God’s Purpose and Promise || Deeper Creation || Week 1

Let me introduce you to the new series called “Deeper Creation.” This series will take an in-depth look at the Creation story in Genesis 1 and 2. We will look at the pre-creation state, each day of creation, the Sabbath day, and the formation of Eve deeper. We will pull from connecting scriptures to see how we can apply this new knowledge to our everyday life.

Today, we will investigate the pre-creation state found in Genesis 1:1-2. We’ll learn a poetic understanding of the beginning from the book of Psalms and look at “the Word” as told by John. We’ll also look at the dark and formless place that the world was from a prophetic and poetic interpretation in the respective books of Psalms and Isaiah. 

All scripture that we will use in this series will come from the New Living Translation. Let’s begin our journey by reading Genesis 1:1-2:

1  In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

2  The earth was formless and empty, and darkness covered the deep waters. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters. 

Beginning Poetry

We begin our deep dive by looking at the book of Psalms. Psalms are typically either hymns of praise or heartfelt prayers written by the author to convey heavy emotion. It’s a raw, connective material that pulls on our emotions. Listen to what the author says in Psalm 89:11:

11  The heavens are yours, and the earth is yours; everything in the world is yours – you created it all.

Psalm 89 is about King David and his reign from the perception of Ethan, or one of his ancestors. Ethan was a Levite leader and possibly a head Temple musician. God promised to make David the mightiest king on earth, as David was a man after God’s own heart. God also promised to keep David’s lineage on the king’s throne forever. Yet, Kings no longer reigned over the country when Jerusalem got destroyed, so how could this happen? This psalm gives us a glimpse into the promise of Jesus. 

I love the reminder that this promise connects back to the Creation story. Ethan (we’ll go with him as the author since he’s named primarily in my Study Bible) knows that God created everything for a reason. The heavens were created by God for a purpose, just as God created the earth. Everything came from God. 

The enemies might have overtaken Jerusalem at this point in history. Things might be bleak for Ethan and his family. This reminder of the beginning and God’s creative promises gives him hope for a better future because everything works according to God’s purpose. 

This section of Psalms continues this line of thinking. Look at what Psalm 102:25 says:

25  Long ago you laid the foundations of the earth and made the heavens with your hands.

Psalm 102 is about resolving distress, reminding us that God is living, eternal, and unchanging. We can trust God to help us today, just as he helped the past generations. 

The writer of this psalm is anonymous, but we know they felt rejected and tossed aside because of the trouble they were dealing with. The emotions felt in their writing led them to remember who God is in their life. They remembered God’s creator status and that God is eternal and keeps all the promises made.  

God IS always with us through all walks of life. Through the celebrations of life, God is partying and rejoicing alongside us. Through the pitfalls of life, God is wrapping us in a tight embrace and is allowing all emotions to flow. God created the emotional spectrum that we both enjoy and despise at times. It’s good, for me especially, to remember that God created our emotions for a reason. It’s good to explore why so that when our emotions feel uncontrollable, we can pull them back and align them with God’s plan. 

The poetic looks at the beginning of creation remind us that God created this world for a purpose and with a promise never to leave it. The purpose and promise are things we will explore deeper throughout the rest of this series. 

God Keeps His “Word”

John introduced his Gospel with “the Word.” What word is he talking about? Let’s see this word in John 1:1-2:

1  In the beginning the Word already existed.

2  The Word was with God, and the Word was God. He existed in the beginning with God.

John is referring to Jesus. Jesus came to the earth as fully human, but he never ceased being fully God. Jesus always existed as the creator, sustainer of all things, and the source of eternal life. It’s a unique way to refer to Jesus, right? I believe John had a reason for that, which was that John’s audience was Jews and Gentiles. I think John did this to bridge understanding with those who did and didn’t believe. 

In Hebrew scripture, the Word was an agent of creation (see Psalm 33:6), the way God talked to the people through the Prophets (see Hosea 4:1), and God’s law that showed his holiness (see Psalm 119:11). For the Jewish audience, it seemed blasphemous for John to call this carpenter from Nazareth, the “son of God.” 

In Greek philosophy, the Word was another expression for God. The idea that “the Word” became human was unthinkable to the Greek audience.

One side thought John was crazy, and the other couldn’t understand what John was trying to say. John had the credibility of a disciple, being one of the main twelve and having an eyewitness account of what Jesus did. John, therefore, had a level of trust with his audience. Plus, with many of John’s main audience having a Greek background, connecting Jesus as he did helped build a relationship with those who might not know of Jesus.

In the beginning, this agent of creation existed; this source of connecting God to the people existed; this standard of God’s law existed. Jesus existed and came to show us all three things, so we have a real-life example of how to live as God wants us to. Jesus being there when God created the earth shows that he knows how things should operate. With his coming to earth, he can show us how to navigate the world as created with God’s intended purpose. 

In the beginning, God created the world with a purpose and a promise. Jesus came to the world, fully human and fully God, to show us how to do that. Jesus gave two commands for us: to love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength (that he references from Deuteronomy) and to love each other as he loved us (as he told the disciples during the Last Supper). God created the world with a purpose (to love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength) and a promise (to love each other as Jesus loved us.) We’ll discuss how this purpose and promise come together as we progress through this series. 

The Dark and Scary Start

The earth was formless and empty before God went to work. Knowing the earth was formless and empty gives us an idea of how the earth looked to God before he created things. 

God created light, thus dispelling the darkness somewhere else. God has a bright canvas to work with as he forms the universe in Days 2 and 3 and fills the universe with livings in Days 4 through 6. We see a technical purpose to the days of creation. God wanted everything to be created in the light, leading to the light shown in Jesus. God wanted to prepare the universe for living creatures, leading to Jesus teaching us how to prepare us for eternal life. 

The image of the Spirit of God hovering above the water reminds me of a bird caring for and protecting her young. The Spirit was active in the world’s creation and is still active through the Holy Spirit today. Let’s explore this more with some Old Testament scripture. 

The Spirit In Us

Listen to what Psalm 104:30 says: 

30  When you give them your breath, life is created, and you renew the face of the earth.

First, it could also say, “When you send your spirit…” showing us that the Spirit can give new life. This translation intrigued me, especially with the concept of being renewed. What does it mean for something to get renewed?

To renew generally means to resume something after an interruption. It also means re-establishing a relationship, repeating a statement, or giving fresh life or strength to something. 

We saw the earth come to life when the Spirit hovered over the waters. We saw it establish a life-giving system. We saw God repeat that the creation was “good” and “very good” seven times. New energy comes with the Spirit; the same is in those with the Holy Spirit. 

Acknowledging that the Spirit gives life, each breath comes from the Spirit of the one who breathed life into man. We gain this renewal with every breath. We gain this renewal with each new day we get out of bed. We have this life-giving energy to go out and share God with the world. How do we do this? How can we know how to use this energy wisely? Check out what Isaiah 45:18 says:

18  For the Lord is God, and he created the heavens and earth and put everything in place. He made the world to be lived in, not to be a place of empty chaos, “I am the Lord,” he says, “and there is no other.” 

Understand God’s purpose, and help God fulfill his promise by understanding your purpose. God created the world to live in and not be a place of empty chaos. God rid the world of emptiness when the creation process began. Keeping God’s creation process in our minds helps remind us of his promises and shows us that he keeps his promises. God’s promises to us are public. They’re not hidden or part of a deeper problem to solve. God’s promises lay before us, and God’s fulfillment is guaranteed. We have to do our part in keeping and remembering these promises. 

God created the world with a purpose and a promise. The purpose of living in a world that honors and glorifies him with all of our heart, mind, soul, and strength. The promise of loving each other as Jesus loved us. God reminds us to do good things in this world that he didn’t create for chaos but for co-existence. Remember the promises made to the past generations and how they exist for us today. Recognizing that Jesus was there from the beginning, he came to show us how to fulfill this purpose and promise and gave us the eternality to do so by his sacrifice. These lessons are what the pre-creation state shows us. 

Stay tuned for next week when we explore the separation of dark and light. Until then, stay blessed!