Text: (1) In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
(2) The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters.
(3) Then God said (Gen 1:1-3)
Intro: Genesis
I. What to do with verse 2
Option 1: describes what was the case in v1
When God began to create the heavens and the earth, the earth was… (Gen 1:1, 2 NRSV)
creatio ex nihilo Hebrews 11:3
Creatio prima; Creatio secunda
Option 2: describes what was the case in v3
Now when God said, “Let there be light…” the earth was formless and void…
II. Formless & void?
How?
Isaiah 45:18
E. J. Young
Conclusion
III. God speaks
God’s speaking brings form to the formless
First word: light separated from darkness
Second word: water separated from water
Third word: water separated from land
God’s speaking fills the void
Dry land filled
Sky filled
Waters filled
Sky filled
Dry land filled
Application #1: Beauty
From this standpoint, Calvinism honored art as a gift of the Holy Spirit and as a consolation in our present life, enabling us to discover in and behind this sinful life a richer and more glorious background. Standing by the ruins of this once so wonderfully beautiful creation, art points out to the Calvinist both the still visible lines of the original plan, and what is even more, the splendid restoration by which the Supreme Artist and Master-Builder will one day renew and enhance even the beauty of His original creation. --Kuyper