EARTH DAY Some apologetic implications of genesis 1.1 public

SOME APOLOGETIC IMPLICATIONS OF GENESIS 1:1

by

Kevin Ball

It is the motivation of this writer to honor and glorify the One and Only True God as revealed in Scripture by publishing the truth about Him and what He has done for the benefit of believers, as well as those who are not yet believers.

PRESUPPOSITONS

This presentation presupposes that the Bible, comprised exclusively of the thirty-nine books of the Old Testament and twenty-seven books of the New Testament, is the

Word of God. Every word is “God-breathed,” the product of divine inspiration and as such is divinely authoritative (2 Tim 3:16). Since Scripture was "God-breathed," it is

wholly inerrant and true in everything that it affirms (John 17:17), whether in doctrine, practice, history, science, or

geography.

PRESUPPOSITONS (Con’t)

This inspired text has been preserved for us in the totality of manuscripts and versions containing Holy Scripture. The Bible is perspicuous and the understanding of it is

by normal and ordinary means, using the plain sense of human language. This method, variously called "normal,"

or "grammatical-historical," is the only hermeneutic consistent with the doctrine of perspicuity.

PRESUPPOSITONS (Con’t)

Furthermore, the transcendent and final nature of its authority prohibits the subjection of its truth claims to another authority (Ps 119:89; Isa 42:8, Heb 6:13). Instead, the Word of God is self-attesting and self-authenticating (John 10:35, 17:17) and

the certainty of its authority is imparted to believers through the illumination of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor 2:4-5, 14; 1 John 2:20-21).

The Word of God is final. There is no higher authority, nor is there an equal authority necessary to complement it (Ps

119:89). As such it is sufficient for the believer in all matters pertaining to life and godliness (2 Tim 3:15-17, 2 Pet 1:3-4).

PRESUPPOSITONS (Con’t)

Lastly, Scripture is a progressive revelation of God and his plan (Heb 1:1-2) for time and eternity intended for the

good of His creation. The ultimate and unifying purpose of this revelation is the glorification of God.

Consequently, this presentation of the Apologetic Import of Genesis 1:1 is within a distinctively doxological

framework.

THE NEED FOR THIS PRESENTATION

There is a tendency on the part of Christians to advocate apologetic strategies and methodologies

that are less and less derived from Scripture. Philosophical and other purely rational

apologetics fail from the start.

As a result, many Christians loose the battle for the beginning at the beginning and they fail to do

justice to the character of God and His Revelation.

THE NEED FOR THIS PRESENTATION (CON’T)

“Of absolutely radical importance for the development of Christian apologetics is the biblical doctrine of creation. Indeed, so much is this the root of the matter that apart from it no effective apologetic is possible; for

the doctrine of creation is the indispensable foundation of our understanding of all existence. This doctrine affirms, first of all, the absolute primacy or priority of Almighty God, and thus the eternity and total

independence of his existence.”

Cornelius Van Til

I sing the mighty power of God, that made the mountains rise, That spread the flowing seas abroad, and built the

lofty skies. I sing the wisdom that ordained the sun to rule the day;

“I Sing the Mighty Power of God”

The moon shines full at God’s command, and all the stars obey.

I sing the goodness of the Lord, who filled the earth with food,

Who formed the creatures through the Word, and then pronounced them good

Lord, how Thy wonders are displayed, wherever I turn my eye,

If I survey the ground I tread, or gaze upon the sky.

“I Sing the Mighty Power of God”

There’s not a plant or flower below, but makes Thy glories known,

And clouds arise, and tempests blow, by order from Thy throne;

While all that borrows life from Thee is ever in Thy care;

And everywhere that we can be, Thou God art present there.

“I Sing the Mighty Power of God” (Con’t)

Given the key nature of Genesis 1:1, it is only proper then to study its contents carefully, hence an exegetical study. For the purpose of this presentation, only definitive or conclusive exegetical highlights will be presented. This will be followed by Some Apologetic Implications of Genesis 1:1.

INTRODUCTION

“In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth”

“In the beginning”

Is in the ABSOLUTE state (meaning In the absolute beginning

of time God created)

This adverb is used frequently as an antonym for the “end”

(Job 8:7; Eccl 7:8)

• All ancient versions, Masoretes, LXX, most all early Jewish and Christian writers,Barrick, Buzenitz, Craigen, A. Ross,

Matthews, Hamilton, Calvin, Luther, Rooker, Kidner, Ridderbos, Young, Childs, and Hasel.

“God”Has revealed Himself in the Scripture.

He made everything (Exodus 20:11, Neh 9:6, Psalm 104:24, Isaiah 44:24)

In him all things were created, in heaven and upon the earth, things visible and things invisible and all has been created

through Him and unto Him (Col 1:16)

All men are His creation (Prov 22:3).

This God who created all things rules over all (Ps 103:19; Matt 11:25)

“Created”

The subject of ברא in Scripture is always the God

of the OT and never pagan deities.

It refers to past completed action.

Context (absolute beginning and no preexisting materials implied) and the

Analogy of Faith (Ps 148:5; Rom 4:17; Heb 1:3), not word ברא itself command creation ex nihilo

“The Heaven and Earth”

Is a Merism describing the

All that God Created in the Universe

*Heaven and Earth and everything in between like Day and Night and everything in between.

Herbert Spencer in 1862 in a work entitled “First Principles” identified time, force, action, space, and matter as ultimate scientific ideas.

The five categories, according to Spencer comprise everything subject to scientific

examination.

Genesis 1:1 encompasses all of these categories:

“In the beginning”—that’s time. “God”—that’s force. “Created”—that’s action. “The

heavens”—that’s space. “And the earth”—that’s matter.

In the first verse of the Bible God laid out plainly what no scientist or philosopher cataloged until the nineteenth century.”

MacArthur, John. The Battle for the Beginning : The Bible on Creation and the Fall of Adam, Nashville, TN: W Pub. Group, 2001, Page 40.

“That free act of the triune God

by which in the beginning

for his own glory he made,

without the use of preexisting materials,

the whole visible and invisible universe.”

A. H. Strong

Creation

Some Apologetic Implications of Genesis 1:1

Implication # 1 Genesis 1:1 Presupposes God!

Genesis 1:1 “In the beginning God!”

Note: There are no formal proofs in the Bible for God’s existence. It is and understood fact.

Application: Concluding from creation that God probably exists is blasphemous

Application: God has no antecedents, and no equals

Implication #2 Genesis 1:1 Presupposed the God of Scripture!

He is identified later as the Lord God (Gen. 2:7)

He owns everything (Ps 24:1) “whatsoever is under the whole of heaven is His” (Job 41:11; cf. Gen 14:19)

His sovereign rule extends over the earth …over every soul (Ezek 18:4) unto all generations (Exodus 15:18, Psalm 10:16).

This God who created all things rules over all (Ps 103:19; Matt 11:25)

Application: Concluding from creation even that a

“god” definitely does exist is

equally blasphemous.

Note: Sinful man is content with a God of their own devising but not with the God who is,

the God of Scripture.

Implication #2 Genesis 1:1 Presupposed the God of Scripture! (Con’t)

Implication #3 Genesis 1:1 Establishes that God is in Charge

Genesis 14:19

“God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth”

Romans 9:21

“Does not the potter have power over the clay…”

Daniel 7:27

      ”His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,       And all dominions shall

serve and obey Him.”

Daniel 4:25

“…till you know that the Most High rules in the kingdom of men…”

* There is not one square inch of the world, not a split second of time that is not dependent on,

controlled by, and subservient to God.

That is why all are commanded to praise (Ps 150:6) and serve Him (Ps 72:11).

Implication #4 Genesis 1:1 Presupposes the God of Scripture is Eternal

and Prior to All (God is Transcendent)

Before God created there was only the Eternal God (Aseity of God), matter, man, time, space are all subsequent to

and proceed from God.

*Failure to realize this tends to temporalize the Creator/eternalize the created.

Implication # 5 Genesis 1:1 (i.e. Creation) Proclaims God is Glorious (Great)

Psalm 19:1

The heavens declare the glory of God;And the firmament makes know the work of His hands

Day to day pours forth speech,And night to night reveals knowledge

The idea is the constancy of the heaven’s testimony.

There is no place that it is not observed (“to the end of the world”)

Psalm 8:3-4

“When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers,What is man that You are mindful of

him…”

*NOTE: General Revelation is God’s witness of Himself to all men. It is given to mankind in general and gives a general knowledge of God. It is a universal witness to His existence and something of His character. There is nothing in G.R. about the love of God, the character of sin, the need for faith and repentance, the person and work of Jesus Christ, or the promise of forgiveness

Implication # 6 Genesis 1:1 (i.e. Creation) Proclaims God is Powerful

Romans 1:20

“For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen,…even His eternal

power and Godhead, …”

God has made known to all men things about Himself

God Himself is the Revealer/Teacher (He has shown it to them) and

He has revealed His eternal power and Godhead are clearly seen

Implication # 6 Genesis 1:1 (i.e. Creation) Proclaims God is Powerful (Con’t)

Genesis 1:3

“Then God said, “Let there be light” and there was light.”

No one creates like this but God! God’s effortless, totally free act of creating is a

manifestation of His sovereignty.

Commonly described as creation by divine fiat.

.

Implication # 6 Genesis 1:1 (i.e. Creation) Proclaims God is Powerful (Con’t)

By His exhaustless power, God can do all things consistent with His nature and purpose. “Power” is the ability to produce effects.

Genesis 17:1“God Almighty”

Jeremiah 32:17“God made heaven and earth by His great power.

Nothing is too difficult for thee.”

Implication # 7 Genesis 1:1 Postulates (that is, demands) that God is the eternal,

exhaustive, and exclusive source of life.

John 5:26“For as the Father has life in Himself,

so He has granted the Son to have life in Himself”

Psalm 36:9“With thee is the fountain of life”

*Indeed all that we are is derived from the Uncreated One!

IMPLICATION # 9 GENESIS 1:1 GOD IS THE FOUNDATION OF ALL

KNOWLEDGE

God’s knowledge includes all things past, present, and future, immediately, simultaneously, and eternally,whether things actual or possible: 

God is all-knowing.

This is true because He is the eternal, exhaustive, and exclusive source of all other knowledge.

IMPLICATION # 9 GENESIS 1:1 IMPOSES A CREATOR / CREATURE DISTINCTION

*There exists a sharp division between the eternal and

the temporal.

As Christians and especially as leaders we

are called by God to defend and contend

for the faith. This demands that we

understand the Bible’s cosmology because

the faith is in a major way tied to and

predicated upon it.

CONCLUSION

We must do the work of exegesis, arrive a solid conclusions and then boldly

proclaim the truth!

CONCLUSION (Con’t)

“casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God,

bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ”

2 Corinthians 10:5

CONCLUSION (Con’t)

And Ezra said: “You are the Lord, you alone; you have made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth and all that is on

it, the seas and all that is in them; and you preserve all of them; and the host of heaven

worships you.

Nehemiah 9:6

Give God the Glory He is Dueand Praise Him for His

Awesome Creation