Creation

1. Creation from Wayne Grudem’s Systematic Theology

2. Creation The Work of God

3. Creation • Why, how, and when did God create the universe? • We may define the doctrine of creation as follows: God created the entire universe out of nothing; it was originally very good; and he created it to glorify himself.

4. Creation • A. God Created the Universe Out of Nothing • 1.     Biblical Evidence for Creation Out of Nothing. The Bible clearly requires us to believe that God created the universe out of nothing. (Sometimes the Latin phrase ex nihilo “out of nothing” is used). This means that before God began to create the universe, nothing else existed except God himself.

5. Creation • Ø     This is the implication of Genesis 1:1, which says, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” The phrase “the heavens and the earth” includes the entire universe. • Ø     Psalm 33 also tells us, “By the word of the LORD the heavens were made, and all their host by the breath of his mouth.... For he spoke, and it came to be; he commanded, and it stood forth” (Ps. 33:6, 9).

6. Creation • Ø     In the New Testament, we find a universal statement at the beginning of John’s gospel: “All things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made” (John 1:3). • Ø     Paul is quite explicit in Colossians 1 when he specifies all the parts of the universe, both visible and invisible things: “For in him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible whether thrones or dominions or principalities or authorities--all things were created through him and for him” (Col. 1:16).

7. Creation • Ø     The song of the twenty-four elders in heaven likewise affirms this truth: • “You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things and by your will they existed and were created.” (Rev. 4:11) • This reminds us that God rules over all the universe and that nothing in creation is to be worshiped instead of God or in addition to him.

8. Creation • Were we to deny creation out of nothing, we would have to say that some matter has always existed and that it is eternal like God. • The positive side of the fact that God created the universe out of nothing is that it has meaning and a purpose. • 2.     The Creation of the Spiritual Universe. • God created the angels and other kinds of heavenly beings as well as animals and man.

9. Creation • Ø     The prayer of Ezra says very clearly: “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” (Neh. 9:6).

10. Creation • Ø     In the New Testament, Paul specifies that in Christ “all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible whether thrones or dominions or principalities or authorities--all things were created through him and for him” (Col. 1:16; cf. Ps. 148:2-5). Here the creation of invisible heavenly beings is also explicitly affirmed. • 3.     The Direct Creation of Adam and Eve.

11. Creation • Ø     “The LORD God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being” (Gen. 2:7). After that, God created Eve from Adam’s body: “So the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh; and the rib which the LORD God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man” (Gen. 2:21-22). God apparently let Adam know something of what had happened, for Adam said,

12. Creation • “This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.” (Gen. 2:23) • These texts are so explicit that it would be very difficult for someone to hold to the complete truthfulness of Scripture and still hold that human beings are the result of a long evolutionary process. It clearly portrays Eve as having no female parent:

13. Creation • Ø     The New Testament reaffirms the historicity of this special creation of Eve from Adam when Paul says, “For man was not made from woman, but woman from man. Neither was man created for woman, but woman for man” (1 Cor. 11:8-9). • The special creation of Adam and Eve shows that, though we may be like animals in many respects in our physical bodies, nonetheless we are very different from animals. We are created “in God’s image,” the pinnacle of God’s creation, more like God than any other creature, appointed to rule over the rest of creation.

14. Creation • 4.     The Creation of Time. (the succession of moments one after another). • When we speak of God’s existence “before” the creation of the world, we should not think of God as existing in an unending extension of time. Rather, God’s eternity means that he has a different kind of existence, an existence without the passage of time, a kind of existence that is difficult for us even to imagine. (See Job 36:26; Ps. 90:2, 4; John 8:58; 2 Peter 3:8; Rev. 1:8). The fact that God created time reminds us of his lordship over it and our obligation to use it for his glory.

15. Creation • 5.     The Work of the Son and of the Holy Spirit in Creation. God the Father was the primary agent in initiating the act of creation. But the Son and the Holy Spirit were also active. • There is a consistent picture of the Son as the active agent carrying out the plans and directions of the Father.

16. Creation • The Holy Spirit was also at work in creation. He is generally pictured as completing, filling, and giving life to God’s creation. The work of the Holy Spirit is brought into much greater prominence in connection with the inspiring of the authors of Scripture and the applying of Christ’s redemptive work to the people of God.

17. Creation • B. Creation Is Distinct From God Yet Always Dependent on God • God is distinct from his creation. He is not part of it, for he has made it and rules over it. The term often used to say that God is much greater than creation is the word transcendent. Very simply, this means that God is far “above” the creation in the sense that he is greater than the creation and he is independent of it.

18. Creation • God is also very much involved in creation, for it is continually dependent on him for its existence and its functioning. The technical term used to speak of God’s involvement in creation is the word immanent meaning “remaining in” creation.

19. Creation • This is clearly distinct from materialism which is the most common philosophy of unbelievers today, and which denies the existence of God altogether. Materialism would say that the material universe is all there is. Christians today who focus almost the entire effort of their lives on earning more money and acquiring more possessions become “practical” materialists in their activity, since their lives would be not much different if they did not believe in God at all.

20. Creation • The scriptural account of God’s relation to his creation is also distinct from pantheism. The Greek word pan means “all” or “every,” and pantheism is the idea that everything, the whole universe, is God, or is part of God. Pantheism denies several essential aspects of God’s character. If the whole universe is God, then God has no distinct personality. God is no longer holy, because the evil in the universe is also part of God. It ends up denying the importance of individual human personalities:

21. Creation • Any philosophy that sees creation as an “emanation” out of God (that is, something that comes out of God but is still part of God and not distinct from him) would be similar to pantheism in most or all of the ways in which aspects of God’s character are denied.

22. Creation • The biblical account also rules out dualism. This is the idea that both God and the material universe have eternally existed side by side. Thus, there are two ultimate forces in the universe, God and matter. The problem with dualism is that it indicates an eternal conflict between God and the evil aspects of the material universe. Will God ultimately triumph over evil in the universe? We cannot be sure, because both God and evil have apparently always existed side by side. One recent example of dualism in modern culture is the series of Star Wars movies.

23. Creation • The Christian view of creation is also distinct from the viewpoint of deism. Deism is the view that God is not now directly involved in the creation. While deism does affirm God’s transcendence in some ways, it denies almost the entire history of the Bible, which is the history of God’s active involvement in the world. Many “lukewarm” or nominal Christians today are, in effect, practical deists, since they live lives almost totally devoid of genuine prayer, worship, fear of God, or moment-by-moment trust in God to care for needs that arise.

24. Creation • C. God Created the Universe to Show His Glory • It is clear that God created his people for his own glory . . . • Ø     “The heavens are telling the glory of God; and the firmament proclaims his handiwork. Day to day pours forth speech, and night to night declares knowledge” (Ps. 19:1-2).

25. Creation • What does creation show about God? Primarily it shows his great power and wisdom, • Ø     “It is he who made the earth by his power, who established the world by his wisdom, and by his understanding stretched out the heavens” (Jer. 10:12).

26. Creation • When we affirm that God created the universe to show his glory, it is important that we realize that he did not need to create it. We should not think that God needed more glory than he had within the Trinity for all eternity, or that he was somehow incomplete without the glory that he would receive from the created universe.

27. Creation • Ø     We must affirm that the creation of the universe was a totally free act of God. It was not a necessary act but something that God chose to do. “You created all things, and by your will they existed and were created” (Rev. 4:11) • The creation shows his great wisdom and power, and ultimately it shows all of his other attributes as well. As creation shows forth various aspects of God’s character, to that extent he takes delight in it.

28. Creation • D. The Universe God Created Was “Very Good” • When God finished his work of creation, he did take delight in it. At the end of each stage of creation God saw that what he had done was “good” (Gen. 1:4, 10, 12, 18, 21, 25). The material creation is still good in God’s sight • This knowledge will free of us from a false asceticism that sees the use and enjoyment of the material creation as wrong.

29. Creation • Though the created order can be used in sinful or selfish ways and can turn our affections away from God, nonetheless we must not let the danger of the abuse of God’s creation keep us from a positive, thankful, joyful use of it for our own enjoyment and for the good of his kingdom.

30. Creation • F. Application • The doctrine of creation has many applications for Christians today. It makes us realize that the material universe is good in itself.

31. Creation • A healthy appreciation of creation will keep us from false asceticism that denies the goodness of creation and the blessings that come to us through it. It will also encourage some Christians to do scientific and technological research into the goodness of God’s abundant creation, or to support such research.

32. Creation • The doctrine of creation will also enable us to recognize more clearly that scientific and technological study in itself glorifies God, for it enables us to discover how incredibly wise, powerful, and skillful God was in his work of creation. “Great are the works of the LORD, studied by all who have pleasure in them” (Ps. 111:2). • The doctrine of creation also reminds us that God is sovereign over the universe he created.

33. Creation • Finally, we can wholeheartedly enjoy creative activities (artistic, musical, athletic, domestic, literary, etc.) with an attitude of thanksgiving that our Creator God enables us to imitate him in our creativity.