| “THE FIRST FIVE WORDS” Genesis 1:1, 2:4-25; Acts 17:22-31 Olivet Covenant Presbyterian Church, Philadelphia, PA © Rev. Linda Jaymes, 2/8/2009 SECOND IN A SERIES ON REFORMED DOCTRINE |
Today we pick up the second topic in our series on Reformed doctrine, the Doctrine of Creation, which affirms that God
is the Creator of all that is. There is no question but that God, the Creator, is the One who creates the creation. Scripture
affirms that and gives us a detailed account of the process in Genesis 1 and 2. In fact, we only have to read the first five
words of the Bible to find out that “In the beginning God created…” and that statement lays the groundwork for everything
else that scripture teaches us.
At that point, nothing else existed, not even the angels and the heavenly host, for they had not yet been created by God. So
God didn’t have any help; He did it all by Himself. And He did it out of nothing. Nada. Zip. I like the way Eugene Peterson
says it in the first verses of The Message:
First this: God created the Heavens and Earth—all you see, all you don't see. Earth was a soup of nothingness, a
bottomless emptiness, an inky blackness. God's Spirit brooded like a bird above the watery abyss. (Genesis 1:1-2) 1
That description refers to a concept I first learned about in seminary called “Creation ex nihilo.” “Ex nihilo” is a Latin
term that means "out of nothing," and it refers to the idea that there was no matter of any kind in existence when God began to
create. That biblical view, recorded for us in Genesis, refutes the pagan myths of that time which envisioned the world as pre-
existing matter acted upon by a god or gods who reworked this matter into the world we know. It was only with the birth of
the Hebrew tradition and the religious thought that developed out of that Hebrew world-view that the concept of the creation "ex
nihilo” was formulated.
In plainer terms, creation “ex nihilo” means that there were no atoms or molecules, no dust, dirt, clay or any kind of
material already in existence and available for God to use to create the creation. All the materials necessary to create the
creation had to first be created by God, and that reality alone is something we should marvel at when we consider God’s
handiwork!
To further explain this concept, let me use our studio artists as an example, since they are in a creation business of their
own. I often look at some of the art that they create, whether it’s painting or sculpture or graphics and I say to myself, “Gee, I
could probably do that,” and by that I mean that I think I have enough artistic ability that I could copy it or reproduce it. Yet at
the same time that I’m considering that, I also have to admit to myself that I never would have come up with the idea—I never
would have thought of creating such a work of art on my own. In contrast, our artists not only have the technical skills and
ability for producing their art, but they also have a special creative talent that gives them the ideas for their art in the first place.
From there, they take paint or pen or clay or whatever medium they choose and use that “stuff” to create their art. This whole
process is a wonderful gift from God—in fact, I would go as far as to say that it makes artists a lot like God in terms of their
ability to create—except that artists have no power to create the “stuff,” the materials they need to make their art. Only God
can do that.
You may or may not wonder whether the Reformed Doctrine of Creation teaches a literal six-day creation or not. The
answer to that is yes and no. Some reformed Christians and denominations hold to a literal interpretation of the Biblical account
while others do not. John Calvin certainly believed that God created the heavens and the earth in six 24-hour days and then
rested on the seventh, and the Westminster Confession of Faith that guides so much of Reformed thinking affirms that as well.
Some people today believe in a six-day creation and some do not. Those who do not believe that what the scripture describes is
actually a very accurate, orderly and chronological account of the creation, but they believe that each “day” represents a fixed
but unspecified or unknown period of time.
One of the arguments in favor of this latter interpretation is the biblical account itself, which tells us that the sun and the
moon were not created until the fourth day and so 24-hour days could not have existed until then. My personal opinion is that it
is not worth arguing about—although many Christians still do—since we are unlikely to resolve the question to everyone’s
satisfaction in this life. And more importantly, we should remember that our salvation does not depend on whether we believe
in a six-day creation or one that took eons. What matters is that we believe that God has existed eternally—without beginning
or end—and God alone is the Creator of all that exists.
The Reformed Doctrine of Creation contains other teachings that I think are of prime importance to our faith and all of
life. One of those is the Reformed belief that the Creation has a purpose behind it. In other words, it wasn’t because God was
bored one day with nothing to do and no one to talk to and so randomly spoke the world into being on a whim. No!
Emphatically no! God creates with a purpose, a plan, an intention. In Ephesians 1 the Apostle Paul tells us (from The
Message) that
“Long before he laid down earth’s foundations, he had us in mind, had settled on us as the focus of his love… He
thought of everything, provided for everything we could possibly need, letting us in on the plans he took such delight in
making. He set it all out before us in Christ, a long range plan in which everything would be brought together and
summed up in him, everything in deepest heaven, everything on planet earth. 2
It’s clear that the Creation was well-thought out in advance by God; it has a purpose and it’s heading in that direction,
getting closer all the time. And we humans, since we are part of the creation, are a part of that purpose.
In the book of Acts, as we heard in our first scripture reading today, Paul gives us additional insight into God’s plans and
purposes. While in Athens, Paul became very distressed when he saw all the idols and statues and temples built for the worship
of pagan gods. He stood up in the Areopagus and laid out the truth for the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers. He said,
"It is plain to see that you Athenians take your religion seriously. When I arrived here the other day, I was fascinated
with all the shrines I came across. And then I found one inscribed, to the god nobody knows. I'm here to introduce you to
this God so you can worship intelligently, know who you're dealing with.
"The God who made the world and everything in it, this Master of sky and land, doesn't live in custom-made shrines
or need the human race to run errands for him, as if he couldn't take care of himself. He makes the creatures; the
creatures don't make him. Starting from scratch, he made the entire human race and made the earth hospitable, with
plenty of time and space for living so we could seek after God, and not just grope around in the dark but actually find him.
He doesn't play hide-and-seek with us. He's not remote; he's near. We live and move in him, can't get away from him!
One of your poets said it well: 'We're the God-created.' Well, if we are the God-created, it doesn't make a lot of sense to
think we could hire a sculptor to chisel a god out of stone for us, does it?” (Acts 17:22-29) 3
By whatever name he may have called it, Paul certainly understood the doctrine of Creation, and he also realized that when
properly understood it should lead us humans to certain conclusions and responses. For one, Paul’s statement that “God makes
the creatures, the creatures don’t make God” implies that God is the One with all the power and control. By definition, the
creatures are not in the same league with or on the same footing as the Creator. He is one of a kind, in a category all his own.
Paul’s words also imply that because of this fact, the creatures should be submitted to this God, which also means that they
owe respect and worship and praise and adulation to their Creator. The Westminster Confession states it very clearly by saying
that “The chief end of man (and woman) is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.” In sum, one of the main purposes of the
creation—and not just human beings—is to glorify God and hold the Creator/God in awe. This God who has created
everything is so far above and beyond us that just the thought of Him and what He is capable of should have us quaking in our
boots.
Yet here’s the paradox to that: at the same time, Paul reminds us that this God who is so far above and beyond us has
chosen to be simultaneously quite near to us. In fact, it’s only in Him—through our very existence in Him—that we “live and
move and have our being.” That means that we don’t take a breath that isn’t breathed into us by God. And disconnected
from Him we cannot live and move and have our being—at least not the life and movement and being that God purposed for us
from all eternity—long before time began.
That thought leads to another very important part of the Doctrine of Creation that is closely related to the doctrines of God’
s Sovereignty and Providence. I am referring to the Reformed belief that this God who created the heavens and the earth and
all that is within them still has his hand in and on the Creation. That belief sets us apart from deists, for example, who share our
belief that God created everything, but they see Him as a sort of clockmaker who, after finishing his work, winds it up and lets
it go without any further involvement or intervention.
That is certainly not the Reformed view, for we believe in a God who is not only Creator and Master of the Universe but
also a God who is very much involved with and in touch with his creation. Our God has not abandoned us since He first
created the heavens and the earth or merely left us to the workings of the natural order which are a part of his creation. He is
constantly at work in our lives, speaking to us and guiding us by his Spirit. Sometimes He even breaks through his own
created, natural order and performs miracles on our behalf. Even in Old Testament times, God was doing these things, such as
appearing to Abraham and Sarah and making it possible for them to have a child when it was physically impossible. God
promised to heal King Hezekiah and then actually reversed time to prove that He was quite capable of making good on his
promise. And still today, God sometimes heals miraculously or brings other things to pass that could not possibly happen
without action on his part. These are just a few examples of God’s ongoing interaction and involvement in the lives of the
creatures He created.
The other side of that “coin” and which relates to God’s intention for the creation is the reality that God created the
creation and especially the creatures in such a way that whether we admit it or not we have an endless need for God’s
involvement in our lives. We long for it; we depend on it. St. Augustine described this built-in need or longing by saying that
God has made us for Himself and we are going to be restless until we rest in Him.
Paul made the same point in his speech to the philosophers of Athens. He told them that the God who made heaven and
earth and everything in it made the creatures with a desire to reach out, to seek after and find the One who created them. That
means that God is the initiator in our relationship with Him. We may think that it is our own idea to search for God when in
reality, God built that longing and desire into his creatures from the beginning, because his purpose or intent for the creation is
that it should be in relationship with Him.
Once again I must remind us that one sermon cannot cover any of our doctrines adequately. The reality is that an entire
lifetime cannot do that, because the created cannot fully understand or define the Creator. But some things we can and do
know because He has revealed them to us. We know that in the beginning, God created, and He created out of nothing. We
know that He had a purpose, a plan, an intention for all of creation. We know that we are an important part of that plan and our
first priority, our chief purpose within that plan, is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever. We also know that our Creator-God
has an ongoing involvement in and relationship with his Creation, and He has created us with a built-in desire to know Him
intimately and be in a personal relationship with Him. All this we know; the only question is, what are we doing with this
knowledge?
To begin to answer that, I want to leave you with the words of one biblical scholar who comments on Paul’s speech to the
men of Athens. This scholar says that like those pagans, all human beings tend toward idolatry; we all have a secret altar to “an
unknown God” whether it be money, power, sex, art, music, home improvement...we tend to make these things into a
“religion.” But this particular scholar says that this is a waste of our “precious capacity for religion.” He sums up Paul’s words
in Athens like this:
“If you are going to be religious, be religious in a big way. If you are going to adore something, adore something
inconceivably good and great. If you are going to have a god, as you all secretly have, have the real God. If you have the
capacity for religion, develop it, make the most of it. Just as a man who has the ability to walk is never satisfied to creep or
crawl, do not be satisfied with a religion that uses only about one tenth of your religious capacity. Never be satisfied with a
gold or silver shrine. The god of the universe is too much alive to dwell in a thing like that. He once dwelt in a person, and
that living image of God is the only image that is worthy of your serious devotion. Furthermore, there is a day coming
when you will all be judged by him who is the living image of the invisible God.” 4
The worship of God is the highest purpose for which we were created, and the whole creation is heading toward that Day
of Judgment. In fact, of late, it seems like that day may be just around the corner. But whenever that time comes, we, the
creatures created by the God who owns and runs the entire universe should be found living out the purposes that God set in
place for us from the beginning, and even before the beginning. God knew what He intended for the creation and for every
single one of us long before He breathed the world into being. And so as we think about this Reformed Doctrine of Creation, I
hope we will at least begin to understand that it’s not just a theological concept or principle, but a wonderful and powerful and
important reality that must shape and guide not only what we are now but what we will yet be as we continue on in our faith
and relationship with the God who is the Creator of all that is. Let us pray.
1. Peterson, Eugene. The Message. Colorado Springs, CO, NavPress, 2002, 20.
2. Ibid, 2126.
3. Ibid, 2005-2006.
4. George Buttrick, ed. The Interpreter’s Bible Commentary, Volume 9, Acts-Romans. Abingdon Press, Nashville, TN, 1954, 234-235.
is the Creator of all that is. There is no question but that God, the Creator, is the One who creates the creation. Scripture
affirms that and gives us a detailed account of the process in Genesis 1 and 2. In fact, we only have to read the first five
words of the Bible to find out that “In the beginning God created…” and that statement lays the groundwork for everything
else that scripture teaches us.
At that point, nothing else existed, not even the angels and the heavenly host, for they had not yet been created by God. So
God didn’t have any help; He did it all by Himself. And He did it out of nothing. Nada. Zip. I like the way Eugene Peterson
says it in the first verses of The Message:
First this: God created the Heavens and Earth—all you see, all you don't see. Earth was a soup of nothingness, a
bottomless emptiness, an inky blackness. God's Spirit brooded like a bird above the watery abyss. (Genesis 1:1-2) 1
That description refers to a concept I first learned about in seminary called “Creation ex nihilo.” “Ex nihilo” is a Latin
term that means "out of nothing," and it refers to the idea that there was no matter of any kind in existence when God began to
create. That biblical view, recorded for us in Genesis, refutes the pagan myths of that time which envisioned the world as pre-
existing matter acted upon by a god or gods who reworked this matter into the world we know. It was only with the birth of
the Hebrew tradition and the religious thought that developed out of that Hebrew world-view that the concept of the creation "ex
nihilo” was formulated.
In plainer terms, creation “ex nihilo” means that there were no atoms or molecules, no dust, dirt, clay or any kind of
material already in existence and available for God to use to create the creation. All the materials necessary to create the
creation had to first be created by God, and that reality alone is something we should marvel at when we consider God’s
handiwork!
To further explain this concept, let me use our studio artists as an example, since they are in a creation business of their
own. I often look at some of the art that they create, whether it’s painting or sculpture or graphics and I say to myself, “Gee, I
could probably do that,” and by that I mean that I think I have enough artistic ability that I could copy it or reproduce it. Yet at
the same time that I’m considering that, I also have to admit to myself that I never would have come up with the idea—I never
would have thought of creating such a work of art on my own. In contrast, our artists not only have the technical skills and
ability for producing their art, but they also have a special creative talent that gives them the ideas for their art in the first place.
From there, they take paint or pen or clay or whatever medium they choose and use that “stuff” to create their art. This whole
process is a wonderful gift from God—in fact, I would go as far as to say that it makes artists a lot like God in terms of their
ability to create—except that artists have no power to create the “stuff,” the materials they need to make their art. Only God
can do that.
You may or may not wonder whether the Reformed Doctrine of Creation teaches a literal six-day creation or not. The
answer to that is yes and no. Some reformed Christians and denominations hold to a literal interpretation of the Biblical account
while others do not. John Calvin certainly believed that God created the heavens and the earth in six 24-hour days and then
rested on the seventh, and the Westminster Confession of Faith that guides so much of Reformed thinking affirms that as well.
Some people today believe in a six-day creation and some do not. Those who do not believe that what the scripture describes is
actually a very accurate, orderly and chronological account of the creation, but they believe that each “day” represents a fixed
but unspecified or unknown period of time.
One of the arguments in favor of this latter interpretation is the biblical account itself, which tells us that the sun and the
moon were not created until the fourth day and so 24-hour days could not have existed until then. My personal opinion is that it
is not worth arguing about—although many Christians still do—since we are unlikely to resolve the question to everyone’s
satisfaction in this life. And more importantly, we should remember that our salvation does not depend on whether we believe
in a six-day creation or one that took eons. What matters is that we believe that God has existed eternally—without beginning
or end—and God alone is the Creator of all that exists.
The Reformed Doctrine of Creation contains other teachings that I think are of prime importance to our faith and all of
life. One of those is the Reformed belief that the Creation has a purpose behind it. In other words, it wasn’t because God was
bored one day with nothing to do and no one to talk to and so randomly spoke the world into being on a whim. No!
Emphatically no! God creates with a purpose, a plan, an intention. In Ephesians 1 the Apostle Paul tells us (from The
Message) that
“Long before he laid down earth’s foundations, he had us in mind, had settled on us as the focus of his love… He
thought of everything, provided for everything we could possibly need, letting us in on the plans he took such delight in
making. He set it all out before us in Christ, a long range plan in which everything would be brought together and
summed up in him, everything in deepest heaven, everything on planet earth. 2
It’s clear that the Creation was well-thought out in advance by God; it has a purpose and it’s heading in that direction,
getting closer all the time. And we humans, since we are part of the creation, are a part of that purpose.
In the book of Acts, as we heard in our first scripture reading today, Paul gives us additional insight into God’s plans and
purposes. While in Athens, Paul became very distressed when he saw all the idols and statues and temples built for the worship
of pagan gods. He stood up in the Areopagus and laid out the truth for the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers. He said,
"It is plain to see that you Athenians take your religion seriously. When I arrived here the other day, I was fascinated
with all the shrines I came across. And then I found one inscribed, to the god nobody knows. I'm here to introduce you to
this God so you can worship intelligently, know who you're dealing with.
"The God who made the world and everything in it, this Master of sky and land, doesn't live in custom-made shrines
or need the human race to run errands for him, as if he couldn't take care of himself. He makes the creatures; the
creatures don't make him. Starting from scratch, he made the entire human race and made the earth hospitable, with
plenty of time and space for living so we could seek after God, and not just grope around in the dark but actually find him.
He doesn't play hide-and-seek with us. He's not remote; he's near. We live and move in him, can't get away from him!
One of your poets said it well: 'We're the God-created.' Well, if we are the God-created, it doesn't make a lot of sense to
think we could hire a sculptor to chisel a god out of stone for us, does it?” (Acts 17:22-29) 3
By whatever name he may have called it, Paul certainly understood the doctrine of Creation, and he also realized that when
properly understood it should lead us humans to certain conclusions and responses. For one, Paul’s statement that “God makes
the creatures, the creatures don’t make God” implies that God is the One with all the power and control. By definition, the
creatures are not in the same league with or on the same footing as the Creator. He is one of a kind, in a category all his own.
Paul’s words also imply that because of this fact, the creatures should be submitted to this God, which also means that they
owe respect and worship and praise and adulation to their Creator. The Westminster Confession states it very clearly by saying
that “The chief end of man (and woman) is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.” In sum, one of the main purposes of the
creation—and not just human beings—is to glorify God and hold the Creator/God in awe. This God who has created
everything is so far above and beyond us that just the thought of Him and what He is capable of should have us quaking in our
boots.
Yet here’s the paradox to that: at the same time, Paul reminds us that this God who is so far above and beyond us has
chosen to be simultaneously quite near to us. In fact, it’s only in Him—through our very existence in Him—that we “live and
move and have our being.” That means that we don’t take a breath that isn’t breathed into us by God. And disconnected
from Him we cannot live and move and have our being—at least not the life and movement and being that God purposed for us
from all eternity—long before time began.
That thought leads to another very important part of the Doctrine of Creation that is closely related to the doctrines of God’
s Sovereignty and Providence. I am referring to the Reformed belief that this God who created the heavens and the earth and
all that is within them still has his hand in and on the Creation. That belief sets us apart from deists, for example, who share our
belief that God created everything, but they see Him as a sort of clockmaker who, after finishing his work, winds it up and lets
it go without any further involvement or intervention.
That is certainly not the Reformed view, for we believe in a God who is not only Creator and Master of the Universe but
also a God who is very much involved with and in touch with his creation. Our God has not abandoned us since He first
created the heavens and the earth or merely left us to the workings of the natural order which are a part of his creation. He is
constantly at work in our lives, speaking to us and guiding us by his Spirit. Sometimes He even breaks through his own
created, natural order and performs miracles on our behalf. Even in Old Testament times, God was doing these things, such as
appearing to Abraham and Sarah and making it possible for them to have a child when it was physically impossible. God
promised to heal King Hezekiah and then actually reversed time to prove that He was quite capable of making good on his
promise. And still today, God sometimes heals miraculously or brings other things to pass that could not possibly happen
without action on his part. These are just a few examples of God’s ongoing interaction and involvement in the lives of the
creatures He created.
The other side of that “coin” and which relates to God’s intention for the creation is the reality that God created the
creation and especially the creatures in such a way that whether we admit it or not we have an endless need for God’s
involvement in our lives. We long for it; we depend on it. St. Augustine described this built-in need or longing by saying that
God has made us for Himself and we are going to be restless until we rest in Him.
Paul made the same point in his speech to the philosophers of Athens. He told them that the God who made heaven and
earth and everything in it made the creatures with a desire to reach out, to seek after and find the One who created them. That
means that God is the initiator in our relationship with Him. We may think that it is our own idea to search for God when in
reality, God built that longing and desire into his creatures from the beginning, because his purpose or intent for the creation is
that it should be in relationship with Him.
Once again I must remind us that one sermon cannot cover any of our doctrines adequately. The reality is that an entire
lifetime cannot do that, because the created cannot fully understand or define the Creator. But some things we can and do
know because He has revealed them to us. We know that in the beginning, God created, and He created out of nothing. We
know that He had a purpose, a plan, an intention for all of creation. We know that we are an important part of that plan and our
first priority, our chief purpose within that plan, is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever. We also know that our Creator-God
has an ongoing involvement in and relationship with his Creation, and He has created us with a built-in desire to know Him
intimately and be in a personal relationship with Him. All this we know; the only question is, what are we doing with this
knowledge?
To begin to answer that, I want to leave you with the words of one biblical scholar who comments on Paul’s speech to the
men of Athens. This scholar says that like those pagans, all human beings tend toward idolatry; we all have a secret altar to “an
unknown God” whether it be money, power, sex, art, music, home improvement...we tend to make these things into a
“religion.” But this particular scholar says that this is a waste of our “precious capacity for religion.” He sums up Paul’s words
in Athens like this:
“If you are going to be religious, be religious in a big way. If you are going to adore something, adore something
inconceivably good and great. If you are going to have a god, as you all secretly have, have the real God. If you have the
capacity for religion, develop it, make the most of it. Just as a man who has the ability to walk is never satisfied to creep or
crawl, do not be satisfied with a religion that uses only about one tenth of your religious capacity. Never be satisfied with a
gold or silver shrine. The god of the universe is too much alive to dwell in a thing like that. He once dwelt in a person, and
that living image of God is the only image that is worthy of your serious devotion. Furthermore, there is a day coming
when you will all be judged by him who is the living image of the invisible God.” 4
The worship of God is the highest purpose for which we were created, and the whole creation is heading toward that Day
of Judgment. In fact, of late, it seems like that day may be just around the corner. But whenever that time comes, we, the
creatures created by the God who owns and runs the entire universe should be found living out the purposes that God set in
place for us from the beginning, and even before the beginning. God knew what He intended for the creation and for every
single one of us long before He breathed the world into being. And so as we think about this Reformed Doctrine of Creation, I
hope we will at least begin to understand that it’s not just a theological concept or principle, but a wonderful and powerful and
important reality that must shape and guide not only what we are now but what we will yet be as we continue on in our faith
and relationship with the God who is the Creator of all that is. Let us pray.
1. Peterson, Eugene. The Message. Colorado Springs, CO, NavPress, 2002, 20.
2. Ibid, 2126.
3. Ibid, 2005-2006.
4. George Buttrick, ed. The Interpreter’s Bible Commentary, Volume 9, Acts-Romans. Abingdon Press, Nashville, TN, 1954, 234-235.
