In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And
the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.
And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.
And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.
And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the
morning were the first day.
KJV
With the battles between evolutionists and creationist having escalated, it has largely taken away from the real importance of the first several verses of the Holy Scriptures, which we'll get into in a moment.
That's not to say it's not important to challenge and deal with the numerous lies and unproven falsehoods associated with the evolutionary theory, just that it has absolutely nothing to do with why the creation account was revealed by God.
Even the unfolding of the actions taken by Jesus Christ in the Bible concerning creation aren't readily understood as to their meaning, as it was in fact something that came from what was the nature of the Godhead expressed in visible form. In other words, they were glimpses into the nature of God; so much so that it was said later on that no man will ever have an excuse when standing before the judgement seat of Christ, as the creation declares Him continuously.
So while it's interesting and generally important to read about the physical creation, it's far more important to get a revelation of, and respond to the invisible characteristics and nature of Jesus Christ which the creation was based upon. To that end we'll now look at some aspects of Christ on the first day of creation.
We're not going to touch on the enormous amount of revelation in the first few verses of the Bible and creation, as it could take books to do so. Rather, we'll look at what are the most important parts of the revelation instead of going off into numerous secondary directions which would take us down too many rabbit holes and get off the most important characteristics of Christ as revealed to His people.
Where I want to begin is with the place where it says "... darkness was upon the face of the deep."
Without getting too deeply into the erroneous teaching on the idea there was a pre-Adamic race, I do want to comment on it briefly to eliminate that as even being a remotely relevant or accurate depiction of what was happening during this early stages of the creation.
The reasoning behind alleged pre-Adamic race is the assumption God doesn't create anything that could be called "... without form, and void." But the truth is, and the Scriptures declare that in fact God did create it that way.
Now there's no doubt this is all shrouded in mystery, which is mostly what the meaning behind the darkness laying on the face of the deep meant.
Another reason for the error is based upon the faulty use of the word "replenish" the earth when God ordered Adam to do so. The idea is the word replenish has to mean there had been a time when the earth was populated before. But the word just as easily could have been translated as "filled," which in fact it is in other translations of the Bible.
But the definitive understanding concerning this issue is Adam Himself. In 1st Corinthians 15:45 it says this, "And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit."
The first man Adam refers to his being the representative of the first mankind, while the last Adam, who was of course Jesus Christ, was the representative of another mankind; one of a completely different makeup than former Adam, or the first mankind.
This clearly and efficiently slashed the feet from under the false teaching of a pre-Adamic race. Adam was the first of the natural mankind - there was no other before him. Period. It doesn't get any clearer than that. How can the Holy Spirit in the Scriptures reveal that Adam was the representative of the first mankind be contradicted by those who make up an entire scenario based upon nothing but human assumption and reasoning? There was no mankind or other race before Adam. He was the first of all flesh.
I mention all of this because many have been made to believe in this nonsense, and so get totally distracted from the weightier matters of creation, and really the only ones that really are important to those who believe.
The scriptures reveal over and over again that God and Jesus Christ, working with the Holy Spirit, created the earth and the universe. There's no reason for any true believer to doubt that, so most should simply stop listening to any of the numerous lies out there that attempt to contradict that face. Jesus is the creator. That's really all we need to know and believe concerning that issue.
For those who battle these lies in a public forum, of course it's important to pursue and expose many of these matter so the unbelievers can see that there is a God behind the creation we all walk in and interact with. Those claiming to know Christ and whom give credence to these liars need to re-examine themselves as to their faith. There is no evolution, and there is no "mechanism" following initial creation that would include
evolution in any way. The creation account is enough. All of us should be settled and unmoved by any other falsehood and assertions made by men; whether non-Christian or allegedly Christian.
Those catering to the lies do so in order to be found palatable and respectable among men. We should all know that Jesus Christ reproves strongly any that attempt to please men and love the world and its praise.
Let's get back to the Scriptures. So "darkness was upon the face of the deep." This is one of the first revelations of an amazing Characteristic of Jesus Christ and the Godhead. As a matter of fact, it's totally central to their person hood, and all of life flows out from it as far as the Godhead goes, and by extension, those who believe in Jesus Christ as the Son of God.
The reason why we talked a little on the pre-Adamic race is found in this verse. If that is the focus of believers, they'll miss the true meaning of what was being unveiled by Christ of Himself when He created.
What was it? Two things. The first is that darkness was not a part of sin. It had nothing to do with it whatsoever, as sin hadn't entered the world yet because man hadn't even been created or tempted. That means whatever darkness refers to, it has nothing to do with sin.
It's already proven from the Scriptures that Adam was the first mankind. So there wasn't sin from some type of prior mankind that God was dealing with in His creation.
So the first thing to learn is God hides and shrouds things in mystery. That's what this darkness is referring to. As a matter of fact, God actually names this darkness "night." He didn't name some non-existent sinful aspect of a prior creation, but something He created that we are told nothing about.
I'm referring to the fact that the earth, the water, and the darkness existed without us being told how it came into being. The first revelation of an actual step taken in creation was when God said, "Let there be light." Before that we simply have this earth without having and form and being void and covered with water and darkness. That's it. We know nothing else about how it came into being. The book of Job deals with some of the planning aspects of the creation, but we still aren't told exactly what God did to bring it into being. We're simply presented with the fact that it was there.
And even if later in the Biblical account it had been revealed, it wouldn't have been known until later by those it would have been unfolded to, meaning the way it was unveiled retains the purpose as to how it was created, explained and described.
All of that means that the earth and how it was at the time of the initial creation was done so intentionally by God in that condition and order, and consequently something exists in Jesus Christ that is explained in that reflection of reality.
The question is this: what was it that was explained about Christ that the waters covering the earth reveal? We know that the darkness reveals that there is a mystery that is hidden that is about to be revealed. That mystery was named by God as night, suggesting throughout this dispensation more and more of the mystery hidden in Christ will be revealed and understood by those that are His and hungry to know Him fully. Not simply for the purpose of knowing about Him, but through revelation and experience, knowing Him as to who He is.
That's what this darkness is referring to, and why the Holy Spirit was agitated upon the waters in anticipation of and ready to work with what was about to happen next in the creation order, and as to how God works with His people.
What was this mystery hidden within the waters and covered by darkness? Of course it's the entirety of who Christ is. But the real question is what do the waters themselves represent. To go on with knowing, experiencing and understanding Jesus Christ, we must understand the waters themselves before we can begin to comprehend what was hidden in them.
At this point it isn't too difficult to understand the waters, as in the context it is in, and as it is throughout the Holy Scriptures, the water represents death, or baptism. Not death in the sense of that which came about as the result of sin, but death in the sense of the total denying of oneself.
Since man wasn't created yet, this is an obvious reference to Christ. This is why it says this in Revelation 13.8, "And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him (Beast), whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world."
Jesus was slain from the foundation of the world. How could that be when we know He came to the earth a little over 2,000 years ago and died? Some sloppy translations of the Hebrew attempt to make it look like the foundation of the world reference is in regard to those written in the book of life. While that's true, it's not here that it talks about that. Here it's talking about the fact that Jesus was slain from the foundation of the world.
That means that when we come upon the first verses of the creation account, that was when the actual slaying happened. I don't want to get sidetracked by getting too much into this, as it's the slaying that matters, not how it happened seemingly at two different times in history. As a matter of fact it didn't. They aren't two separate events, but one in the same. One explains it as it happened in eternity, the other explains it as it happened in time and space on the earth.
Again, it's what it represents that is important, not delving into how eternal events are migrated into the physical creation from outside of time.
What we have here is the essence of who Christ is. Jesus Christ didn't die for our sins on the cross out of nothing at all, and the sacrifice and denial of Himself for our sake didn't happen only because of sin. It was and is something inherent in the Godhead, and from within His total love and denial of self He first created the earth, and that brought about the crucifixion of Christ in the eternals.
But the point is it cost Jesus Christ everything when He created the heavens and the earth, and it was expressed in time when He died on Calvary.
What that implies and confirms is an extraordinary thing was driving Jesus Christ when He created when He was known as the word, and that passion, which is identified in the
Scriptures as His eternal purpose, continues to be the driving force behind everything He does.
The bottom line is Jesus Christ gave everything He had, and that was expressed at the beginning by the waters covering the earth, because it revealed that within Christ there is this immense willingness and characteristic of His nature of being dead to Himself. Waters point to being willing to die unto oneself in order to have the life of God live through us. Christ is the example of that in these beginning verses of the Bible, and is why it is said He was crucified from that very moment the creation came into being.
And just like the darkness filled the land when Jesus died on the cross on Calvary, so the darkness covered the waters in response to the crucifixion of Jesus from the foundation of the world.
Death of Himself wasn't a response to sin by man alone, it was something that is part of His very nature and makeup. It of course brought about His physical death on the earth, but it was motivated by something that He was and is. Man was the recipient and beneficiary of the magnificent offering of Himself for our sins, but it was based upon the fact that He begins in death and always moves from there to life. One can't truly live unless they really die.
Christ shows us that it is something experiential at the very core of His being, not only something He demands of man alone.
In other words, Jesus Christ was the lamb of God within and in eternity before He ever came into the world as a man. This wasn't just figuratively, but it literally happened at the time of creation.
Why all of this is important to see isn't so we can have some interesting things to talk about. May that never be. The reason I'm sharing it is because this very thing that Christ is and lives by, is what He also requires of us, or rather, is how He will live in us when walking in us throughout our earthly journey.
So whenever any of us are looking for understanding and guidance, understand that creation teaches us that first we must be covered with the waters, dying to ourselves, before the life of Christ will spring forth from within to answer the situation and circumstances we face, or to fulfill a specific calling He has given us.
Nothing can come forth into live unless it dies. If there is no death it is impossible for there to be a resurrection. And resurrection is life. Life that overcomes death. But death can only be overcome when you go through it.
Those that are willing to experience that over and over again throughout their lives, will find life and times of refreshing just as many times.
One thing I've learned experientially in all of this is we must not get too bogged down in the cross and crucifixion side of it, without understanding that that isn't the final place God has for us at any time we're going through it.
The whole issue is that His life can be manifest as we continue to die daily. That's what the meaning of the earth being shrouded in mystery with the waters covering all that was about to be brought to life by and in the Lord Jesus Christ. It is at that moment the words come forth, "Let there be light." That's the beginning of His life manifesting itself in us.
But to have light manifested, just like to have resurrection in regard to life, we must go through dark times if light is to come in the morning. That light is His life, and those who are willing to have Him draw and guide through darkness, won't be staying in it indefinitely. Darkness and the cross are went through so that light and life can be revealed. That's where the beginning of all things coming from Christ into this world through our being temples of the Holy Spirit launch.
It's there that out of our innermost being comes rivers of living water. Only broken vessels are able to release the treasure of Christ dwelling within them.
