I pray that as we dig deep today the words I speak will be only the words of the Holy Spirit. May he illuminate your minds to the extent that you may be able to receive what He has to tell you today. Hopefully, you will see that this is not an attempt to establish any one denomination, but an attempt to help solidify your belief in the bible as the Word of God.
Let us pray
Turn your bible to
Turn your bible to
No doubt what is being talked about here, are events prior to creation. So how do we begin to answer these questions?
The plot gets even deeper as we read John 3:11-13.
The plot gets even deeper as we read John 3:11-13.
In this discourse between Nicodemus and Christ, Christ makes a statement that seems a bit out of place in verse 12.
If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you [of] heavenly things?
What in the world did Christ mean by this? Was he really saying that there was abundant evidence in the word of God about heavenly things but Nicodemus’ mind was not quite ready to receive them? If this was what he was saying then where were these heavenly things made mention of and what were they about?
With these thoughts in the back of my mind I set out in search of those “heavenly things” spoken of by Christ.
At the beginning of my study, I must confess I found nothing, but I didn’t give up I just prayed as I searched the word a little more closely.
It was not until I had completed a study on the “Sabbath Truth” which is the 7th part of this series, that I realized that I had scratched the surface of the heavenly things that God wanted us to know about.
It was then the door of truth was flung open for me about some of the symbolism of the events that took place during that first week of creation.
At the beginning of my study, I must confess I found nothing, but I didn’t give up I just prayed as I searched the word a little more closely.
It was not until I had completed a study on the “Sabbath Truth” which is the 7th part of this series, that I realized that I had scratched the surface of the heavenly things that God wanted us to know about.
It was then the door of truth was flung open for me about some of the symbolism of the events that took place during that first week of creation.
“What really took place during creation week?”; you may or may not be asking.
If you pay close attention to our scripture reading taken from Job it seems that God is asking the man Job some pretty strange questions.
I am here to tell you that these questions were not at all strange and it was possible for Job to produce the correct answers to these questions. What am I saying?
Job had uttered some marvelous things, which had not up to that time not been revealed. It seemed that Job was really thinking on that level, so God demanded of him more answers, but Job just shied away from answering, and begged for forgiveness. (job 42:3)
Something you should know about God. He is always wanting to bring man (his creatures) higher, mediocrity is not something that God accepts. Only perfection will do.
Something you should know about God. He is always wanting to bring man (his creatures) higher, mediocrity is not something that God accepts. Only perfection will do.
Consequently I will by proving to you today that there is way more contained in Genesis chapter 1 than we often assume. As a matter of fact I can proudly say that the first chapter in the bible is a complete summary of the life of man.
If you will tune in for the rest of the series I shall complete the study of the entire chapter and on each creation day I will be revealing to you, how and why it is that I am able to make this claim.
Lets us pray again
Today I shall be dealing with just day 1 of creation.
So that I do not leave anybody behind or anybody walks away today with any misconceptions, I will start with what we know and then move on to what has been revealed to me. Some of these things are things which you may have known already. But for me I have never heard them presented in this way. I hope this study will be as interesting to you as it was to me, when I discovered these truths.
So that I do not leave anybody behind or anybody walks away today with any misconceptions, I will start with what we know and then move on to what has been revealed to me. Some of these things are things which you may have known already. But for me I have never heard them presented in this way. I hope this study will be as interesting to you as it was to me, when I discovered these truths.
To begin proper let us turn back to our scripture text in Job. This sets the foundation of the study that we shall be doing today.
(job 38:6)-Explained
For the well studied Christians who are looking forward to the second coming of Christ, it is not uncommon to hear that “the plan of salvation was laid down as a part of the foundation of the Earth”, however not many of us know how to explain this truth that we have adopted as near and dear to our heart.
Through our study today we will understand just a few of the principles that were laid down on day 1, and by doing this we shall have a little better understanding and be better able to explain how was it that the plan of salvation was laid down as a part of the foundation of the Earth.
I must say that this is not an exhaustive study of the topics covered. I am merely sharing with you what was revealed to me. I am sure there is more to be discovered for the inquiring mind.
In Job 38:6 we find God asking Job this very question and asking him to explain it.
“38:6 Whereupon are the foundations of the Earth fastened? or who laid the corner stone of it?”
I don’t want any of you here today to say that I am deep. It is the Holy Spirit and Him Alone that must be praised for revealing what I am about to show you today.
Now the answer to the question “to what was the foundation of the Earth fastened?” the answer quite simply is “The plan of salvation was the anchor to which the Earth was fastened.”
But now let us go on to discover how it was that the Earth was fastened to it? As promised we will first look at what we know happened on day 1 and then go to make applications.
So what I am going to share with you today does not change the fact that God created the world in 6 literal days each made up of 24 hrs. However what I will show today should deepen your understanding of the wisdom and comprehensiveness of the knowledge of God.
Now that we have gotten that out of the way let us turn to our text of study Gen 1:1-5. Read with me.
O.k. what do we know?
Gen 1:1 is a part of the study of day 2 so I shall not talk about this verse today but you can skip to the second part of this series if you want to understand it now.
Although we will study verse 1 later, let me briefly say what this verse does. Apart from titling chapter 1, this verse immediately introduces the realm where what is to be discussed in the rest of the book takes place. It takes place between Heaven and Earth.
It also identifies the all-important title of God i.e. “Creator” which is further developed in the book. (I know there will be some objection so let me say this, Yes God has other titles but this is the most important of them all. This we know because it is first mentioned).
o.k. let's get down into interpretation. What does verses 2-5 tell us?
Summary
On the first day, God made light by speaking it into being
He divided the light from the darkness and named them both day and night respectively
and this marked the first 24 hr period that we know now as a “Day”. (did I miss anything?)
For the most part, this is all the thought and recognition that Gen 1:2-5 gets although there is lots of information to be had from the verses.
What "lots of information," am I talking about?
On the surface, these verses do not seem to be very insightful, but this is so only for surface readers. Our understanding will begin to deepen when we learn to ask the bible questions, and allow the bible to answer those questions for us.
Isaih1:18-come let us reason together
It is important to ask questions when you read the scripture. ,
Here are examples of questions we could ask.
Here are examples of questions we could ask.
Why did this happen at this time?
What was the purpose behind this event?
Where did this come from?
How did it happen?
When did it happen?
Q. Why is it important to ask questions?" you may or may not be saying.
A. If you do not ask questions your understanding will never deepen and precious truth hidden on the pages of the bible will forever elude you.
You know Jesus always taught in parables. One day the disciples came to him and asked him, why he did this.
Let us look at it. Turn your bible to Matth13:10-17
You know Jesus always taught in parables. One day the disciples came to him and asked him, why he did this.
Let us look at it. Turn your bible to Matth13:10-17
Why is it hidden? matth 13:10-17
10And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables?11He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.
12For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath.
13Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.
14And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive:
15For this people's heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.
16But blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear.
17For verily I say unto you, That many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them.
Slide 9
Did you catch that?
Did you catch that?
It is not given to everyone.
God has his people who he wants to understand.
Only those who are my sheep will understand….when they have inquired, then the Holy Spirit will teach them (John 10:26-27)
Only those who are my sheep will understand….when they have inquired, then the Holy Spirit will teach them (John 10:26-27)
Now as it relates to our study text what are the questions we should ask? Let us focus now on verse Gen 1:2.
There are many more questions we could ask for Gen1: 2-5, however for the purpose of this study, I plan to answer only the following questions.
Nothing in scripture is written by chance
Before we proceed to answer these questions, the first thing that I want you to note is that nothing in scripture is perchance. If this book is the word of God, which it is, then all the statements in it must be very deliberate and also very true.
Do you believe this? Let us look at a scripture that makes this very point.
If everything were to be recorded the bible would be too big to carry and read. So then, this means that the stories, the names, the numbers, the notes etc that have been mentioned in the bible have a very special significance.
Have you ever wondered; Why is it that the bible speaks about this individual and not that one; or why was the name of this person given, but that other person's name was withheld?
I will say it again for emphasis. If everything were to be recorded, the bible would be too big to carry and read. So then, the stories, the names, the numbers, the notes etc that have been mentioned in the bible have a very special significance.
Are you with me still?
Now its time to start making our applications.
Application
We have already looked at the physical aspect of the verses so let us now go on to look at the symbolic applications by answering the questions we have just mentioned.
ANSWERS
Q. “Why was the earth without shape and void?”
R. This is the easiest to answer in my mind. I will pause a moment while you conjure up thoughts in your head. Feel free to pause the video at this point or jot down below what your thoughts are to this question.
Hopefully, you came up with the answer that at this time the earth only existed in the mind of God, and there was not a physical figure, shape (nothing) to refer to as the Earth. As a matter fact the scripture is extremely emphatic on this point. The earth was without form and Void.
Hopefully, you came up with the answer that at this time the earth only existed in the mind of God, and there was not a physical figure, shape (nothing) to refer to as the Earth. As a matter fact the scripture is extremely emphatic on this point. The earth was without form and Void.
Notice it does not say that it had a bad form. It says it had no form because there was nothing there. The the word void attached only emphasizes the nothingness/emptiness which was present.
God uses nothing to make something. Isn't that a marvelous thought.
God uses nothing to make something. Isn't that a marvelous thought.
Q2. Let us now look at question 2 , why was there darkness upon the face of the deep.
To get clarification here, I used a Greek/Hebrew concordance, and this is what I found.
The Greek word used for deep in Genesis is the exact Greek translation of the word found in Revelation 9 referring to the bottomless pit. Now as students of the bible we know that the bottomless pit refers to a desolate place, where life is missing. In genesis the scripture is being overly emphatic about the nothingness of the earth, and the absence of life. I hope you get this point that there was nothing there.
In verse 7 we are introduced to two things that pre-date the earth. These two things are not called into being during any part of the 6 day cycle established at creation. What are these two things? Again I invite you to pause the video while you analyze the text to come up with your answer.
The two things present which were not called into being during any part of the 6-day week cycle are darkness and water. Before the scripture records that God even opens his mouth darkness and water is already mentioned.
The Greek word used for deep in Genesis is the exact Greek translation of the word found in Revelation 9 referring to the bottomless pit. Now as students of the bible we know that the bottomless pit refers to a desolate place, where life is missing. In genesis the scripture is being overly emphatic about the nothingness of the earth, and the absence of life. I hope you get this point that there was nothing there.
In verse 7 we are introduced to two things that pre-date the earth. These two things are not called into being during any part of the 6 day cycle established at creation. What are these two things? Again I invite you to pause the video while you analyze the text to come up with your answer.
The two things present which were not called into being during any part of the 6-day week cycle are darkness and water. Before the scripture records that God even opens his mouth darkness and water is already mentioned.
Now-Where was this water flowing from?
In Rev 22:1 we are given a hint about where the water comes from. Let us read it together.
Rev 22:1 And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb.
There is also another text in Ezekiel 47:12 which is a Vision of the water flowing from the sanctuary, but you can read that one on your own.
Clearly we see here that water flows from the throne of God, and who could have put it there but God Himself? (NIV John 1:3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made.)
But what can we say about the darkness?
Isn’t God light?
Q. If God was there shouldn’t the darkness have been totally dispelled?
A. Well we know that it was created because he said so.
I know these questions are not a part of the study but I couldn't help but add them in.
Why did God create darkness?
Did he create it for a noble purpose?
Let us have the scripture answer this one. Turn with me to Matth 8:12
Although it is documented that Darkness is the punishment of the wicked in these vereses.
Matth 8:12 But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth
Matthvs 22:13 vs 25:30
Originally darkness was the punishment for the devil and his angels see 2 peter 2:4 & Jude 1:6
You'll remember that there was war in heaven and the devil and his angels were cast out. If the war took place before the Earth was created, then where were they cast to?
A place called darkness was made for them and that was to be their habitation until God would be ready for them.
The fact that God comes where it is dark tells me that he visited the very place of the banished/fallen angels. Right now my mind tells me that he had a lesson to teach and it could only be taught by going into the dark.
God has always been revealing himself to His creation. We cannot by searching finding out God (job11:7) God is the only one who knows everything and for us to know anything it must be revealed.
God is constantly teaching and leading his creatures into higher levels of understanding of who He is- This is borne out firstly in gen1:26 when God says “Let us make man in our image”, but also in
NIV Rom 1:20
For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people (His creatures) are without excuse.
By breaking down his character upon this new creature He would illuminate the minds of the rest of beings as to who He was/is… Everything was going well until somehow along the way there developed a misunderstanding in heaven and now God is forced to step up the game or do something different.
Before I proceed let me set your mind at ease. Cause some of you might be thinking that these are my words. Let us turn to
His ways are past finding out Rom 11:33
The Cherubims throughout eternity continually find out new things about God that they declare Holy! Holy! Holy! Always before him as they contemplate his character.
You see what is being explained…..His eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:
God is constantly revealing himself, Which brings up another text John 14:8-9 with
Philips question
The revelation of God to his creatures: Sometimes they get it and sometimes they don’t. As a result there are many ways that God is working to reveal Himself.
Let us get back on track
The absence of Light is darkness.
We know that the darkness was created by God and he created the boundaries for light and darkness. By Him also was created the boundaries for what is good and what is evil. This is what the text in Isa45:7 speaks about.
What is being described in this text is the same thing that occurred in gen 1:4
God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness.
Here the scripture is making it abundantly clear that it is He/God who is the one that draws the line between darkness and light.
God created the light, and because he did not destroy darkness He clearly outlined where light ends and where darkness begins.(something that I think till this day no man can do)
But
What application then should we make for the darkness?
The darkness here symbolizes the lack of understanding that His un-fallen creatures had of Him. Remember our text in Romans let us look at it again.
Let us look at another text that make this very same application
Note that the darkness in verse 23-25 is a description of the foolishness mentioned in verse 22.
Yet another text that brings out the same idea. This one most of us know. First of all John deliberately starts the chapter as a back drop to Genesis one and when speaking about the darkness he says:
4 In him was life; and the life was the light of men.
5 And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.
6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.
7 The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe.
8 He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light.
9 That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.
10 He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not.It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see that the world was in darkness and the light came into it, revealing the things which could not previously be seen or understood.
Are we together still? Do we need one more text?1 cor 4:5
5 Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come, who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts: and then shall every man have praise of God.
5 Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come, who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts: and then shall every man have praise of God.
Let us now turn our bibles to
John 11:9 Jesus answered, Are there not twelve hours in the day? If any man walk in the day, he stumbleth not, because he seeth the light of this world.
11:10 But if a man walk in the night, he stumbleth, because there is no light in him
So up until this point we can say that his creatures were only stumbling around in the knowledge of his glory and power etc.
His ways are past finding out Rom 11:33
The Cherubims throughout eternity continually find out new things about God that they declare Holy! Holy! Holy! Always before him as they contemplate his character.
Job 4:18 Behold, he put no trust in his servants; and his angels he charged with folly:
How was the darkness created?
We understand that God set the boundaries for good and for evil but, how did un-fallen creation become contaminated with ignorance/darkness?
To answer this question it is needful for us to look briefly at the origin of sin. Let us turn to
16 By the multitude of thy merchandise, they have filled the midst of thee with violence, and thou hast sinned: therefore I will cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God: and I will destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire.
Because of the multitude of the merchandise you sinned!!!!!!!!!!
At a glance it is not clear what is being said here but we are not of them that read the scripture with glances. We ask questions….I ask questions. So what does merchandise mean?
Merchandise
Merchandise is a commercial term, so in Eze 28:16 we are told that Lucifer is trying to sell something. What is he trying to sell? (his lies about God and His law)
Remnants of the idea is still left, what do people say when they know something is false (I don’t buy that……you can’t sell me that one)
John8:44- Lucifer the father of lies
In order to be considered a liar (or a seller) there must be someone to lie (sell) to. In order for Lucifer to extend His rebellion he had to have followers.
Satan is trying to sell his ideas about the Law of God
God’s law is restrictive-no freedom
If you disobey his law, he will destroy you
God is a tyrant
As a matter of fact that is the identical thing you hear today about the law of God. But our greatest assurance of freedom comes from the obedience of God’s Law. Imagine living in a world that there is no lying, stealing, adultery, everybody loves and respects God etc.
You would have a perfect happy world.
Let us go back to our term merchandise.
7404 r^ekullah { rek-ool-law’} Ezekiel 28:16
pass part of 7402; TWOT - 2165a; n f
AV - merchandise 2, traffick 2; 4
GK - 8219 { hL;kur]
1) merchandise, traffic, trade[1]
We are looking at the occurrence of the same word in other bible passages. What was used is a Greek/Hebrew concordance so the words are not interpreted the same in English in these verses, however we need to get an understanding about the idea this word depicts.
By doing a root study of the word used we can piece together the route meaning of the idea being presented. Let us look at another text which uses the root word, but expresses more clearly the idea of what lucifer was doing in heaven. Turn with me to Lev 19:16
Lev19:16; talebearer
19:16 Thou shalt not go up and down [as] a talebearer among thy people: neither shalt thou stand against the blood of thy neighbour: I [am] the LORD.
7400 rakiyl { raw-keel’}
from 7402 a scandal-monger (as travelling about); TWOT - 2165b; n m
AV - slander 2, talebearer 2, talebearer + 1980 1, carry tales 1; 6
Slide 31
GK - 8215 { lykir;
1) slander, slanderer, tale bearer, informer[3]
Ezekiel 22:9-slander (defame character)
9In thee are men that carry tales to shed blood: and in thee they eat upon the mountains: in the midst of thee they commit lewdness.
7400 rakiyl { raw-keel’}
from 7402 a scandal-monger (as travelling about); TWOT - 2165b; n m
AV - slander 2, talebearer 2, talebearer + 1980 1, carry tales 1; 6
GK - 8215 { lykir;
1) slander, slanderer, tale bearer, informer[4]
So in Ezekiel 28:16 we understand that Lucifer was slandering God. By launching an attack against the Law of God Lucifer had launched attack against God’s character. Rev 12:7-9 war in heaven.
Tying the ends together
Why was there darkness? Lucifer had gone about spreading lies in heaven that had darkened the understanding of the angels and the un-fallen beings in heaven of God. So what does God do about this? He leads his creation to light,
Question 3- Why was the Spirit and not the Word/Father moving over the face of the waters.
1 cor 2:11 For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God.
The character of God is that which has been defamed, so it is He (the spirit) who needs to set the record straight.
John 16:13 Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, [that] shall he speak: and he will show you things to come
He is the guide of truth, not the father not the son. He was simply fulfilling His God appointed position……Thus the reason why only ‘The Spirit’ is documented as moving over the face of the waters.
vs 3—and God said let there be light.
Then comes the point of revelation! The Holy Spirit has led the way and now God declares let there be light. The Father initiates the thought, The Holy spirit leads out to make preparation and then the Word accomplishes it.
Jesus Christ now steps in as the mediator between light and darkness, and this was before sin entered the world.
In the context that I have just put it we now understand why there was darkness in the beginning of the history of the earth.
Wanting to enlighten His creatures God said “let there be light” Because this was the only way that their understanding was going to be deepened. God would not allow darkness or ignorance to reign so he said Let there be light.
But this testimony could only be understood through the aid of the divine Teacher. Only by the aid of that Spirit who in the beginning "was brooding upon the face of the waters;" of that Word by whom "all things were made;" of that "true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world," could the deep truths of God be discerned. {Ed 134.4}
Appeal
Vs -4 And God saw the light, that [it was] good: and God divided the light from the darkness.
Although God’s light displaced the darkness, he did not totally destroy it, as in the case of the holy city (rev 21:25 & 22:5) because there was still more to reveal. God does not do anything partially, but fully and completely.
Adam and Eve had yet to chose to be children of the light or darkness….as did every other created being.
The two roads of darkness and light still exist for us to choose one, however there is coming a day when darkness and everything associated with it will be totally dispelled and light shall reign supreme.
Now that the light has come, an age of understanding has dawned, let us not remain in darkness for …….
John 3:19……….. this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.
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