What/who was present at the creation of the world and/or before it? In our Wednesday evening Bible class with the teens, we’ve been studying through the book of Proverbs (studying the text, connecting it to other passages throughout Scripture, and making practical applications), and we most recently completed Proverbs 8. In that passage, Solomon connected the very existence and essence of wisdom to the creation of the world…in fact, Solomon states that wisdom predates the Creation. This brings us back to the initial question – what/who was present at the creation of the world and/or before it?
a.
God the Father, the Spirit of God, and the Word (later to be known
as Jesus)
i.
At Creation, these three parts of God were present, which we
understand through tying together multiple applicable passages. For example:
1.
“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. And the Spirit of God was hovering
over the face of the waters” (Genesis 1:1-2 ESV).
2.
“Then God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, after our
likeness…” (Genesis 1:26 ESV).
3.
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with
God, and the Word was God. He
was in the beginning with God. All
things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was
made” (John 1:1-3 ESV).
4.
“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have
seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and
truth” (John 1:14 ESV).
5.
“For by him [Jesus – the Word] all things were created, in heaven
and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or
authorities – all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all
things hold together” (Colossians 1:16-17 ESV).
6.
“For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, and
you have been fill in him, who is the head of all rule and authority” (Colossians
1:9-10 ESV).
ii.
By connecting these passages (these are just a sampling), we see
that God the Father, the Spirit of God, and the Word (Jesus, the Son) were
present at the Creation. Further, we
learn that the Creation happened through the Word (see again John 1:1-3 and
Colossians 1:16-17). Further, think
about how Jesus was called the Word prior to His becoming flesh, then think back
to the record of Creation in Genesis 1; “And
God said” is used over and over as He spoke the universe into existence (Gensis
1:3, 6, 9, 11, 14, 20, 24, 26).
b.
Wisdom existed and was present prior to and during the Creation
i.
Solomon wrote, “The Lord by wisdom founded the earth; by
understanding he established the heavens; by his knowledge the deep broke open,
and the clouds drop down the dew” (Proverbs 3:19-20 ESV).
ii.
Solomon later wrote more extensively: “The Lord possessed me
[Wisdom] at the beginning of his work, the first of his acts of old. Ages ago I was set up, at the first, before the
beginning of the earth. When there were
no depths I was brought forth, when there were no springs abounding with
water. Before the mountains had been
shaped, before the hills, I was brought forth, before he had made the earth
with its fields, or the first of the dust of the world. When he established the heavens, I was there;
when he drew a circle on the face of the deep, when he made firm the skies
above, when he established the fountains of the deep, when he assigned to the
sea its limit, so that the waters might not transgress his command, when he
marked out the foundations of the earth, then I was beside him, like a master
workman, and I was daily his delight, rejoicing before him always, rejoicing in
his inhabited world and delighting in the children of man” (Proverbs 8:22-31
ESV).
1.
This passage establishes that Wisdom predates the Creation and
more specifically, it predates mankind.
Note that Solomon wrote, “…or the first of the dust of the world”
(Proverbs 8:26 ESV), which brings to mind “…then the Lord God formed the man of
dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the
man became a living creature” (Genesis 2:7 ESV). Wisdom, then, predates not only mankind, but
the materials from which mankind was created.
Mankind
frequently believes itself to be wiser than God (some assert that they are too
smart to believe in an archaic God), but this is nothing new. Although Job was a righteous man (see Job
1:1-12), chapters 38-39 present an interesting and humbling interaction between
Job and God. Consider the following:
a.
“Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind and said: ‘Who is
this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge? Dress for action like a
man; I will question you, and you make it known to me” (Job 38:1-3 ESV).
i.
First, note that God answered Job in a very powerful manner – from
the whirlwind, God tells Job was is going to happen and gives him no option in
this instance.
b.
“Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Tell me,
if you have understanding. Who
determined its measurements – surely you know! Or who stretched the line upon
it? On what were its bases sunk, or who laid its cornerstone, when the morning
stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy?” (Job 38:4-7
ESV).
i.
Second, God started with the very Creation – although we know what
God has stated and can take that on faith because of all the evidence presented
(as Job did as well), can we explicitly state how exactly these things came
into being? God spoke and they came into being, but we cannot do that
ourselves, so this is a hard concept to grasp fully. Third, note that God even used a little bit
of sarcasm: “…if you have understanding…surely you know!”
In the rest of Job 38-39, God continued to establish His power and might, along with His own wisdom in how He created everything and how He continues to sustain it even today. Through all of this, it is established that God, the Spirit, the Word, and wisdom all took part in the actual creation of the world, but man was a part of that creation. Are we really wiser than God? Are we really too smart to believe in an archaic entity that holds such power? In Gensis 1-2, Proverbs 8:22-31, and Job 38-39, the wisdom in how God both formed and sustains the Creation is evident; everything has to work together perfectly or it all would fall apart (the earth is the perfect distance from the sun…too far out, we all die…too close, we all die…and the list goes on). The Apostle Paul wrote, “For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse” (Romans 1:19-20 ESV). The evidence is there, but we must accept and utilize wisdom to understand any of it.
Finally, consider that even though wisdom predates creation, God has made it readily available to us…something so ancient can strengthen us in 2024 and is timeless (this takes the teeth out of the “but it is 2024, so those ways of thinking are archaic”). Concerning that same wisdom, Solomon wrote, “Does not wisdom call? Does not understanding raise her voice? On the heights beside the way, at the crossroads she takes her stand; beside the gates in front of the town, at the entrance of the portals she cries aloud…” (Proverbs 8:1-3 ESV). Solomon stated that wisdom is not hidden from mankind, but is openly available free of charge to all…but we have to listen, we have to study, we have to learn.
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