Genesis

Lesson 3 Before The Beginning Part 1

"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." (Genesis 1:1)

A typical bible study of Genesis most would begin with a focus on this verse. It is the most pivotal and most important verse in all the Bible. I say this because if you do not believe that God is our creator, then you will not believe anything else in the Bible. But…what about before God created anything? What was it like before God created everything (and I do mean everything)?

So, before we begin an in–depth study of the book of beginnings, the book of firsts, i.e., the book of Genesis, let’s take a moment to think about what it was like before God created anything. Doing so will give us a much deeper and stronger realization of who God truly is.

Beginnings

What do you think it was like before creation? Do you think everything was dark, or that spirits were simply moving around the like the Northern Lights with no apparent direction or pattern to their movements?

Read the following verses and see what we can discern about God before the moment he created everything.

  1. What is God? (John 4:24)
  2. Who is God? (Isaiah 45:5-6, 1 John 1:5)
  3. Where is God? (Psalm 139:7-10)
  4. If God is spirit and light, and there is no darkness at all, and he is the only thing in existence prior to creation, what can we discern from this knowledge when we read Genesis 1:2 about darkness?
  5. We know that God and Jesus were both involved in the creation process, but God is a triune being. How do we know that the Holy Spirit was present and active in the creation process as well? Read Genesis 1:1-2 and note what it conveys to us.
  6. When did God create angels, demons, and Satan?
    1. Job 38:4-7
    2. John 1:3
  7. We know that prior to, or in parallel with, the events recorded in Genesis Chapter 1, the spirit world was also created. Read the following verses and note what they tell us about Satan and the fallen angels who elected to follow him.
    1. Genesis 3:1
    2. Isaiah 14:12-15
    3. Ezekiel 28:11-19

There is a lot packed into the few verses above. Let’s take an item–by–item look at them.

  • Satan was created by God and was the model of perfection; he was described as "full of wisdom and beauty." Note that this is not man’s understanding of Satan as mentioned earlier. Satan is actually beautiful and full of wisdom. He knows God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit personally; he knows the Bible inside out, and he believes he knows that he will in the end be victorious over God.
  • He was in Eden, the garden that God created for Adam and Eve to tend.
  • He was not only a beautiful creation, he was also adorned with beautiful jewels and gold. It’s an interesting description, given that Satan is a spirit being.
  • He was anointed by God to be a guardian angel (cherub)—a "guardian" of God’s Holy Mountain. Imagine Satan given the role of guarding God so that nothing unholy enters in. It is the closest role to serving and worshipping God that an angel can have. We know from our study of "Angels and Demons" that Satan’s pride was so large that he talked other angelic forces into following him, convincing them that he alone had the power to overcome God. These fallen angels we know today as demons.
  • In the end, God is victorious, and Satan and his followers—both angelic and human—will all burn for eternity in the Lake of Fire. See Revelation 19:11-21, 20:7-15, and 21:8.

We can also see from these verses that the heavenly realm, the angels, must have been created when God created "the heavens," although the creation of angels is not specifically addressed. The only way that Satan can show up in the Garden of Eden and (through the serpent) tempt Eve is if he existed prior to or at the creation of the things on the earth. We know from our study of angels, and the verses above, that Satan rebelled, determined to place himself above God; and many angels followed him. These fallen angels, called demons, all had to exist before Eve was tempted and seduced by Satan.

Prior to all creation something did exist—God in three persons: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Through Jesus the Christ, all created things came into existence and through Jesus all things are held together. This means that Jesus knew before they (God, as part of the Trinity) created anything that a redeemer, a sacrificial lamb, would be required in order to save what He was creating, and that his son Jesus, would need to take on human form eternally in order to be our Savior. (See, John 1:1-4, John 1:14, John 3:13, John 17:18, John 17:5, John 8:23, and 8:58, for example). It also means that God’s vision of what He was about to create was an eternal one. It did not stop with just the current universe. He is also creating a new heaven and a new earth, an eternal home and purpose for all of us—saved through the sacrifice of his only son Jesus.

The next lesson will address that eternal home and what that creation will be like.

Have a great week, and thanks for studying with us!

In Christ,

Wes

[2022]

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