Who Really Created the Universe? (Genesis 1:1 Explained)

Hello and welcome to Through the Bible with Les Feldick. An Oklahoma rancher and farmer, Les Feldick has been teaching homestyle Bible classes for 20 years in Iowa, Oklahoma, and Texas. Les Feldick's unique style of Bible teaching has made the books of the Bible come to life. When Les is teaching, it's so interesting that people say time just seems to fly by. And now, here is Les Feldick. Okay, good to have everybody, and we're going to come right back into Genesis chapter 1, verse 1 in this program. And for those of you joining us on television, we'd just like to invite you to do as we do here in the studio, grab your Bible and a notepad and take notes, underline in your Bible. It's the only way to really get involved in Bible study. Don't just read your Bible, you have to learn how to study it, and I think that's why the Lord constructed it the way He did. He did not just lay it out in 8th grade reading form, but rather all these little tidbits are buried, and we have to just sort of compare Scripture with Scripture. And again, for benefit of our television audience, we always like to let it be known that we're not underwritten by any one group, we do not trumpet any particular denomination, we're not going to attack anyone, we're just simply going to teach the Word, and we trust the Holy Spirit will bless that. Alright, now for those of you here in the studio, you've already turned to Genesis chapter 1, verse 1, and most of you already know it from memory, that in the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. Now we're going to take this rather slowly, in fact in our study format, Genesis is something we take almost verse by verse. We will take it almost that slowly in Exodus, and then some of the parts of the Old Testament of course we will skim over rather lightly, and then we come back into of course a book like Daniel, and take it pretty meticulously, and then the Gospels, and then we get to the book of Acts, I definitely teach that book verse by verse, as well as Romans and the rest of Paul's epistles. But for starters now, let's start at verse 1, "...in the beginning God," now that's where I usually stop, "...in the beginning," and again like I said in the last program, we don't know when it was, and I don't concern myself whether it's billions of years or a few thousand, I say it doesn't really make that much difference, but what does make a difference is who started it all, God. So, "...in the beginning," whenever it was, God. Now here we have the term of deity spelled G-O-D in our English, but in the Hebrew it was Elohim, and Elohim in the Hebrew is a plural word. In other words, if you have a text in your Old Testament that referred to the pagan gods, plural, G-O-D-S, it's the same Hebrew word only without the capitalization. It's the small e, Elohim, see? And so it's the triune God of a plurality of persons. And I'm a stickler that I am a firm believer in the Trinity, or the triune God. God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. But always remember that none of them supersede or are above one of the others. They are all co-equal. And we see this teaching throughout all of Scripture. Now, "...in the beginning," then, whenever it was, God, the triune Godhead, created. Now again, the word in the Hebrew is bara, and in the Hebrew it means called out of nothing. And I think this is so important. God didn't start with something and then somehow rearrange it. He started with absolutely nothing but Himself. And out of that nothingness, He called the universe into being. Now, when we get into the New Testament here in a little bit, I'm going to show you what person of the Godhead actually spoke the voice, or spoke the Word rather, and called it into being. But for here, as God, the triune God, spoke the Word, and out of nothing He created everything, the heavens as well as the earth. Now I think it's rather interesting that way back here in the very first verse of Genesis before the nation of Israel has even been hinted at, before we have any idea of the call of this one man, Abraham. But I think it's interesting that way back here, before all that came to pass, that God is already giving us a clue that throughout all of His dealings with you and I as members of the human race, He's going to constantly divide things between heaven and earth. Now I said, why Genesis 12? Well because, you see, as soon as Abraham is called out of Ur of the Chaldee, as I showed on the board in our last program, God separated him from that mainstream of humanity now, and promises that out of that one man will come a distinctive race and nation of people, the nation of Israel. But here's what makes them distinctive. From the very onset of the promise to Abraham until they were finally dispersed after they had rejected their king, Israel had it constantly drummed into their mindset that they were a special, called out, separated, covenant people of God, and all their promises are earthly. And so we refer to them as God's earthly people. Now the last time I taught this, in particular, someone, I think, misunderstood me. And when I said that there's nothing in the Old Testament pertaining to a Jew dying and going to heaven, well, what I really meant was concerning his eternal abode. Now we know that for an Old Testament saint who died, he went to paradise. He certainly didn't stay on the earth. And even today, when we die, or a Jew dies, he goes to his place of reward. If he's a believer, he goes to paradise. But what I have in mind when I say that the Jew had no concept of dying and going to heaven, that is in their resurrected state. When the Jews experience their resurrection as believers, they will not be a heavenly people. They're going to be an earthly people. And so consequently, even in their life in the flesh, all of Israel's promises were earthly. And that's why so many of them had such tremendous wealth. Abraham was a wealthy man. Isaac was wealthy for his time. Jacob was wealthy. David, glory of all of his kingdom, included wealth. Solomon. My, when the Queen of Sheba saw it and the first thing she said, the half has never yet been told. Well, why? Because those Jewish people were enjoying those earthly promises. Now when we get over into the epistles of Paul and the outcalling, as we mentioned in our last program, when God now calls out of the mainstream of humanity, the body of Christ, a mixture of predominantly Gentile, but also Jews, now we have a group of people to whom all the promises are not earthly, but what? Heavenly. Everything that's promised to is not earthly, it's heavenly. And our future is going to be a rule in the heavenlies. And so this is immediately where I want people to recognize that as you study your Bible, you have to separate these two entities in God's dealing. The Jew, the nation of Israel, from the church, which is His body. And when you separate those, all the contradictions disappear, all of the major questions disappear, and everything becomes so sensible. I had a young man again just the other day out in Indiana come up, and he said, my wife's been a Christian a long time, he said, I've never interfered with that, but he said, I never had any interest. He said, I never went to church with her, he said, I never read the Bible, he said, I had no interest. But he said, I watched a few of your programs, and he says, you're the first one that makes sense. Well, I don't take the credit for that, I think that's the work of the Holy Spirit. But the Bible is a sensible book, and it makes sense if you just simply keep these two areas separated. So in the beginning, the triune, the Almighty God, called out of nothing everything. The heavens, the angelic hosts, the earth, everything that's in it, all began with our Creator. Now let's take a look at how the New Testament treats this very same event as we have here in Genesis 1. And I'd like to have you turn now with me to John's Gospel, chapter 1. And all these writers, of course, are inspired of the Holy Spirit. They are moved of God to write what they write. And so naturally, John, as he speaks of the beginning, is going to use the same language that Moses did, I feel, that he wrote the first five books. And so John's Gospel, chapter 1, verse 1, in the beginning, he doesn't say 20 million years ago, he doesn't say 10,000 years ago, all John says is like Genesis says, in the beginning. All right, but in the beginning, according to John, was the Word, and it's capitalized, so it's a term of deity. So in the beginning was the Word, a person of that triune Godhead, and this person, the Word, was with God, that is, from eternity past, whenever that was, and the Word was God. Now we know we have some cults that disagree with me, and they try to tell me that Jesus was not God. Well, that flies in the face of the book. Jesus was just as much God as God the Father or God the Spirit, and we're going to see why I say that in just a few moments. All right, so in the beginning was the Word, the Word was with God, the Word was God, the same was in the beginning with God. In other words, the triune Godhead was complete, they were in absolute consensus of what they were going to do. All right, verse 3, "...all things were made by Him." By whom? The Word. Now, you know, I'm a stickler for grammar, because after all, that's the whole idea of language is to communicate, and that again is what the word, Word, implies. There had to be a person of the Godhead who would communicate with whatever it was that they're going to call creation out of. Now, personally, I think it was God Himself. Well, now, that's not unusual. God talks to Himself. You know, my little wife, every once in a while, I'll hear her in the kitchen and something has gone wrong. Now, who are you talking to? I'll just forget it. I'm talking to myself. Well, I imagine you all have the same experience from time to time, and God does too, you know, on the cross. You know, I've mentioned the fact one time that Martin Luther just had a real hang -up with Christ's statements from the cross when he seemingly spoke to God. And Martin Luther came to the conclusion, well, it's God speaking to God. Absolutely, it was. And so the Word was the communicator. He's the one who spoke the power of creation. When we get to Hebrews in a little bit, I'm going to show you it's the Word. It's the Son of God. It's Christ who has spoken in this book. This is the Word of the very person of the Godhead who is the communicator, which is God the Son. All right? Now, if you doubt that this is speaking concerning the Son, come down to verse 14, and here's the clincher. John's Gospel, chapter 1, now verse 14, and the Word was made flesh. Now, you know God the Father and God the Spirit never became flesh, so who is it? Well, it's God the Son. It's Christ. And so He was made flesh, dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory. The glory is of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. All right, let's move on quickly, if you will, to Colossians. Now that's well into Paul's writings. That's after Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians. Chapter 1. What a tremendous little portion of Scripture. And remember, we're fitting this all back with Genesis 1-1, that in the beginning, God called out of nothing, heaven and earth. In the beginning, it was the Word, and the Word was with God. The Word was God. All right, now look what Paul says in Colossians, chapter 1. And we have to almost come down to verse 12, and I'm not going to take it all word for word, so bear with me. Paul says he's praying, and he's giving thanks unto the Father. Verse 13. Who? Speaking of the Father. See, here's where grammar comes in. Who is modifying the word Father? So it's the Father who hath delivered us from the power of darkness. It's the Father who hath translated us into the kingdom of His dear Son. Now, of course, the modification is going to change. Now the in whom is now going to modify the Son. So in whom? The Son. We have redemption through His blood, even the forgiveness of sins. And now look at verse 15. Who? Speaking of the Son, is the image, that which you can see and touch. He is the image of the what? Invisible God. Now remember, the triune God is the Spirit. He's invisible. All right? We're moving on before we lose it on the screen. He is the visible image of the invisible God. He's the firstborn of every creature. Now look at verse 16, and tying it with Genesis 1. For by Him. Who? The Son. By the Son were all things created that are in heaven, that are in earth, visible, invisible, thrones, dominions, principalities. Yes, even Satan himself is a created being. Created by God the Son. And every power that has ever been exercised was created by God the Son. All right? And not only did He create them, but they were created for Him. For His purposes. And then you come down into verse 17, and not only is He before all things, not only is He the creator of all things, but by Him all things, what? Consist. And what does that word mean? Held together. Why doesn't the universe just explode in nuclear fission? Why don't the planets act just like an atom and split one another into tremendous energy and explosion? And I think someday they will. But why don't they tonight? Because God the Son controls every particle of it with His Word, with the power of His Word. All right? All right? Coming on down now to—well, no, come back a few pages—no, go ahead—Ephesians. No back. I'm sorry. From Colossians it's back. To Galatians, Ephesians. Come back with me to Ephesians chapter 3, Ephesians chapter 3, back just a few pages to the left. And look what the Apostle Paul says here. Down at verse 9, Ephesians chapter 3, dropping down to verse 9. And to make all see—now I'm leaving the word men out because it's italicized—and to make all see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world has been hid in God, the same God of Genesis 1-1 now, who created all things, but who was designated the Creator? Jesus Christ. Isn't that something? You know, I'll make a point of that for a reason. I remember when I was teaching a class up in Iowa years and years ago, and I made the point, I said, have you ever stopped to realize that the people who nailed Christ to that cross and set Him up in public spectacle were the created beings of the Creator that they were crucifying, and it just shook them up. They had never had that kind of a concept of who Jesus was. But it's true. It was the created beings crucifying their Creator, and never lose sight of that. I know whenever I have to think of my own salvation, I have to just thank God that here He is, the sovereign, total God of the universe, and yet it's the same God that died the death that I should have died. It's the same God who rose from the dead and extended eternal life. You can't separate that from Him. He is and was the Creator. All right, let's go to another one. Let's go to Hebrews. And for sake of tying in what I said a moment ago with regard to every word of this book, how has it come to us? Yes, the Holy Spirit inspired it, but it's the words of God the Son. And the Apostle Paul, over and over, what does he say? I heard Him speaking to me. Who? Jesus. See? All right, now look what it says in Hebrews 1, and then we're going to go on into verse 3. But I want you to see Hebrews 1, verse 1. Hebrews 1, verse 1. God. See, there's that same term again. The triune God, the Trinity, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Spirit, who at sundry times and in diverse manners spake in times past unto the fathers, that is, the forefathers of Israel, or the Old Testament, by the prophets. But don't stop there. This same God hath, past tense, in these last days. Now we have to be careful. We have to be able to put, what shall I call it, nomenclature on Scripture. What are the last days of Scripture? Everything from Christ's first advent on. A lot of people think the last days are just like the Tribulation and the Second Coming. No, that's the latter days. The last days is that whole period of time from His first advent to the end of the age. All right, so in these last days, from the time of His first advent, this same God has, past tense, spoken, past tense, unto us, not by the Spirit like most people would probably say. How? By His Son. See that? How? He hath spoken unto us by His Son, whom He, God, hath appointed heir of all things, and by whom also He did what? He made the world. Aren't that plain? And isn't that beautiful how that God, the triune God. Let's go back to the book of Acts. I've been using this more and more in my teaching, just the last few months, in fact. In Acts chapter 2, and come down to verse 22 and 23, just for an example. This is just a perfect example of how everything, as I said in the last program, everything under the sovereignty of God, without taking away the seemingly free will of men and nations, yet everything comes to pass as He originally foreordained it. Nothing, nothing is ever a day late. And you know, I've shared with my classes here in Oklahoma so many times that if ever there is a period in human history where that truth is so evident that God is sovereign, and yet He's let generals and admirals and presidents and dictators seemingly make decisions of their own free will, yet the sovereign will of God comes through. There is no greater time, I do not feel, in all of human history where that is so evident as World War II. All you have to do is go back and look at the history of World War II, and how many times things just all of a sudden fell in place at just the right time. And it's just amazing. All right, now here's where it all begins now in Acts chapter 2, verse 22 and 23, where Peter, of course, is addressing the nation of Israel with regard to their having crucified the Christ. And he says, "...you men of Israel, hear these words, Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by Him," that is by Jesus, "...in the midst of you, as you yourselves also know Him," speaking of Jesus of Nazareth, "...Him being delivered by the determinate." And I think, at least in my own thinking, and I certainly don't want to do violence to the translation here, but I think in our own English I could use the word, the determining. See? The determining council. Now, you all know what it means to council. It comes to a meeting of minds. In other words, when our president calls the cabinet together, what's the purpose? For council. See? And they're not going to make a decision until there is a meeting of the minds. At least, we certainly hope that's the way it works. All right? Now, this is exactly what the triune God did someplace way back in eternity past. Now, they didn't have to sit there all afternoon between the three of them, batty this back and forth. No, no. But nevertheless, the triune God at some time in the past came together before anything was ever created. And what did they do? They laid out this whole plan of the ages. And in that plan of the ages was the coming of Jesus of Nazareth to the nation of Israel. In that plan of the ages was the nation's rejection of their king. In that plan of the ages, according to the eternal purposes, as Paul puts it in Ephesians 3, in that plan of the ages was the crucifixion, was the resurrection, was the ascension. And every little jot and tittle detail was all formulated back there in this predetermining council before anything ever began to happen. All right, let's go back briefly for the moment or two that we have left to Genesis 1 and just look at it once again, that in the beginning, whenever that was, the triune God in all of His power and sovereignty delegated to the Son, call it into being. And so the Son spoke the Word and the universes began to come together. He spoke the Word and the angelic hosts were created. And He spoke the Word to that dust and Adam appeared. He put Adam to sleep and He spoke the Word. And who came on the veal, on the seed? Eve. And so it is in all of creative acts of God. It's God the Son, yes, the same One that hung there on that cross of Calvary that spoke the words of creation and everything began to happen. All right, then just again a little review of what we've covered in this 30 minutes. Everything in God's dealing with the human race, you have to divide between His dealing with Israel, His earthly people, and the church, which are His heavenly people. And as you read and you study your Bible, always remember that, that all through the Old Testament, the prophets, for example, when God said to Daniel, Thy people, well, who was He talking about as Daniel's people? The Jews, see? And when He told Moses, Thy people, go down and say such and such to Thy people, well, who was He talking to? The nation of Israel. But on the other hand, when you come into the letters of Paul and Paul addresses us today, he's not talking to the nation of Israel. He's talking to you and I. And I always make that as plain as I can. And when you read Romans through Hebrews, you read that as if God has written it to you with your name and address on it. But when you read the Old Testament, don't try to put that into your life today. That was written and given to the nation of Israel. Thank you for watching Through the Bible with Les Feldick, a weekly Bible study. If you would like more information about the Les Feldick Ministries, a Bible study in your area, or about this program, write to Les Feldick Ministries, Route 1, Box 760, Kinta, Oklahoma, 74552. That's Route 1, Box 760, Kinta, Oklahoma, 74552. Through the Bible with Les Feldick is viewer supported and your gift is appreciated. Thank you and be sure to tune in next time for Through the Bible with Les Feldick.