"I beheld the earth, and lo, it was without form, and void; and the
heavens, and they had no light" (Jeremiah 4:23).
The reason that "the earth" was "without form, and void" in this
passage is not because God had created it that way. Rather the "fury"
of His wrath had "come forth like fire" upon Palestine (Jer.4:1-31).
But some supposed the "without form, and void" in Genesis 1:2 is the
result of His judgment! But how can this be! Sin had not entered
until Adam's fall (Gen.3:1-24). Satan was still "Lucifer, son of the
morning", and had not yet "fallen from heaven" (Isa.14:12-17;
Ezek.28:13-19). Rather we believe that it is exactly as God's Word
records creation:
"...AND THE SPIRIT OF GOD MOVED UPON THE FACE OF THE WATERS"
(Gen.1:2).
Thus, "In the beginning", upon the first day, when "God created the
heaven and the earth" (Gen.1:1) "without form, and void" (1:2), it
was empty and desolate because He was not finished with His creation.
And upon this "ocean" of His creative genius, He but spoke the words
and His almighty power brought forth this beautiful earth in six
successive days, as recorded in Genesis 1:1-31.
"THUS THE HEAVENS AND THE EARTH WERE FINISHED, AND ALL THE HOST OF
THEM. And on the Seventh Day God ended His work which He had...created
and made" (Gen.2:1-3).
Genesis One records the day by day account of the creation of heaven
and earth. Otherwise "sin" would have "entered" the world before Adam
which, of course, is not only unscriptural, but it is not even Pauline
(Rom.5:12).
However, as God commanded Nebuchadnezzar to march against Jerusalem,
and the cities of Judah, in Jeremiah's day (Jer.4:6,7), so the Great
Commander of all the Hosts of Heaven shall issue a counter declaration
of war upon all mankind for its rejection of Christ. Revelation
19:11-16 describes "the King of kings, and Lord of lords" riding upon
"a white horse...and in righteousness He doth judge and make war".
But for now God has "good news" for you. He loves you with an
everlasting love. This is why He sent Christ to die for our sins on
Calvary.
The Apostle Paul preached that "the forgiveness of sins" (Eph.1:7) is
based upon the shed blood of our Redeemer, Saviour, Creator, and
Friend; the Lord Jesus Christ.
"GOD IS FAITHFUL" and you can trust Him. He wants to save you from
your sins. And, my friend, He will save you from "the wrath to come"
also, if you will only believe Him (IThes.4:13-18).
To the Reader:
Some of our Two Minutes articles were written many years
ago by Pastor C. R. Stam for publication in newspapers.
When many of these articles were later compiled in book
form, Pastor Stam wrote this word of explanation in the
Preface:
"It should be borne in mind that the newspaper column,
Two Minutes With the Bible, has now been published for
many years, so that local, national and international
events are discussed as if they occurred only recently.
Rather than rewrite or date such articles, we have left
them just as they were when first published. This, we
felt, would add to the interest, especially since our
readers understand that they first appeared as newspaper
articles."
We hope that you'll agree that while some of the
references in these articles are dated, the spiritual
truths taught therein are timeless.
Bible Study
