PARENTHOOD
a divine stewardship

GOD ENTERING INTO TIME THROUGH CREATION

After God formed His economy and determined to create man and to have Christ, the Second of the Trinity, die an all-inclusive, vicarious death, God walked out of eternity and entered into time by means of creation. Creation is a matter in time. This was God's first step into time. Time began with God's creation.

When God created, He created the heavens with the angels, the stars, and the heavenly bodies first. He also created the earth with all the things upon it. Then one of His creatures, the chief archangel, became rebellious, and God judged him. This angel became God's enemy. Hence, in God's history which exists in time, God first had an enemy due to a rebellion. Because there was a rebellion, the heavens and the earth were polluted, and therefore God judged not only Satan but also the heavens and the earth. The heavens and the earth became devastated, and the whole universe became darkness.

This is what is mentioned in Genesis 1:2. Verse 1 concerns the preadamic age, but our age begins in verse 2. Genesis 1:2 says, "And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep." The word and at the beginning of verse 2 indicates that verse 2 is an additional event. It does not mean that verse 2 is an explanation of verse 1. Verse 1 includes all the matters that we have covered in the previous messages. Then after verse 1 more things happened: "And the earth was without form, and void." A better translation of the word was here is became: "And the earth became waste and void." Isaiah 45:18 says that God did not create the earth as a waste, but here in Genesis 1:2 we read that the earth became waste and void. This indicates that after the earth was created, it was judged by God. The judgment came because of Satan's rebellion. 

Genesis 1:2 also says that darkness was upon the face of the deep. The deep indicates deep water; hence, darkness was upon the deep water. In the Bible, darkness and death frequently go together (Job 10:21-22; Isaiah 9:2; Luke 1:79). We may even say that darkness is a sign of death. This was the situation of our earth under God's judgment. It became waste and void, and darkness, implying death, was upon the deep water.

THE SPIRIT OF GOD BROODING OVER THE DEEP TO PRODUCE LIFE

Then there is another and in this verse, indicating that something more happened: "And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters." The Hebrew word for moved means brooded or hovered, as when a mother bird broods over her eggs to bring forth life. This indicates that after God's judgment God did something to bring forth life. The situation was really waste and void, and there was darkness upon the depth of the water. Then the Spirit of God came in to brood, to hover, over the situation in order to produce life.

Following this, from Genesis 1:3 to the end of chapter two, there is a long record of how life was brought forth through the brooding of the Spirit. These two chapters are full of striking significances. Every detail of these two chapters has some significance. You should not merely read the letters in black and white; rather, you must know the significance of what you read. In Genesis 1:2 we read about the Spirit. What is the significance of the Spirit here? In the Bible the Spirit always signifies life. What is the significance of the waste, void, darkness, and deep water? All these signify a disaster, and even death. These are all negative things. Then all of a sudden something good came, that is, the Spirit. The Spirit came not to rebuke, not to condemn, but to brood, as a mother bird broods over the eggs. The "eggs" are just the waste, void, darkness, and deep water. These are all terrible things, yet these terrible things came under the brooding of the "mother hen"; hence, they all became "eggs."

We also were under this brooding. We are out of Adam, and Adam was out of the dust, which was there under the brooding. The dust, which is the earth, was the first thing that came out of the brooding of the Spirit. First, there was the Spirit; then, after the Spirit there was light (vv. 3-5); and after the light the firmament was made (vv. 6-8), which is the air. Then the resurrection of the buried earth came up on the third day, the day of resurrection (vv. 9-10). Hence, the first thing that came up because of the Spirit's brooding is the resurrected earth. Adam was made out of this earth, and we are a part of Adam. Hence, we came out of the brooding of the Spirit. Our existence came out of the Spirit's brooding in God's history. God firstly came out of eternity and entered into time by creating the heavens and the earth. Then God's creature rebelled, and God judged him. This rebellious one became God's enemy, and the entire universe became waste, void, and darkness....

The brooding brought forth the earth. But for the earth to produce life, there is the need of light and air. Therefore, on the first day the light was recovered, and on the second day the air, the firmament, was created. Then on the third day, the day of resurrection, the buried earth came up (typifying the buried Christ resurrected), ready to produce life. The producing of life started from the lowest life. There is a sequence of life in Genesis, beginning with the lowest life, the life without any consciousness. First, we find the grasses, the herbs, and the trees (vv. 11-13). These are living things, but their life is very low and without any consciousness. These were created on the third day, immediately after the earth resurrected from the death water.

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