A Fresh View and a Deeper Understanding of “In the Beginning God Created”

This week we will take a closer look at the topic of, Creation in Christ for the Fulfillment of God’s Purpose. The Bible is a wonderful book, and no matter how much people fought against it, the Bible is still here to stay and triumph.

The book of Genesis in particular is a wonderful book, telling us of the beginning of everything and containing the seeds of all the major truths in the divine revelation.

Concerning “the story of creation”, we may think we know it, we know how it all happened, we read the record in Genesis 1 and 2, and we may even have learned songs from our childhood about God’s creation.

However, we want to see the story of creation and the process of creation the way God sees it. Christ created all things, and all things were created in Christ (John 1:3).

If people want to fight today against creation and say that the “logical explanation” is evolution, let them fight. We are not here to “fight for creation”, neither are we here to say that evolution is wrong. We simply want to see what the Bible says, what is in God’s heart, and what God has done.

May the Lord enlighten us that we may see what the economy of the mystery is, which throughout the ages has been hidden in God, who created all things (Eph. 3:9).

I hope that after reading this sharing you will see a fresh view and you will have a deeper understanding of the first five words of the Bible, “In The Beginning God Created” (Gen. 1:1).

In The Beginning – the Beginning of Time

The Bible begins with the words, “In the beginning” (Gen. 1:1). This beginning is different than “in the beginning” in John 1:1. In John 1:1 the beginning refers to the eternity past without a beginning, while the beginning spoken of in Gen. 1:1 is the beginning of time in which God created all things.

These words, “In the Beginning” are so simple, yet so profound, forceful, and authoritative. Hallelujah, there is a beginning! The first message of the Bible is that there’s a beginning.

Everything that is in Genesis is a beginning; here we see the beginning of the world, man, the fall of man, salvation, God’s calling, God’s covenant, the vision of God’s building, and so much more! In Genesis we see the seed of everything – all the major truths in the Bible are contained in a seed form in Genesis.

God wants us to return to the beginning and see how He set out things, how He made things be, and what was His original intention (see Matt. 19, when the Lord speaks concerning divorce: in the beginning it was not so).

The beginning spoken of in Gen. 1:1 is the beginning of time. God created time to accomplish His purpose, and when His purpose is accomplished, time is no more! Time is the platform through which God accomplishes His purpose, which He made in eternity past (Eph. 3:11) for eternity future.

Time began at the creation of the universe and will continue until the judgement at the great white throne; when the mystery of God is finished, time is over (see Rev. 10:6). This means that if we as human beings today are not in God’s eternal purpose, our time is wasted.

Our time on earth today counts in God’s eyes only when we are in the accomplishment of God’s eternal purpose. In the Old Testament God did not count the time when His people deviated from His purpose – it’s almost as if that time doesn’t exist.

God – the Triune God!

In the beginning GOD! God is the beginning of everything! And this God is Elohim, which is plural – right at the beginning of the Bible we see that God is Triune!

“God” is plural, but “created” is singular – the Three-One God created the heavens and the earth in oneness. This is a seed of the Triune God – the Father, the Son, and the Spirit – sown right in the very first verse of the Bible.

God is one (Isa. 45:5; 1 Cor. 8:4; 1 Tim. 2:5), but He is at the same time three — the Father, the Son, and the Spirit (Matt. 28:19); He is the Triune God!

With our limited human mind and understanding this doesn’t make sense: how can there be THREE yet ONE? But with God, this is possible!

The best way to preach the gospel is to declare this truth; don’t try to explain it, because the more you try to explain the mystery of the Triune God, the more you will “get into the woods”. Just declare it: God created the heavens and the earth. God is Triune! – this is how God writes the Bible, and this is how we declare this in faith and with the exercise of our spirit, so that we may impart life to others!

Created – God Calls Things not Being into Being

God is the unique Creator, and only God can create; if God cannot create, He is not God! Man can make, form, or build, but man cannot call things not being into being. But God created the heavens and the earth!

Think about it: if creation doesn’t come from God, where does it come from? Was it a “Big Bang”? Who made the “Bang”? It is foolish to think that way.

If you want to talk about the creation, use God’s word. The Bible says that God created. How did He create? We don’t know – only God knows! Well, you may say, this is “counter-intuitive”, it doesn’t make sense! No, this is not counter-intuitive, it is above our human intuition and beyond our capacity to understand! This is God creating the heavens and the earth!

God creates by His speaking. He simply calls not being into being. He made the world and all things in it (Acts 17:24). He is “the living God, who made heavens and earth and the sea and all things in them” (Acts 14:15).

Many people today are either atheistic (not believing in God) or pantheistic (saying that everything is God). The atheists think that they are scientific, but actually they believe a human philosophy conceived by them.

They may say, “We believe in science, not in faith!” but science is yet another kind of belief, a strange kind. When you talk about a phenomenon, when you point to the moon and send someone to the moon and there’s concrete evidence of what the moon is, that is science. But when one interprets the moon and the sun and the other things, when they extrapolate them to interpret something, that’s just human philosophy.

The way Paul counteracted and befuddled such ones was by saying plainly, God created the world and all things in them (Acts 14:15). God created the earth, the heavens, and all things in them, and He provides life, breath, and everything necessary for man’s living on earth. Hallelujah, in the beginning God created!

Lord Jesus, enlighten the eyes of our heart that we may see a clear revelation of Your word. Remove any veil of religion and philosophy from our eyes so that we may appreciate You as the Beginning, the Creator of all things! Hallelujah, there is a beginning, and God is the beginning! Praise the Lord, our God is Triune! Hallelujah, God is the Father, the Son, and the Spirit, the Triune God! This Triune God created! God is our Creator! God created the heavens and the earth and all things in them! We believe the Bible!

References and Further Reading

• Inspiration: bro. Andrew Yu’s sharing in the message and portions in, Life-Study of John (msg. 2) and Life-Study of Acts (msg. 47), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on the Crystallization Study of Genesis (1), week / msg 2, Creation in Christ for the Fulfilment of God’s Purpose.
• Further reading on this topic:
  # Gen. 1:1 footnote 2 on “beginning”.
  # Acts 17:24 and footnote 1.
• Hymns on this topic:
  # God has made all things, / The Creator He— / Everything that God created / Was made perfectly.
  # The Triune God: a mystery— / God is one and He’s three. / Oh, Triune God, You’re wonderful! / You’re wonder- wonderful!
  # In eternity, in the beginning, before the world began, / God’s intention, it was hidden deep in God for man. / God created all the heaven and earth for man. / God’s center was this man.