Have you ever been accused of “making something out of nothing,” meaning you have over-reacted to something insignificant and made it into a big deal.  Well, I have news for you, none of us can do that. Only God can “make something out of nothing”!

     In the very first verse of the Bible, God’s revelation to mankind, it says, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (Gen. 1:1).  The Hebrew word translated “created” is bara and can only have God as its subject for only God can create, i.e., to bring something out of nothing (ex nihlo).  The context dictates that this was a creation without preexisting material.  Although God “made” some things out of the elements he created, such as forming Adam from the dust of the ground (Gen. 2:7), and Eve from one of Adam’s ribs (Gen. 2:21), He is the only one who can just speak things into existence like we see in Gen. 1:3: “Then God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light.” We read in Heb.11:3, “By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things which are visible.” 

       Just think about the greatness of our God Who created a universe far beyond our ability to comprehend.  “Lift up your eyes on high and see who has created these stars, the One who leads forth their host by number, He calls them all by name; because of the greatness of His might and the strength of His power, not one of them is missing”  (Isa. 40:26). (NOTE: The universe contains at least 200 billion galaxies each made up of about 100 billions stars, and every star is not only numbered but named...Psa. 147:4).  

     In his epistle to the Colossians, Paul wrote: “For by Him (Jesus Christ) all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible…all things have been created by Him and for Him. And He is before all things and in Him all things hold together” (Col. 1:16,17).  Not only can Jesus Christ “make something out of nothing,” He can also hold it all together. If it weren’t for His sustaining power, this planet on which we live, which, in addition to its daily rotation,  is orbiting the sun at an average speed of 67,000 mph (18.5 miles/sec), would reel off into space.  No wonder we sometimes get vertigo!

     All this to say that Gen. 1:1 is possibly the most profound  and impactful passage in the Bible. How a person responds to Gen. 1:1 determines not only his belief about creation, but it may well indicate his attitude toward the rest of Scripture.  When we recognize the eternal existence of God, who in the beginning of time as we know it, “created the heavens and the earth,” we have no trouble with the rest of Scripture: the universal flood of Noah, the burning bush, the parting of the Red Sea, the manna from heaven, Joshua’s long day, Jonah being swallowed by the great fish, Daniel’s deliverance, Jesus’ virgin birth, sinless life, substitutionary death and bodily resurrection.  Accept the first four words of the Bible, and there’s no need for ridiculous theories to explain away the miraculous. But, when the Creator is excluded from man’s thinking, man desperately tries to form some explanation of things as they are. That’s when he turns to the theories of evolution spawned by the blinded and swallowed by the gullible. How much better to believe: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth”!

     The Apostle Paul warns us what happens when we suppress the truth about God the Creator: “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because that which is known about God is evident within them, for God made it evident to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God, or give thanks; but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals. Therefore God gave them over in the lust of their hearts to impurity, that their bodies might be dishonored among them.  For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen” (Ro. 1:18-25). 

     Jesus Christ is the Creator, and once He put on human form, His creative abilities continued to find application. Several of His miracles involved creation out of nothing. Note the feeding of the 5,000 (Jn. 6:10-11), the restoring of the withered hand (Mk. 3:1-5), bringing life back to the dead (Jn. 11:43-44), replacing a severed ear (Lk. 22:49-51)–just to name a few.   But, perhaps the most important creative act of Christ is one He performs on repentant sinners every day. “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature ( or creation); the old things passed away; behold new things have come” (II Cor. 5:17). Through faith in Christ and His death, burial and resurrection, we, who were “dead in sin” (Eph. 2:1),  are “born again” (Jn. 3:3), made alive in Christ (Eph. 2:5) and “pass out of death into life” (Jn. 5:24).  There’s only One who can accomplish that and that is the only One who can truly “make something out of nothing,” Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory forever, Amen!

Forever his, 

Pastor Dave