Who Is God? Jehovah Elohim (Day 3) The Creation of the Universe

The Creation of the Universe

               God had finished creating His beautiful angelic host. You can probably imagine God taking a look at what He had done and was wonderfully pleased at the final results of His creation – intelligent and powerful beings that were not equal to Him, but were magnificent at the level that He made them. Nonetheless, His work did not stop there. God had a vision far beyond the view of Heaven. He desired to create an entire universe full of beauty and life unmatched to anything one could have possibly imagined. Colossians 1:16 For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. (NIV) God started out with nothing but empty space and made it into being. Genesis 1:1-2 ⁽¹⁾In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. ⁽²⁾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 (NIV)

               There was no shape to the earth. There was no model to go by. God took a plain canvas, in a sense, and made it into the earth. The earth was God’s original design because He is the Creator of all things. Because God is Light, He wanted the earth to experience a part of who He is. There was only the existence of darkness, so God had to speak light into existence and it was so. Genesis 1:3-5 ⁽³⁾And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. ⁽⁴⁾God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. ⁽⁵⁾God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.” And there was evening, and there was morning – the first day. (NIV) Now, there was a distinction between the darkness and light, which ended the first day of God’s work.  

               God took His creation a step further and created a wonderful sky. The earth needed a covering to enjoy the light that He had created. Therefore, the sky is like the earth’s blanket. It acts as a shield for the rest of creation to behold. Genesis 1:6-8 ⁽⁶⁾And God said, “Let there be an expanse between the waters to separate water from water.” ⁽⁷⁾So God made the expanse and separated the water under the expanse from the water above it. And it was so.  ⁽⁸⁾God called the expanse “sky.” And there was evening and there was morning – the second day. (NIV) The second day had just been completed as the earth was coming together as God had planned.

               There was more work that God wanted to do. Therefore, He arranged for water to be in certain places of the earth as well as the appearance of dry ground. He knew that it would be important to separate the two so that His later creations would be able to thrive in their separate environments. Genesis 1:9-10 ⁽⁹⁾And God said, “Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear.” And it was so. ⁽¹⁰⁾God called the dry ground “land,” and the gathered waters he called “seas” And God saw that it was good. (NIV) God even gave names to the water by calling it “sea,” and the dry ground He called “land.”

               With there now being a separation of land and sea, God was ready to create more things. Therefore, He created plants and trees with fruit that would have seeds to reproduce themselves. If you notice, you do not see apple trees bearing oranges, or pear trees producing peaches. Everything still follows the rules of God as long as man doesn’t tamper with it. Genesis 1:11-13 ⁽¹¹⁾Then God said, “Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and the trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds.” And it was so. ⁽¹²⁾The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. ⁽¹³⁾And there was evening, and there  was morning – the third day. (NIV) This was the completion of the third day.

               Now, many of us learned in school that plants need sunlight in order to live. God knew that His creation would be incomplete without the sun, but not only the plants, man would need this fiery ball of gas as well. Therefore, God made two separate types of light. He made one for the day, which was the greater light, and then one for the night, which would give a lesser light. Genesis 1:14-15 ⁽¹⁴⁾And God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark seasons and days and years, ⁽¹⁵⁾and let them be lights in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth” And it was so. (NIV) The word “season” in the Greek is “Kairos” which means, “opportunity or fitting-time.” You may ask, “Why is that important to know?” Well, God also uses the sun and the moon as signs to deliver messages to His people. Joel 2:30-31 ⁽³⁰⁾I will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and billows of smoke. ⁽³¹⁾The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the great and dreadful day of the Lord. (NIV)

               The stars were also used as a sign for the Magi to follow, after the birth of Jesus, as a guide to lead them to Bethlehem. Matthew 2:1-2 ⁽¹⁾After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem ⁽²⁾and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him.” Isn’t it wonderful how God uses His creation to speak to His creation to deliver messages that He wants them to know? God is so wonderful that even His creation speaks upon His command. The creation of the greater and lesser lights marked the end of the fourth day.

 Join us tomorrow as we continue our study into Jehovah Elohim...our Creator.