In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. (Genesis 1:1)
Even just the very first verse of the Bible tells us so much about our great God. He is referred to here in the Hebrew as Elohim, which is a masculine noun and plural in number. From the start, He showed us His existence as One God, yet plural persons.
He also showed us that He was outside of time, because He started our timeline “in the beginning” when He began to create all that is made. In fact, this one little verse shows us that He created time, space, and matter – time (the beginning), space (the heavens), and matter (the earth), all of which He is outside of and sovereign over as the creator of them.
Even in the things that God created in the beginning, we can see His triune nature. As Henry M. Morris III wrote about in His book Six Days of Creation, God shows His triune nature in space, matter, and time.
1. Space is not nothingness. We all have our existence in space, and we can measure its height, depth, and length even though we cannot contain or eliminate space.
2. Matter has three states of solid, liquid, and gas by which energy is transferred.
3. Time flows from the past, present, to future and we cannot control time, we can only experience it.
“God the Father is like the space of the universe: the Source and Background of all things. God the Son is like the matter (mass-energy) of the universe: the Visible One and Revealer of the Godhead. God the Spirit is like the time of the universe: the One who makes it possible to experience the work and will of God.” (Henry M. Morris III)
The Father planned all the details of creation and it was all in accordance to His will. The Son did the work, speaking all things into existence and fashioning it all into what we know today. And the Holy Spirit gave it energy as He moved. Elohim created and sustains us and all that is in our universe.
All things were made through him[Jesus], and without him was not any thing made that was made. (John 1:3) For by him 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)
As we move further into the timeline of creation, we finally come to the creation of mankind. All the things that Elohim had created up to that point was “after its kind”, but Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness…” So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. (portions from Genesis 1:26-27) and unlike the vast number of plants and animals that God had created, He only made one man and one woman.
When God talked amongst Himself and said, “Let Us make man in Our own image”, that work for make is ʿāśâ, which is to fashion or make from elements already created. When the creation of man is explained in more detail in Genesis 2, it describes the forming of man with a different verb, yāṣar in the Hebrew, which is a hands-on verb meaning to mold into a form, especially a potter, and it so beautifully describes the personal involvement God took in forming and fashioning Adam.
As we fast forward through time, when Adam and Eve sinned by eating of the fruit which God told them not to eat, it was a catastrophic day for mankind. Yet we still see the character and goodness of Elohim in His actions after He proclaimed judgement against the serpent, Eve, and Adam. And the LORD God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them. (Genesis 3:21)
LORD God in the original text is Jehovah Elohim, and the word for made is ʿāśâ, the same word used when He said He was going to make man in His image. He took what was already there, an animal, and killed it to use the animal skins as clothing for them. The first killing in all of time was done to an animal who had done nothing wrong, to cover the nakedness and shame that sin had brought upon mankind.
In the same way, Jesus, who has always been – for He is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrews 13:8) – was already planned as the sacrifice for mankind according to the Father’s will to reconcile mankind to Himself. Jesus was made to be sin, even though He had never sinned, that we might become the righteousness of God, being covered by HIS shed blood and clothed in HIS righteousness. (2 Corinthians 5:21)
But it was the Lord’s good plan to crush him and cause him grief. Yet when his life is made an offering for sin, he will have many descendants. (Isaiah 53:10)
In light of this truth, that Elohim, knowing we would betray Him by sinning against Him and create a huge chasm by which we could never cross over to Him, still chose to create us and made a plan to save us through Jesus, and it was all a part of the Father’s GOOD PLAN. And for those who love God and are called according to His purpose, He is working all things for our good! (Romans 8:28)
When we read over and over in the creation story, “And God saw that it was good”, may we remember that Jesus’ sacrificial death on the cross for the eventual sins of mankind was part of God’s good plan. All that He made was good, His plan was good, He is working all things for our good, and HE IS GOOD!
I wrote this song on the Name of God, Elohim, and I hope it blesses you with this fresh look at creation, His goodness, His good plan of salvation, and His continued good plans for us.