Genesis 1 - In the beginning

The Word of God, Genesis chapter 1, verses 1 and 2. Let us listen attentively together to the Word of God.

 

"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters." Amen.

 

Motive for Starting the Genesis Exposition

Starting today, we will share the Word together using the book of Genesis. The most important reason for starting this Genesis exposition is that amidst the social and economic difficulties we are currently experiencing, we want to reflect once again through the Word God gives us on "Who is the master of this world, and who governs all things on this earth?" and "Who is the ruler of this history?", and within that, desire to discover God's precious grace and will. I hope we can share that grace together through the Genesis exposition we will study and contemplate this time.

 

Basic Structure of Genesis

The passage we will share today is Genesis 1:1, which I believe is a verse that many of you know very well and have memorized. The entirety of Genesis, in fact, is broadly composed of two major histories. The first is from chapter 1 to chapter 11, which is the part we generally call the common history of mankind, or "primeval history." From chapter 12, as you know, the history of various patriarchs starting from Abram is recorded up to chapter 50.

 

Structure of Genesis: "Toledot"

However, such a rough division can be said to heavily reflect the convenience of the reader reading the Bible. As you know, Genesis consists of 50 chapters, right? The division of Genesis into 50 chapters actually happened in the 14th century. Before that, including the Old Testament Hebrew Bible, all Bibles naturally had no divisions like "chapters" and "verses." Therefore, if we look at the structure of Genesis in a holistic way, we can see that not chapters 1, 2, 3, but 10 very important structures divide Genesis. We can explain the structure of Genesis using the word "Toledot," which simply means "genealogy," instead of "chapters" and "verses." Depending on how you look at it, Genesis can be divided into 11 sections, but broadly, ten genealogies appear, and through the sections of these genealogies, this record of God's creation is divided.

 

One of them is the first Toledot found in Genesis 2:4. It begins like this: "This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created, when the LORD God made the earth and the heavens." So, as recorded in Genesis chapter 1, the story of creation has already appeared, hasn't it? The six-day creation all appears in Genesis chapter 1. But when starting Genesis chapter 2, what does it say? "This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created." This means "the genealogy of the heavens and the earth." It briefly explains once again how the heavens and the earth came to be on this earth. And then, it begins to explain once again what kind of events unfolded in this created world. Thus, this Toledot sentence plays a very important role in dividing the front and back of this event.

 

The word Toledot originally comes from the Hebrew word "yalad (H3205)," which means "to give birth" or "to conceive." "To give birth," "to conceive" as meant by this word signifies descendants. Thus, Toledot changed into a word meaning "descendants," "offspring," "the next generation." So, if it's the Toledot of Adam, it becomes "Adam's descendants" or "Adam's offspring." If you look at Genesis 5:1, the story of Adam's descendants is recorded consecutively, right? "This is the written account of Adam’s line." It comes out like this. Then, this shows where Adam's descendants started from, right? Where did Adam's descendants come from? Adam. Terah's descendants from Terah, Esau's descendants from Esau, and Jacob's descendants came from Jacob. In this way, these words tell us from whom each of these descendants came.

 

Why "Toledot" is Absent in 1:1: Absolute Beginning

However, reading these verses, one thing bothers the mind. The first Toledot that appears in 2:4 continues to appear 10 times after that, but it is not recorded in the most important beginning, 1:1. How wonderful it would have been if this Toledot also appeared in 1:1. Like Matthew chapter 1, it doesn't start with something like "This is the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah the son of David, the son of Abraham," but simply begins, "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth."

 

Thinking about it a little, this is quite natural. As mentioned earlier, Toledot is about what something came from, isn't it? But in the beginning, God "created" the heavens and the earth. So, it didn't come from something, but it is the "beginning." Therefore, there is no Toledot. This word expresses that this beginning did not come from something, but is simply what God initiated for the first time.

 

"In the Beginning" and Creation Ex Nihilo (Out of Nothing)

When many people talk about creation, they first think of "Let there be light." So, many think of God's creation as "Let there be light," followed by the continuous creation of the sky, the separation of the sea, and so on. They think a lot about the six-day creation. However, that is the story that appears from 1:3 onwards. But if you look at 1:2, darkness appears there. Water also appears there. And then there was light. So, the creation of heaven and earth as you and I know it now, like "Everything came from nothing," "created from nothing," is not the case here.

 

Then where is creation from nothing expressed? As just mentioned, it is uniquely expressed only in Genesis 1:1. There it begins by saying "In the beginning." If we look at the phrase "In the beginning" itself, we can understand it more clearly. Proverbs 8:23 records it like this: "I was appointed from eternity, from the beginning, before the world began." It's a passage talking about wisdom, which we know actually represents Jesus Christ, right? But if you look at this verse, it says "from eternity," "from the beginning," "before the world began." This expresses the time before the earth came into being as "the beginning." Okay, so when did the earth come into being? As we know, the earth came into being after 1:3. So, the phrase "the beginning" itself means before all things, including the earth, came into being, when there was absolutely nothing, "from nothing."

 

This is a very simple statement. It is saying that all things in this world originated from God. This is actually a tremendous statement for us, but I hope we can think about it again in this way so that we don't take it too lightly.

 

The Meaning of "In the Beginning" for the Original Readers (Israelites)

Everyone! Who do you think were the very first people to read this text? Moses first wrote this book of the Bible, but who heard it first? Yes, that's right. It was the Israelites during the Exodus. What situation were the Israelites in? They were people who had come out of Egypt and were in an uneasy relationship with God because they had no water to drink or food to eat. What kind of place is the wilderness, the desert? It's a place where life is difficult to sustain. There, nearly 2 million people were moving through this wilderness, in a situation where they didn't know how to live or what to eat and drink. They came because they were told to enter Canaan, but Canaan was nowhere in sight, and they were surrounded only by enemies. But the word they heard at that time was precisely this word. Faced with these strong enemies, amidst this absurd situation, the first word they heard was, "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth!" What do you think the hearts of the Israelites were like when they heard the words that the One who created all things out of nothing was the God leading them?

 

In fact, around the Israelites were many Canaanite tribes and the Egyptian people, and they worshipped various gods. They worshipped the sun god, the moon god, there was even a frog god, and also the god of the Nile River. There were countless gods like these. But the declaration is, "All these are merely God's creation!", "All these things are what God made!" That's what it's declaring.

 

Difference from Other Myths

Many mythological stories from that time have been discovered, and we hear those stories too. There are not only Greek myths but also Babylonian myths and Sumerian myths. Encountering such myths, people come to think whether there might be such mythological elements in the Bible as well. This first part of Genesis is truly unique. In most myths, the gods compete or fight with each other to create this world. For example, the god Marduk kills the goddess Tiamat. Then, the myth tells that he used her upper body to create the heavens and her lower body to create the earth. Or they negotiate with each other or engage in horrific wars. Through such wars, humans and this world are created. However, Genesis has no war. There are no gods confronting God. God says, "I created the heavens and the earth in the beginning." No other words are needed besides that.

 

"In the Beginning" - The Ultimate Answer to All Problems

Now, think about the many problems you have, and that the Israelites had. "How will we live now?" Various detailed and kind answers might be in your and the Israelites' minds regarding that question. "Don't worry, I will give you manna every day. Don't worry, I will always provide water for you to drink." Instead of all these kind words, the first word of the Bible scripture is this: "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth!" This is the ultimate answer among answers. Whatever problem you have, whatever problem we are seeing with our eyes and facing, it cannot help but crumble before this sentence. "God created all things, these creations!" "He is the Lord of all things, the Maker of all things!" "What on earth is the problem, what can possibly shake us?" If we look at our problems again with these words, we realize once again how trivial they are.

 

Often, various things in your heart, or visible matters, feel truly irresistible to us. There are times when problems arise that we simply don't know how to endure. There are times when we lose loved ones, and there are also cases where businesses or affairs proceed in directions we didn't anticipate. We still have many worries and feel frustrated about our lives. There are times we struggle because of relationships with someone, times we suffer because we are not joyful and happy at home, and times we feel frustrated and troubled because of the church. It's the same for me as a pastor. However, the verse we shared today is truly the genuine answer for all of you. "God created all things!" What could be greater and more magnificent than that? Right now, we are worrying about so many practical problems, and Israel was wandering due to many survival issues, but the One who created this world of ours, that wilderness of the Israelites, is precisely our God! So God says, "Can I not protect you there?"

 

Creation Amidst Sin and Death

Everyone! How many enemies do we encounter as we live? Money becomes an enemy, the Coronavirus becomes an enemy, illness becomes an enemy at times, and sometimes even oneself becomes an enemy. The greatest enemy mentioned in the Bible is death. This is because death, as spoken of in the Bible, is not merely physical dying, but the result of eternal punishment due to sin. Because it determines our eternity. But God speaks like this: "Even in the midst of your death, I create you anew!" God is speaking not to an absolute state of nothingness, but to us who are in this world, fallen into the temptations of the flesh, filled with the resulting sins. "In this place full of sin, I am creating you, I am making you new!"

 

This is the content found in David's Psalms. "Why, my soul, are you downcast? Is God truly absent? Has the God who made heaven and earth truly passed away?" It's nonsensical talk. Therefore, I confess that I look to the LORD who made heaven and earth and seek help from Him. The Psalmist confesses that the One who made you a holy child of God from sin and death, and created you thus, is indeed our God.

 

Relationship Between 1:1 and the Six-Day Creation

As we examined briefly earlier, we can see that there is a slight gap or separation between the content of Genesis 1:1 and the content from 1:3 onwards. This is because the 'creation from nothing' in verse 1 is distinguished from the 'creation through existing things (earth, darkness, water)' from verse 3 onwards. So, while we sometimes consider 1:1 simply as a heading, examining the biblical context or studying the biblical words reveals that the words "beginning" and "create" clearly refer to the event where "being" comes from "nothing." Therefore, it is distinct from the six-day creation that follows 1:3, where light and all things were created from a place where water and darkness existed. Thus, the six-day creation is precisely the creation of the earth, that is, ordering and filling the already existing things. If we look at 1:2, it says the earth was formless and empty. Therefore, this six-day creation is the creation of the earth, the creation of this world we are currently seeing. The world with sky, sea, the air we know, water, animals, and birds – this very world, the world of the earth.

 

"Heavens and Earth": Visible and Invisible Worlds

Then, since 1:1 speaks of heavens and earth, it refers to the sky and the land. The earth has been explained before, so what does the heaven refer to? That heaven refers to the invisible world, different from the world we see. This invisible world and the visible world together become the heavens and the earth, that is, all creation. We usually think 'all creation' means only the things visible to the eye or things we can know now, but in fact, the Bible says that what God created in the beginning includes not only the visible world but also the invisible world.

 

Such passages, found several times in the Old Testament, are also mentioned by Paul in the New Testament. It is the word from the New Testament, Colossians 1:16-17. "For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together." Speaking of creation, it says that creation encompassed all things, both visible and invisible.  

 

If so, Genesis 1:1 can be translated like this without much issue: "In the beginning God created the visible world and the invisible world." The fact that these two worlds were created is actually a very important story. This is because we can understand not only that the world of the earth, where Eden appears and the first humans emerge, is not everything, but also that the ultimate goal is not just the creation of Eden but the completion of all creation. Everyone! For God's creation to be completed, it's not enough to complete just the visible world of this earth; the invisible world must also be completed together. These two constitute all creation, and the purpose and completion of creation is for that creation to become full and complete. Therefore, when we read Genesis, we must always keep in mind both the invisible world and the visible world.

 

Faith and the Invisible World (Hebrews 11)

What is visible is not everything. Through the upcoming expositions, we will encounter, one by one, the events that will occur in this visible world that God has made. So the world is created in six days. That story will soon appear. And as that story progresses, what we can understand more is that the visible world is not the whole story, but the invisible world is with us, and it plays a very important role.

 

Everyone! In Hebrews chapter 11, the famous "Faith Chapter," it says this: "By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command," it records. Why is that? Is it saying that we don't know at all where the world came from, but since God says He made it, we just have to believe it by faith? The author who wrote Hebrews probably wrote this for a Jewish audience. "Believe in Jesus" is a very difficult thing for a Jew. But believing in the God who created the heavens and the earth is perfectly natural for Jews. So why did the word "by faith" appear there? This word doesn't just mean "believing that God is the one who created the heavens and the earth," but is actually intended to emphasize the words that follow. "so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible." What you are seeing is not all there is.

Therefore, the Bible speaks of faith concerning those invisible things. Believing that, believing those invisible things.

Hebrews actually explains this invisible thing starting from Abraham. Of course, the phrase "by faith" is included before that, but it appears very clearly in the story of Abraham. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob lived in that land, but it says they lived in tents. Where did they live? They were living in the land of promise that God had promised to Abraham, but they didn't buy land, build houses, receive the land from God, and enjoy it; rather, they lived in "tents." By what did they live like that? "By faith"! By faith they lived in tents. So how did they live in tents? Was it the faith that "It will be fine later," "Although we are living in tents like this now, all this land will become ours," "If we endure just a little longer, all this hardship will pass," "God! I believe you will give all these things!"? Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, over three generations, did not possess even a single plot of the land of Canaan. The Bible says the reason Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob could live there in tents, the reason they could live through those difficult times by faith, was not a matter of endurance, thinking that God would give them better things after this period passed. The Bible says this: the reason was that he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God. What does this mean? It says the reason they lived as sojourners was because they were looking for the city of God in heaven. By faith, what did they see? They saw the invisible world. Surprisingly, the Bible says the saint "lives by faith."

 

The Saint's Life: Looking to the Unseen Homeland

Everyone, faith is not just used in the expression "I believe in Jesus Christ," or "I believe that Christ died for me," but it can also be used like this: "I believe that God has prepared the kingdom of God for us. And I believe that our true homeland, our country, is hidden within that invisible kingdom of God." This is called faith. Because of that faith, the Bible says we can sufficiently overcome living like sojourners in the tents of this world without any worldly achievement.

 

This might be the part that you and I think we have realized after believing in Jesus, but still haven't fully grasped. When do we get very upset? All day long, even if we feel really good, if we find out that a thief broke into your house overnight, our hearts will surely be upset. If you lost money while walking down the street, you might feel bad again. Thinking about it carefully, we mostly get upset over these trivial worldly things. Everyone! What the Bible says is that we are not people who can be shaken by all those things, but that this world is a temporary tent, and our dwelling place is actually our homeland in heaven. Then when is such conviction possible? It is only possible when we know the value of what is in heaven. When we realize how good the homeland in heaven is, we can endure the worries and hardships of this world and live relying on the heavenly homeland. The part that speaks of the eternal homeland, and that the invisible is not just for the future, is an important part of the content of this creation of heaven and earth.

 

Completion of Creation: Integration of Visible and Invisible Worlds

In other words, when everything is completed, the visible and the invisible things are completed together. If you think about our complete salvation through Jesus Christ, our physical resurrection, along with our spirit being in glory, and the time when we are completed as a perfect human being of God, is called the completion of salvation. At that time, is there a physical body or not? There is! It's not just the spirit. This is the completion of our perfect salvation. This creation is the same. Since the complete fulfillment of this creation is salvation, there is a visible world and an invisible world within this creation. However, as mentioned above, the Bible says that in this land, because of the invisible world, we can overcome the many difficulties in this world. Yet, we often experience that the victory clearly promised by the Bible doesn't seem very visible in this land. Why does it always feel like we are defeated? Why do we think we fail to experience victory in this land? The reason is precisely because we either do not know the value of that invisible world or do not even think about it at all. Therefore, we need to know what value we are truly enjoying. That is why the Bible draws our attention to the word "In the beginning."

 

Creation: God's Self-Emptying and Entry into Our World

This phrase "In the beginning," as we know, signifies the start, but at the same time, it marks the point when God's creation occurred, right? God's creation began. At that time, time itself also came into existence. And what happened to God then? God, who is an entirely different being from this world, a spiritual being, without form, completely unrelated to human appearance, holy and eternal—that very God entered into the created world like ours, meaning, as this world we know, the visible world, was being made, God entered along with that beginning. That's the meaning of "In the beginning." God entered into this world we know by starting His creation, thus God came into our world. How much God humbled Himself! God's self-emptying is evident not only in the event of the Incarnation but also in the very fact that God created this earth, that God's time has now begun, and that He entered into this time and began to create us. At that time, we begin to realize who God is, His heart for this earth, how God loves us, and what He is doing with us, through this thing called creation. We finite beings now begin to live by the eternal God. Nothing in this world can possess life, yet we live empowered by God who is life.

 

Cosmic Creation and New Creation Within the Saint

Therefore, the first creation actually helps us understand the life of the believer, which we are living now, much more completely. God made this universe, didn't He? And, as we will study going forward, He makes this entire universe His dwelling place. He expresses heaven as His throne and the earth as His footstool, right? It's not because God can be contained within them. God revealed His eternal and invisible glory in this world that we see. But now, with the coming of Jesus Christ, what have we become? We ourselves have become God's holy, eternal dwelling place! This universe cannot contain God, yet God has come to be with us! We can understand this holy event of God being with us through the event of Genesis.

 

What does it mean to create within us? Since we live in this world now, we are visible beings. But it means that just as God created the heavens and the earth in the beginning, He has started creation within us. Let's think about Adam. The first Adam became the head of humanity, created to enjoy all the glory God had made. But that first Adam failed, as we know. So the last Adam came. As the head of what did the last Adam come? The head of humanity? No. The Bible says He came as the head of the church. Jesus Christ came as the head of the church and promised that He would enable the church to enjoy that amazing glory. What kind of existence is the church? It is precisely the place where Jesus Christ is full.

 

As you look at that creation and the created world, what do we discover and sing about? We can praise God's glory, God's fullness, God's wonder, and God's beauty as we look at this world. That's why we say God is full in all creation. It doesn't mean that creation is God, nor does it mean that divinity dwells in creation giving this world some divine power, but it means that this creation reveals God's wisdom, God's power, and God's amazing glory.

 

"In the Beginning" Starts Within the Believer

When the Bible says to us now, "We were created," or "We are a new creation," "We are God's new creatures," it is saying that the very same thing is happening to us. It means that when we believe in Jesus, that "beginning" starts for us too. It means that you and I are not just believing in an abstract God, waiting for a heaven we will eventually go to, or living solely on vague expectations, but that the invisible God, when we believed in Christ, just as God created the heavens and the earth in the beginning, a beginning starts for us too. And God's creation has now begun within us. God enters into our lives and creates His heaven. God creates the earth within our lives. We may be in darkness and gloom, but He shines light and glory upon us there as well. In our visible lives, He enables us to see the heaven that is God's glorious heaven. Living in this land amidst suffering and hardship, He shows us the heavenly victory, assuring us that we will surely triumph and overcome within it.

 

God's Continuing Creation Within Us

You and I are not beings who believe in Jesus and live separately, but people within whom God's beginning has started. Therefore, we are people in whom God's creation is still ongoing. Even when we fall into sin, we are thus able to look by faith to God's cross and forgiveness, and even when you and I grow weary and tired living our lives, we come to believe that God, who constantly becomes our strength within, who started this amazing work in me, will work His creation to the very end within me, just as He brings creation to its final completion.

 

You and I might sometimes think that when we go to heaven, everything will end. But it is not so. God will eternally complete the eternal creation within you and me. We will praise the Lord eternally there, and we will sing a new song eternally. It's inevitable that people like you and me are creative because we have started this life of creation even here on earth. Remember.

 

God Creating Ex Nihilo Within Us

"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." And that beginning started in me the moment I believed in Jesus Christ. Heaven and earth will be made, and within us, the glories given by God through this new Jesus Christ will abundantly unfold. Not only that, but as we have seen, God will create us from nothing. We are so weak. Lord, we have nothing but sin. Lord, I have nothing but pride. Lord, I have nothing but this undying self that constantly wants to assert itself. Lord, I am so weak. In fact, I am one who has nothing. I have nothing but chaos. In that place, the Lord will make all these things blossom from "nothing."

 

Conclusion and Encouragement

Everyone! Corona is scary. If it weren't, would we be suffering like this? A single virus makes us all tremble in fear, anxiety, and discomfort. It irritates, makes things difficult, and truly saddens our hearts. If that tiny virus can do that, how could this amazing declaration that God created the heavens and the earth not heal you? How could it not raise you up again? In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth!

 

Closing Prayer

Loving Lord, we read Genesis as if reading a historical experience, about what kind of creation has been accomplished for us. Through Genesis, the Bible constantly desires us to realize the glorious kingdom God will establish. Lord, speak to us. Help us realize that although we seem to belong to this earth, we belong to heaven. Let us know that the history of the beginning has occurred within us. Let us realize that heaven and earth meet, the eternal kingdom is established within us, and we are those in whom the Lord's glory will be fulfilled. Also, let us experience it. Let us experience this glory of the beginning that has started within me. Just like the words "He saw that it was good," let us experience within us, in our hearts like barren wastelands with nothing, the amazing work of the Holy Spirit, its fruits, that amazing work of creation. We pray in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.