Lesson 4
A SERIES: A World in a Week – Chapters 1 and 2
LESSON 4: Genesis 1.1-3 “God Creating Earth (and the rocks)”
LESSON INTRODUCTION:
We are climbing out of the first verse now. We have been spelunking (just for fun, look that word up to see what it means) around in the first verse of Genesis chapter one for the past three lessons. We have uncovered some very interesting treasures to hold in our minds and share with others as well. I have calculated that if we move into the second verse at that rate that we remained in the first, it will take us nearly 782 years to get through the book of Genesis.
INTERPRETATION
I want to wrap our minds around the second verse of the first chapter of Genesis in this study. The focus in this second verse shifts from the heavens and the earth, now more to the earth. You can see in verse 1 that it says, “God created the heaven and the earth,” now He turns to the earth and puts our attention there. He says in verse 2 “And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.”
(Q) If you were to take a guess, how old is the earth upon which we live?
I was with a Southern Baptist Missionary on the mission field once. We were walking around a certain area where there were plans to plant a church. As we walked along I picked up an unusual stone and we began discussing its unusual color and shape. Just in routine conversation, I commented that I wondered how old it was. I was surprised when he said it was probably millions of years old and left there during the “Ice Age” or long before that. When I questioned him, he bluntly told me, “I do not believe God literally created the world in literal days. I believe He took thousands and maybe millions of years to create the heavens and the earth.” I respected his opinion, even though I knew we had completely different views, understandings, and convictions. However, I must say I was very disappointed. There are scientists who say the earth is 4.5 billion years old. If God chose to create the heavens and the earth billions of years ago, that is okay with me, after all that is His business. However, there are Bible teachers who say that the earth is much younger than this. Some say that maybe the world is eight to ten thousand years old. That is a person you would call a "young earth creationist." That is the position I take because I believe that the earth is old in terms of thousands of years rather than millions and billions of years. I take the position that true science and true Bible interpretation are never in contradiction. When you find what science truly says and when you find what the Bible truly teaches, they will not be in contradiction.
I am not a “rocket scientist.” I am an Eastern born and raised North Carolina country boy taught early in life that there is a whole lot of difference between knowledge and wisdom. There are bunches of people out there who are smart, but they are not very wise about some things. It is my belief that God is without question, the author of two books. God is the author of His book, the Bible. God is also the author of His book, nature. You read God’s Bible you learn about God in the Scriptures. When you look at God's universe and you learn about God in nature. Therefore, if God is the author of both books, then we would not expect there to be contradictions in the books which God has written.
Somebody will say, "Of course, you have to understand that the Bible is not a science book. So when the Bible speaks on scientific subjects, it may not be exactly correct." Please forgive me for being so blunt here but that statement brings to mind another statement I heard in a popular movie called “Forest Gump.” If my memory serves me correctly there was a scene where Forest said, “Stupid is as stupid does!” Sometimes I believe “Stupid is as stupid says!”
(Q) Which do you think was here first, the Word or the science books?
(Q) What do you think was the criteria for the argument of science when man firs began his contradictions with what man believed?
(Q) Do you ever find the Bible trying to disprove science?
(Q) Do you ever find the Bible trying to prove God?
I have never been comfortable with the position that when God writes a book and when God talks about scientific matters, He may not be correct. In my mind, it makes no logical sense to say that God does not understand His own creation. I have never found one area in the Bible, inspired and directed by the Holy Spirit of God, to be mistaken or incorrect. I have never found one subject, which He did not understand. He made it very clear that His way is higher that our ways and His thoughts are higher than our thoughts. If there is anyone left in the dark in the matter of understanding, it is man.
(Q) Are we to say that God who created the cosmos does not know cosmology?
(Q) Are we to say that the God who created the stars does not know astronomy?
(Q) Are we to say that God who created the plants does not know botany?
(Q) Are we to say that God who created the animals does not know zoology?
(Q) Are we to say that God who created the rocks does not know geology?
EXPLANATION
I will agree with anyone that the Bible is not a science book. However, when the Bible touches on scientific subjects we believe that it does so accurately, infallibly and without error. Sometimes I get a little carried away on a subject like this that is near and dear to my heart but we need to gather our minds around this important matter in verse 2 of chapter 1 from several points of view.
I. LETS LOOK AT VERSE 2 SCIENTIFICALLY.
In terms of what we know about science, what do we find when we read in this verse 2 scientifically? One of the sciences, which sometimes shake people’s faith in the Bible and in the Lord, is the science of geology, which is a study of the ages of the earth.
There was a little boy nine years of age who came to know Jesus as his Savior. He was baptized and became involved the church and in many ministries as time passed. He grew up under the accurate teaching and preaching of God’s Word in the church. When he was a teenager, he felt the Lord calling him into the ministry. When he finished high school, he went on to college and decided that he would major in geology. In the course of his study of geology and under the influence of his peers, he became convinced that the Bible was incorrect and that the world was billions of years old. He turned away from his faith and abandoned his desire to preach the gospel. The science of geology had shaken His faith for a long, long time. He allowed his secular knowledge of science to outshine his Godly wisdom of truth.
LET US THINK ABOUT THE SCIENCE OF GEOLOGY.
[THE STUDY OF THE ROCKS]
According to history records, there was a man named Charles Lyell, known as the father of modern geology. Actually, he developed his theories based on the work of a surveyor in England named William Smith. William Smith, in surveying, discovered that there were certain rock layers in that particular place in England. He assumed that because he found those rock layers in some particular order in England that they would be the same way all over the earth. It represented a major shift in scientific understanding of the study of the rocks. Up until the mid 1800’s most scientists believed, the earth could be better understood in terms of a catastrophe-taking place. They believed in the Bible account of the flood. Rather than things taking place in uniformity, they believed that because of the flood we had evidence of chaos and catastrophe in our creation. This was very appealing to Charles Lyell. Charles Lyell was a contemporary and he was a friend of Charles Darwin. He was a lawyer, not a scientist. He was also an Atheist and in particular, he rejected the flood. He did not believe the Bible is accurate when it talks about a flood. Therefore, he developed a view of geology.
When you pick up geology books, without fail, you will find reference made to Charles Lyell, recognized for developing “the geologic column.” That is, these rock layers that go down into the surface of the earth, represent the different ages of the earth. By means of the study of these various rock layers, we can determine the age of the earth. Therefore, he made several assumptions. He assumed that everything was uniform, just like William Smith had said. He also assumed that evolution was true. Therefore, if evolution were true, he believed that simpler forms of life evolved into forms of life that are more complex. He also believed we would find one animal becoming another animal – evolution from one specie to specie of another form.
Therefore, he developed this geologic column. There are a lot of fiction movies made today, based on the various ages and the various periods. We have the Azoic period. We have the Precambrian period, and the Jurassic period. The Spielberg's movie, “Jurassic Park,” is based upon the geologic column. Pay attention: these others may be coming out soon in a theater near you!
That was the basic thesis of what Charles Lyell said. Now, Darwin recognized that if evolution were true, we should find in these rock layers different kinds of fossils that would move from one form to another. In those rock layers there are fossils. These are remains of dead animal and dead plant life; he said that we would find in the fossil record, millions, and millions of transitional forms.
As we have studied the whole subject of geology, all through these years, on top of years, we have found some major problems in these transitional forms. What are we to say about geology? How are we to handle the findings of geology?
FIRST, WE MUST QUESTION THE DATING PROCESS. How do they determine these millions of years? When you look at what they have to say about the dating, you will find that many times they argue in a circle. For instance, they will say this, "How do we know how old these rock layers are?" They say, "We know by the age of the fossils which are found in those rock layers." On the other hand, you say, "How do we know the ages of the fossils?" They say, "You know the ages of the fossils by the ages of the rocks where you find the fossils." That, in logical terms, is arguing in a circle.
Another way they date these fossils is radioactive dating – in particular Carbon 14. By measuring the rate of decay of the radioactive materials in these dead fossils, they believe they can determine the ages of those fossils and the ages of the rocks. Today, more and more scientists are taking the position that beyond 3,500 years, radioactive dating is not that accurate. In fact, scientists took a living mollusk – (This is a member of the oyster family - an invertebrate with a soft unsegmented body, usually protected by a shell in one, two, or three pieces. Both the snails and the octopus could fall into this category. Most mollusks live in or near water) – tested it by Carbon 14 and it said it had been dead for 3,000 years. Therefore, the methods of Carbon 14 dating are not altogether accurate.
SECONDLY, WE MUST QUESTION THE PRINCIPLE OF UNIFORMITY. Hold on to your hats now and do not leave the room after the complicated statements I am about to make! They are for a purpose! Everything today is just as it was since the beginning of time is incorrect.
You are probably thinking about now, “What in the world is this Pastor talking about? What does this have to do with God and the Bible? This sounds crazy. I have never heard of this kind of stuff! He has really gone off the deep end. He has really lost me in this study!”
APPLICATION
Please, do not worry about it! THIS IS THE POINT I AM TRYING TO MAKE! We do not understand it ourselves. What I am trying to do is just give you an overall impression. Do not worry if you cannot understand everything the Bible says and everything science says about the earth! I am trying to show you that you do not have to throw away your Bible when modern science disagrees with the Bible teachings.
2nd Peter 3:4 talks about the skeptics who mocked the coming of the Lord Jesus. It says, “And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation. ” [That is uniformity.]
Now, notice what the Word of God says in verses 5-6. “For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water: Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished: ” Peter was referring to a flood. The Bible tells us that a catastrophe took place, and that not all things are now as they were from the beginning. Something happened. The Bible teaches that that catastrophe was a flood. Because of the flood, we can get certain rock formations that look like they are millions of years old.
Take for instance Grand Canyon. They have discovered in the Grand Canyon only five of these rock layers have been found and they are in reverse order. They are in opposite order. There is a place called Providence in Lumpkin, Georgia. Back in the 1800’s there was land and crops. They began to cut down the trees. Erosion began to set in. In the 1940’s they began to have to move buildings and towns. Today, there is a place of about 1100 acres. Some canyons are 15 stories deep. If you study those from the viewpoint of archeology, it would appear that it took millions of years for those canyons to form. Yet, it is less than 200 years since those canyons formed. The Bible makes it very clear that when God created the earth, He did it in such a way that there is the appearance of age. I think about Mt. St. Helens. Mt. St. Helens blew in 1980. In six minutes time the face of that mountain changed completely. If you studied that by methods of geology, you would determine that it took millions of years to bring this to pass. Yet it all happened in about six minutes of time.
When God created the universe, I believe God created it with the appearance of age. It is possible to make something and make it appear as if it is much older than it is. Take oil. We know that oil took a long, long time to develop in the heart of the earth. Now, scientists are able to go into the laboratory, take a ton of garbage, and make a barrel of oil in 20 minutes. [The appearance of age.]
(Q) What did God create when He created the trees?
(Q) Was Adam a little boy or was Adam a full-grown man when God created him?
I believe God created full-grown trees with fruit ready to eat. If God had created Adam as a little baby, there would have been no one to look after him. I believe God created Adam with age. Creation is a miracle of God. I think about the Lord Jesus Christ turning the water into wine. We know that wine takes an aging process. Yet, when Jesus spoke and turned the water into wine, He did it in an instant. Think about when God multiplied the loaves and the fishes. Bread normally takes a process of time. You harvest the grain. You turn it into flour. Then you make bread out of it. Yet, when God fed the multitudes, instantaneously He created and multiplied the bread. Therefore, we must be very careful that we not throw our Bible away just because we run into some supposed facts of science that may contradict what the Bible has to say. More and more scientists today believe what the Bible has to say about creation than ever before. How old is the earth? I do not know. The Bible does not tell us how old the earth is. It just simply says “And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.”
I. WHEN YOU LOOK AT VERSE 2, SCIENTIFICALLY. - You do not have to throw away your Bible when modern science disagrees with the Bible teachings.
EXPLANATION
II. LETS LOOK AT VERSE 2 LITERALLY.
“And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.”
There is a matter in the text that could cause some concern, as we look at the literal language of this verse. This is important when we read verse 2 and contrast it with verse 1 because there seems to be something wrong. In verse 1 we read, “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.” In verse 2, we read, “And the earth was without form and void and darkness was upon the face of the deep…” Something does not seem to be right there, does it? I looked at three other very trustworthy translations to see how they translated this verse. One translates it, “The earth was dreary and empty.” Another version of that verse translates it, “it was desert and empty.” Another version translates it that “it was ruined and uninhabited.” It is obvious to us, in the text here, that something is wrong.
I believe Isaiah puts this issue to rest when he talks about creation in Isaiah 45:18 and he says, "For thus saith the Lord that created the heavens, God himself that formed the earth…" I am not trying to be overly meticulous, but it is important to notice that there is a difference here. In the first part of this verse it says that “[the Lord created the heavens].” Then it says that “[God Himself formed the earth].” Nevertheless, we need to read the rest of the verse, “For thus saith the LORD that created the heavens; God himself that formed the earth and made it; he hath established it, he created it not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited: I am the LORD; and there is none else.” That verse of Scripture teaches very clearly that God did not create the earth as it appears in verse 2. “He created it NOT in VAIN.” Verse 2 says, “the earth was without form and void.” “He formed it to be inhabited,” yet here we have “darkness upon the face of the deep.” There seems to be something going on in this verse.
About the time that modern geology came along, some Christians tried to make some accommodation for these geological ages. Therefore, they developed the “Gap Theory.” For many years, I held to the Gap Theory because it made sense to me based on what this verse teaches. However, the Gap Theory was an attempt to say there could be room between verses 1 and 2 for long geological ages. Some today say that it started with a man named Thomas Chalmers. It came on into the Schofield Reference Bible. Creation scientists almost universally reject the Gap Theory today.
When you begin to study this verse and look at its background you will find long before Thomas Chalmers came up with this view, others took the view that something had happened in this verse. For instance, the oldest exposition on the Old Testament we have took the view that something happened in this verse but it was not a “Gap.” Some of the very earliest church fathers, which were paraphrases of the Old Testament, took the view that something happened in this verse but it was not a “Gap.” Some of the other early church fathers took the view that something took place in this verse. Specifically, we are told that God did not create it the way we find it in verse 2. Every word in that verse is a word that has to do with something under judgment. “The earth was without form.” That means it was a picture of waste. “It was void.” That means it was empty. "Darkness upon the face of the deep." Every term is an indication of a creation that is under judgment.
Here is a literal translation, which seems to make sense of what we have in this verse. "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth, but the earth had become without form and void and darkness was upon the face of the deep."
(Q) Before you read any further, what do you think may have happened?
"Pastor Frank, do you have any idea what happened?" Actually I do. The Bible teaches in Isaiah 14 and Ezekiel 28 about the fall of Satan. The Bible says that Satan fell from heaven and in Isaiah 14:17 it says when he fell he made the world a wilderness. We read a part of the story of Lucifer the devil in verses 12 and following, but the main point of consideration is in verse 17. “How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! 13 For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: 14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High. 15 Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit. 16 They that see thee shall narrowly look upon thee, and consider thee, saying, Is this the man that made the earth to tremble, that did shake kingdoms; 17 That made the world as a wilderness, and destroyed the cities thereof; that opened not the house of his prisoners?” We do not know how long it took that to take place. It may have been in the first six minutes of creation. It may have been in the first hour of creation. There is no need to have a geological gap of billions and billions of years, but I do believe that what we have in the second verse is a picture of what took place because of the fall of Satan. What we have now is an earth in chaos. 1st Corinthians 14:33 says, "God is not the author of confusion." God is not the author of chaos. However, here is a picture of the earth in chaos. When you begin to read in the Bible different pictures of salvation and when the illustration of creation is given, it is always God restoring a fallen creation. For instance, sometimes in the Bible we have the picture of the potter. In Jeremiah 18, the potter put a work on the wheel and he shaped a work on the wheel. The Bible says that the clay was marred in the hands of the potter. Nevertheless, as he began to work that clay on the wheel it says that he made it again a vessel.
I. WHEN YOU LOOK AT VERSE 2, SCIENTIFICALLY. - You do not have to throw away your Bible when modern science disagrees with the Bible teachings.
II. WHEN YOU LOOK AT VERSE 2 LITERALLY. - There is no need for some theory of a geological gap of billions and billions of years. What we have in verse 2 is an earth in chaos because of the fall of Satan. "God is not the author of confusion." God is not the author of chaos. Therefore, when the illustration of creation is given, it is always God restoring a fallen creation.
APPLICATION
III. LETS LOOK AT VERSE 2 PERSONALLY.
“And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.”
What does this verse have to say about us? Every time creation is used as a background for the salvation experience, it is used in a picture of creation, degeneration, and regeneration. It is a picture of what sin has done to our lives. The reference in 2nd Corinthians 4:6 is to the creation account. “For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. ” That verse of Scripture says that creation and what we find in Genesis 1, 2 and 3, is a picture of what God did in creation. It is a picture of what He does in our lives when we are born again.
Back in Genesis 1:1 I want us to see three pictures that personally talk to us about the salvation experience.
IN VERSE 2, WE HAVE A PICTURE OF THE CONDITION OF A SINNER. Just as the earth was ruined by the fall of Satan, so you and I have been ruined by the fall of sin. Look at the three-fold condition of a lost person outside salvation.
“The earth was without form.” That means WASTEFULNESS. When a person does not know the Lord Jesus Christ, therefore there is no sense of purpose and meaning in their life. There is only wastefulness in their life. Jesus told a parable about the prodigal son. The Bible says that the prodigal son wasted his substance in riotous living. The word literally means to throw grain in the air and let the wind blow the chaff away. When you do not know the Lord Jesus Christ, you are wasting your life. When you do not receive Christ as your Savior, there is no meaning, no purpose, for your life -- a picture of wastefulness.
We are told, “it was void.” The word, “void,” means EMPTINESS. Life, outside of Jesus Christ, is an empty life. God has made the human heart for God habitation. God has made the human heart to know the Lord. Are you sitting there thinking, "Pastor Frank, I have an empty place in my life? There is a hole down deep in my life." That hole is there because of sin. That emptiness in your heart can only be satisfied through a personal experience with the Lord Jesus Christ.
Then it says “DARKNESS.” Without Christ, who is the only One who can be the Light you need in your life, there will always be darkness. If you do not know the Lord Jesus as your personal Savior, there is darkness in your heart and life right now. That is the condition of a sinner.
IN VERSE 2, WE HAVE A PICTURE OF THE CONDITION OF A SINNER.
IN VERSE 2, WE HAVE A PICTURE OF THE CONVICTION OF THE SPIRIT.
In the latter part of verse 2, it says, "And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters." The word, “moved,” means to hover over. It is used in Deuteronomy 32:11 where it talks about the eagle. It says, "As the eagle moves over its nest and flutters over its young." It means to shake or vibrate. It is an indication that when God created, when God remade this earth that had been ruined by the fall of Satan, that divine energy flowed from the creator to the creation. The same thing is true in your life as a lost sinner. The Holy Spirit convicts people of their need for Jesus. The Holy Spirit of God brings people to awareness that they are lost and they need Christ as their Savior. The Holy Spirit begins to do His work. Even in this Bible Study, as you read the lesson and you read the Scripture, wherever you are, alone at home, in bed, or in a worship service some time and you do not know Jesus, God's Holy Spirit may have taken these to begin to shake your heart. Alternatively, as God’s Word is preached, maybe God begins to move in your heart. Down inside of you, something says, "That's what I need. That preacher is preaching about me. I have darkness in my heart. I have sin in my life." That is the conviction of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit of God is moving upon the face of “The deep.”
IN VERSE 3, WE HAVE A PICTURE OF THE CONVERSION OF THE SAVIOR. Verse 3 says, "And God said, let there be light and there was light."
(Q) How long do you think it took God to say that?
(Q) How long do you think it took to be light after God spoke?
(Q) How long do you think it takes God to save you when you ask?
When God said, “…let there be light…there was light.” There was light that happened instantaneously! How long do you think it took God to say “let there be light?” Do you think it took God a billion years to say that? When God speaks, He does not stutter. "And God said, let there be light and [instantaneously] there was light." The moment you realize you are lost, the moment you recognize God is dealing with your heart and you need the Lord Jesus, the moment you invite Jesus Christ to come into your Heart – at that moment, the light of God comes on in your life. Christ comes into your life. He takes that old wastefulness and replaces it with usefulness. He takes that old emptiness and replaces it with fullness. He takes that old darkness and replaces it with brightness. The Bible says, "If any man be in Christ he is a new creation, old things are passed away and behold all things are become new." That is the conversion of the Savior.
You can experience a creation work of God. The same God who took this earth, without form and void and full of darkness, the same God by His creative power who spoke light and life into existence, is the God who is with you this very moment. He is the God who can come into your heart and life, change you, and make you a new creation.
If you need more help in this area please go to the Bible Study Title Page “ETERNAL LIFE” and you should find the help you need. Please send me an email and respond to me with any comment, question, or need you may have. Also, please let me know of any decision you make in Christian life or of your decision for Christ at rfdenning1951@gmail.com
Be sure and go to Sunday School and Worship Service and listen to your Pastor preach the Word this Sunday and do not forget to TITHE from your gross income – that is your first fruits. Honor the Lord in all you do. Remember everything you have and are belongs to the Lord and on loan to you – so manage it well!