The Biblical doctrine regarding creation is a crucial to the Christian Faith. Though there are many who claim to be Christian who no longer believe the Genesis account, I would have to question why they would even lay claim to being Christian. If God did not create the heavens and the earth as described in the first two chapters of Genesis, then why would one place his or her faith in Christ Jesus, God the Son and Maker of all who came into this world to redeem us from sin and the judgment of God upon us by dying on a cross? If God did not create us, what authority would He have to give us commandments and be our judge? And, if God will not be our judge, why do we need Jesus Christ and His atoning sacrifice for sin?
If God is not our Creator and Judge, Jesus becomes nothing more than a great moral teacher who might be able to guide people into making this world in which we live by chance existence a better place -- and Jesus really becomes no better than any other moral teacher or religious faith. And, sad to say, that is exactly what so many churches are teaching these days. For them, being a Christian is nothing more than following the benevolent teachings and example of Jesus to make this world a little bit better.
Being Christian, however, is so much more than looking to Jesus as an example and teacher of love and charity. Being a Christian is to believe what He says in His Word about creation, sin, judgment and the atoning sacrifice He provided. It is to acknowledge our utter sinfulness and guilt before the God who created us and will be our judge; and it is to trust that Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God made man, fulfilled God's righteous demands in our place and suffered, in our stead, the just punishment we deserved when He died on the cross and then rose again on the third day.
Therefore, we look at the Bible's teaching about creation.
How did life and all things begin?
How is it that this world and the universe came to be? How did life begin and why does it go on? Is it all the result of chance over extreme lengths of time? Or is it the result of an intelligent creator who wisely designed and created all things?
While many have speculated and theorized, there is one eyewitness account of how all came to be and who is behind it.
Many scoff and criticize this account and offer alternative theories with no foundation in truth in an attempt to escape the accountability which goes with the creation account, but wisdom calls upon us to seek the truth and accept it, along with any accountability which accompanies that truth.
That one eye-witness account is recorded for all to know in the first two chapters of Genesis. It is the account of the Creator Himself, recorded by Moses for all to read and know the truth.
That account begins in Genesis 1:1-3: "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. Then God said, 'Let there be light'; and there was light."
Who is the Creator?
Who is the Creator? The Bible, which is God's inspired account, tells us that "in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth."
And, who is this God? The Hebrew word, Elohim, which is the plural form of God, is the descriptor used to describe the Creator (cf. Genesis 1:26-27). He is also called by the name Jehovah, often translated LORD. "This is the history of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens" (Genesis 2:4).
The Bible further defines God, when it says in 1 Corinthians 8:6: "Yet for us there is one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we for Him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom are all things, and through whom we live." Thus we see that all things were created by God the Father through Jesus Christ.
God's creation account also tells us that, in the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, "the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters" (Genesis 1:2). Thus we see that the Holy Spirit, too, was active in the creation of all things.
The opening verses of John's Gospel (John 1:1-4) tell us: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men." Thus we see that the Word, Jesus Christ, identified in v. 14 as God Himself in the flesh and the only begotten Son of the Father, created all things and is the giver of life, both physical and spiritual.
In St. Paul's letter to the Colossians (Colossians 1:15-17), the inspired Scriptures say of Christ Jesus, that "He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist."
So, who is the Creator? It is God, the God the Scriptures identify for us as God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.
Though God is one -- "Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one" (Deuteronomy 6:4) -- God is also three -- thus, the command to "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit" (Matthew 28:19). This is why the God of the Bible is often called the Triune (three/one) God, because He is one God and yet three distinct Persons. Thus, the Father is God, the Son is God and the Holy Spirit is God. Yet, there are not three Gods, but one God.
The Bible tells us in 1 John 5:7: "For there are three that bear witness in heaven: the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit; and these three are one."
Though beyond our ability to comprehend, this is how God has revealed Himself to us -- it is His account and His word. And it is this God who has created all things and has given us life.
Randy Moll is the managing editor of the Westside Eagle Observer and also the pastor of Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Rogers. He may be contacted by email at [email protected]. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Editorial on 05/04/2016