Creation Creation is the absolute bringing into existence of the world by God. It is that act of God by which he, standing before and above all mundane and natural things, made and arranged the universe. It embraces everything which is not God.
I. The Idea of Creation. — In order to form a proper conception of what creation is, we must concede the absolute dependence of the world upon God. We err in limiting it to the mere beginning of the world. It is true that it was that divine act by which all objects were brought into being. It therefore stands as the beginning of all divine operation in the world, and of the universal development of the world. But that God created the universe implies not only that he gave a beginning to its existence, but that he continues that existence, and that he is the only fountain of its present being. The world is not self-derived nor self-sustained; it is only from and by God that it now exists. But creation is not a mere accident of the divine character, nor a temporary moment in the divine life, nor an impartation and manifestation of God, nor a blind, passive, and pathological evolution or emanation of the divine essence. Yet it is God’s work alone, and was as unconstrained as any other deed performed by divine power. When we say that God created the world, we not only do not affirm, but actually deny that God has imparted himself, and passed into his own work. God is the absolute founder of the world, and he has not passed into its nature, but stands high above all the conditions of created being. Nor, while the world is not God himself, can it be said to partake of any other divine nature. It is simply God’s work and manifestation; it is a creation which is from, by, and for God. Thus the full idea of creation implies that God is the absolute, impartial, and personal Spirit who, of his own free will, gave existence to the universe.
In the Mosaic account of the creation, we find that magnificent testimony of the faith which recognizes God’s creation in the surrounding world (compare Hebrews 11:3, Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear). This testimony possesses a strong religious and canonical worth, apart from our views of the peculiar character of the cosmogony of Moses, whether we shape them according to the opinions of the old Church theologians, who held that the Mosaic account was actual history; or whether we harmonize with the modern allegorists, who claim that it is prophecy reversed, or prophetic vision; or whether we take the low view of attributing to it a mythical character. The most important portion of this, as of other scriptural statements concerning the creation, is contained in the proposition that God, in his eternal, infinite love, is the only highest cause; that he is limited by no principle beyond himself; that he is the independent Founder of the world. By world we mean κόσμος, αἰῶνες, Hebrews 1:2,11, or the universe, which is always described in the Old Testament, and usually in the New, as “heaven and earth,” “heaven, earth, sea, and all which is therein.” It is God alone who has brought all things into being (Hebrews 3:4; Acts 17:24; 14:15; Revelation 4:11; Hebrews 11:3; Psalms 33:6; 102:26; Isaiah 45:18; Jeremiah 10:12). Nothing has had a being without the Logos of God (John 1:3). Everything owes its existence and its life to the word of God. It is because God endowed it with entity; because he so willed it; διὰ τὸ θέλημά σου (Revelation 4:11); by his word, ῤῆμα, דָּבָר (Hebrews 11:3; Psalms 33:6); by his speaking (Genesis 1:3; 2 Corinthians 4:6); by his absolute power, παντοδύναμος χείρ (Wisdom of Solomon 11:18); and by his personal power (Jeremiah 10:12), in which he needed no assistance whatever, but by which he was able to create whatever he desired (Psalms 115:3; 135:6). By this power he, in his own supreme majesty, evoked into existence that which was nonexistent (Romans 4:17; Psalms 33:9), and by virtue of the same omnipotence is able to annihilate what he has called into being (Psalms 104:29; 102:26, etc.; Isaiah 51:6; Luke 21:33; Revelation 21:1,4). The Spirit of God, or “the breath of his mouth,” which (Psalms 33:6) stands parallel with the creative word that “moved upon the face of the waters,” is nothing less than the active, forming, animating, divine power. The strength by which God creates takes its place beside his wisdom and knowledge (Jeremiah 10:12; Romans 11:33); and the divine wisdom or intelligence appears to have been (Proverbs 8:22, etc.) the first ground and adjusting principle of creation. Instead, however, of reading in John 1:3, of this world-creative “wisdom,” we find a description of the same eternal Logos of God who became flesh in Christ. Thus the creative principle is identified with that of redemption; and while the creation is distinguished as an act of love, the highest revelation of that love is to be found in the incarnation of God in the world. In both creation and redemption we perceive the thouguht that God, without the intervention and aid of any foreign power, gave existence to that which had previously no being; and that he did this by virtue of no blind necessity, but by his own volition alone.
To continue reading this Bible article, click here.
Author: McClintock and Strong Cyclopedia
Keywords: Creation
Bible reference(s): 2 Maccabees 7:28, 2 Corinthians 4:6, 2 Peter 3:13, Acts 14:15, Acts 17:24, Amos 4:13, Deuteronomy 4:32, Ecclesiastes 12:1, Exodus 34:10, Ezekiel 21:30, Ezekiel 28:13, Genesis 1:3, Genesis 2:3, Genesis 5:1, Genesis 6:7, Hebrews 1:2, Hebrews 11:3, Hebrews 3:4, Isaiah 40:26, Isaiah 41:20, Isaiah 42:5, Isaiah 43:1, Isaiah 45:18, Isaiah 51:6, Isaiah 54:16, Isaiah 57:19, Isaiah 65:18, Isaiah 66:22, Jeremiah 10:12, Jeremiah 31:22, John 1:3, Luke 21:33, Malachi 2:10, Numbers 16:30, Proverbs 8:22, Psalms 102:26, Psalms 104:29, Psalms 115:3, Psalms 135:6, Psalms 148:5, Psalms 33:6, Psalms 51:12, Psalms 89:48, Revelation 21:1, Revelation 4:11, Romans 11:33, Romans 4:17, Romans 8:19, Wisdom of Solomon 11:18
Source: John McClintock and James Strong, Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastical Literature.
Page indexed by: inWORD Bible Software.