How Did God Create the World?

How Did God Create the World?

How Did God Create the World?

While it may not be incredibly inspirational—unlike John 3:16, which almost always tops the lists of most-loved verses—Genesis 1:1 is one of the most well-known, quotable passages of Scripture. This opening line from the Bible’s first book is anything but basic, however. In my book, Mysteries of the Messiah, I discuss the many ways we can understand these very first words of the Holy Bible. In Hebrew, the first word of Genesis 1:1 is Bereisheet (“In the beginning…”). Bereisheet is a compound word comprised of the root word reisheet and the letter bet used as a prefix. Another way of translating the Hebrew words in this passage is “Through the first.” As I point out in Mysteries, this translation aligns beautifully with the opening of John’s Gospel, especially where he says (of Yeshua) that “all things were made through Him” (John 1:3).

This alternate translation is provocative in all the best ways. Why? Because it suggests that God works in relationships. Yes, He is “God all by Himself,” as the preachers like to say, but that makes His choice to work cooperatively much more astounding. The opening Genesis passage reveals the Father who was speaking, the Son who was that spoken Word, and the Ruach (Spirit) who was hovering upon the face of the waters. Later on, in Scripture, the Prophet tells us that God made the world through wisdom and understanding (Jer 10:12).

How the language of John 1 echoes Genesis 1 suggests that Messiah’s mission was a remaking of the world, establishing a new creation. The primary means through which Yeshua did this were His death and resurrection. Aside from the wealth of Scriptural support for this claim, consider where the risen Lord’s (whom the Apostle Paul refers to as the “last Adam” and the “second man” in 1 Corinthians 15) first social interaction occurred: a garden (see John 20:15). Yet, almost paradoxically, Yeshua ascended before this new creation He came to inaugurate was fully realized.

God could have created the world in an instant—He didn’t need those six days we read about in Genesis. Likewise, Yeshua could have immediately and thoroughly ushered in the Messianic Kingdom that first Easter morning. While God’s ways are higher than ours (suggesting that we’ll never fully understand them), it’s worth considering this thought. Perhaps much as God created through wisdom and understanding in Genesis 1:1, Yeshua brings about new creation through men and women whom He has filled with His Spirit. This possibility would add depth and insight to Paul’s prayer: “We keep asking God that you might be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding” (Col 1:9). There is a direct connection between the Spirit and wisdom and understanding. When Bezalel was appointed to lead the construction of the Tabernacle (a mini-Garden of Eden), God said that He “filled him with the Spirit of God, with wisdom, understanding and knowledge” (Ex 31:3).

Have you ever wondered why we don’t go straight to heaven when we’re saved? What if it’s because, as the Messiah was the “agent of creation” in Genesis, members of the Body of Messiah are His “agents of recreation” today? Friends, we’re not merely biding our time—we’re essential participants in God’s incredible redemptive work!