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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. ~ Genesis 1:2
Today, we continue our study of the book of beginnings. When God initially created the earth, it was empty and alone. It was dark. It was unfinished in shape; it was uninhabitable by living things. That was in the beginning. And the Spirit of God was hovering; In so doing, He was bringing order out of disorder. God was creating that which He had yet created. Disorder garners our attention the most because we intrinsically know that it should be about order. Yet, disorder has its purpose. I find that I lack appreciation for order when I am only focused on disorder. But, the presence of disorder makes me long for order.
Some believe there was a gap between Genesis 1:1 and Genesis 1:2. They see an initial creation in v.1 and then a subsequent re-creation in v.2. This is due to the usage of the words, "The earth was," which is a Hebrew word which can be, and often is translated in the Scriptures, "became." Those who believe in The Gap Theory believe the earth became without form and void. They believe that it was not made that way in the beginning. They point to Isaiah 45:18 which reads, "For thus says the Lord who created the heavens who is God who formed the earth and made it who established it who did not create it in vain." This verse says God did not create the earth in vain.
Gap theorists point to a cataclysmic pre-Adamic catastrophe took place in between Genesis 1:1 and Genesis 1:2. They explain that between Genesis 1:1 and Genesis 1:2 the fall of Lucifer from heaven took place. According to Gap theorists, when Lucifer fell the whole universe including the earth fell into chaos. They go on to say that out of that chaos God recreated the earth. The Gap theory is embraced in order to explain the signs of death and violence and other marks of sin in the primitive world before the fall of man, and, at the same time, to account for the long geologic ages that scientists insist the earth records.
The traditional interpretation of today's passage is that the earth began as a planet covered by an uninterrupted ocean, which was itself wrapped in darkness. There was no land on the earth, it was simply one great vast body of water covering the whole world, with no life in it. It was empty of created creatures. "And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters." Although the earth was void, God was at work in His universe, interacting with it and creating. In doing so, God gave us a demonstration of connection and of community.
Today's verse provides us with the first distinction made in the Bible about the character of God. The Hebrew word translated "Spirit" can also be translated as "wind." This parallels the words of the Lord Jesus in John 3 where the Lord Jesus explained to Nicodemus how to be made right with God. That conversation between the Lord Jesus and the Pharisee Nicodemus illustrates, as well, connection and community for it led to Nicodemus coming into a personal relationship with His Creator.
The book of Genesis doesn’t tell us "how" God created this world, but the Psalms do. The Genesis account just says He did and then tells us the order in which all this took place. And, everything about the creation account is intended to instruct us concerning the workings of God in relation to man. The earth and in fact the whole universe has been made for our benefit, not God’s. God is complete in Himself, and therefore what He has done and the way in which He’s done it is for us and for our benefit.
In Psalm 8, King David was driven by his awe of the night sky. In considering the heavens that God had made, David asked, what is man’s significance? He concluded that the answer was firmly based in creation, in that God made man just a little lower than the heavenly beings. And yet, God has made man the crown of His creation, with glory and honor. This was due to the fact that God made man uniquely, in His image and likeness. More on that in a few days. Furthermore, Psalm 8:6–8 reasserts man’s dominion over creation, again echoing creation. Man's meaning and purpose is closely derived out of the fact that God made us in His image in order that we might connect and experience community with Him.
Purpose and meaning, therefore, can never be found in just rocks and fossils and sand and stars as the evolutionists say. This is why science cannot explain life by observation alone. Its field is too limited. It does not involve other great and powerful factors in man's makeup which are as real as anything physical. This is why science, which limits itself completely to the imperical and the observation of events and processes, can never discover God. God moves in invisible ways to accomplish His purposes and to deliver meaning to our souls. To find Him by the methods of science solely will never yield the desired end. The process that takes us from chaos to order is quite instructive for in it we see the development of connection and community.
All of the order in this world screams God's existence. But, if we only conclude there is a God, we have missed the mark. The point of all of this order is that we might seek the Creator, and, when we find Him, that we learn to connect with Him and enjoy His community. This is why the Lord Jesus went to the cross in order to embrace the chaos of the penalty of sin so that we can know the order of a life in community with God. He is the One who bring purposes out of our senselessness. I trust that you have invited Him into your life and that you are learning to let Him define you according to His purposes.
