Genesis 1:1–2

The opening sentence of the Bible sets 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 would never take up such a task. God reveals Himself. He makes Himself known by His works.

For the believer this is a simple yet deep truth: everything that exists had a beginning. If God says it, the believer sees that nothing else can be true. Every effect must have a cause. But at its best, reasoning can go no further than this: it can say, "There must be a First Cause." It can never say, "There is one." God alone can say that, and He does.

A creation that always existed, matter that always existed — this is untrue and impossible. It contradicts thought itself, even without the word of God to teach us. God has all power, and He creates if He pleases. That is the whole truth of it… So creation was free to God, not something He had to do. It came when He pleased and as He pleased. And He was pleased to create. Creation exists.

In grammar, "dual" means two, so "plural" means three or more. Yet the verb "created" beside this plural name is singular! Why this apparent breach of grammar? The reason seems clear. At the very start of what we learn about God, we get a hint of a truth revealed openly later: He is a Trinity in Unity — three Persons, yet one God.

Take the plural form of the word and its link with singular verbs. Would it not be closer to the truth to say this? We cannot call it a revelation of the Trinity. Yet it is still a way of speaking that shows the Holy Spirit, the third Person, had the Trinity in mind. He used words whose full force we could only grasp once God had revealed that truth.

God created, as Genesis 1:1 tells us. But where Scripture sets the Persons apart, as it does here, it credits creation not to the Father but to the Son. The Son — whom we know as our Lord Jesus — was the mighty One at work in those scenes of creation, splendid beyond anything we can imagine.

There is a vast difference between "In the beginning God created" and "in the beginning was." The first tells us when created things started. The second points to Him who already existed when everything else began.

Take the six days however you like. On sound principles of reading, no one can deny two things. The first day begins with light. And the first two verses stand apart from the work of the six days, both in what they describe and in how they say it… "In the beginning" carries its own meaning. It is not tied to "the days" at all, except as the revealed start of God's creation.

In our human nature there is a thirst to know where things came from. God gave us that thirst, and God answers it. He does so in the first sentence of His own revelation to mankind… Some may ask and argue over how God could create so vast a universe. Faith believes what the word of God says.