THE WORD IN CREATION

We live in a beautiful, wonderful world—where did it come from? Man is still groping for an answer that will satisfy his own theories, but we can afford to put them all on one side. Verse 6 of our psalm makes a positive statement, “By the word of the Lord were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth”. Verse 7 shows us the gathering of the waters together, while verse 8 pictures the inhabitants of the earth standing in awe before the Creator, marvelling at His handiwork. Verse 9 is a kind of climax, “he spake, and it was done; he commanded, and it stood fast”.

What a majestic statement is Genesis 1. 1, “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth”. Verse 3 states, “And God said”, repeated in verses 6, 9, 11, 14, 20, 24, 26. “He spake, and it was done.” The Bible knows nothing of the theory of natural selection, nor of the emergence of living things from the slime. It sees the demonstration of God’s mighty power and wisdom in calling into existence the universe in which we live by the Word of His power.

Hebrews 11. 3 speaks of the worlds being “framed by the word of God”. 2 Peter 3. 5 informs us, “by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth”. John 1 introduces us to the Son of God, here called “the Word”, stating that all things were made by Him, v. 3.

In 2 Corinthians 4. 6, we see the work of creation in response to the command of God used as an illustration of His work in salvation. The One who said “Let there be light”, Gen. 1. 3, is now seen coming into the darkness of the human heart, bringing light and life. When Paul wrote of the change which is effected in a life when Christ comes in, it is significant that he wrote of it as a new creation, 2 Cor. 5. 17. It is the Word of God operative in a human heart.

Note that in Genesis 1, after the initial act of creation, God continued to work in development. From darkness comes light, from chaos order and stability, and we see the appearance of beauty and fruitfulness. In each stage of development, “God said”. So it is with the new life brought about by the sovereign act of God; there should be a continual progress, governed by the Word of God.