Genesis 1:1-3
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.
And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.
Picture a group of 15 young men from 18-22 years old waiting in a gymnasium for the new basketball coach to arrive. They are dressed in their practice gear, but are laughing and goofing around the way college guys will. Suddenly a voice fills the gym with a simple command, “Tuck in your shirts!”
And before the words have finished echoing off the hardwood floor, 15 shirts are tucked in and 15 mouths are shut! Four simple words created an instantaneous and dramatic change in the gym.
We all know that words have power. Words can shape the behavior of a college basketball team; they can shape the esteem of a child; and they can shape the destiny of a nation.
Genesis tells us that words created the universe.
And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.
God spoke, and it came to be. God spoke, and something sprang from nothing. God spoke, and all that is, light, matter, and life itself, came to be.
How? How does that work? What kind of technology is that?
Let’s jump ahead to the New Testament; to the opening verses of the Gospel of John:
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning.
Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it. John 1:1-4
These words should ring a bell.
Notice the parallels to Genesis 1.
Genesis opens with: In the beginning God…
John opens with: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
Genesis continues: In the beginning God created…
John says: In the beginning was the Word… Through him all things were made…
Genesis: And God said, “Let there be light”, and there was light.
John: In him was life, and that life was the light of men.
Clearly John is mirroring the opening words of Genesis, but what is he telling us?
We find out just a few verses later in John 1:14:
The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.
See it?
Who is the Word that became flesh?
That would, of course, be Jesus, the incarnation of God.
Now let’s put it all together!
Jesus, as the Word of God, was with God in the beginning and, in fact, was God. Jesus is therefore the pre-incarnate Word of God through whom God spoke all things into existence.
As the Word of God, Jesus is the agent of all creation.
John continues:
Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.
All this to say simply that Jesus Christ was there in the beginning. More accurately, Jesus Christ was there before the beginning. Jesus was not an afterthought that God came up with when the wheels fell off his creation. Jesus was not a “Plan B” for the universe.
The Bible is telling us that Jesus Christ was always the center of God’s plan; always the focal point and creative force of the universe, and that before anything came to be the Gospel was.
Brian Coffey
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1 comment:
Thank you! Never before have I heard these passages linked together. I was on the edge of my seat on Sunday and I am excited,yes, excited to read this all again during the week! I had never thought of the creation as a poem either. It is beautiful. Thank you again to both of you. I was at the Eaat Campus but am glad you collaborated on this one. God is in the details and working through this. Did I say "thank you"?!
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