Introduction | Table of Contents | Chapter 5
We find the same phrase in the Greek translation of the Old Testament (the Septuagint). Genesis 5:1 reads, "This is the book of the generations (biblos genesis) of Adam. In the day when God created man, He made him in the likeness of God."
The first genesis begins with the created earth in a state of confusion and emptiness (tohu va bohu) and darkness was over the face of the deep. Every sequence of creation that followed was God's answer to that chaos and purposelessness. In the beginning of the old genesis the Spirit of God brooded (ra^chaph) over the face of the deep, literally, as a fowl hatching her eggs. In the new genesis the angel declared to Mary, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the Most High will overshadow you" (Luke 1:35). Again, we see the parallel of the old and new genesis, the Spirit brooded over a virgin as it did thousands of years earlier over the face of the deep. God's order displaces the chaos and emptiness beginning with the brooding of the Holy Spirit.
The seven days of the old creation are types and figures that have their heavenly fulfillment in Jesus Christ. He is the firstborn from the dead (Revelations 1:5) and the beginning of God's creation (Revelations 3:14). "He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible . . . all things were created through him and for him…in him all things hold together. . . He is the beginning…" (Colossians 1:15-18). He is the embodiment of the new creation . . . through whom are all things and through whom we exist" (1 Corinthians 8:6 ESV). "And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together" (Colossians 1:17 ESV).
On the first day of the old genesis God said, "Let there be light," and there was light. Next He separated the light from the darkness (Genesis 1:3). It is important to note the use of the words divide and divided in the first genesis record. Separation was needed before God could make the earth fruitful and prepare the way for the masterpiece of His creation. He divided the light from the darkness, and the waters from the waters and the land from the waters and the day from the night. It all begins with light, and light brings separation.
The new genesis of Jesus Christ follows along these very lines. Paul wrote, "For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 4:6 ESV).
The Gospel of John starts with the declaration, "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. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it" (John 1:1-5 ESV). Here we see that the beginning of both the old and the new genesis was the Word. With the manifestation of the Word comes the entrance of Light and the dividing of Light from darkness.
The Word that was with God before He spoke a single thing into existence is the same Word that speaks today. God has never remained silent but is ever present throughout all His creation, calling us to Himself and setting things in order. He is still moving. The command, "let there be light" is still going forth and the Light is still illuminating the darkness in the hearts of men. John put everything in the present tense. "The light shines (this very moment) in the darkness, and the darkness has not [and will not] overcome it."
This separation of light from darkness also divides men into two groups--those who love the Light and those who prefer darkness and hate Him. John's new genesis record continues, "And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their deeds were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his deeds have been carried out in God" (John 3:19-21 ESV).
We see this same new genesis theme in the opening verses of the book of Hebrews.
"God, who at many times and in various manners spoke in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, Has in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he has appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds; Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high. (Hebrews 1:1-3 KJ2000)
God has spoken unto us by his Son. In a particular sense, Jesus is His final creative Word. Jesus is the Word and Light. He is the One by whom all things were created and He is still upholding all things by the word of His power. Jesus is unlike any other light. His is an uncreated light, brighter than the sun. His light can penetrate even into the deepest and darkest heart of a man. He is the brightness of God's glory. It was this Light that shone into that first day of creation and caused the darkness and chaos to retreat. The image of God was tarnished and obscured through the failure of the first man, but Jesus is the exact image of God's person that shines without blemish today. All the old genesis words and figures apply to Christ. All that was prefigured by the old creation was fulfilled in Him. God has spoken! Light has come! The division of light and darkness is ongoing. The darkness cannot overcome it.
Early in the sixth day of the old genesis, the Word spoke the beasts of the earth, the livestock and everything that creeps on the ground into existence. It was all good but this was not all, since the crowning creation of His sixth day was yet to be.
Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness." So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.
For such exceptional creatures there was an exceptional process of creation. They were not created out of nothing, but came from the earth. The way God created them foretold the purpose they were created for. This process is key to understanding the new creation. It is a prophetic figure of Him who was to come and His bride.
Enter Adam-the figure of Him who was to come.
Introduction | Table of Contents | Chapter 5
to top