25-0112a - Detailed Summary

The speaker introduces a sermon series on beginnings that started on November 17th, focusing on biblical accounts of events before the creation narrative in Genesis chapter 1. The series explores the creation of space and time, marking the beginning of the natural world and universe, setting the stage for a detailed examination of the origins of existence as described in scripture.

The discussion shifts to God’s attributes, emphasizing His self-existence, as reflected in His name, the Hebrew tetragrammaton (YHWH), pronounced as Yahweh or Jehovah, meaning "I exist." This is illustrated by God’s response to Moses, "I am who I am," or "I exist because I exist," highlighting His eternal, self-sustaining nature, independent of any external factors.

The speaker elaborates that God is eternal, existing from everlasting to everlasting, with no beginning or end. As a spirit, God is distinct from the natural realm, reinforcing His transcendence and eternal presence beyond the physical world.

The sermon explores the roles of the Trinity in creation. God created the natural realm, with Jesus, the Word and second person of the Godhead, speaking things into existence, and the Holy Spirit also involved. All three persons are mentioned or described in the first three verses of Genesis chapter 1. The discussion notes God’s creation of both a spiritual realm, inhabited by angels, and a physical realm, inhabited by humans, highlighting the distinct yet interconnected domains of existence.

The sermon continues by examining salvation by faith in the context of God’s pre-creation plans for both realms. The spiritual realm, inhabited by angels who see God directly, walks by sight, while humans, as hybrid beings with body, soul, and spirit, must walk by faith. This distinction raises questions about why God offers salvation to humans, who rely on faith, but not to angels, who see Him directly, exploring theological implications of faith versus sight.

Humans perceive God through revelation in His Word and the evidence of His creation, unlike angels who see Him directly. The speaker references an article by Eric Lyons from Apologetic Press, noting that while many associate day one of creation solely with light, other elements were created. The sermon aims to identify all creations on day one, beyond just light, encouraging a deeper understanding of the initial creation events.

The speaker prepares to delve into the historical creation account in Genesis chapter 1, planning to cover one creation day per sermon. The opening verse, "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth," introduces the plural "heavens," encompassing both the physical cosmos and the spiritual "heaven of heavens," emphasizing that the natural realm is not all that exists and has a finite beginning and end.

The cosmos, created on day one, has a beginning and will end, as foretold in 2 Peter 3:10, describing the heavens passing away and the earth being destroyed by fire. The spiritual realm, also created with a beginning, is referenced in Nehemiah 9:6, which mentions the "heaven of heavens" and its hosts, the angels, underscoring the comprehensive scope of God’s creation across both realms.

The plural "heavens" in Genesis and Nehemiah includes the physical universe (space-time continuum) and the spiritual heaven of heavens, with the atmospheric heaven created on day two. The heaven of heavens, created fully with its angelic hosts, is distinct, and these angels witnessed the creation of the natural realm, as noted in earlier sermons, emphasizing their pre-existence and role as observers.

Referencing Job 38:4-7, God challenges Job about his absence during earth’s creation, while the "sons of God" (angels) sang and shouted for joy, indicating their existence before the natural realm. This underscores the angels' awareness and worship during the earth’s formation on day one, highlighting their active participation in the creation narrative.

All creations on day one, including the heaven of heavens, angels, physical universe, and earth, occur simultaneously. The earth, initially formless and empty, is covered with water, with the Spirit of God hovering over it, indicating active divine involvement. The first mention of angels in scripture is later, in Genesis 16:7, emphasizing that Genesis 1:2 focuses solely on earth’s initial state.

The earth’s formless state raises questions about its shape, with land not appearing until day three. Isaiah 45:18 confirms God formed the earth, and gravitational forces, instituted on day one, likely shaped it into a sphere or oblique spheroid, as observed in celestial bodies, with the earth’s dimensions slightly differing at the poles and equator due to rotation.

Genesis 1:2 describes darkness over the deep (waters), indicating earth was created as a water planet without an atmosphere. The Holy Spirit’s hovering suggests active engagement, possibly shaping and protecting the earth, contrasting with Jesus' verbal creation, highlighting the Spirit’s hands-on role in the physical realm’s formation.

The speaker prompts reflection on all day one creations: the heaven of heavens and angels, the physical universe (introducing darkness), earth with its core, and water, all preceding light. This comprehensive list underscores the multifaceted nature of day one, beyond the commonly noted creation of light.

God creates light with the command, "Let there be light," distinct from the sun, which is created on day four. The speaker references 1 John 1:5, noting God is light, and Revelation 22:5, indicating He will be the ultimate light source post-resurrection, emphasizing that this initial light is divine, not solar.

Isaiah 45:7 confirms God creates darkness, implying it did not exist prior, with only God’s light present initially. The heaven of heavens, illuminated by God, likely did not require a light command, suggesting darkness emerged with the physical universe, with God supplying light until day four, noting the universe’s predominantly dark appearance even today.

The angels, created in the illuminated heaven of heavens, may not have known darkness until the physical universe’s creation, with darkness possibly introduced then. This speculative insight suggests a sequential experience of light and darkness for angels, aligning with the broader creation narrative’s progression.

The speaker continues listing the creations on the first day, emphasizing that the earth was created alongside its core, which is referenced in Job as the foundation laid by God. Water is also present from the start, as the Holy Spirit is described as hovering over the waters. These creations—spiritual realm (heaven of heavens) and its host (angels), physical universe (space), earth, water, and darkness—occur before the creation of light. The speaker underscores that all these elements were part of day one, setting the stage for the introduction of light later in the narrative.

The speaker notes that God said, "Let there be light," on day one, but clarifies that this light is not the sun, which is created on day four. The source of this light is linked to God Himself, as 1 John 1:5 states, "God is light, and in him is no darkness at all." Revelation 22:5 is cited, indicating that in the future, God will be the light source, eliminating the need for the sun. The speaker suggests that the light on day one was supplied by God, contrasting with the darkness created earlier, and highlights that in the future, there will be no need for night or artificial light because God will illuminate everything.

The speaker reiterates that darkness was created, as per Isaiah 45:7, implying it did not exist before God made it. The spiritual realm, illuminated by God, likely did not experience darkness until the physical universe was created. The speaker speculates that when God created the heaven of heavens (spiritual realm) and its host (angels), there was no need to say, "Let there be light," because God Himself is the light. The angels were created in an illuminated spiritual realm, and darkness likely appeared only when God created the physical universe, which remained mostly dark until light was introduced on day one.

The speaker continues discussing the nature of darkness, noting that most of the universe, even today, appears dark when viewed with the naked eye. The speaker references Grok, an AI, to support the observation that the universe is mostly void of visible light, emphasizing the vast darkness of space compared to the limited areas illuminated by stars. This observation ties back to the creation of darkness on day one, suggesting that the physical universe’s darkness is a fundamental aspect of its design, contrasting with the illuminated spiritual realm.

The speaker notes that only about 5,000th of 1% of the universe’s volume is illuminated by stars at any given time, emphasizing the vast darkness in interstellar and intergalactic spaces. These areas are filled with an interstellar medium that does not emit visible light, highlighting the predominance of darkness in the physical universe compared to the limited areas of illumination.

The speaker questions why God waited until the fourth day to create the sun, moon, and stars, noting that this delay challenges modern cosmological theories which suggest stars formed first. This sequencing, with earth created before these celestial bodies, makes it difficult to align with scientific models, and the speaker suggests that the light source on day one must be directional, not an all-encompassing light like God’s presence.

The speaker elaborates that the light on day one, as described in Genesis 1:4-5, must be directional, similar to sunlight, because God separates light from darkness. This separation implies that the light source illuminates one side of the earth, leaving the other in darkness, akin to the current day-night cycle, reinforcing the directional nature of the initial light.

Genesis 1:5 names the light "day" and the darkness "night," with the phrase "there was evening, and there was morning, the first day," indicating earth’s rotation. This rotation causes the day-night cycle, with half the earth illuminated and the other half in darkness, mirroring today’s conditions, and the speaker emphasizes that this motion was present from day one.

The speaker notes that the light source changes on day four from an unspecified source to the sun, but clarifies that this change does not affect day length. Day length is determined by the planet’s rotation, not the light source, and the speaker lists the day lengths of solar system planets (e.g., Mercury at 1,408 hours, Venus at 5,832 hours) to illustrate that despite sharing the sun, their day lengths vary due to rotational speed.

Continuing the discussion, the speaker provides specific day lengths for planets: Earth’s day is 24 hours, Mars is 24.6 hours, Jupiter, despite its size, rotates quickly at 9.9 hours, making it the fastest rotator, while Saturn is 10.7 hours, Uranus 17.2 hours, and Neptune 16.1 hours. These examples, all using the sun as their light source, prove that day length is determined by rotation speed, not the light source, reinforcing the point about earth’s day length on day one.

The speaker highlights that in Genesis 1, God declares His creation "good" six times, with the seventh mention in Genesis 1:31 stating "very good" after completing His work. Every day except the second day receives a "good" mention, with the third day getting two, and the sixth day receiving both "good" and "very good." The lack of mention for the second day, when the atmosphere (second heaven) is created, is noted but unexplained.

Reflecting on the creation narrative, the speaker suggests that God creates darkness first when forming the physical universe, contrasting with the spiritual realm, created first and immersed in God’s light, where angels walk by sight. The physical realm, intended for humans to walk by faith, requires darkness to shield it from God’s all-encompassing light, aligning with the distinct purposes of each realm.

The speaker reiterates that God creates darkness in the physical realm, as stated in scripture, and creates the universe and earth within this darkness. On day one, God’s command "let there be light" introduces a sliver of supernatural light, breaking through the darkness until natural lights (sun, moon, stars) are created on day four. The moon, though reflective, is noted as the second brightest light in the sky, emphasizing the transition from supernatural to natural light sources.

The shielding of the physical realm from God’s full light allows humans to have hope of salvation through faith, as opposed to angels who walk by sight in the spiritual realm. This distinction underscores the purpose of darkness in the physical realm, enabling faith-based salvation, and the speaker invites reflection on this theological perspective as part of the sermon.

The speaker concludes the sermon and extends an invitation for anyone subject to it to stand while singing, marking the end of the session with a call to action and a closing "Amen," signaling the transition from teaching to communal participation.