1689 Baptist Confession of Faith
CHAPTER 4
OF CREATION
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In the beginning it pleased God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, 1 for the manifestation of the glory of His eternal power, 2 wisdom, and goodness, to create or make the world, and all things therein, whether visible or invisible, in the space of six days, and all very good. 3
.. Please[d] | 1. To give pleasure to; be agreeable to. 2. To be the wish or will of. … 4. To give satisfaction or pleasure. … Syn. Cheer, gladden, delight, rejoice, exhilarate.
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John 1:[1]-3 | In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was
God.
1 John 1:1-3 | What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands, concerning the Word of Life - and the life was manifested, and we have seen and testify and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was manifested to us – what we have seen and heard we proclaim to you also, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ.
Heb. 1:2 | In these last days [God – v. 1] has spoken to in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world.
Colossians 1:3a, 13b, 15-17 | We give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ … His beloved Son … He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities – all things have been created through Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.
Job 26:13 | By His breath the heavens are cleared [lit. made beautiful – margin] …
Genesis 1:1-2 | In the beginning God created the heavens and earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the waters of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.
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Rom. 1:20 | For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and
divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they
are without excuse.
Wayne Grudem | It is clear that God created his people for his own glory, for he speaks of his sons and daughters as those “whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made” (Isa. 43:7). But it is not only human beings that God created for this purpose. The entire creation is intended to show God’s glory. Even inanimate creation, the stars and sun and moon and sky, testify to God’s greatness, “The heavens are telling the glory of God; and the firmament proclaims his handiwork. Day to day pours forth speech, and night to night declares knowledge” (Ps. 19:1-2). The song of heavenly worship in Revelation 4 connects God’s creation of all things with the fact that he is worthy to receive glory from them:
Revelation 4:11| [The twenty-four elders … saying – v. 10] Worthy are You, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things, and because of Your will they existed, and were created. …
When we affirm that God created the universe to show his glory, it is important that we realize that he did not need to create it. We should not think that God needed more glory than he had within the Trinity for all eternity, or that he was somehow incomplete without the glory that he would receive from the created universe. … Rather, we must affirm that the creation of the universe was a totally free act of God. It was not a necessary act but something that God chose to do. … God desired to create the universe to demonstrate his excellence. The creation shows his great wisdom and power, and ultimately it shows all of his other attributes as well. It seems that God created the universe, then, to take delight in his creation, for as creation shows forth various aspects of God’s character, to that extent he takes delight in it.
Psalm 19:1-6 | The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. Day to day pours out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge. There is no speech, nor are there words, whose voice is not heard. Their voice goes out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In them he has set a tent for the sun, which comes out like a bridegroom leaving his chamber, and, like a strong man, runs its course with joy. Its rising is from the end of heavens, and its circuit to the end of them, and there is nothing hidden from its heat. [ESV]
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Col. 1:16 | For by Him [Christ] all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible
and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities – all things have been created
through Him and for Him.
Gen. 1:31 | God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.
NOTE: At this juncture here it seems to be best to take this as literal in its text.
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After God had made all other creatures, He created man, male and female, 4 with reasonable and immortal souls, 5 rendering them fit unto that life to God for which they were created; being made after the image of God, in knowledge, righteousness, and true holiness; 6 having the law of God written in their hearts, 7 and power to fulfill it, and yet under a possibility of transgressing, being left to the liberty of their own will, which was subject to change. 8
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Gen. 1:27 | God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and
female He created them.
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Gen. 2:7 | Then the Lord God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils
the breath of life; and man became a living being [lit. soul – margin].
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Eccles. 7:29 | Behold, I have found only this, that God made men upright, but they have sought
out many devices.
Gen. 1:26 | Then God said, Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.
James P. Boyce | In the first account of creation God is represented as saying: Let us make man in our image, after our likeness – Gen. 1:26. A natural question has arisen whether there is any difference between the words image and likeness. … The two are merely synonymous, and are used in accordance with a common Hebrew mode of speech.
A more important question is as to what is meant by that image or likeness
1. There is certainly no reference to the bodily form of man. God , as pure spirit, has no body in the likeness or image of which man could be created. … It is as the dwelling-place of that spirit, and because of its intimate association with the life existent in that body, that any sacredness can be attached to the bodily form.
2. The image and likeness consists in the possession of a spiritual nature. It is in this respect that man is like God, who is called the God of the spirits of all flesh (Num. 16:22; 27:16); and the Father of spirits (Heb. 12:9). …
(A) He is a personal being with individual conscious existence and action.
(B) He has intellectual powers by which he knows all things within the sphere of his being.
(C) He has the power of contrary choice which constitutes him a free agent … to which his own nature gives prevalence.
(D) He has a moral nature, or a nature with reference to which we can say ought and ought not.
(E) This moral nature as originally existent must have been …w/ taint of sin, w/o tendencies to sin, inclined towards the right, with a holy taste for the holiness of God … accompanied by readiness to obey the law of God, and perception of man’s duty to serve him. [cf. Eccl. 12:13]
(F) Perpetuity of existence also belongs to the nature of created spirit … This is commonly called immortality.
Wayne Grudem | Out of all the creatures God made, only one creature, man, is said to be made in the image of God. What does that mean? We may use the following definition: The fact that man is in the image of God means that man is like God and represents God.
When God says, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness (Gen. 1:26), the meaning is that God plans to make a creature similar to himself. Both the Hebrew word for image (tselem) and the Hebrew word for likeness (demut) refer to something that is similar but not identical to the thing it represents or in as image of. The word image can also be used of something that represents something else.
Theologians have spent much time attempting to specify one characteristic of man, or a very few, in which the image of God is primarily seen. Some have thought that the image of God consists in man’s intellectual ability, others in his power to make moral decisions and willing choices. Others have thought that the image of God referred to man’s original moral purity, or his creation as male and female (see Gen. 1:27), or his dominion over the earth.
In this discussion it would be best to focus attention primarily on the meanings of the words image and likeness. As we have seen, these terms had quite clear meanings to the original readers. When we realize that the Hebrew words for image and likeness simply inform the original readers that man was like God, and would in many ways represent God, much of the controversy over the meaning of image of God is seen to be a search for too narrow and too specific a meaning. When Scripture reports that God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness (Gen. 1:26), it simply would have meant to the original readers, Let us make man to be like us and to represent us.
Because image and likeness had these meanings, Scripture does not need to say something like,
The fact that man is in the image of God means that man is like God in the following ways: intellectual ability, moral purity, spiritual nature, dominion over the earth, creativity, ability to make ethical choices, and immortality [or some similar statement].
Such an explanation is unnecessary, not only because the terms had clear meanings, but also because no such list could do justice to the subject: the text only needs to affirm that man is like God, and the rest of Scripture fills in more details to explain this.
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Rom. 2:14-15 | For when Gentiles who do not have the Law do instinctively the things of the
Law, these, not having the Law, are a law to themselves, in that they show the work of the Law
written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness and their thoughts alternately accusing or
else defending them,
John MacArthur | Without knowing the written law of God, people in pagan society generally value and attempt to practice its most basic tenets. This is normal for cultures instinctively to value justice, honesty, compassion, and goodness toward others, reflecting the divine law written in the heart. … Their practice of some good deeds and their aversion to some evil ones demonstrate an innate knowledge of God’s law – a knowledge that will actually witness against them on the day of judgment. …
Conscience | [is] that instinctive sense of right and wrong that produces guilt when violated. In addition to an innate awareness of God’s law, men have a warning system that activates when they choose to ignore or disobey the law.
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Gen. 3:6 | When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the
eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she
gave also to her husband with her, and he ate.
James 1:13-16 | Let no one say when he is tempted, I am being tempted by God; for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone. But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust. Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death. Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren. – [cf. Genesis 3:8-13 | … the woman said, The serpent deceived me …; 1 Timothy 2:9-15]
Charles C. Ryrie | To tempt is to test, try, prove, or solicit for evil. … In this verse the word means – a solicitation to evil – and this James says, is not from God but from man’s own inner lust (v. 14). Any attempt at self-excuse is based on ignorance both of God and of the nature of temptation.
1 John 2:15-17a | Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in Him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. The world is passing away, and also its lust …
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Besides the law written in their hearts, they received a command not to eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, 9 which while they kept, they were happy in their communion with God, and had dominion over the creatures. 10
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Gen. 2:17 | … from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day
that you eat from it you will surely die.
Matthew Henry | Though Adam was a very great man, a very good man, and a very happy man, yet the Lord God commanded him; and the command was no disparagement to his greatness, no reproach to his goodness, nor any diminution at all to his happiness. Let us acknowledge God’s right to rule us, and our own obligations to be ruled by him; and never allow any will of our own in contradiction to, or competition with, the holy will of God.
. Surely Die – (John MacArthur) | To die has the basic idea of separation. It can mean spiritual separation, physical separation, and/or eternal separation. At the moment of their sin, Adam and Eve died spiritually, but because God was merciful they did not die physically until later (5:5). There is no reason given for this prohibition, other than it was a test [test of obedience – obey God or disobey His command (note on 2:9)]. There was nothing magical about that tree, but eating from it after it had been forbidden by God would indeed give man the knowledge of evil – since evil can be defined as disobeying God. Man already had the knowledge of good.
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Gen. 1:26,28 | Then God said, Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and
let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all
the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth. … God blessed them; and God
said to them, Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of
the sea and over the birds of the sky and over living thing that moves on the earth.
Before the Fall – Innocence and Fellowship
Genesis 2:8-25; 3:8 | The Lord God planted a garden in eastward in Eden, and there He put the man whom He had formed. Out of the ground the Lord God made every tree grow that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. … The Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall on Adam, and he slept; and He took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh in its place. Then the rib which the Lord God had taken from man He made into a woman, and He brought her to the man. … And they were both naked, and the man and his wife, and were not ashamed. … And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day …
After the Fall – Fear and Separation (Death)
Genesis 3: 6-11 | When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the three was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loin coverings. They heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. Then the Lord God called to the man, and said to him, Where are you? He said, I heard the sound of You in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid myself. And He said, Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?
Romans 5:12 | … through one man sin entered in the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned
Romans 8:20 | … creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope
John MacArthur | Because of man’s sin, God cursed the physical universe (Gen. 3:17-19), and now, no part of creation entirely fulfills God’s original purpose.
