The Consequences of the Fall, Gen. 3:8-24

 

10/11/20                                                                                                                                                                                             The Revelation of God’s Creative Power

Genesis 1:1-2:3

                 Ps. 19:1 declares, “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows His handiwork.” The universe in which we live is a daily testimony to the existence, power, and care of God the Creator. That Psalm reveals the truth that God’s creation speaks to humanity, it carries a message to the discerning soul. “Day unto day utters speech, and night unto night reveals knowledge. There is no speech nor language where their voice is not heard.” What is seen in the daytime, what is displayed in the night sky give evidence to a Divine Creator. Furthermore, the witness of the natural universe is so powerful that it condemns the unbelief of humanity. Rom. 1:20 – “For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse…”

                Genesis chapter one unravels for us the origin of all things in language we can understand. If we accept the truth that there is a God who is all powerful and all wise, then we can believe He has the power to bring the universe into existence out of nothing. The first chapter of the Bible defines God’s creative acts in six literal days concluding with a seventh day called a sabbath rest. These six days fall into two groups of three days which parallel each other. In the first three days we see that God brings order and formation to the original elements of creation which were “without form.” In the last three days he fills the heavens and the earth that were formally “void” or empty. His purpose is to provide an environment that is full and fruitful, capable of sustaining living creatures under the dominion of humanity which is created in his image.

                We can summarize this chapter in the words of Allen Ross – “In six days God, by his powerful Word, called into existence a perfect, harmonious, and fruitful creation to be enjoyed and ruled by human beings.” This morning we continue our study of these six days of creation which compel us to thank, praise, and glorify our Creator God.

 

I. In Three Days, God Ordered and Formed the World, Gen. 1:3-13.

A. Day One – God created the basic elements from which he would form and fill the heavens and the earth, 1:1.

                1. He begins by creating the time, space, mass continuum that we explored last week.

                2. The original creative state of the earth as without form or shape and void or empty. In a sense, it was a wasteland that could not be inhabited, but God’s plan was to make from this elemental watery mass a place to be inhabited by man and beast.

                3. The watery mass was also enshrouded in darkness, but He created light and separated the light from the darkness. He named the light Day and the darkness Night. Thus ended the first day’s work.

                4. Excursion – the meaning of “day.”

·         There are some, even in Christian circles who believe that the term day is used in a rhetorical or nonliteral sense. In other words, they are not 24-hour periods of time, but indeterminate lengths of time. For instance, Kenneth Mathews after a discussion of the meaning of day in his commentary writes, “The weight of the arguments favors a nonliteral “day,” but definitive answers to the meaning of “day” and the duration of creation remain elusive.”

·         It is true that the Hebrew term “yom” or day can be used in that sense in some contexts, for instance, the Day of the LORD sometimes refers to a period of time. However, the usual sense of yom is a normal day as we would understand it.

·         If you were to sit down for the first time and read through this passage, would you interpret these successive days as ages or long periods of time? Are we to understand that “evening” and “morning” do not refer to the end of day or night but are to mean long periods of time?

·         In other contexts, when successive numbers are used with “day” it never means a nonliteral day. Furthermore, the Sabbath rest of the law corresponds to the last day of a seven-day week each composed of twenty-four hour periods of time.

·         An all-powerful God is certainly capable of doing these creative acts in a limited period of time – a normal day.

B. Day Two – God creates the sky by dividing the waters above and below it, 6-8.

                1. Cp. Is. 40:12, 22.

• The terminology of v.22 is interesting - God creates a tent for man to dwell in. The Lord establishes an atmosphere and hydrosphere suitable to support human life. The elements of oxygen and water are basic to our needs.
• What is the firmament? The Hebrew word means to beat or spread out. It refers to a thin stretched out layer of some material. It is often translated “expanse.” In this context it is Heaven or what we would call sky.
• Let’s note its use in some other passages. Job 37:18 – “spread out the skies” with the appearance of a bronze or cast metal mirror. Ezek. 1:22 – stretched out, like the color of an awesome crystal – clear but solid. Dan. 12:3 – a shiny brightness. The Hebrew perception is of something that is sheer and shiny and seems to have a border or be enclosed. No matter where we are on the earth, the sky appears to us to be like a dome in the daylight, although we know it is not.

2. God called this expanse heaven. In the Bible, heaven may have any of three meanings. It can refer to outer space, as when God created the immense space of the universe. It may refer to the space of air above the earth we call atmosphere or sky. It can also refer to the dwelling place of God which is not visible to us.

• Here, it is speaking of our atmosphere which God used to divide the waters created on day one. The waters above may have been like a vapor canopy or surrounding the earth and creating a greenhouse affect everywhere, conducive to perfect atmospheric conditions. It would also help explain where all the water came from when the flood occurred when the windows of heaven were opened. It is likely that this vapor canopy collapsed as part of God’s judgment on man.
• Also, 2:5b-6 seems to indicate there was no need of rain on the earth because a mist arose from process of condensation that watered the earth before the flood.

3. The waters below refer to the remainder of the spherical mass of the earth. These waters cover the whole earth until the dry land is formed on day three. Since God’s work upon the waters is not yet complete, he reserves his decree of “good” until the third day.

C. Day Three – God separates the dry land from the waters and makes the land fruitful, 9-13.

                This is the third separation or division that God calls forth – 1) separation of night and day, 2) separation of waters below and waters above, 3) now - separation of land from water. Two creative works occur on this day as well as day six.

                1. The formation of dry land, 9-10.

• One place indicates that the waters occupied one area of the earth’s surface while the land would occupy others. The waters were gathered together into great reservoirs and basins as the elements that formed land came together. This would include all the subterranean lakes and waterways, rivers dividing the land and joining together oceans, seas, and lakes. God called these places Seas.
• We observe such places today although they would now be much different as a result of the flood. Our area hosts the beautiful Finger Lakes. We are a stone’s throw away from the Great Lakes. Rivers abound and we are not that far removed from the Atlantic Ocean. All of these water sources provide us with food, beauty, and enjoyment long after God’s original division of the waters.
• Then the dry land appears where man is able to dwell. This included rocks, minerals, chemicals, different types of terrain and fertile soil. The original earth was a farmer’s dream. We must remember that the original earth was much different than now. The flood changed the face of the earth in many ways.
• The Lord calls the dry ground Earth or land, the same term used in v. 1, indicating it is of the same essential material created on day one. The land is an important theme in Genesis – it is formed for man to live upon and take sustenance from. It is cursed as a result of man’s sin; it is drastically changed by the flood; it is divided into continents and countries; and it becomes an important aspect of the Abrahamic covenant where God promises to give a land to his people.

2. On day three, God also brought into being vegetation necessary to sustain animal life.

·         Grass – a general categorization for vegetation. Some suggest it refers to all ground covering plants. But two categories are mentioned - herbs that yield seed, or seed-bearing plants. Trees that bear fruit which contain seed in them.

• Different types of vegetation were capable of reproducing after its own kind, either bearing seed or having seed within its fruit. They did not develop from seeds, but were created full grown, mature, and capable of reproduction. Everything in the original creation was brought into being in this way, complete, full grown with appearance of age.
• The introduction of the term “seed,” which is of thematic and theological significance in Genesis. It normally refers to offspring as of children in a family. It will appear later in a spiritual sense, the seed of the woman vs. the seed of the serpent, the seed of Abraham which is both physical and spiritual.
• Another important word introduced here – kinds. God produced the genetic code or DNA for life. Reproduction only occurs according to this code. There is a large amount of variation in the kinds, but no new kinds will develop. Ex., many kinds of dogs, can inbreed or interbreed them and get many variations, but all will be dogs not cats or some other kind. Kinds are not capable of becoming other kinds.
• Evolutionary theory presupposes a common ancestry of descent, that one kind developed from another kind, i.e., that men developed from apes, that apes developed from previous animals. But this demands so-called missing links to explain jumps from one kind to another. There are no missing link fossils that satisfactorily explain this hypothesis.
• So, God has completed his formation of the earth and brought into existence a suitable place to live and a food supply for man and animal. It is interesting that although we would consider plants as living, they are not so described here. Living creatures do not come into being until days five and six. The foundation of their sustenance is created on day three. Thus, comes to an end the third day and God’s pronouncement upon it of “good”.

II. In Three More Days God Filled the Heavens and the Earth, 1:14-31.

                The original creative mass was void or empty of habitation. The Lord has provided form and substance to the earth, now he fills it with amazing creatures.

A. Day Four – God Creates the Luminaries, 14-19.

                1. The firmament or spacious expanse in this context refers to outer space, that which exists beyond our atmosphere.

·         Within this expanse God brings into being light sources or generators. The sun and stars are not light itself, but they are sources of light. God created light energy on the first day and divided light from darkness. The true source of all light is God himself. He now creates luminaries that will be the earth’s source of light and heat which will sustain life on the planet.

·         Now, the universe is filled with movement and light. Indeed, few things are of more awe and beauty than a starlit night. Even more amazing are the photos of far off planets, stars, and galaxies. It is a wonder that anyone can observe this order and beauty and believe that it just happened!

2. The purpose of the luminaries.

·         They are to give light to the earth which is necessary to sustain life.

·         They will rule or govern day and night. As the earth spins on its axis it has periods of light and darkness. The sun now becomes the greater luminary to provide this division. The lesser light is the moon which actually reflects the sunlight.

·         They also will become measurements of time and seasons. We are all familiar with the equinoxes and changes of season which may not have been as distinctive before the flood as they are now.

·         Signs – The concept of signs may refer to the star groupings that are prevalent at different seasons, which gave ancient men a visual recognition of the approach of seasons. The stars were used to guide travelers and seamen. Stars are also indicated in apocalyptic literature as heavenly signs of God’s program of judgment.

·         But sun, moon, and stars are creations, not gods or emblems that are to be worshiped.

3. So, the Hebrew narrative of creation is a strong polemic against the ancient pagan and polytheistic religions.

·         These all had their stories of creation associated with false gods who supposedly brought order out of chaos. Egyptian, Mesopotamian, Sumerian and other ancient civilizations believed that created things such as sun and moon were gods to be worshiped. Their gods supposedly brought fertility, such as Baal, the god of the storm who watered the crops with rain. All sorts of sordid and perverse activities were associated within their worship.

·         Abraham’s ancestors worshiped false gods. Israel in Egypt were familiar with the false gods of that land and some worshiped them. The law of God, given at Sinai forbid the worship of these false entities.

·         The revelation of creation presents the one true God as Creator of all things. He had the power to make the sun and moon, the names of which are not even mentioned here so as not to suggest their worship. He made the stars, which only have a brief mention. He controls and orders all that he has made. One need not fear the elements or worship them because their Creator is benevolent and brought them into being for man to benefit from and enjoy.

 

When we consider the greatness and wonder of God’s creation it reminds me of Psalm 8:3-5. How puny we are in comparison to expanses of the universe, the wonder and beauty of the earth, and the provision God has made for us. We ought to be humbled – what reason could we ever have to be proud? What vanity it is to think there are other explanations of origins that replace the truth of scripture?

We ought not to be afraid to stand up to those who mock and ridicule the revelation of Creation. They make think we are unscientific, ignorant and foolish – yet, it seems to take more faith in what they believe than what God reveals!

We ought to be thankful and full of praise that the God who created these awesome things did so for our sustenance, joy and benefit. To ensure that we would be well provided for in our sojourn through time. It is expressive of his love, providence and grace because we surely did nothing to deserve it.