“Creation”

Monday, January 10, 2022

How did God create the things that we now observe? This is one of those challenging biblical questions we will never be able to fully answer. We will not, simply because we are not God. Neither were we there when all things came into existence. Believing in the origin of all things is a matter of faith. No man was there. Therefore, we depend on existing evidence to make our conclusions concerning the beginning of all things. Since Christians have concluded that it is more reasonable to believe in God, they conclude that in order for God to exist, He must have the power to create. They reason, what good would God be if He could not create. Though We may not understand the nature of creation, we simply conclude that God could do the job because of the overwhelming evidence and testimony of those who experience the creative hand of God through Jesus. There are many clear statements made in the Bible concerning the creation of all things. In order not to be confused by some who do not believe in the creative power of God, there are some special statements in the Bible about creation. Anyone who would believe in the Bible, therefore, must conclude that God created all things.

A. The Bible says that what God did was create out of nothing. Psalm 33:6,9 declares that heaven and earth were created at the command of God. “By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, and all the host of them by the breath of His mouth. For He spoke, and it was done; He commanded, and it stood fast” (See Nehemiah 9:6). The Hebrew writer stated that God created the heavens and earth from nothing. “By faith we understand the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible” (Hebrews 11:3). Creation took place at the command of the word of God. That which is seen was created out of that which we do not see. The Bible’s statements concerning the creation of the worlds clearly picture the power and authority of the Creator (Isaiah 44:24; 40:28; Romans 11:36; Colossians 1:16,17; Revelation 4:11).

B. The Bible defines that through an act of creation God brought the worlds into existence. As mentioned earlier, the Bible clearly states that the present observable things were created out of nothing (Hebrews 11:3). There is sometimes confusion concerning the meaning of the Hebrew words bara (create), asah (made) and yatsar (form) in their reference to the work of God in creation. We must first understand that it is difficult to make a distinction in definition between these three ancient Hebrew words. It is often difficult because in different contexts all three words are used to define the creation of the things that presently exist. In Genesis 1:27 the Bible says that “God created (bara) man.” But in Genesis 1:26 God said, “Let us make (asah) man in our image.” And in Genesis 2:7 God formed (yatsar) man from the dust of the ground. In Genesis 1:21 God created (bara) sea-creatures and in verse 25 it says that He made (asah) the beast of the earth. Genesis 1:1 says that God bara heaven and earth, and yet Psalm 33:6 and Exodus 20:11 state that He asah the heavens. Regardless of our lack of full understanding concerning the use of Hebrew words in reference to creation, the fact remains that the Bible in clearly understood texts affirms that God is the creator of all things. The inspired writers of the New Testament also used different Greek works to refer to the creative work of God. In the Greek New Testament, Hebrews 11:3 says that things were made (gegonenai). However, Colossians 1:16 says that things were created (ektistha) (See Revelation 10:6). Here again two different words are used to describe the creation of things from that which did not exist. There is no clear definition in Hebrew dictionaries for any distinction between the words bara, asah and yatsar. What we can understand from the use of man’s words to explain the creation work of God is that the inspired writers wanted us to know that creation took place, regardless of the inadequacies of our words to explain it. We know that God did create out of nothing the things that now exist. The statement in Hebrews 11:3 clearly states this fact, and thus, settles the matter from a biblical perspective. The Hebrew writer stated, “... so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible .... (Author Unknown)

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