The Holy Scriptures, the Bible, begins with God and not with an exchange of views about His existence. Neither does the Bible gives any data to determine how long ago God created the universe. Although there have been some speculation on the subject. The Bible declares. “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep” (Genesis 1:1,2). This tells us there was nothing that existed before God created the universe. The text specifically states, “The earth was without form and void.”
William MacDonald makes an insightful commentary on the Biblical account of God and His creation. He writes, “Genesis provides the only authoritative account of creation, meaningful for people of all ages but exhaustible by no one. The divine record assumes the existence of God rather than seeking to prove it” (Believer’s Bible Commentary, p. 32).
Our text says “God created the heavens and the earth.” Heavens is plural and earth is singular. (one earth). The Scripture further states this about God the Creator. “Of old you laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands.” (Psalm 102:25). And again Nehemiah acknowledges this about God as Creator, “You are the LORD, you alone. You have made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them; and you preserve all of them; and the host of heaven worships you.” (Nehemiah 9:6). These Scriptures clearly state that God is Creator.
The “heavens” (plural) is hereby explained. We know that there are three heavens. The first heaven is the earth’s atmosphere, which is a mass of air and gasses above the earth. The second heaven is outer space, consisting of the sun, moon, and stars. The third heaven is God’s abode, which is beyond space.
The apostle Paul wrote, “I know a man in Christ, who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows. And I know that this man was caught up into paradise” (2 Corinthians 12:2,3). Paradise is definitely heaven. The repentant criminal on the cross asked Jesus “remember me when you come into your kingdom” And Jesus responded, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise” (Luke 23:42,43). Paradise is also promised to “over comers.” The Lord said the following to the Church at Ephesus, “To the one who conquers, I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God” (Revelation 2:7).
When Jesus was baptized by John in the river Jordan, we read, “And when he came up out of the water, immediately he saw the heavens being torn open and the Spirit descending on Him like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased” (Mark 1:10,11). We also read that Stephen (the first martyr) “full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God” (Acts7:55). These statements proof positive that the third heaven is God’s “place of residence” and not in the “earth’s atmosphere” and neither in “outer space.”
Since the Bible declares, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth,” the question then arises, “in the beginning of what?” Beginning here refers to the beginning of “time and space” to which all life on earth is subject to. For example, “And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day” (Genesis 1:3-5).
God is “self existent” hence He is not subject to “time and space.” Time, space, and matter belong to all living creatures. Therefore, as long as earthly life shall last, we will be subject to time and space. There are also the four seasons, winter, spring, summer, and autumn or “fall,” evenly divided throughout the year. There are 52 weeks and 365 days in each year. We are also told “While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease” (Genesis 8:22).
It stands to reason that God existed before creation and the fact that God is “from everlasting to everlasting.”. The ninetieth Psalm records a prayer by Moses (the man of God) in which he says, “Lord you have been our dwelling place in all generations. Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever, you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting, you are God” (Psalm 90:1,2). This explicitly states God alone is eternal, and that He always existed. He also “formed the earth and the world.” And as Isaiah writes about God, “For thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity” (Isaiah. 57:15).
The profound truth is that in creation, things exist because of a Sovereign God’s will, plan, and purpose. There are many references to God’s creation throughout the Bible. And the Genesis account of creation also teaches us that God Himself was very satisfied with His Creation. Genesis tells us “And God saw that everything that he made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day. Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day” (Genesis 1:31-2:1,2). I believe in God Almighty, the Creator of heaven and earth. Do you? Amen. So let it be..