Schoolmaster to Christ
GENESIS CHAPTER 1
Schoolmaster to Christ
GENESIS CHAPTER 1
Scripture Reading: Genesis 1 (KJV)
There is something peculiarly striking in the way the Holy Spirit opens this sublime book. He at once introduces us to God, in the essential fullness of His Being, and the solitariness of His actions. All prefatory matter is omitted. We are brought to God. We hear Him, as it were, breaking earth’s silence, shining in upon earth’s darkness, developing a sphere in which He might display His eternal power and Godhead.
There is nothing here on which idle curiosity may feed – nothing on which the human mind may speculate. There is the sublimity and reality of Divine Truth, in its moral power to act on the heart, and on the understanding. The Spirit of God never gratifies idle curiosity by presentation of curious theories. Geologists explore the bowels of the earth, drawing out materials from which to add to or contradict the Divine record. They may speculate on fossil remains; but the disciple delights and hangs on the pages of inspiration – reading, believing, and worshipping. In this spirit we pursue our study of this profound book. May we know what it is to “enquire in the temple.” May our investigations of Holy Scripture always be prosecuted in the spirit of worship.
“In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” The first sentence places us in the presence of God – the infinite source of all true blessedness. There is no elaborate argument in proof of the existence of God. The Holy Spirit could not enter upon anything of the kind. God reveals Himself. He makes Himself known by His works. “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament showeth his handiwork.” “All thy works shall praise thee, O Lord.” “Great and marvelous are thy works, Lord God Almighty.” Only an infidel or atheist would seek an argument in proof of the Being of One, Who, by the Word of His mouth, called worlds into existence, declaring Himself the All wise, the Almighty, everlasting God. Who but “God” could “create” anything? “Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who hath created these things, that bringeth out their host by number; he calleth them all by names, by the greatness of his might, for that he is strong in power; not one faileth” (Is. 40:26).
“The gods of the heathen are idols, but the Lord made the heavens.” In Job 38-41 we have an appeal on the part of Jehovah Himself to the work of creation, as an unanswerable argument in proof of His infinite superiority; and while it sets before us the most vivid and convincing demonstration of God’s omnipotence, its amazing condescension touches the heart. The majesty and love, the power and tenderness, are all Divine.
“And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep.” Here was a scene in which only God could act. In the pride of his heart, man interferes with God in other spheres of action; but, in the scene before us, man had no place until he became the subject of creative power. God was alone in creation. From His eternal dwelling-place of light, God looked upon the wild waste, beholding the sphere in which His wondrous plans and counsels were yet to be unfolded and brought out – where the Eternal Son was yet to live, labor, testify, bleed, and die, displaying the glorious perfections of the Godhead. All was darkness and chaos; but God is the God of light and order.
“God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all.” Darkness and confusion cannot live in His presence, whether we look at it from a physical, moral, intellectual, or spiritual point of view.
“The Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.” This is truly a dark scene. One in which there was ample room for the God of light and life to act. He alone could enlighten the darkness, cause life to spring up, substitute order for chaos, open an expanse between the waters, where life could display itself without fear of death. These were operations worthy of God.
“God said, Let there be light: and there was light.” How simple. And yet how Godlike. “He spake, and it was done. He commanded, and it stood fast.” Infidelity may ask, “How? where? when?” The answer is, “By 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” (Heb. 11:3). This satisfies the teachable spirit. Philosophy may smile contemptuously at this, pronouncing it rude ignorance, or blind credulity, suitable enough for an age of semi-barbarism, but unworthy of men living in an enlightened age; and the museum and telescope have put us in possession of facts the inspired penman knew nothing about. What wisdom? What learning? No; what nonsense – what total inability to grasp the scope and design of sacred Scripture? It is not God’s object to make us astronomers or geologists; to occupy us with details that the microscope or telescope lays before every youngster. His object is to lead us, as worshippers, into His presence with hearts and understandings taught and governed by His Holy Word. But this will never do for the so-called philosopher, who, despising what he terms the vulgar and narrow-minded prejudices of devout disciples of the Word, boldly seizes his telescope, and scans the distant heavens, or travels into the deep recesses of earth in search of strata, formations, and fossils – all of which, according to his account, greatly improve, if they do not flatly contradict, the inspired narrative.
With such “oppositions of science, falsely so called,” we have nothing to do. We believe that all true discoveries, whether “in the heavens above, in the earth beneath, or in the waters under the earth,” will harmonize with the Word of God. This gives rest to the heart in a day like the present – a day so productive of learned speculations and high-sounding theories; of rationalism and positive infidelity. It is important for the heart to be thoroughly established regarding the fullness, authority, completeness, majesty, and the plenary inspiration of the Holy Scripture. This is the only effectual safeguard against rationalism and superstition. Accurate acquaintance with, understanding of, and profound subjection to, the Word of God, are the great desiderata of present times.
“And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness. And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night.” Here we have the two great symbols so largely employed throughout the Word. The presence of light makes the day; its absence makes night. Thus it is in the history of souls. There are “sons of light” and “sons of darkness.” This is a solemn distinction. All on whom the light of Life has shone; all who have been effectually visited by “the dayspring from on high;” all who have received the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ – all such, whoever and wherever they may be, belong to “the sons of light, and the sons of the day.”
On the other hand, all who are still in nature's darkness, natures blindness, nature’s unbelief; all who have not yet faithfully received the cheering beams of the Son of righteousness, those still wrapped in the shades of spiritual night, are “the sons of darkness,” “sons of the night.”
To which of these two classes do you now belong? Each one of us belong to one or the other. You may be poor, despised, unlettered; but if, through grace, there is a link connecting you with the Son of God, “the light of the world,” then you are a son of the day, and destined to shine in that celestial sphere, that region of glory, of which “the slain Lamb” will forever be the central sun. This is not our doing. It is the result of God’s counsel and operation. In Jesus and His accomplished sacrifice, God offers you light and life, joy and peace. But if you are a total stranger to the hallowed action and influence of divine light, if your eyes are not open to behold beauty in the Son of God, then, though you have all the learning of a Newton, though you are enriched with all the treasures of human philosophy, though with avidity you drink in all the streams of human science, though your name be adorned with learned titles bestowed by the schools and universities of this world, still, you are “a Son Of the night,” “a son of darkness;” and, if you die in that condition, you will be involved in the blackness and horror of an eternal night. We pray that before reading another page, you will fully satisfy yourself as to whether you belong to the “day” or the “night.”
We now consider the creation of lights. “And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven, to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years. And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven, to give light upon the earth: and it was so. And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also.”
The sun is the great center of light – the center of our system. Around it the lesser orbs revolve and derive light. Hence, the sun may legitimately be viewed as a symbol of Him who will arise, with healing in His wings, to gladden the hearts of those who fear the Lord. The aptness and beauty of the symbol is evident to one who beholds the rising sun gilding the eastern sky. The mists and shades of night are dispersed, and the whole creation seems to hail the returning orb of light. When the Son of righteousness arose, the shadows of night fled away; the whole creation was gladdened by the dawning of “a morning without clouds,” the opening of a bright and never-ending day of glory.
Being opaque, the moon derives all her light from the sun; always reflecting the sun’s light, save when earth and its influences intervene. No sooner has the sun sunk beneath our horizon than the moon presents herself to receive the sun’s beams, reflecting them back upon a dark world. If the moon should be visible during the day, she always exhibits a pale light – the result of appearing in the presence of superior brightness. The world sometimes intervenes; dark clouds, thick mists, and chilling vapors arise from earth’s surface, often hiding from our view her silvery light.
As the sun is a beautiful and appropriate symbol of Christ, so the moon strikingly reminds us of the church – the fountain of her light hidden from view. The world seeth Him not, but she sees Him; and she reflects His beams on a benighted world. The world learns of Christ through the church. “Ye,” says the inspired apostle, “are our epistle...known and read of all men.” And again, “Forasmuch as ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ” (2 Cor. 3:2, 3).
What a responsible place! In all her ways, the church should earnestly watch against everything that would hinder the reflection of the heavenly light of Christ! But how is she to reflect this light? By allowing it to shine on her, in its undimmed brightness. If the church walked in the light of Christ, she would reflect only His light. The moon’s light is not her own. So it is with the church. She is not called to set herself before the world. She is simply a debtor, reflecting the light she receives. With holy diligence, the church is bound to study the path He trod; and by the energy of the Holy Spirit dwelling in her, to follow in that path. But, too often earth with its mists, clouds, and vapors, intervenes, and hides the light and blots the epistle. When this happens, the world cannot see the traits of Christ’s character in those who call themselves by His name; who often exhibit a contrast, rather than a resemblance. May we study Christ more prayerfully, so we may copy Him more faithfully.
The stars are distant lights. They shine in other spheres, and except for their twinkling have little connection with this system. “One star differeth from another star in glory.” Thus it is in the kingdom of the Son. He shines forth in living and everlasting luster. His body, the church, faithfully reflects His beams on all around; while saints individually shine in those spheres allotted to them by the righteous Judge. This thought should animate us to a more ardent and vigorous pursuit after conformity to our absent Lord (Luke 19:12-19).
The lower orders of creation are next introduced. The sea and the earth are made to team with life. Some regard the operations of each successive day, as foreshadowing the various dispensations, and their great characteristic principles of action. However, sad mistakes are possible when handling the Word in this way. Such study requires abstaining, with holy jealousy, the workings of imagination, paying strict attention to the general analogy of Scripture. We do not feel at liberty to follow such a line of interpretation, and shall therefore confine ourselves to what we believe to be the plain sense of the sacred text.
Let us now consider man's place, as set by the works of God’s hands. All things having been set in order, God determined that one was needed to take the headship. “And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. So God created man in His own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.”
Observe the change from “him” to “them.” We are not presented with the actual fact of the formation of the woman until the next chapter; though here we find God blessing “them” and giving “them” jointly the place of universal government. All the inferior orders of creation were set under their joint dominion. Eve received all her blessings in Adam. In him, too, she received her dignity. Though not yet called into actual existence, she was, in the purpose of God, looked at as part of the man. “In thy book were all my members written, which, in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them.”
Thus it is with the church – the bride of Christ, the Second Man. From all eternity the church was viewed in Christ, her Head and Lord; as we read in Scripture, “According as He hath chosen us in him, before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love” (Eph. 1). Before a single member of the church had yet breathed the breath of life, all were, in God’s eternal mind, “conformed to the image of his Son.” The counsels of God rendered the church necessary to complete the mystic man.1
It seems too common to view redemption as bearing merely on the blessedness and security of individual souls. While it is certainly true that all which pertains in any way to the individual is, in the fullest manner, secured, still this is the least part of redemption. The fact that Christ’s glory is involved in, and connected with, the church’s existence is a truth of far more dignity, depth, and power. If, on the authority of Holy Scripture, we are to regard ourselves as a constituent part of that which is actually needful to Christ, then we can no longer entertain a doubt as to whether there is the fullest provision for all our personal necessities. Isn’t the church needful to Christ? Yes; “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him.” And, again, “For the man is not of the woman; but the woman of the man; neither was the man created for the woman; but the woman for the man...Nevertheless, neither is the man without the woman; neither the woman without the man in the Lord. “For as the woman is of the man, even so is the man also by the woman; but all things of God” (1 Cor. 11:8-12).
Therefore, it is no longer the mere question regarding whether God can save a poor, helpless sinner – whether He can blot out his sins, and receive him in the power of Divine righteousness. God has said, “it is not good that the man should be alone.” He did not leave “the first man” without “an help meet;” neither would He leave the “Second.” As, in the case of the former, there would have been a blank in the creation without Eve, so, in the case of the latter, there would be a blank in the new creation without the Bride, the church.
Let us now look at the manner in which Eve was brought into being, though, in so doing, we have to anticipate part of the contents of the next chapter. Throughout all the orders of creation there was not found an help meet for Adam. “A deep sleep” must fall on him, and a partner be formed, out of himself, to share his dominion and blessedness. “And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof. And the rib, which the Lord God had taken from man, builded2 he a woman, and brought her unto the man. And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of man” (Gen. 2:21-23).
Looking at Adam and Eve as a type of Christ and the church, as Scripture fully warrants us to do, we see how that the death of Christ needed to be an accomplished fact, so the church could be set up; though, in the purpose of God, she was looked at, and chosen in Christ, before the foundation of the world. However, there is a vast difference between the secret purpose of God and the revelation and accomplishment thereof. Before the Divine purpose could be actualized in reference to the constituent parts of the church, it was necessary that the Son be rejected and crucified – take His seat on high, and send down the Holy Spirit to baptize believers into one body. It is not that souls were not quickened and saved, previous to the death of Christ. They assuredly were. By virtue of the coming sacrifice of Christ, Adam was saved, and thousands of others, from age to age. But the salvation of individual souls is one thing; and the formation of the church by the Holy Spirit is quite another.
Because this distinction is not sufficiently regarded or attended to in our society; because it is only maintained in theory, little, if any, of those practical results are realized – results which naturally should be expected to flow from a truth so stupendous. The church’s unique place, her special relationship to “the Second Man, the Lord from heaven,” her distinctive privileges and dignities – all these things would, if entered into by the power of the Holy Spirit, produce the richest, the rarest, and the most fragrant fruits (Eph. 5:23-32).
When we look at the type before us, we may form some idea of the results that ought to follow from the understanding of the church’s position and relationship. What nearness Eve enjoyed. What closeness of communion. What full participation in all of Adam’s thoughts. In all his dignity, and in all his glory, she was entirely one. He did not rule over, but with her. He was Lord of the whole creation, and she was one with him – looked at, and blessed in him. “The man” was the object; and “the woman,” was needful to him, therefore she was brought into being. As a type, nothing can be more profoundly interesting. Man was first set up; the woman considered, and then formed out of him – a type of the most striking and instructive character. We are not suggesting that a doctrine can ever be founded upon a type, but when we find the doctrine fully and clearly laid down in other parts of the Word, we are then prepared to understand, appreciate, and admire the type.
Here is a fine view of man as set from the works of God’s hands: “When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers; the moon and the stars which thou hast ordained: what is man that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man that thou visitest him? For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honour. Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet: all sheep and oxen, yea, and the beasts of the field; the fowl of the air, and the fish of the sea, and whatsoever passeth through the paths of the sea” (Ps. 8).
Here man is spoken of without any distinctive mention of the woman; and this is quite in character, for the woman is looked at in the man.
A direct revelation of the mystery of the church is not found in any part of the Old Testament. Obviously referring to the New Testament, the apostle expressly says, “...in other ages was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to His holy apostles and prophets” (Eph. 3:1-11, NKJV). Hence, in the Psalm just quoted, only “the man” is presented to us; but we know that the man and the woman are viewed or looked at under one head. All this will find its full anti-type in Christ. He is the True Man, the Lord from heaven, Who has taken His seat on the throne, and, in companionship with His bride, the church, rules for all eternity. His church is quickened out of the grave of Christ; it is part “of His body, of His flesh, and of His bones.” He is the Head and she is the body, making one Man, “Till we all come, in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ” (Eph. 4). Being part of Christ, the church occupies a unique place. No other creature was as near to Adam as Eve, because no other creature was part of himself. So, in reference to the church, she holds the nearest place to Christ.
Our admiration is commanded because of what the church is. She is the body of which Christ is the Head; she is the temple of which God is the Inhabitant. Oh what manner of people ought we to be. By God’s grace, we form a part of that dignity – surely a holy, devoted, separated, elevated walk becomes us.
May each of us meditate on these things, so that we may have a deeper sense of the conduct and character worthy of the high vocation to which we are called. “The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope, of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of his power to usward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power, which he wrought in Christ when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come; and hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the Church, which is his body, the fullness of him that filleth all in all” (Eph. 1:18-23).
