Foundational Themes in Genesis – Study 7

The revelation of Jesus Christ, which the Father alone gives, includes and starts with the revelation of the first man Adam:

Rev 1:1 The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John:

Rev 22:13 I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.

In the book of Genesis the foundations of this revelation of Jesus are laid, and it is here where most can only see the description of a physical creation. This natural point of view serves as a parable (to the multitudes) in order that they cannot see and understand the important spiritual meaning behind “the things that are made”:

Mat 13:13 Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.

Rom 1:20 For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:

A physical understanding does not equate to a spiritual understanding. Only through the gift of faith can we understand the spiritual things of God:

Heb 11:3 Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.

God’s book of the first man Adam (and all his “generations”) is “framed” by every word that proceeded out of the mouth of God (Mat 4:4). The days of the physical creation recorded in Genesis 1 and 2 also brings out foundational themes applicable to the first Adam which gives us spiritual understanding that what God already established before Adam was actually created on the sixth day:

Psa 139:16 (ASV) Thine eyes did see mine unformed substance; And in thy book they were all written, Even the days that were ordained for me, When as yet there was none of them.

By creating the earth on the first day “without form, and void; and [with] darkness upon the face of the deep”, God shows those who can “see” (that is, to understand spiritual things) that He made Adam a “marred vessel of dishonour”. The light that was called to come forth after the darkness points to the truth that Adam will eventually be made a “vessel of honour” in the full image of God at the resurrection. Salvation (making man in God’s image) is a process (Jer 18:4, Rom 8:20, 9:21):

Gen 1:2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.
Gen 1:3 And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.
Gen 1:4 And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.
Gen 1:5 And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.

This initial state of imperfection of the “first born” of God is reiterated throughout Scriptures. “The elder shall serve the younger” is saying clearly that the spirit man, the “second man from heaven”, is superior to the earthy man, and He alone is in God’s ultimate spirit image:

Rom 9:12 It was said unto her, The elder shall serve the younger.
Rom 9:13 As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated.

1Co 15:47 The first man (Adam) is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven.

All that was in Adam is in us – Adam was just like us – imperfect from creation (Psa 51:5). Darkness and evil are also God’s creations (just like the light and peace):

Isa 45:7 I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace (Hebrew: “sha^lo^m” = safe/to be whole), and create evil: I the LORD do all these things.

Adam and all in him were appointed “once to die” before we all learn about the true light of salvation which comes only through a process of judgment:

Heb 9:27 And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:

Only in the resurrection will all in the first man Adam eventually receive what is the true spiritual light and salvation of God – that is after we first lived through the darkness and evil (1Co 15:22, Isa 45:7). On day two of the physical creation in Genesis 1, God yet again emphasizes this process in the creation of the firmament:

Gen 1:6 And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.
Gen 1:7 And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so.
Gen 1:8 And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day.

The Hebrew word which is used here for firmament is “ra^qi^ya”. This is a word which comes from a root that means “to pound” and thereby “to expand” as metal is beaten until it expands to a required standard. The idea that God “stretches” or “spreads” the heavens is found in many verses throughout Scripture (eg. Job 9:8, Psa 104:2, Isa 40:22, Jer 10:12, Eze 1:22, Zec 12:1). For some, it echoes a theory that the physical universe is still expanding on its own. Others perceive that God “sits” idle and is just watching “from a distance” how His creation is out of control. No, God is working and causing everything happening in His creation. Everything yields and bends to the power of His hands all the time:

Joh 5:17 But Jesus answered them, My Father worketh hitherto, and I work.

Eph 1:11 In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:

Although there is a physical realm called “heaven” around the earth which extends also out there in the larger cosmos of this physical creation, God’s spiritual heavens will not be found out there. The natural mind wants to believe that there is a heaven that is physically accessible by way of “going” to it. Somehow we naturally want something to travel to – we want to achieve something. Even when we hear that this physical universe has no end, our natural mind wants to avoid that possibility. Whatever the natural man gets involved with in the physical realm will never reach a point of satisfaction – “all is vanity (empty) and vexation of spirit” says the Preacher! Yet people still want to achieve or reach God’s heavens in the natural way. No, God’s spiritual heavens are something He alone will “pound” or work to fulfil His purpose:

1Co 2:14 But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

The heaven which God is “stretching forth” is a spiritual dimension inside each person which God created and in which He works to fulfill His goal or His will (Eph 1:11). The theme of what and where the heavens are is foundational to our understanding of the spiritual things of God. [Please read Mike’s study on this topic at this link:]
http://www.iswasandwillbe.com/whatwhereheaven.php]

God is much bigger than all the heavens combined, and the heavens cannot fully “contain” or “measure” Him or His works:

2Ch 2:6 But who is able to build him an house, seeing the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain him? who am I then, that I should build him an house, save only to burn sacrifice before him?

Isa 40:12 Who hath measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and meted out heaven with the span, and comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance?
Isa 40:13 Who hath directed the Spirit of the LORD, or being his counsellor hath taught him?
Isa 40:14 With whom took he counsel, and who instructed him, and taught him in the path of judgment, and taught him knowledge, and shewed to him the way of understanding?

Genesis 1:6-8 says that there are waters above and there are waters below this firmament or heavens. Water is used very frequently in the Scriptures as a symbol of life and cleansing. The water below the firmament is distinct from the waters above the firmament like the distinction between the flesh and the spirit or darkness and the light (Joh 3:6). Our natural, temporary, earthly life and our natural way of thinking is spiritual darkness – it is the waters or vapours that will vanish away:

Rom 8:6 For to be carnally [naturally] minded is death [darkness]; but to be spiritually minded is life [light] and peace [“sha^lo^m”].
Rom 8:7 Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.
Rom 8:8 So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.

Jas 4:14 Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.

Flesh indeed profits NOTHING (Joh 6:63) – it will not be there “on the morrow”. On the other hand, God’s ways and His thoughts are showing us what the waters “above the firmament” means:

Isa 55:8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD.
Isa 55:9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.

God’s ways and thoughts are also called the mind of Christ, which is the “higher heaven” where God abides (Joh 14:23). This is the record and testimony of Jesus Christ (Rev 1:2). These heavens are they who can declare His glory and show His work. They are the cherubim where He dwells:

Psa 19:1 To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David. The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork.

1Co 2:16 For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.

Isa 37:16 O LORD of hosts, God of Israel, that dwellest between the cherubims, thou art the God, even thou alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth: thou hast made heaven and earth.

They are God’s throne and who can stand on the sea of glass as they have found light and peace in the midst of the fire of God, knowing and declaring that His judgements are righteous and true:

Rev 4:6 And before the throne there was a sea of glass like unto crystal: and in the midst of the throne, and round about the throne, were four beasts full of eyes before and behind.

Rev 15:2 And I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire: and them that had gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name, stand on the sea of glass, having the harps of God.

Eph 6:14 Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;

But the first man Adam is locked up in his arrogant and high-mindedness (his way of thinking), and he values himself as a god (2Th 2:3-4). He reviles God’s judgment as he thinks he can either avoid it or that it is actually for those evil people ‘out there’. The natural mind cannot see that God’s judgment (“pounding”) is His school where we will all be taught His ways and where we are clothed with His righteousness:

Isa 26:9 With my soul have I desired thee in the night; yea, with my spirit within me will I seek thee early: for when thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness.

Rev 19:8 And to her [the bride of the Lamb] was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.

Adam and Eve did not have this necessary clothing and protection (from the Potter’s hand). All of us in Adam are naked, and without God’s judgment we cannot even see that:

Gen 2:25 And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.

All physical things are the “waters below the firmament” which keep us thirsty. Drinking sea water is always dangerous and deadly when you are thirsty at sea. But the “waters from above the firmament” bring spirit life and spirit health, for sure:

Joh 4:13 Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again:
Joh 4:14 But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.

God’s waters are revealed to us through His Word, Jesus Christ, alone. God established that His Word will never return void. He sent Jesus Christ to be the Savior of the whole world and that is what Jesus will achieve 100% – the waters “above the firmament” will sanctify and cleanse all:

Isa 55:10 For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater:
Isa 55:11 So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.

Eph 5:26 That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,

Joh 6:39 And this is the Father’s will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day.