Genesis 1

Genesis 1:1-5

The Alpha and Omega of Creation Genesis 1:1-5; Revelation 21:1-6 WORDS

1. Genesis and Revelation contrasted. The Book of Genesis is commonly known as the Book of beginnings. It is there that everything takes its form, and comes into being. The Book of Revelation has been called Palin-genesis, that is, the beginning again. Revelation gives us the finality of everything that was created and made. Genesis is creation; Revelation is the re-creation, or, the consummation of creation. Over Genesis one, two, and three we may write our word Alpha; over Revelation twenty-one and twenty-two we may write Omega,— applying these two words, for the time, to God’s creation. We understand, of course, that God, the Holy Trinity, lay back of creation in the eternal ages past; and that He also lies beyond creation, in the eternal ages to come. The story of Genesis is merely a story of beginnings, and not of completions. If one would learn the whole story of anything which has its beginning in Genesis, he must read everything that lies between Genesis and Revelation. Genesis gives the foundation, Revelation gives the capstone of a great building; the rest of the Bible gives the detailed structure of the building itself.
2. The parallelisms between Genesis and Revelation, a marvelous mark of inspiration. The inspiration of the Scriptures stands forth in glowing colors, when one grasps the significance of the first Book of the Bible, as the complement of the Bible’s last Book, The Bible is formed of sixty-six Books, and yet the Bible is but one great whole. With the loss of any part of the Bible, the message of the Bible would remain forever incomplete. With any man-made addition to the Bible, the message would become unseemly, and overstated. There is a unity in the Bible which becomes more and more striking as its continuity is grasped. All that we have just said is magnified by the marvelous manner in which the early statements of Scripture dove-tail with its final statements. Revelation, in its final chapters, is so plainly the counterpart and the culmination of Genesis, in its early chapters, that one stands amazed as he views their correlation. The glory of this correlation, and its deeper meaning, will grip us the more as we develop the themes as given in the following diagram: Follow this diagram with care: a. The first creation. Genesis 1:1. b. The earth despoiled. Genesis 1:2. c. The earth renewed and blessed Genesis 1:2, l.c. d. Light before the sun. Genesis 1:3. e. The tree of life. Genesis 2:9. f. The Edenic river. Genesis 2:10. g. Gold and precious stones. Genesis 2:11, Genesis 2:12. h. The bride Adam’s wife Genesis 2:21, Genesis 2:22. i. Satan enters in. Genesis 3:1. j. Man driven out. Genesis 3:24. k. Sorrow, suffering, death enters in. Genesis 3:16-19. k. Sorrow, suffering, death forever pass away. Revelation 21:4. j. Man enters in. Revelation 22:14. i. Satan cast out. Revelation 20:1-3, Revelation 20:10. h. The Bride Christ’s wife. Revelation 21:2. g. Gold and precious stones. Revelation 21:18-21. f. The river of Water of Life. Revelation 22:1, Revelation 22:2. e. The Tree of Life. Revelation 22:14, f.c. d. Light before the sun. Revelation 21:23-25. c. The earth renewed and blessed. Revelation 21:24. b. The earth despoiled— it passes away. Revelation 20:11. a. The last creation. Revelation 21:1. I. THE TWO (Read the Scriptures as to Diagram) We have been assigned the a, b, and c of the diagram. This covers that part referring to the physical earth.
3. The first creation compared with the last creation. Genesis 1:1 tells us that, “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.” In Revelation 21:1 we read, “I saw a new heaven and a new earth.” There has been quite a discussion as to whether the new heaven and the new earth is the same as the first heaven and the first earth. We may get some light upon this subject by following our chart.
4. The two earths despoiled. There must be an indeterminable lapse of time between Genesis 1:1 and Genesis 1:2, We do not know when the “beginning” was, in which God created the heaven and the earth. It may have been millions of years past. In the Bible it is spoken of only as “In the beginning.” Of this, however, we may assure ourselves that when God created the heaven and the earth, it was not created as it Is described in the second verse of the Bible. A cataclysmic and catastrophic judgment must have taken place between the “creation” of Genesis 1:1 and the “waste and void” of Genesis 2:2. In Revelation 20:11, we find that the earth is once more despoiled. It passes away. Peter tells us that it is melted with fervent heat. This despoiling of the earth reminds us of that which took place far back in the eternity of God concerning the first heaven and earth.
5. The earth renewed and blessed, as it is contrasted in Genesis and Revelation. Genesis describes the renewal, under these words, “And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.” The words which follow detail how God in six days made the earth and the heaven a fit place for the habitation of man. In contrast with this, we find in Revelation 21:24, the new heaven and the new earth renewed and blessed. The nations of them who are saved, will inhabit the earth, and its kings will bring their glory and honor into the new and Heavenly Jerusalem. The physical earth of the first creation, is the same physical earth that was despoiled, and made waste and void. The same earth was, afterward, renewed and blessed, It is that earth, upon which we now live. It may be that the second despoiling of the earth, when it passes away with a great noise; and when it melts with fervent heat, will be the same earth which God will renew and bless, and call, “A new heaven and a new earth.” This is immaterial to us. We do know, however, that there will be a new heaven and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness. II. THE LIGHT (Genesis 1:3; Revelation 21:23-25)
6. The third verse of the Bible carries a significant statement concerning light. “And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.” Light came on the first day, while the creation of the sun, and the moon, and the stars, followed on the fourth day. There are some who use this fact as an argument against the accuracy of Scripture. Such an argument, is utterly foolish. God, Himself is Light, and the very fact that God’s Spirit moved upon the face of the waters is sufficient to know that light was about to break through the darkness. Along this line it is interesting to note that the sun and the moon and the stars were set in the firmament of heaven to give light upon the earth, and to rule over the day and over the night; to divide the light from the darkness. If it were not for these heavenly bodies, there would be no division between light and darkness. It would either be all dark through the absence of God’s personal presence, or all light through His continued presence. It is very vital to observe the Scriptures in reference to the new heaven and the new earth as set forth in Revelation 21:23-25. Nor is that all, for the very nations themselves, who dwell upon the new earth, walk in the effulgence of the light of the city. If God can get along throughout a long eternity without the sun or the moon to give light upon the new earth, He could certainly have managed to give light to the first heaven and the first earth during the three days prior to the placing of the sun and the moon in the firmament of heaven. There will be no night there.
7. The fourth verse, of Genesis 1:1-31, carries this statement concerning light and darkness. “And God divided the light from the darkness.” There is a tremendous message set forth in the quotation above. It is the message of “separation.” God has said, “What communion hath light with darkness? * * or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel?” The call of God which begins in Genesis 1:4 continues throughout the Bible, until we come into Revelation 21:23-24, inasmuch as in the new heaven and the new earth there will be no night, and no darkness. There will, likewise, be no sin, and no sinners, from which saints must separate themselves. III. THE TREE OF LIFE AND THE EDENIC RIVER OF GENESIS WITH THOSE OF (Genesis 2:9-10, with Revelation 22:1-2; Revelation 22:14)
8. The Tree of Life. We do not know very much about these trees, but we know that they were the central trees, positionally, in the Garden of Eden. Every tree that grew was pleasant to the sight, and good for food, and of them our first parents had the right to eat freely; “But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the Garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall, ye touch it, lest ye die.” After Eve, and Adam with her, had sinned and had eaten of the tree, God drove them out from the garden (Genesis 3:24). How glorious, then, is the promise that redeemed man, according to Revelation 22:14, shall have right to the Tree of Life. The Tree of Life in the Garden of Eden was debarred to man. The Tree of Life in the New Jerusalem is reserved for man.
9. The two rivers. The Bible story of this first river is very striking. One division of the river compassed the land of Havilah, where there is gold, and Bdellium and the onyx stone. The second division of the river was Gihon. The third was Hiddekel, and the fourth Euphrates. There will be a wonderful river during the reign of Christ upon the earth. This river will issue from the throne of Christ which will be set up in Jerusalem, and it will press its way toward the east, Whithersoever the river flows it will carry blessing. It will issue out toward the east country and go down into the desert, and into the sea. Whithersoever the river flows there shall be multitudes of fishes, and on either side of the river shall all trees grow for meat. The leaves of the trees shall not fade, neither shall the fruit be consumed. There is a third river described in Revelation 22:1, Revelation 22:2. This river is a pure river of Water of Life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. It is on the banks of the river that the Tree of Life will grow. It will bear twelve manner of fruit, and yield her fruit every month, and the leaves of the tree will be for the health of the nations. IV. THE BRIDE OF ADAM AND OF CHRIST (Genesis 2:21-22, with Revelation 21:2)
10. The bride of Adam. After God had finished the creation of the physical earth, and had filled it full with all things necessary for the sustenance and pleasures of life, He created man. Before this man, whom God had created in His own image, God brought every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air, to see what Adam would call them. It must have been a memorable hour, as Adam tamed all the living creatures, and God found among them no helpmeet for Adam. Then God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and God took one of Adam’s ribs, “And closed up the flesh instead thereof. And the rib, which the Lord God had taken from man, made He a woman, and brought her unto the man.” When Adam beheld his wife, he said, “This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.”
11. The Bride of Christ. It is not until we get over into the fifth chapter of Ephesians that the full beauty of this marriage is Scripturally revealed. It is there that God quotes from the words which Adam spoke in the Garden of Eden, saying, “For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh.” This was a great mystery, but God was speaking of Christ and the Church. He speaks of the wife as the man’s own flesh, and of the Church as the Lord’s own Body. He speaks of the presentation of the Church to Christ as a glorious Church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but as being holy and without blemish. In the Book of Revelation, the culminating picture is given concerning the Bride of Christ. First of all the marriage is described as taking place. In chapter Revelation 19:7 we read. “Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to Him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and His Wife hath made Herself ready.” In Revelation 21:9-10 we have the picture of the Bride, the Lamb’s Wife, and of the delightful Home in which she dwells. John beheld the great City, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of Heaven from God, having the glory of God. This was the Spirit’s vision of the Lamb’s Wife. V. SATAN AND HIS WITH CHRIST AND HIS (Genesis 3:1; Revelation 20:1-3; Revelation 20:10)
12. Satan’s entrance and exit. The whole history of Satan we may not now detail. Suffice it to say that the devil entered Eden intent upon the fall and subjugation of the happy pair to whom God had placed in charge the “keeping” and the “guarding” of the Garden. The success of the devil’s deadly intent we all well know, inasmuch, as we. ourselves, have been drawn, by line of descent from Adam, into the bane of Adam’s fall. Unto this hour Satan is the “god of this world,” the prince of the power of the air. Satan, however, will not always be left in control of the world and its peoples. First of all, at the Lord’s Second Coming, Satan will be chained and cast into the pit of the abyss, where he will be held during the thousand year reign of Christ; finally Satan will be cast into the Lake of Fire, where the beast and the false prophet are.
13. Sorrow, suffering and death; their entrance and exit. In Genesis the curse is pronounced against Adam and Eve; against the devil, and against the serpent. The literalness and fierceness of the results of that curse we all well know. We, ourselves, have all felt the pain and the bane of our sins. The physical earth is still under the throes of its subjection to vanity. Shall these things ever be thus? Thank God, no. Satan has no promised redemption. For man there is offered redemption from sin now, upon the basis of Christ’s atoning work. However, man’s full fruition of redemption awaits the advent of the new Heaven and the new earth. It is only when man reaches that blest estate, that the very presence of sin and of its wreckage will have forever passed from view. In the New Jerusalem there will be no more sorrow, nor pain, nor crying, nor death, for the former things will have passed away. The animal world and the physical creation will enter into their deliverance, after Satan is bound and Christ returns to reign. The Millennium will find the earth restored to much of its Edenic glory; but the perfection of bliss and beauty must await, as we have suggested, the day of the new Heaven and the new earth.
14. Man’s exit and entrance. In Genesis we see man driven out of the Garden, and out from the Tree of Life. In Revelation we see man entering into the glory of God. with full access and right to the Tree of Life. Bless God, the former things will pass away, and God will make all things new. AN “Some things about Heaven have been made reasonably plain, but a full knowledge of what we shall be has not been made manifest— but ‘We shall be like Him.’ We shall be free from all environments and limitations of our earthly bodies. It matters not what becomes of them. There will be moral activity in Heaven. One-third of the human family die before reaching the age of moral accountability. Gladstone, the grandest man of his time, lived to a ripe old age. Perfection is not attained at the gate of Heaven; this is not God’s way.

There will be progress in Heaven. All life is a growth— an unfolding, a development. Life in Heaven will be no exception. There will be service there; ‘Therefore are they before the throne of God; and they serve Him day and night in His Temple.’ Service will not be labor; it will be the highest pleasure, the source of unspeakable joy. Heaven will be a social place. I cannot explain the Trinity— the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

But where there is a father and a son there will be social enjoyment. Heaven is a real Home, beautiful, lovely, a most delightful place to live in— not eternally the same, but ever growing more beautiful, more lovely. Heaven is a place prepared for those who are prepared for it."— W. C. Bitting, D.D.

Genesis 1:11-31

Creation Scenes Genesis 1:11-31; Genesis 2:1-2 WORDS In Genesis 1:11 and Genesis 1:12, we find the story of God’s command to the earth to bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit. In all of this there is a wonderful depth of meaning affecting our spiritual lives.

1. The call of God to us is for fruitfulness. Whether it be in the natural earth or in the lives of saints, the great heart of God desires fruit. We remember how Christ said on one occasion, “I am the True Vine, and My Father is the Husbandman.” Then He said that every branch that did not bear fruit was taken away, and that every branch that bore fruit He purged it that it might bring forth more fruit. For this cause the Lord invites us to abide in Him, that we may become fruit-bearers; lest, otherwise we be cast forth as a branch, and be withered. Our Lord does not only want fruit, and more fruit, but He wants much fruit. It is herein that His Father is glorified. When we think of the fruitful Christian we are liable to think of the Christian who is active in the varied “branches of Christian service. Fruit-bearing, however, carries with it a deeper significance. Preeminently, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, etc. These are the things which bring glory to our Lord.
2. The deeper meaning of “after its kind.” God said, “The herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind.” Later on when God created the fish and the fowl and the beast of the earth, in each instance, they were commanded to bring forth after their kind. This was God’s command, and it has been an irrevocable law, since God spake. Every effort of man to change God’s creative fiat has utterly failed. Species may be developed, and correlated species may be merged, but distinctive species cannot be altered. Seed sown, always brings forth the same kind of herb, or fruit, as the plant from which the seed is grown. The same thing is true in animal life— kind begets its kind. How foolish of men to lift themselves up against God, and to imagine that they can undo or make void His eternal decree!
3. The deeper meaning of “Whose seed is in itself.” Here is another irrevocable law— a law that establishes the omnisciency of God. God only hath inherent life. Life only can beget life, and as we have already said, God placed in each variety of life which He created, the power to beget a life after its own kind. How wonderful that in every grain of wheat there lies hidden a power to beget other grains of wheat! Nobody can dissect the wheat and point out the life-giving germ, and yet it is there. Men of the world may fabricate something that imitates, to the human eye, a grain of wheat, or of corn, or a portion of fruit, but all the scholarship of earth, and all the scientific minds of the ages, have never been able to implant into anything the power to propagate itself. I. THE TWO GREAT LIGHTS (Genesis 1:14-18) God said, “Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven.” God was not at all dependent upon the sun and the moon and the stars to give light to the earth, for when God’s Spirit moved upon the face of the waters, God said, “Let there be light: and there was light.” However, the placing of lights in the firmament of heaven was for the dividing of day, from night; and also for signs, and for seasons; for days, and for years. Herein is the wisdom of God marvelously manifested.
4. The objective of the two great lights. We might imagine that the sun and the moon were exclusively for light, and heat, but not so. The heavenly bodies are for signs by which man may guide his course by day and by night. They are for seasons, Summer, and Autumn, and Fall, and Winter. These were arranged by the sun moving to the north, or to the south of the equator. They were for days, because the sun rises each morning and sets each night. They were for years, both solar and lunar. In all of the above, we see the eternal accuracy of the Almighty. The sun, and the moon, and the stars, all move with such minute exactness that we can truly say, “With God there is not a shadow of a turning.”
5. The spiritual significance of the two great lights. The greater light was to give light by day, the lesser light was to rule the night. Jesus Christ Himself is the greater light. Our God is a sun. When He came to earth He was a light that shone in the darkness. How striking are the words, “The people that sat in darkness saw great light; and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death light is sprung up.” When Christ died, darkness was upon the face of the earth. The Sun of Righteousness had gone down. The age in which we are now living is Scripturally called the age of this darkness. It is night. The world, however, is not left in total eclipse. There is the lesser light which rules the night; that lesser light is the Church. We are luminaries shining in the night. It is said that the moonlight is a reflected light. We know that the light of the Church is reflected. It is He who shines into our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. II. THE FISH AND BIRDS AND BEASTS (Genesis 1:24-25) When we consider the earth bringing forth the living creature after its kind, cattle, creeping thing, and the beast of the earth, we think, perhaps, of two things.
6. The heart of God providing for man’s need. Over this animal kingdom, God placed man in authority, giving him dominion. All created animal life was given to serve man, and all created vegetable life was given man for meat. Until this good hour, God provides for every human necessity. Did not Christ say, “Take no thought * * what ye shall eat”? God has known that we had need of these things, and He has provided for us.
7. The heart of God providing for the beasts and the fowls. None of these can sow, nor reap, nor gather into barns. Yet, God has provided for them. To every living creature upon the earth, God gave the green herb for meat. Likewise, gave He to every fowl of the air. Not this alone, but God hath beautifully clothed the grass of the field, and the lily of the valley. God is thoughtful of all things which He created. To Jonah, He said, “Should I not spare Nineveh, that great city?” and then He gave as His plea, not only the “little ones” who were there, but also, the “much cattle.” It was God who sent out the wild ass free, and loosed its bands. It was He who made the wilderness his dwelling and the range of the mountains his pasture. The Lord loves nature, loves it as it was before it was made subject to the curse for man’s sake; loves it as it is in its present groanings and travailings; and, thank God, the time is soon coming when under Divine deliverance the earth shall be restored and blest and all nature, putting on its new dress, shall shout for joy. III. THE OF MAN (Genesis 1:26-30)
8. God’s supreme creation. When God created man, He created him in His own image. Man was made in God’s image in various senses. We believe that he was also made physically in the image that Christ was destined to bear, when He came forth from the Father, made of a woman. There is a verse which says, “As we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the Heavenly.” When Christ comes again, and the saints are raised and raptured God will change these mortal and corruptible bodies into the likeness of Christ’s resurrection body. Thus, twice shall we be made like Him, once as He was in His natural body, and yet again as He is in His Heavenly body. In Heaven, we shall be like Him in a marvelous manner. We shall know as we are known; we shall be heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ. We shall be made higher than the angels.
9. God’s preparation for His creation of man. Observe that it was after God had created all things for man’s provision and comfort that He afterward created man. Man opened his eyes upon an earth fully equipped for his every temporal need. Nothing was lacking. It was a wonderful Garden of Eden which man beheld when he first lifted up his eyes. No fond mother ever made such preparation for the expected advent of an offspring, as God made for the coming of Adam and Eve. God crammed earth with every conceivable blessing, all for man’s happiness and contentment.
10. Man’s dominion. God placed all things in subjection to man. Man was therefore the climax of creation. Supreme in his position and dominion, even as he was superior in the personality, with which he was Divinely endowed. When sin entered the world, man lost his full dominion. He holds no more than a semblance of, his former glory. However, all that was lost in the sin of the first Adam, will be more than regained in the full and complete redemptive work of the Last Adam. We see not yet all things put under His feet, but we see Christ exalted to the Father’s right hand, and we soon shall see His supremacy fully established, and all thing’s made subject to Him. IV. THE TASK AND REST (Genesis 2:1-2) The seventh day marked God’s rest. As the six days passed, God, in review of each day’s work could say, “It is good.” With the creation completed, God rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had created and made.
11. That day of rest was soon broken by the advent of sin. Jesus Christ said, “My Father worketh hitherto, and I work.” When Satan entered in, the world which was so glorious and perfect was spoiled. God at once set about to recover man’s lost estate. Not in a day was this to be accomplished. However, in the Garden when God pronounced the curse, He also pronounced the cure. He proclaimed that the Seed of the woman should bruise the serpent’s head. When Christ died upon the Cross, He cried, “It is finished,” So did He complete the task that the Father had given Him to do. With His work accomplished Christ went up to the Father’s right hand and sat down. The far-reaching results of Christ’s substitutionary sacrifice remains to be told, and to be seen, in the ages to come when Christ shall have put down all things under His feet, having redeemed all men who come to the Father through Him.
12. That first day of rest was prophetic of future rest. When Israel was saved out of Egypt God made known unto them His holy Sabbath Day, because they had obtained rest from their enemies, the Egyptians, The Sabbath, therefore, was given unto Israel for a sign between God and them, throughout all of their generations. Both they and the stranger that was in their gates were commanded to keep His Sabbath. The Sabbath Day, however, had more than a backward look for Israel. The time is coming when Israel shall no longer, say, The Lord liveth who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, but, The Lord liveth who brought us out of all lands whither He hath driven them. Out of the land of the North, out of Russia, and Russian Poland, shall they come back home once more. They shall also come from the South, and from the East, and from the West, and from all nations whither they have been scattered. In that day shall Israel keep her Sabbaths, for “There remaineth therefore a rest (Sabbath keeping) to the people of God.” When Israel went into apostasy, the nation, wearied of the bondage of Sabbath keeping, said, “When will the new moon be gone, that we may sell corn? and the Sabbath, that we may set forth wheat?” It was gone in the day that the sun went down at noon, and the earth was darkened even in the clear day (Amos 8:5, Amos 8:9). V. SHOULD KEEP THE SEVENTH DAY? (Colossians 2:16-17)
13. There is a need for one day of rest in seven. The Sabbath was made for man, because man needs rest. This is also true of land and beast— all need one day’s rest.
14. The Jewish Sabbath was the seventh day. It was given to Israel as a command, and is grouped among the Ten Commandments. All of those Commandments were given to Israel and not to the nations round and about. A casual reading of Exo 20:1-17 will show this. Under Grace, and to the Church, all of the Ten Commandments in one form or another (with the exception of the fourth) is restated. The fourth never is given to the Church.
15. The Epistles plainly state this: “One man esteemeth one day above another: another esteemeth every day alike. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind” (Romans 14:5-6). The Epistles also say, “How turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage? Ye observe days, and months, and times, and years. I am afraid of you” (Galatians 4:9-11). The Sabbath Day was never changed to the first day of the week. The Sabbath was given to Israel as a memorial. The First Day of the week was early set aside as a memorial day of the Lord’s resurrection. It was then that the saints came together to break bread; it was then that they laid by them in store as the Lord had prospered them. AN How wonderful is God in His creation! “When God would reveal to man the perfection of the minutest detail of His creation not even visible to the naked eye, He furnished him with ability to produce the microscope. With this the silky substance on the wing of the butterfly was found in reality to be beautiful feathers. Nothing new had taken place so far as the butterfly was concerned but an almost unbelievable fact was revealed to humanity concerning God’s creation. “When God would reveal His infinite power in the creation of things so vast as to baffle man with their immensity, He gave him wisdom to put on the market the telescope; and things never before dreamed of in human history were revealed. As we consider the vast dimensions of the sun, and its course of travel, how our little earth fades away into nothingness. Yet no change took place in the universe with the discovery of the telescope, rather another of His secrets was revealed. “Excavations have been made in every land by all men of all ages, but when God found it necessary to prove the Divine authority of His Word to those who would not accept the Bible as final, without further evidence, things began to be unearthed that had escaped all the pick-axes and spades throughout the centuries. What priceless treasures have been discovered through archæological research! And yet there they lay buried deeply in the ground for thousands of years. One only wonders why men are not all on their faces before Him who is infinite in power, wisdom, and majesty. It seems at every fresh manifestation we would sink to our knees in deep humiliation mingled with adoration, acknowledging Him as the One who alone is worthy to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and blessing.”

Genesis 1:26-31

The Beginning and the Beginning Again Genesis 1:26-31; Genesis 2:1-10 WORDS The word Genesis means the “beginning.” It is the first Book of the Bible, and in its opening chapters we have the story of the beginning of the original creation, of the earth renewed and blessed, of the creation of man and of woman, of the vision of the Garden of Eden, of the entrance of sin and Satan, of the pronunciation of the curse, etc. The Book of Revelation is the Book of the “new beginning.” We find in its last few chapters the great consummation of everything which began in Genesis. The curse passes out, and the new life enters in. A key to all of these things is found in the statement: “Behold, I make all things new.” In Genesis we have a flower in the bud; in Revelation we have the same flower in the bloom, with all of its radiant glory and aroma filling the new heavens and the new earth.

1. The original earth. Perhaps, we should have said the original Heaven and earth. The first verse of Genesis says: “In the beginning God created the Heaven and the earth.” Revelation 21:1 says: “I saw a new Heaven and a new earth: for the first Heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.” Between the statement of Gen 1:1, and that of Rev 21:1, we have the whole story of the physical earth. (1) There is the earth as God created it. It was not created waste and void. (2) We have the earth without form and void, with darkness upon the face of the deep. (3) We have the Spirit of God moving upon the face of the waters, and God saying, “Let there be light.” (4) There follows the story of the earth renewed and blessed as described in Genesis 1:1-31. The dry land appears, the earth brings forth grass, the herb, and the fruit tree. The sun and the moon are placed in the heaven to rule the day and the night. The waters are made to bring forth, the moving creature that has life. In the firmament above, the fowl and birds are made to fly.
2. The earth’s great cataclysmic judgment. In Genesis 6:1-22 there begins the story of man’s wickedness and of God’s determination to destroy man from off the face of the earth. There follows the history of the ark and of the preservation of Noah and his family. Then the earth is destroyed by water. Every living thing is swept away before the wrath of God. The waters in the heavens above fall upon the earth beneath. Finally, the ark rests upon Mount Ararat; the earth is once more renewed and blest, and God places His bow in the cloud for a token of a covenant between Him and the peoples of the earth.
3. The earth’s next cataclysmic judgment. This judgment will fall upon the earth during the time of the great tribulation. As we see it, we are now hastening toward that very hour. During that day of judgment, God will not forget the pledge of His rainbow; and the waters will not destroy man from off the earth. The judgments will be of a different order. The earth will tremble and will be moved exceedingly. The peoples of the earth will cry unto the rocks and mountains to fall upon them. There will be a great earthquake, and thunders, and lightnings, and voices.
4. After this cataclysmic judgment has abated God will once more renew and bless the earth. Every mountain shall be brought low and every valley exalted. Unprecedented fertility will be given to the soil. Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir tree and instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree. The wilderness will bloom and blossom as a rose.
5. The earth’s final cataclysmic judgment. At the end of the thousand years of millennial blessings, we read of the great white throne from which the heavens and the earth fled away. Peter speaking of this hour says in the Spirit “The heavens and the earth, which are now, * * are kept in store, reserved unto fire.” He also said: “The heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.” In the Book of Hebrews there is this statement, “Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also Heaven.”
6. The new Heaven and the new earth. We now come to the close of the Bible message concerning the Heaven and the earth. The former things have passed away, the new Heaven and the new earth appear upon the scene, and God’s City, the New Jerusalem, is seen descending, and resting upon, the new earth. Thus we have scoped the history of the earth. I. A BETWEEN IN THE AND THE NEW HEAVEN AND EARTH (Genesis 1:3-4; Genesis 1:14-16)
7. The period when God said, “Let there be light.” At this time there was not yet any sun or moon to lighten the earth, but God was the light thereof. In Revelation there is described, in chapter 21, a similar period. We read: “And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it; for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof.” The nations of the new earth will walk in the light of that wonderful City, which will radiate its glory to the uttermost ends of the earth. The period when God divided the day from the night. From that day until this we have had the rising of the sun and the setting thereof. We have had light by day and darkness by night. In the new heavens and the new earth, we find this expression, “There shall be no night there.” Night and darkness passes with the passing of the first heaven and earth, and with the passing of the light of the sun and the moon.
8. The contrast between the seas of the first and second earth. In Genesis 1:1-31, we read that God gathered the waters unto heaven unto one place and He said, “Let the dry land appear.” The dry land He called earth and the waters called He seas. In the new Heaven and the new earth of Rev 21:1-27 we read: “And there was no more sea.”
9. The contrast between the fruit tree of the original and final earth. The story is written of the Garden of Eden, “Out of the ground made the Lord God to grow every tree that Is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.” In the New Jerusalem, we read: There “was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month.” In Genesis we read of man being shut out lest they should eat of the tree of life and live. In Revelation we read, “Blessed are they that do His Commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.”
10. The contrast in the rivers of the original and final earth. In Genesis 2:10, it is written, “And a river went out of Eden to water the Garden.” In Revelation 22:1 we read: “And He shewed me a pure river of Water of Life, clear as crystal proceeding out of the Throne of God and of the Lamb.” II. A BETWEEN MAN AND HIS IN THE AND THE NEW HEAVEN AND EARTH (Genesis 1:26)
11. Man given dominion. Our text tells us of how God said: “Let Us make man in Our image, after Our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the fowl of the air,” etc. When man was driven out of the Garden of Eden that dominion was lost in park
12. The prophecy of a restored dominion. In Psalms 8:4-6 we read these words: “What is man, that Thou art mindful of him? and the Son of Man, that Thou visitest Him? for Thou hast made Him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned Him with glory and honour. Thou madest Him to have dominion over the works of Thy hands; Thou hast put all things under His feet.”
13. The prophecy of a restored dominion is to be fulfilled in Christ. It is in the Book of Hebrews we read: “But now we see not yet all thing’s put under Him. But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour.” Our Lord Jesus Christ shall subdue all things. He must reign until He has put all things under His feet. In all of this conquest, the Lord Jesus Christ is the Captain of our salvation. Where the Captain goes, the soldiers follow. His victory is theirs. They share every conquest with Him. He leads them in the train of His triumph.
14. The prophecy of the new Heavens and the new earth. In that Heavenly made City, and upon that earth will be established the Throne of God and of the Lamb. All dominion and authority will be invested in the One who conquered death and hell, and we in Him shall reign forevermore. III. A IN SATAN’S POWER AND (Genesis 3:1)
15. Satan enters in. Into the Garden of Eden Satan came seeking, if possible, to frustrate the plan of God, and to cast man down from his high estate. We are aware of the results. Eve and Adam both fell under Satan’s strategies and deceptions. The result was that the curse was pronounced upon the woman, then upon the man. In the curse upon the man, the physical earth was involved and made subject to vanity for man’s sake.
16. Satan proclaimed god of this world. With the authority of God broken, Satan himself assumed headship. The result was that the enemy became known as “the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience,” Christ said of Satan, “The prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in Me.” In the Epistle of John we read of the world lying in the lap of the wicked one. In Corinthians we read, “The god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not.” In the wilderness temptation Satan offered unto Christ the kingdoms of the world and the glories of them, if He would accept Satan’s sovereignty and headship.
17. Satan’s last stand. In the Book of Revelation we find where Satan, the old dragon and serpent, is cast out of Heaven, onto the earth. The devilish trinity consisting of the devil, the antichrist, and the false prophet, will at that time fill the earth with violence— a violence equaled only by that which swayed man in the days of Noah. Satan will realize his time is short, and with one great final effort he will seek to rule God out of the earth, and to expel Christ from the thoughts of the hearts of men.
18. Satan cast into the pit of the abyss, and then into the lake of fire. In Revelation 20:1-15 we read of Satan being chained and cast into the pit. He will not be allowed, during the Millennial Kingdom of Christ, to tempt the world and to rule it. Finally, he who entered into the world scene, in Genesis 3:1-24, will find his last abode in the lake of fire, where the beast and the false prophet are. IV. A BETWEEN MAN’S SIN AND HIS FINAL (Genesis 3:9-12)
19. How sin entered in. It was in the Garden of Eden that Satan cast his vile snare. He entered the Garden with one thought, the dethronement of God in the lives of the first man and woman. Not only that, but he entered with the express purpose of tempting man to enthrone himself as God. Incidentally, of course, Satan sought to take the place of authority over man. Until this day sin may be summed up in one word, even this; “We have turned every one to his own way.”
20. How sin is passed from man to man. There is a Scripture which says: “In sin did my mother conceive me.” This heart of sin, therefore, which everyone of us possess in birth is passed down from father to son, throughout all generations. It passes after the Law which God Himself established in the creation, when He said, “Kind * * after his kind.” The evolutionary theory would deny this eternal Law, and seek to establish the transmutation of species. All flesh is sinful. “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked.” “All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.”
21. How God met the issue of man’s redemption from sin. The 5th chapter of Romans tells the story of how grace superabounded over sin and its sway. By one man sin entered into the world; by Another, life entered. By one man sin entered into the world and death by sin; by Another salvation came, and death passed out, as life reigned. This change was not wrought by any transmutation of species. It was wrought as follows: (1) Christ in His death satisfied the offended Law, sustained its majesty, bore its penalty, and suffered the Just for the unjust. (2) Christ by His life and by virtue of His death, through His Spirit, begat within the believing soul a new life. We were born not of the will of the flesh, nor of blood, nor of the will of man, but of God.
22. How sin and its results will pass into salvation and its glory. In Revelation we find the following wonderful statements: “And there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.” Because of sin came death. Because of salvation came life forevermore. Sin separated from God, salvation brings us back to God. V. THE CURSE AND THE CURSE PASSING AWAY (Genesis 3:16-19)
23. The curse upon the woman. Unto the woman, God said: “I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception.” We believe that as God spoke the words of this curse that there came back, as it were, an echo from the Cross of Calvary saying, “A Man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief.” To the woman God also said, “In sorrow thou shalt bring forth children.” Back from the Cross again, we catch an echo: “He shall see of the travail of His soul, and shall be satisfied.” The sorrow of the woman in childbirth, anticipated the sorrow of the Son of God as upon the Cross He saw the travail of His soul, and was satisfied. Every time a child is born by physical birth through the travail of his mother, we cannot but anticipate the fact that he is born the second time, through the travail of the Saviour. The Prophet asked: “Who shall declare His generation?” the answer given by the Spirit was: “He shall see His seed, * * and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in His hand.”
24. The curse upon the physical earth. Unto Adam, God said: “Cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field.” The physical earth and every tiling related thereto— the fruit of the ground, the beasts, the fishes, the fowls, all are brought under the effect of sin. All are made subject to vanity for men’s sake. Therefore in Romans we read: “[The whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.” Let us catch, if we can, from Calvary God’s echo to this curse. We read: “They had platted a crown of thorns, they put it upon His head.” Thus, when Jesus Christ died for. men that they might be saved, He included in. that redemptive work the deliverance of the creation, which was made subject to vanity. We say this because the creation itself shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption, into the glorious liberty of the children of God. When man sinned the creation came under the curse. When Christ comes and the world accepts His reign, the creation shall also be delivered from its bondage of corruption. “Instead of the thorns shall come up the fir tree, and instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree.”
25. The curse upon the man. Unto Adam God also said: “In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.” Once more we catch an. echo from the Garden of Eden, as Christ approached the Cross. We read of Christ and He sweat “as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground.” As we look further on into the glories of eternity, we read, “And there shall be no more curse.” We also read: “And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.” How wonderful is the far sweeping vision of the Cross of Christ, in its answer to the curse pronounced in Eden. VI. THE COATS OF SKINS (Genesis 3:21)
26. Adam and Eve and their fig leaf aprons. In Genesis 3:7 it is written: “They sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.” To us this passage of Scripture stands for everything that sinful man has done, or attempted to do, in order to cover his sin. From the time that Adam and Eve first sinned until this very hour the unregenerate world has sought in vain to cover their own sinful hearts. We think of Cain and Abel, and of how Cain offered up the fruits of his field. In this, Cain made no confession of sin, and accepted no sacrificial deliverance from his sins. There was no blood and no suggestion of blood in the products of the ground. They may have appeared beautiful, and, ethically, they may have seemed more to be desired than the blood sacrifice of Abel. However, Cain’s offering stank in the nostrils of God. Unto this hour men are seeking to climb up some other way, than by the way of the Cross. They vainly imagine that they can be saved without the Blood of the Lamb.
27. God and the coats of skins. In Genesis 3:21 we read: “Unto Adam also and to his wife did the Lord God make coats of skins, and clothed them.” (1) What we cover, God uncovers. Have we not read of how it is written, “He that covereth his sins shall not prosper”? Have you not also read: “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness”? (2) What we uncover, God covers. By this statement we mean, that if we are ready to acknowledge the sinfulness of our heart; and, if we are willing to give up hope of hiding our sins from God; God stands ready, through the sacrifice of the Lamb of God, to clothe us in His righteousness. How wonderful is the phrase: “These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the Blood of the Lamb.” AN HEAVEN ENGAGED AHEAD “We have * * an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens” (2 Corinthians 5:1). Some friends lately in traveling arrived at an English hotel, but found that it had been full for days. They were turning away to seek accommodation elsewhere, when a lady of the party bade the others adieu, and expressed her intention of remaining. “How can that be,” they asked, “when you hear the hotel is full?” “Oh!” she replied, “I telegraphed on ahead a number of days ago, and my room is secured,” My friend, send on your name ahead, and the door of Heaven can never be shut against you. Be sure it is a wise precaution. Then everything will be ready for you. And when the journey of life is over, you will mount up as with angel wings, and inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.— Moody’s Addresses.