The Holy Spirit is also clearly involved in creation

1. The Holy Spirit is also clearly involved in creation We will see in the very next verse, Genesis 1:2 Also stated in Psalms 104:30 “When you send your Spirit, they are created”

2. Created – This is the remarkable Hebrew word bara Only God has the capability to create or call into existence that which has no existence, that is out of nothing. Sometimes called Ex nihilo which is a Latin phrase meaning "out of nothing". It often appears in conjunction with the concept of creation, as in creatio ex nihilo, meaning "creation out of nothing".

3. Luke 1:37 • “For nothing is impossible with God.” • This verse is the response of the angel Gabriel when asked by Mary, the mother of Jesus, how she was going to have a child since she was a virgin. But it really tells us so much more than this. It really is telling us that God has the power to do everything, including speaking a universe into existence!

4. Different than man making things • Men can make or form things, but cannot create things out of nothing. The work of making and forming things consists of organizing already existing materials into more complex or arranged systems where the act of creating which can only be done by God is that of bringing forth something that does not already exist.

5. Heaven – Hebrew word shamayim Like Elohim, is a plural noun and can be translated as either heaven or heavens depending on the context. Means heaven, heavens, sky, visible heavens, abode of stars, universe, atmosphere and the abode of God. The context helps determine the meaning of the word from these possible meanings.

6. Our modern term “space” We speak of the physical universe as a universe of space and time. Understood this way we may understand it as we would define “outer space”, the term refers to the component of space in the space-mass-time concept of the universe. It seems to be the space that all things will exist in once they are created.

7. Plural heavens were created at the beginning Nehemiah 9:6 6 You alone are the LORD. You made the heavens, even the highest heavens (heaven of heaven in some translations), and all their starry host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them. You give life to everything, and the multitudes of heaven worship you.

8. The physical heavens and the heaven of heavens From this verse it is clear that there are at least two heavens – the physical heavens and the heaven of heavens; there is a clear distinction between the two. The physical heavens include the expanse made on day 2, the place where the stars were placed on day 4 and the atmosphere. Birds are referred to as “of the air” and “of the heavens” in 1 Kings 14:11, Job 12:7 and Psalms 104:12. The heaven of heavens is the “residing place” of the heavenly host and angels.

9. 2 Corinthians 12:2 2 I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven. Whether it was in the body or out of the body I do not know—God knows. So we may conclude from this that there are three heavens, the physical heavens separated into the atmosphere surrounding the earth and outer space and the heaven of heavens.

10. The heavens were created and completed by God during the creation week They are not infinite like God is, they have a beginning like everything else created during the first six days. This is made clear by Genesis 1:31-2:1: 31 God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day. 1 Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array (and all the host of them).

11. Earth – The Hebrew term “erets” • Translated as land, earth • World or whole earth (as opposed to a part) • Earth (as opposed to heaven) • Land (in contrast to water) • Inhabited Lands • Parts of the Earth • Ground, Soil • Country • Region • Meaning is determined on context in which is it used.

12. Earth – The Hebrew term “erets” So what is the meaning as used in 1:1? Does it mean the physical earth itself or the matter that God used to create the universe as he started the creation week? Meaning is determined on context in which is it used.

13. “the heavens and the earth” 1. The totality of the creation of everything (a summary of the entire creation week) or 2. The statement of God’s beginning of the creation process on the first day of creation?

14. Merism A merism is a figure of speech by which a single thing is referred to by a conventional phrase that enumerates several of its parts, or which lists several synonyms for the same thing.

15. Examples of Merisms When someone searched thoroughly, everywhere, we often say that someone "searched high and low“ Lock, stock, and barrel originally referred to the parts of a gun, by counting off several of its more conspicuous parts; and now we use it as a figure of speech to refer to the whole or entirety of anything that has constituent parts.

16. Exodus 20:11 11 For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

17. Exodus 31:17 17 It will be a sign between me and the Israelites forever, for in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day he rested and was refreshed.’”

18. Nothing existed prior to 1:1 There is nothing belonging to the composition of the universe which had it’s existence prior to this act of God in the beginning. A miracle only possible by a supernatural creator Only God can create something out of nothing (ex nihilo) as we discussed of the word bara

19. Can miracles happen? Dr. Stuart Burgess of Bristol University: “There is a popular misconception that science has shown that miracles do not happen and cannot happen. This is why modern scientists argue that the biblical account of creation is not a valid theory of origins. However, science has not proved that miracles do not happen. Science simply shows how things work when miracles are not in operation.”

20. Dr. Burgess “The origin of the universe is a prime example of where natural processes cannot possibly account for what has happened. This is because the creation of the universe involved physical matter appearing from nothing. Therefore, any theory of origins must take into account that the ultimate origin of the universe involved a miraculous act. The Bible clearly teaches that the creation of the initial space, time and matter was a miracle”

21. Beginning – The Hebrew word is “beresith” • So, not only does the first verse of the Bible speak of the creation of space and matter, but also the beginning of time. • It was at this instant that time was created and started. • There is a beginning of time and no time existed prior to the start of creation.

22. Same meaning as the word “beginning” in John 1:1-2 1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning.

23. The universe is a total of the three concepts of space, matter and time None of the three concepts can have a meaningful existence without the other two. First verse of Genesis can legitimately be paraphrased as follows: “The transcendent, omnipotent Godhead called into existence out of nothing the space-mass-time universe”.

24. Origin of the Universe What do we really know?

25. Origin of the UniverseFirst cause argument or cosmological argument • Takes the existence of the universe to entail the existence of a being that created it. • It does so based on the fact that the universe had a beginning. There must, the first cause argument says, be something that caused that beginning, a first cause of the universe.

26. The Big Bang 13 - 15 billion years ago a big bang, or explosion, occurred, creating the universe. The universe began as an infinitely dense, hot fireball, a scrambling of space and time out of nothing. Where did the matter come from that created the fireball?

27. From Nothing to the Big Bang • In order to have a big bang, we need something (matter/energy) to go bang. Where and how did this original matter/energy originate? Once originated, what lit the fuse to make it explode? To dismiss or ignore this question means you have a story with no foundation. To dismiss or ignore this question means to abandon evolution and open the possibility to a supernatural beginning

28. Guth’s Grand Guess “The universe burst into something from absolutely nothing – zero, nada. And as it got bigger, it became filled with even more stuff that came from absolutely nowhere.” Alan Guth, Discover, vol. 23, p. 35, April 2002

29. Dr. Alan Guth • “The inflationary model of the universe provides a possible mechanism by which the universe could have evolved from an infinitesimal region. It’s tempting to go one step further and speculate that the entire universe evolved from literally nothing.” • Scientific American, May 1984

30. The Origin of the UniverseWhere and how did matter and energy originate? Paul Davies, physicist and evolutionist, The Edge of Infinity “[The big bang] represents the instantaneous suspension of physical laws, the sudden abrupt flash of lawlessness that allowed something to come out of nothing. It represents a true miracle…”

31. The Origin of Matter Joseph Silk (Ph.D. Astronomy and Professor of Astronomy at the University of Oxford), The Big Bang, 2001, p. xv. “It is only fair to say that we still have a theory without a beginning.”

32. The Origin of Matter StenOdenwald, (Ph.D. Astrophysics and Chief Scientist with Raytheon STX Corp at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center), The Astronomy Café, 1998, p. 120. “I was happy to announce that astronomers have not the slightest evidence for the supposed quantum production of the universe out of a primordial nothingness.”

33. Origin of the Universe If evolution is unable to explain the origin of matter and energy through naturalistic means, then it is without a foundation. If you can’t explain where matter came from then evolution is left with a giant problem that the scientists freely admit!

34. A Pinhead?

35. Richard Dawkins on Creationists “It is absolutely safe to say that if you meet somebody claims not to believe in evolution, that person is ignorant, stupid, or insane (or wicked, but I’d rather not consider that)”. New York Times, April 9, 1989

36. So why do evolutionists believe this? Evolution is a theory of necessity for the atheist! • Non believers in God (atheists) need for there to be no God. • Therefore they need an origin without God. • The theory Evolution gives them an origin without God. As stated before, without a God there is no other viable explanation. • Men will go to great lengths to avoid worshiping his Creator (God)!

37. A quote from the evolutionist Aldous Huxley state a motive for the evolutionary position. • "I had motives for not wanting the world to have meaning, consequently assumed it had none, and was able without any difficulty to find satisfying reasons for this assumption . . The philosopher who finds no meaning in the world is not concerned exclusively with a problem in pure metaphysics; he is also concerned to prove there is no valid reason why he personally should not do as he wants to do . . For myself, as no doubt for most of my contemporaries, the philosophy of meaninglessness was essentially an instrument of liberation. The liberation we desired was simultaneously liberation from a certain political and economic system and liberation from a certain system of morality. We objected to the morality because it interfered with our sexual freedom."—*Aldous Huxley, "Confessions of a Professed Atheist," Report: Perspective on the News, Vol. 3, June 1966, p. 19 • [Aldous Huxley was the grandson of evolutionist Thomas Huxley, Charles Darwin's closest friend and promoter, and brother of evolutionist Julian Huxley. Aldous Huxley was one of the most influential liberal writers of the 20th century].

38. Do all evolutionists share these motives? • It should be noted that not all evolutionists knowingly share these motives. Many are dedicated scientists who just have never been presented with all the facts. • They also may be involved in research or study of a very narrow field and assume that others have proven evolution so there is no reason to question it. They may only see a small part of a much larger picture and assume that others have supplied the proof. • But, as we will see in later classes, evolution’s concepts were born out of atheism and few men’s hatred of God!