rose from the dead and became the Head of the church, our Christian Sabbath became, “the first day of the week” (John 20 : 1) which is our Lord’s resurrection day, the Sunday. The early church gathered on that day to break bread and fellowship. We are not under the law but under the Grace of God. “Grace and truth came by JESUS CHRIST”

The mind of the flesh is enmity against God” (Rom 8:7)

The first book in the word of God, “Genesis”, is full of typical pictures, prophetic fore shadowing and dispensational teachings. What a Christian believes is not the wisdom of men but the Word of God. We need no other ground in which to stand. Natural man will of course laugh at our logic. The word of God declares, “the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him; and he cannot know them, because they are spiritually judged” (I cor 2:14)

How marvelous is the first chapter of Genesis! “One verse is used to proclaim the original creation, a single verse is used to pronounce the ruin of the world, and less than thirty verses are utilized to tell about the remaking of the world! Who else in the universe could write a chapter comparable to Genesis 1? (Nee)

As one Bible scholar said, ” The revelation from God is not a history by Him, but what has been given to man for his profit.” How difficult for the intellectual man to be humble!

Let us praise God our Father for He is so merciful. He not only created us but also remakes us, that we may be a new creation in Christ Jesus.