WAS IT JUST COINCIDENCE ?
(Genesis 1:1 to 2:3)
The ancient HISTORY of man, recorded in Genesis may in due time be corroborated by archeological evidence, other ancient historical records etc, but the CREATION itself can never I think be corroborated in this way. Fossils may disclose something of physical history, butthey do not disclose spiritual origins. Neither can we expect to find in man's history books a true account of his own origins, for the simple reason that he was not there to witness them. While therefore further scientific discoveries may prove theories of the origin of physical phenomena, such as evolution, wrong, they will never go so far as to prove the Bible right. If they could it would cease to be necessary to have faith to " apprehend that the worlds were framed by the word of God " (Hebrews 11:3).
Proof that the record of creation in the first chapter of Genesis is the divine and true account of it is, I believe, to be found in the chapter itself. The particular proof which I have at present in mind is the order in which the various acts of creation took place. These acts, in relation to the PHYSICAL creation, have their counterparts in the way God has moved with regard to SPIRITUAL matters.
THE INCOMING OF CHRIST
Into a world of physical darkness God first introduced LIGHT (verse 3). Similarly, into a world of moral darkness God brought light in the person of his Son: " I am come into the world as light " said Jesus (John 12:46), and chapter 1 of John's Gospel shows that this introduction of light amidst darkness was a new beginning in the ways of God. What had gone before was provisional - the law and the prophets were until John (Luke 16:16) - now God was introducing that which was to abide, and Christ was Himself the beginning (Revelation 3:14).
THE DEATH OF CHRIST
The second day saw the division between waters and waters. Waters speak of the JUDGMENT OF DEATH, and are consequently used for baptism, by which " we have been buried... with [Christ].. unto death " (Romans 6:4). The old world was destroyed by water and so also was Pharaoh's host, but Christ has made a way through for the believer, as God did for Noah and his household in the former case, and for Israel in the latter. The waters ofjudgment passed over Christ (Jonah 2:3), so that they might not touch the one who believes onHim (John 5:24).
The fact that God did not see anything " good " on the second day would confirm that judgment is in mind. It is God's strange work (Isaiah 28:21), and God has no pleasure in the death of persons who die judicially (Ezekiel 18:32). It is not therefore surprising that death itself will eventually be annulled (1 Corinthians 15:26), being cast into the lake of fire (Revelation 20:14). It will not exist in the world that God has in view (Revelation 21:4).
THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST
The third day speaks of resurrection : Christ was raised the third day (1 Corinthians 15:4). The appearance of the dry land out of the waters suggests the emergence of RESURRECTION GROUND; the earth bringing forth vegetation points to LIFE OUT OF DEATH. The figure of the corn of wheat falling into the ground and dying so that it might bring forth much fruit is used by the Lord Himself of his own death and resurrection (John 12:24). Paul similarly uses the figure of seed sowing to illustrate his teaching as to the resurrection (1 Corinthians 15).
THE EXALTATION OF CHRIST
The fourth day saw the setting of the Sun, Moon and Stars in the heavens, signifying, in the case of the Sun, the place CHRIST has been given following on his resurrection. He is the Sun of Righteousness (Malachi 4:2), and the disciples were privileged to see something of his coming glory on the mount of transfiguration (Matthew 17:2). Paul was later to be affected by it on the Damascus road (Acts 9:3), and to speak of it in his ministry (2 Corinthians 3 and 4).
The Moon's light is of course a reflected one and corresponds to that of the ASSEMBLY. Her shining out is dependent on the shining of Christ upon her (Revelation 21:11 and 23/24).
The Stars represent INDIVIDUALS (Daniel 12:3), each having its own distinctive light (1 Corinthians 15:41). The Apostles had this place in the early days of the Assembly's history.
It is of course true that the PUBLIC SHINING of the spiritual Sun, Moon and Stars awaits the coming day of display. Nevertheless there is a MORAL SHINING now. As the Apostle says, the light shines " in our hearts " (2 Corinthians 4:6), and then outwards, by way of testimony to men (Philippians 2:15/16).
THE HOLY SPIRIT GIVEN
Consequent upon the exaltation of Christ the Spirit was given (John 7:39). So, on the fifth day living souls were introduced - creatures in which was the breath of life, marked by movement. This corresponds to Pentecost. The creatures were to be fruitful and multiply, and this is what happened in the early days of the Assembly's history: " The word of God increased, and the number of the disciples in Jerusalem was very greatly multiplied " (Acts 6:7). Again: " the word of God grew and spread itself " (Acts 12:24), and " Thus with might the word of the Lord increased and prevailed " (Acts 19:20).
It is at least curious that those who study the signs of the heavens point out that the present era is that of Pisces (the fishes), and remark that the Jasper stone, prominent in the holy city of Revelation 21, was connected by the Ancients with this sign of the Zodiac.
THE RESURRECTION OF THE SAINTS
On the sixth day we again have the expression: " Let the earth bring forth ", this time corresponding to the resurrection of the saints, which in one place is described in similar terms: " The earth shall cast forth the dead " (Isaiah 26:19).
On the same day we have Man and Woman created, and set over creation. So, the resurrection of the saints will be closely followed by the manifestation of Christ as the Son of Man (Daniel 7:13/14). He will come to reign over the earth as described in Psalm 8:4-8, a passage in which the writer has clearly in mind Genesis 1:28, though Adam himself was but a figure of Him that was to come (Romans 5:14). When Christ is manifested the Assembly will also appear with Him in glory (Colossians 3:4). She is to be the bride of Christ and will have part with him when He reigns over the earth (Revelation 19:6-9).
THE REST OF GOD
The seventh day was GOD'S DAY OF REST, soon broken in upon by Adam's sin, but to be restored in a permanent and more blessed way when every evil element has been put out of the way (1 Corinthians 15:24-28). Then God will be able to have pleasure in all that has been accomplished as a result of his operations in redemption, and will " rest in his love " (Zephaniah 3:17).
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Turning to the Old Testament we find prophetically and figuratively the things spoken of in the New. Thus, we have from the outset:-
THE LIGHT OF PROPHECY
As soon as sin came in we have the incoming of Christ (the seed of the Woman) predicted (Genesis 3:14/15), and this is shortly followed by division : the line of Seth becoming distinguished from the line of Cain. " Then people began to call on the name of Jehovah " (Genesis 4:26).
As to prophecy : this is described as " a LAMP shining in an obscure place " (2 Peter 1:19), and so John the Baptist, the last prophet before Christ came, could be said to be a " burning and shining LAMP " (John 5:35). Note the contrast between John the LAMP, and Christ the TRUE LIGHT (John 1:9).
This light of prophecy was clearly shining before the flood, for instance, Enoch prophesied (Jude 14/15), and also I think Lemech (Genesis 5:29). Thus we have what answers to the first day.
THE JUDGMENT OF DEATH
In the flood we have what answers to the second day. The judgment of death then came upon the world of the ungodly. Both the waters below and the waters above were involved in this (Genesis 7:11), but a way was made through for Noah and his family.
THE PATRIARCHS IN THE LAND OF CANAAN
In the history of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob we have what answers to the third day. With the call of Abraham God's land comes into view (Genesis 12:1), and in coming into it Abraham typically came on to RESURRECTION GROUND.
Apart from this, Abraham came to know God as the Almighty God : the one who raises the dead (Hebrews 11:17-19). In this connection it may be noticed that to Abraham it was said: " Thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace; thou shalt be buried in a good old age " (Genesis 15:15). The former statement related to his soul; the latter to his body. The reunion of these two things constitutes resurrection. The passage quoted was fulfilled as to Abraham, for it later says: " Abraham expired and died in a good old age, old and full of days; and was gathered to his peoples. And his sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him " (Genesis 25:8-9). Statements such as these do not appear in the earlier parts of Scripture : they show that both Abraham's soul and body were to be cared for with resurrection in view. They are also in line with what Christ Himself said in referring to God's relationship with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in support of the truth of resurrection (Matthew 22:31/32).
THE EXALTATION OF JOSEPH
The next great event recorded in Scripture is the exaltation of Joseph, and the latter part of Genesis is largely occupied with this, and the consequences for the family of Jacob. Under God, Joseph became the sustainer of life in the land of Egypt and among the nations (Genesis 41:45 and 57). The exaltation of Joseph, revealed to him prophetically in dreams, was in one case signified by the use of heavenly bodies as symbols (Genesis 37:9). If Joseph himself answers to the Sun of Genesis 1:16 - the sustainer of life in this world - his wife Asnath may, I think, be regarded as having the place of the Moon (Genesis 41:45), and his brethren the Stars. Pharaoh himself was typically in the place of God (Genesis 41:40). All this answers to the fourth day.
THE PEOPLE OF GOD IN EGYPT
The book of Exodus opens with the original seventy SOULS (Exodus 1:5) becoming a fruitful and multiplying people: " the children of Israel were fruitful, and swarmed and multiplied, and became exceeding strong; and the land was full of them " (Exodus 1:7). This led to their being afflicted by the Egyptians but " the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and spread " (Exodus 1:12), and again " the people multiplied and became very strong " (Genesis 1:20). What is here described answers to the fifth day. Pharaoh himself was a sea monster (Ezekiel 32:2).
THE PEOPLE OF GOD IN CANAAN
In order to get into the land the people had to pass through the waters of the Red Sea and the Jordan - typically death. In the land they were on typically resurrection ground, and their position answered to that of the creatures created on the sixth day. The establishment of the kingdom answered to the creation of the Man and Woman. The king represented God to the people as Adam did (Psalm 45: 6/7), and his dominion answered to the place of authority given to Adam (Psalm 72:8). In the Song of Songs we have the Woman - his consort.
THE DAY OF REST
The setting of Solomon on the throne ushered in a period of peace and prosperity answering to the seventh day (1 Kings 4:20-54). However, we know that failure was soon found with Solomon as with those that went before him, and that Israel did not for long enjoy rest in the land. As Hebrews 4 tells us, Israel did not enter into God's rest (Sabbath); if they had Scripture would not have spoken afterwards about another day (Hebrews 4:8). However, conditions under Solomon came as near to Sabbath rest as we get in the Old Testament.
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When Solomon failed and seventh day conditions were lost, the history of God's people moved backwards by stages through what answers to the six days of creation:-
CANAAN LOST TO THE PEOPLE OF GOD
The dominion exercised by Solomon was first lost, and then the position of the people in the land. First Israel (2 Kings 17:6), and then Judah (2 Kings 25:21) were carried away captive out of their land. Thus what answers to the sixth day was lost.
THE PEOPLE OF GOD IN BABYLON
God's people captive in Babylon answers to the fifth day, and corresponds to their previous sojourn in Egypt recounted at the beginning of Exodus.
THE EXALTATION OF DANIEL AND ESTHER
The position of God's people under the Persian kings answers to the fourth day. Under them Daniel attained high office (Daniel 6:1-3), corresponding to the position held by Joseph at the end of Genesis. Esther, whose name, incidentally, signifies a heavenly body, has something of the character of the Moon. Then there were the Stars (Daniel 12:3), of whom Daniel's companions may be examples.
THE REMNANT IN THE LAND OF CANAAN
After seventy years in exile a remnant returned to the land and occupied it in a way which answers to the third day, and corresponds to the occupation of it by Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The history of God's chosen people in the Old Testament closes with this, as it had begun with the call of Abraham.
THE KINGS OF THE NORTH AND SOUTH
Between the Old and New Testaments there took place what answers to the second day, and this is described prophetically in Daniel 11 and 12. The overflowing (Daniel 11:10,22 and 40) of the kings of the North and South corresponds to the deluging of the earth by the waters above and below. Here, as in Genesis, a time of great distress was predicted (Daniel 12:1), but God's people were to be delivered as were Noah and his family.
THE LIGHT OF PROPHECY
In what we get at the beginning of the New Testament there is again what answers to the first day, corresponding to the world before the flood. The light of prophecy was found with John the Baptist, and with others such as Simeon. This closed the time of law and prophets (Luke 16:16) - what was provisional - and opened the door for the incoming of the true light.
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Apart from the analogies in the general history of God's intervention to redeem creation, there is also a reflection of Genesis 1 in the spiritual life of the individual believer; for he is:-
TURNED FROM DARKNESS TO LIGHT
His life really begins when the light shines in his heart: " Because it is the God who spoke that out of darkness light should shine who has shone in our hearts for the shining forth of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ " (2 Corinthians 4:6). This is the first day in the believer's history.
BAPTISED
The division of the waters on the second day points to baptism. In this figure the believer is saved " through water " (1 Peter 3:20/21).
RAISED WITH CHRIST
Then the believer is said to be " raised with him (i.e. Christ) through faith of the working of God who raised him from among the dead " (Colossians 2:12). Thus the believer is placed on resurrection ground answering to the third day.
MADE TO SIT DOWN IN THE HEAVENLIES IN CHRIST
Ephesians goes further and places the saints " in the heavenlies in Christ Jesus " (Ephesians 2:6). This corresponds to the setting of the heavenly bodies in the expanse on the fourth day.
Up to this point in Genesis 1 we have the creation of a sphere suitable for habitation. On the fifth and sixth days we have the creation of living beings to occupy this sphere. Put simply, light and division are followed by life and multiplication.
In the believer's life the former answers to what the believer has by faith, and is objective; the latter answers to what is wrought in the believer by the Spirit, and is subjective.
In many of the New Testament epistles a similar pattern can be discerned : the great blessings of Christianity are first presented, then from the highest point the Apostle comes down and deals with the practical side. For example, the doxology at the end of Romans 11 is followed by the hortatory passages in chapter 12 onwards; the height of Christian teaching in Ephesians 3 is followed by the practical teaching of chapter 4 onwards. Similarly in Genesis 1 we go from the " height " suggested in the creation of the heavenly bodies on the fourth day to the " down to earth " side of things on the fifth day.
TO WALK IN NEWNESS OF LIFE
The believer's movement through this world answers to the fifth day. He is to " walk in newness of life " (Romans 6:4), and his conduct amongst men generally as described in such passages as Romans 13 would come in here. The varied features of Christ coming out in him would answer to the variety created on this day.
TO HAVE PART IN THE ASSEMBLY
The believer's life in the Assembly answers to the sixth day. In the Assembly he is in a sense on resurrection ground and enjoys relationships not subject to death. What we have in such passages as Ephesians 4 would answer to this. The Apostle there says: " to each one of us has been given grace according to the measure of the gift of the Christ " (Ephesians 4:7). This corresponds to the " after their kind " in Genesis 1:24. All was to culminate however in " the knowledge of the Son of God, at the full-grown man, at the measure of the stature of the fulness of the Christ " (Ephesians 4:13). This answers to the creation of Man.
TO ENTER INTO REST
When God's work in the believer is complete, there is no doubt that which answers to the day of rest into which the believer can enter. Practically this is known when the believer departs to be " with Christ " (Philippians 1:23), and it will be noted that Daniel 12:13 and Revelation 14:13 both show that God's people have rest at the end of their course here.
What I have sought to show in the foregoing paragraphs is not that what is found in Genesis 1:1 to 2:3 is exactly typical of what God has done through Christ, but that there is an underlying order followed, both in God's creatorial operations and in his redemptive ones, which shows that there is ONE MIND BEHIND BOTH. It is my contention that this is the explanation of the resemblances described, and not design on the part of the writers of Scripture. This was largely impossible because so many writers were involved, and because the books were written over such a lengthy period. The only other conceivable explanation is that the resemblances are pure coincidences, but there are I believe too many for this to be a valid explanation. It must therefore I believe be concluded that Genesis 1 is indeed a true account of God's creatorial operations, and that God did create in six days " the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day " as recorded in the Scriptures (Exodus 20:11).
24 April 1997 (Originally written in June 1979)