SUBJ: The Gospel in creation and the manifestation of God in His eternal existence as our God of will and purpose.

AIM: That we might see ourselves as made and observed of God with approval to be found in Christ alone.

INTR: The first words of the Bible are essential to understanding all that follows in both scripture and the faith of God’s elect.
1. The uncreated existence of God challenges human reason and presents an immediate need for faith and a belief in God and the inspiration of the Scripture.
2. And that which proceeds from Him subjects all creation and all men to both respond to Him and become accountable to Him.
3. We would look today at the initial creative acts (with a view to all that follows) and find a parallel in this to the work of regeneration and the salvation that proceeds from it.

THESIS: Christ is there from the beginning integrally involved in all in that it points to the redemptive purpose of God in creation – He is the living Word of God.

I. The creation account to be believed
1. Men have sought to provide an alternative to what we read here and all their thoughts point ultimately to denying God in both power and existence.
1) Ideas include a disjointed sequence of events leading to what we see here and
2) Of course, evolution is some form or another.
2. There is a clear rationale for understanding a special creation occurring in the literal time declared. He built the whole universe and set it in motion.
3. He brought into existence all the materials and began: Day 1 – light; Day 2 – The firmament; Day 3 – Dry land and vegetation; Day 4 – The sun, moon, and stars; Day 5 – Creatures in the waters and the fowls of the air; Day 6 – Animal life and man created in the image of God; Day 7 – Completion and rest.
4. Implied in the name of God used here (Elohim) and the declaration of v. 1:26 is the existence of a plurality in the Godhead and they become evident as it unfolds.

II. The first steps
1. God created the heavens and the earth is quite simple in its declaration; offers no further explanation; and is most profound as we consider all that we see and that which we do not see of the wonders of creation.
2. The undefined mass of materials (much as a potter with a mass of clay), seemingly consisting of a mixture of earth and water, awaits the hand of the Master to bring to it the beauty and form that we know as creation.
1) The Holy Spirit broods as a hen waiting for her egg to hatch and to become active is bringing to the place where it may be said of Christ – “by Him all things consist.”
2) Darkness enshrouds the whole scene – this is not relative; light is absent.
3. Christ appears as the spoken Word of God: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. John 1:1 – AND GOD SAID!
4. From the appearance of chaos, the process comes to be illuminated as light is spoken into existence. (We note that the sun and moon do not appear until the fourth day).

III. The relationship of God to His creation:
1. From Spurgeon’s outline
1) The divine decree – Let there be
2) The divine observation – He saw the light (with an infinite interest)
3) The divine approval – it was good: Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. James 1:17
4) The divine separation – The light from darkness
5) The divine nomination (naming) – Day and Night
2. The evening and the morning were the first day.

IV. The parallel of creation to the New Creation
1. From the chaos of life apart from Christ plunged into ruin by sin and leadership of the devil
2. What has and does transpire in salvation: 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. 2 Corinthians 4:6.
3. The blessedness of our state in being saved: But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light: 1 Peter 2:9.
4. Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. 2 Corinthians 5:17.