THE ORIGIN OF CREATION
By W. G. Guy
Our universe did not exist until God created it!
Genesis 1:1 – In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
God was in existence long before he created our three dimensional universe. He abides in another dimension that many refer to as “heaven”. Our universe, with its stars, galaxies, solar systems and planets, did not exist until God created them. Some like to refer to that creation as the “big bang theory”. They fail to recognize that God’s dimension (heaven) is far greater than our vast universe. God’s dimension completely surrounds our three dimensional universe. This is how He can see the beginning and the ending of our existence all at the same time.
The term, “three dimensional” refers to our universe as being limited to the three dimensions of time and space (or distance). In three dimensions there is always a beginning and an ending, or a starting place and an ending place. The natural human mind cannot conceive of eternity or infinity; there always has to be a beginning and an ending of both time and distance.
Consider outer space, it has to end somewhere, and where it ends something else has to begin. And where that something else ends, something else has to begin. The same thing applies to the application of time. This is the dilemma of the limited human mind as we just don’t conceive of eternity or infinity. We always think in terms of our limited three dimensions. In God’s dimension (heaven) there are no limitations of time and space; these only exist in our three dimension universe.
God exists outside of our three dimensions which is why belief in God and what He has provided is by faith. The natural mind is unable to understand God’s existence and thus His creation and provisions for mankind are not accepted. It takes the re-born spirit of man to even consider these things.
1 Corinthians 2:11-14 – 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. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.
God is so far above and beyond the ability of natural man that unbelievers cannot accept the things of God, even His existence and His creation, much less His provision to redeem man from his fallen sinful state. God’s love, works and ability are far above what we can ever perceive with our natural minds; but they are available to us through faith in Him, in His Word and in His promises to us.
Ephesians 3:17-20 – that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; and to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God. Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us,
Now, back to creation, which may have been millions of years ago, but we need to recognize that mankind, as made in the image and likeness of God, is only about 6ooo years old and came after the world we live on was renewed, or as many believe re-created. In the original creation according to Genesis 1:1, he made the earth to be inhabited, and so it was, and by all manner of creatures, but not by man.
Isaiah 45:18 - 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.
Some of those inhabitants were almost human-like in addition to the prehistoric beasts whose fossil remains testify of their existence. Mankind was not part of this scene because God did not make man until after all these life forms on earth were removed. Why did God have to do away with all these pre-historic life forms? The answer to this introduces the warfare that the enemy (Lucifer/Satan) began in his rebellion.
After God completed the original creation of the earth, which could be millions of years ago, he placed one of his special high-ranking created beings in charge to be administrator over the earth and its environs, (and possibly other places also). This administrator was an anointed cherub named Lucifer. Cherubs are an elite level of angelic-type being assigned by God to cover, protect, and care for God's special places; they are in charge of and responsible for those assignments.
Ezekiel 28:14 & 15 - Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the misdt of the stones of fire. Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee.
The word covereth as used above means to guard, to protect and care for or having charge and responsibility for that which has been assigned. Lucifer, having been given that significant position, began to take on more authority than God had allotted to him. He became prideful, boastful and began to operate independent of God. He began doing his own thing rather than his assigned tasks. The word "iniquity" means rebellion or "doing your own thing". Lucifer began attracting the attention of other angels in God's creation and drawing them unto himself. When he saw that he had such influence over other of God’s created beings he began to feel equal to God himself; he even considered that he could probably overthrow God and take over all of creation. As his following grew, God had to put a stop to it and make an example of Lucifer before all of creation.
Isaiah 14:12-14 - How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How art thou cut down to the ground, which did weaken the nations! 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: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most high.
Ezekiel 28:16 & 17 - By the multitude of thy merchandise they have filled the misdst of thee with violence, and thou has 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. Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness: I will cast thee to the ground (earth), I will lay thee before kings, that they may behold thee (in the fallen state).
Note the reference in these two passages to Lucifer "weakening the nations" and was to "lay before kings". This may refer to whatever society and its rulers that existed on earth back then that he corrupted. (Some call this the pre-Adamite or pre-Adamic civilization.) Archaeologists are discovering evidence of such even now.
The warfare has begun! God executes his judgment on Lucifer's rebellion and all that he had influence and control over, which was the pre-Adamite civilization that he controlled on earth. That judgment was the total elimination of all life that existed on earth. Lucifer lost his position in God's creation and he also lost those life forms on earth that he had influenced. This judgment came in the form of a universal flood and darkness - the means that God eliminated all physical life on earth.
Jeremiah 4:23 to 27 - I beheld the earth, and, lo, it was without form, and void; and the heavens, and they had no light. I beheld the mountains, and, lo, they trembled, and all the hills moved lightly. I beheld, and, lo, there was no man, and all the birds of the heavens were fled. I beheld, and, lo, the fruitful place was a wilderness, and all the cities thereof were broken down at the presence of the Lord, and by his fierce anger. For thus hath the Lord said, The whole land shall be desolate; yet will I not make a full end.
This passage shows that there was some kind of civilization on earth that God judged before the six-day re-creation making the earth without form and void. After an indeterminate period of time, which could even be millions of years, God begins to plan the next phase of life on planet earth.
Genesis 1:2 - And the earth was without form and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep..... .
An important item needs to be addressed in the above verse. The word that is translated was in the above verse is the wrong tense form of the verb that in the original language is hayah. The word hayah elsewhere in scripture is translated became. However this did not make sense to the translators of the Bible so they changed the tense and used the word was. This means that Genesis 1:2 should read: And the earth became without form and void.... ; this agrees with the rest of scripture as God did not create earth that way.
Thus the earth BECAME without form and void as a result of God's judgment on Lucifer, his domain and all those who were under his evil and rebellious influence. It had to be eliminated because Satan corrupted it all. God's means of elimination was by flood, the original flood, not the second flood of Noah's time. Yet God did not make an absolute end because He had a plan to re-do the whole thing using what He originally created, (as in the last line of Jeramiah 4:27 quoted above).
2 Peter 3:5 to 7 - For this they are willingly 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: But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.
The earth was left in this state of darkness for an unknown period of time. This long time made sure that all life forms passed away, even those that lived in the deepest and darkest part of the sea. Then at a certain point God began to plan the restoration of the earth and its life forms. This occurred as the Spirit of God pondered and thought out how he was going repopulate the earth and provide new leadership to have authority and rule.
Genesis 1:2 - ........ And the spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.
The word moved in the original language is rachaph which means to brood or think earnestly, ponder, plan which also implies a period of incubation.
Now begins what some call the six-day re-creation; the period six thousand years ago that most Christians are erroneously taught that is the original creation of the heaven and earth listed in Genesis 1:3-31. Let's take a close look at what this scripture actually says, in particular the word let as it appears in verses 3, 6, 9, 11, 14, 20 and 24. This word let actually means to allow to come forth, to make to appear or make visible. This is not a creative act! It is an expression of permission and purpose for something that already exists in a dormant state to be manifest. It means that which was previously created is allowed (or "let") to come forth again. What occurs after Genesis 1:2 is not a creative act but a realigning of the physical environs that were previously made into a chaotic state by God’s judgment on Lucifer - when the earth became without form and void.
In order to not deviate from the main topic we will not go into the details of the six-day restoration of the earth. You can figure it out for yourself as you study Genesis 1:3-31 in light of the information just provided. You will also notice that nothing was actually CREATED during these six days except for man, (possibly great whales may have been created also, but they came from what the waters brought forth as in verse 21), meaning they or their substance was already present in the sea. (Please do not use this as justification for evolution which is a doctrine of Satan in an effort to deny God’s actions.)
Beginning in verse 26 we see God decided to place a new administrator in charge, (or to cover), and that he would have dominion over the renewed planet earth. This new administrator was to be a special creation of God; one that would be equipped with his own character and nature, that is, a being made in His own image and likeness. So he fashioned man to be just like him.
Note that God said, "Let us make man in our image and likeness". Initially it may seem strange to us to see God refer to himself in the plural sense. The word God in the original language is Elohim which is plural for God, or Gods. From the scriptures we can understand that God or Elohim refers to the Godhead which is the family of God consisting of Father, Son and Holy Spirit, or the trinity of God. However, at this point in time the Son was not yet manifest in the flesh so he could not be referred to as the Son, so we will refer to him as the Word, that part of God that later was to become flesh, the man named Jesus. Thus we see the reason for the plural form used for God.) Now back to God's special creation - man:
Genesis 1:28 - And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.......
God's purpose for man was dominion and procreation. Notice the word replenish; this means man was to re-populate the earth with multitudes that would be in Gods’ likeness - having God’s character and nature. The use of this word replenish is further evidence that the earth was previously inhabited. As stated earlier, that previous population may have been human-like but it was not mankind that was made in the image and likeness of God. (This explains the discovered human-like fossil remains, referred to as “cave man”.)
What made Adam different from the previous inhabitants that were eliminated by God's judgment on Satan and the earth? We read about this in Genesis Chapter Two which is an embellishment on parts of Chapter One.
Genesis 2:7 - And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.
The previous inhabitants did not have this God-kind of life. Adam is the only being on earth that God breathed His own life into and which made him a living soul. Thus Adam had an intimate union and fellowship with God. We need to focus on this point for a moment because this is what today's typical church doctrine ignores. As a result we fail to consider what Adam was like before the fall, before sin entered the scene.
Adam was filled with wisdom and knowledge as well as the very character and nature of God. However, Adam did not possess God's divine powers and attributes of omnipotence (all powerful), omniscience (all knowing) and omnipresence (all or everywhere present). He did have the character and nature of God that is listed in Galatians 5:22-34: LOVE, JOY, PEACE, LONGSUFFERING, GENTLENESS, GOODNESS, FAITH, MEEKNESS and TEMPERANCE; these items are also known as the fruit or produce of the Spirit, (or His image and likeness).
The word breath in the original language of both the Old and New Testaments also carries the meaning of spirit. Thus the "breath of life" that God put into Adam was actually His own Spirit form of life; God imparted his nature into Adam. Now God had one of his own in charge of earth, and he also declared that it was now “good”.
Genesis 1:31 - And God saw everything that he had made, and, behold, it was very good.
Why did God make man in His own image? This author’s conclusion is that since God IS LOVE, He wanted a being after His own image and likeness that He could love, and one that would love Him in return; a being that God could identify with. Now you can understand why God’s New Testament command is to LOVE.
Adam was, in a sense, a son of God, just exactly like Jesus. The only difference is that Jesus was the "only begotten son" and Adam was the only "formed" or created son. They both came from the same source and had the same character and nature. This is why Jesus is called the last Adam, (ref. 1 Corinthians 15:45).
Now man is on the scene and becomes the object of the conflict and ongoing warfare between Lucifer and God. Lucifer lost his position as administrator over the Earth, and now he sees this position given to Adam. Lucifer considered Adam to be an inferior being because he is made of the dust of the earth and was not a supernatural being as he was.
Lucifer may have lost his position but he did not lose his power, influence, subtlety and nature/character. He was mad and he was jealous of Adam who now had his former coveted position. (Remember that part of Lucifer's problem was pride, and pride that is snubbed produces jealousy.) So Lucifer plots and schemes to overthrow man to get back his position of dominance of planet Earth thus getting back at God. By doing so he thought he could defeat God.
Lucifer executes his subversive plan in the Garden of Eden, (Genesis Chapter Three). However, instead of going after Adam, he exploits Adam's spouse with trickery, deceit and lies. (Scripture calls Satan a liar and the father of lies.) Eve, (Mrs. Adam), was tempted by Lucifer to defy God by disobeying and making a choice to obey Lucifer instead.
1 Timothy 2:14 – And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression.
He always uses the three areas of his own evil nature that caused his fall and defiance of God - lust of the flesh, lust of the eye and pride of life; we also know these three areas as: "I will, I want and I am".
1 John 2:16 – For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.
These three are the areas of human vulnerability that Satan entices to sin. He used these same three on Jesus who was tempted in the same way we all are, (ref. Matthew 4:1-11).
