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I. Creating the universe:
А. God created the heavens and the earth — Gen. 1:1:
1. God created the heavens with all the living things in the heavens:
а. Stretching forth the heavens — Isa. 42:5a; Zech. 12:1a.
b. Creating the stars — Job 38:7a.
c. Creating the sons of God — the angels, one of them becoming Satan — v. 7b; 1:6.
2. God created the earth with all the things on the earth:
а. Laying the foundations of the earth — Zech. 12:1b; Job 38:4.
b. In the proper measurements with the solid bases and the marking cornerstones — vv. 5-6.
c. Spreading forth the earth and what springs up from it — Isa. 42:5b.
d. The morning stars sang together and all the angels shouted for joy at God’s beautiful building of the earth — Job 38:7.
B. God’s initial creation of the universe before Satan’s rebellion.
II. Judging Satan and the universe:
А. Satan was the Daystar (translated in Latin, “Lucifer”), son of the dawn, indicating that Satan was one of the early angels created by God at the “morning” of the universe — Isa. 14:12.
B. He was in Eden, the garden of God, upon the holy mountain in the heavens, and was anointed by God to be the chief archangel (Jude 9) above all the angels — Ezek. 28:13-14:
1. As the ruler of the world (proved by the musical instruments — v. 13b) — John 12:31; Luke 4:5-6; Eph. 2:2.
2. As the cherub covering the Ark, close to God as the high priest serving God — Ezek. 28:14-15a.
C. He rebelled against God — vv. 15-16:
1. His heart was lifted up because of his beauty and his brightness — v. 17.
2. He said in his heart, “I will ascend to heaven; / Above the stars of God / I will exalt my throne. / And I will sit upon the mount of assembly / In the uttermost parts of the north. / I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; / I will make myself like the Most High” — Isa. 14:13-14.
3. One-third of the angels of heaven participated in his rebellion — Rev. 12:4a.
4. The living creatures in the preadamic age also joined him in his rebellion.
D. The issue of his rebellion:
1. He became God’s adversary (Heb., Satan — Zech. 3:1-2; Rev. 12:9a; 20:2a).
2. He and his subordinate angels became the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenlies, of which he is the ruler — Eph. 6:12; 2:2b; Dan. 10:13, 20.
3. The living creatures of the preadamic age became demons (Matt. 12:43-45), working for his kingdom of darkness — v. 26; Acts 26:18a; Col. 1:13a.
4. God judged Satan so that he will be cast from the heavens to the earth and to Sheol, to the uttermost parts of the pit — Ezek. 28:16-17; Isa. 14:15.
5. God judged the heavens and the earth, which were polluted by Satan’s rebellion, and thereby the entire universe became dark — Job 9:5-7; Gen. 1:2a.
6. God will execute His judgment upon Satan, step by step, until he is cast into the lake of fire — Luke 10:17-19; Rev. 12:9, 10b, 13; 20:2-3, 7, 10.
7. Before the completion of the execution of God’s judgment upon him, he can still enter into the presence of God to accuse God’s people (Job 1:6-12; 2:1-7; Zech. 3:1-2; Rev. 12:10b) and, as a roaring lion he walks about, seeking someone to devour (1 Pet. 5:8).
8. Christ, in His flesh on the cross, destroyed him, in his person and nature, as the one who has the might of death — Heb. 2:14.
God is omnipotent, but apart from the Bible there is no record about Him in the whole universe. It is even hard to find a record concerning some of the false gods. But we do have a record about God, that is, the Bible. The most wonderful thing on the earth among the human race is this record.
The Pentateuch, which the Jews call the Torah, was written by Moses. Moses was not very early; rather, he was at least four hundred years later than Abraham and at least twenty-five centuries later than Adam. Here then is a marvelous question: Where did Moses get all his facts for the writing of the Pentateuch? Genesis is a record written by Moses, but you cannot find Moses’ support for his record. Therefore, people wonder where Moses got the material for Genesis, the account of Adam to Joseph. Sometimes Moses gives us a very detailed record, as in Genesis 3. Moses tells of man’s fall through the serpent and even gives us the conversation between the serpent and Eve in much detail. But where did Moses get this material?
From my youth I was told that the verbal record went down through the generations to Moses. But a verbal record is terrible. It is sometimes like a snowball: As it goes through the generations, it becomes a big ball with little fact and the rest myth. But if you study Genesis carefully, you cannot find myths. It seems that everything is a fact. That conversation in chapter 3 is very reasonable and very much like fact. Therefore, we must believe that while Moses was writing, he was under the moving of the Holy Spirit (2 Pet. 1:21). No doubt, there is some verbal tradition, but I believe that the main source of Moses’ writing was the move of the Holy Spirit.
The best Bible teachers say that Genesis is a book of history. But Genesis is also a book of stories. If Genesis were just a book of history, the record concerning Joseph, for instance, would not need to be as long as it is. It is strange that only three pages of Genesis are about God’s creation, while many pages are about this one man Joseph. Of the fifty chapters of Genesis, thirteen are about Joseph.
Why is the record of God’s creation so short and the record of this youth named Joseph so long? You must realize that the history of God is not a history related much to the creation. If Genesis were a full record of God’s creation, fifty chapters would not be sufficient. Scientists today spend not pages but books to tell us about the existence of the universe. But the Bible is not that kind of history. The Bible is a history of God in union not with the stars and the heavenly host nor with the beasts. The Bible is a history of God in union with man. Joseph occupies such a long portion of the record because God wants to show us how much He is there in Joseph’s situation. In the creation God only said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. There is no more detail than that. But when the same writer comes to Joseph, the record is in much detail. Because of the detail, you cannot read the story of Joseph without your affections being touched. Therefore, from reading these details we see that our God in His history is very much related to humanity.
Acts 7 says that when Abraham was still in Chaldea, the God of glory appeared to him (v. 2). Do you know in what way God appeared to Abraham? Genesis 18 gives us a clear record of this. One day Abraham sat at the entrance of his tent in the heat of the day. Then suddenly three men came. Of these three, one was Christ, who is called Jehovah in this chapter (vv. 1, 13). When the two angels who came with Christ left, Christ remained with Abraham, and Abraham talked to Jehovah face to face as he would to another person. This chapter is clear, but it presents a big problem. Christ was there in the human form, with a human body. He even ate Sarah’s cooking, and Abraham brought Him water so that He might wash His feet. This seems to contradict John 1:14, which says that at the time of the incarnation God became flesh. How could Christ already be in the flesh long before John 1:14? This is God’s history. Moses’ writing is very human, yet in this human record you can see God. God lived in this record. We may think that only God’s creation of the heavens and the earth is worth recording and that there is no need to have a long record about a youth like Joseph. But do you like to read Genesis chapters 1 and 2 more than chapters 37 through 50? Even if you read chapters 37 through 50 ten times, you will not get tired of them. These chapters are humanly very interesting, but you can see God there. This is God’s history in a human story. Chapters 37 through 50 of Genesis are a man’s story, but that story comprises God’s history.
Based upon this principle, the story about Jacob is even more interesting. His name means “heel holder,” one who grasps the heel, and he was surely a grasper. When his uncle charged him to shepherd the flock, he took the opportunity to grasp his uncle’s cattle (Gen. 30:25-43). Here you can see that although one of God’s chosen people was so cunning, God was working on him to change him from being a grasper into being a prince. Formerly, he was Jacob, but eventually his God made him Israel, which means “a prince” (32:28). In his youth this Jacob seemingly robbed everybody in his contact with them — his father Isaac (27:1-29), his brother Esau (25:29-34), and his uncle Laban. But when he was old and matured, he blessed others everywhere he went. What seemed to be stealing hands became blessing hands. When he met Pharaoh, the top king on the earth, he blessed him (47:7). In the Bible there is the principle that the one who blesses is greater than the one who is blessed (Heb. 7:7); hence, Jacob was greater than Pharaoh.
Genesis 5:22 says that Enoch walked with God for three hundred years. This also means that God walked with Enoch, a man, for three hundred years. These two friends never changed. After three hundred years God took His very intimate friend from the earth and away from death. Is this the story of Enoch or the history of God?
In Genesis 3 we read that after man fell, Adam and Eve were afraid. Then God came and called out to Adam, asking, “Where are you?” (v. 9). This seems very human. The righteous God talked to a sinner in a very intimate, friendly way. Without such a story, how could you know God? Is this the record of Adam and Eve? Apparently it is, but actually it is even more a record of God’s history. It shows us more about God than about Adam and Eve.
If you pick up this principle and apply it to the entire Bible, you can see God on every page. The Bible is not mainly a record of men but a record of God. Furthermore, it is not a record of God in creation; rather, it is a history of God in His dealing with man, who is on His heart. In His dealings with man we can know Him, and we can see what kind of God He is.
You need to read Genesis again according to this principle to see what kind of God is there. Genesis is the first book of God’s history. By reading Genesis in this way, you can see this God manifested and shown to us through all the stories of Him with man. When you add all these stories together, you see His history. Without Genesis you cannot know God very well. Some people say that the New Testament is more important than the Old, and some would even say that we do not need the Old Testament today. But I must tell you that without the Old Testament, you cannot know God so well. Without the story in Genesis 32, could you believe that God wrestled with the man Jacob and that He was not able to prevail against a man (v. 25)? In His wrestling He had no way to put Jacob down, but He exercised His almighty, divine, omnipotent strength and touched his thigh. Then Jacob was crippled, and from then on he limped when he walked. Without such a story, how could you know that God would even wrestle with His people? Perhaps you think that this is the story just of God with Jacob and that today He would not wrestle with anyone. But you are wrong. He may have even tried to wrestle with you this morning, but perhaps you were not ready. Jacob was ready that night because he was desperate, because his brother, whom he had cheated, was coming. He was afraid, so he sent his wife and his children ahead while he remained there. Then he began to wrestle with God, and he would not let God go, for he had one thing to solve with God.
God is this kind of God, but without the Bible we cannot know God in this way. We have heard all the terms about God, that He is righteous, faithful, kind, loving, merciful, and so much more. But we do not know how He is all these. If you would pick up this principle when you read the Bible, I believe that from today the Bible would be a different book to you.
In the previous chapter we saw God in eternity past. Why is the record of God in eternity past so short? Because there was no man there. Since there was no man there, God did not have much interest in recording this. Therefore, the record in Genesis 1 concerning this is just a half-sentence long. In the first sentence of the Bible only the first half-sentence is concerning God in eternity. “In the beginning...” This is in eternity past. Then the next half is concerning time: “God created the heavens and the earth.” God’s creation is a landmark between eternity and time. On the other side of creation is eternity, and on this side of creation is time. But these two sides are presented in just one verse. We know more about God in eternity past than what is in this verse because in the sixty-six books of the Bible, there is a sentence here and half a sentence there, a small point here and a small point there, about this matter. We have spent years to pick up all these points. But the record in Genesis 1 is so short: “In the beginning.” If you could ask God why the record is so short, I believe that He would say, “Do you not realize that in the beginning, in eternity past, there was no man? I have no interest in that because I want to be in man so that I can be one with man. I wanted to make man so that he can be like Me. This is My interest.” Now we can understand why the Bible is full of men, even full of men with troubles of all kinds. It is in all the troubles among men that God is revealed. We can know God in His history only through man’s stories.
Time began at the creation of the universe, as recorded in Genesis 1:1, and continues until the final judgment at the great white throne (Rev. 20:11-15). Hence, Genesis 1:1 through Revelation 20:15 relates God’s history in time. Eternity past was before Genesis 1:1, and eternity future will be after Revelation 20:15. In between, there is the long span of time going from God’s creation to His final judgment.
In this span of time, probably around seven thousand years, God has a long history. Although the record of His history in eternity is not very long and does not have many stories, His history in time is long and full of stories. There is even a story about two twin brothers who fought in their mother’s womb (Gen. 25:22-26). They were competing to see who would come out first. I have never read another book that tells of twins fighting in their mother’s womb, struggling to be the first to come out of the womb. Only in the Bible have I read such a story. Yet you can see God in this story because it is a part of the history of God. In that fighting God evidently chose Jacob. God loved him and hated Esau (Rom. 9:13). We all know that God is a loving God, but through His dealing with Esau we know that He is also a hating God. If God is both a loving God and a hating God, how do we know whether He loves us or hates us? We know that He loves us because the Bible tells us that in eternity past He loved us and chose us, and after choosing us, He predestinated us in love (Eph. 1:4-5). We are not under God’s hating as Esau was but under God’s loving as Jacob was. We may not be as good as Esau, but even if we are as bad as Jacob, God can hate the good one and love the bad one. This may not be logical, but it is the Bible as God’s history. By all these stories you can see that the Bible is a history of God in humanity.
Let us now consider God’s history in time as it relates to His creation of the universe and His judgment on Satan and the universe.
The creation spoken of in Genesis 1:1 was the original creation, which preceded the restoration and further creation beginning with verse 2b.
When God created the heavens, He first stretched forth the heavens (Isa. 42:5a; Zech 12:1a). Then He created the stars. Job says that when God was creating the earth, the stars were praising God (Job 38:7a). Hence, before God created the earth, He created the stars. God then created certain living things in the heavens. At least the angels were created then. Job 38:7b tells us that the sons of God, that is, the angels, were also present when the earth was created. One of these angels became Satan, God’s enemy (1:6).
The Bible says strongly that when God created, He laid the foundations of the earth (Zech. 12:1b; Job 38:4). Can we say what the earth is laid upon? The foundations of the earth are not laid upon anything. The earth has foundations, but it seemingly does not have anything supporting it. Actually, all things are upheld by Christ (Heb. 1:3; Col. 1:17). Hence, many scientists agree that there must be an almighty One who holds the earth. This almighty One is Christ.
When God created this earth, He measured it out and laid it on solid bases. Not only were there bases, but there were also cornerstones, marking the corners. The earth was made very well, not in a messy way. Job 38:5-6 mentions this clearly.
God spread forth not only the earth but also all the things that spring up from the earth (Isa. 42:5b). What was His purpose in doing this? Isaiah 45:18 says that God created the earth to be inhabited by man. The globe is a fitting place for man to live on. When man landed on the moon over twenty years ago, we found out how different from the earth things are there. There is no air on the moon, so we cannot live there. There are no living things on the moon. The moon is not a fitting place for us to live. Genesis 1 speaks of the expanse. That is the air. From the expanse rain comes, and in the winter the snow comes. These make the earth a fitting place for us to live.
At the time when God was spreading forth the earth, the morning stars sang together and all the angels, the sons of God, shouted for joy at God’s beautiful building of the earth (Job 38:7). The earth is really beautiful. This is why so many people enjoy sightseeing. In places like Yosemite or Yellowstone, you can see how beautiful the earth is. Everything is beautiful, even the flowers. If you go to a zoo, you can see beautiful animals: bears, tigers, lions, leopards, and all kinds of birds. God created the earth in this way for us. God is a God of good pleasure, and He made us as men of good pleasure. Because of this, man seeks amusement. Today’s amusements, however, are terrible because they are full of Satan. But in the beginning there was real amusement. In Genesis 2 there is such a phrase: every tree that is pleasant to the sight (v. 9). All the trees are pleasant to the sight. How do we know that God loves beauty? We need only look at the earth that He created for us. Furthermore, on a clear night we can see how beautiful all the stars are. All these prove that God is a God of beauty.
The foregoing matters are all related to God’s initial creation of the universe, which occurred before Satan’s rebellion.
In Isaiah 14:12 Satan is called the Daystar. This term Daystar was translated “Lucifer” in the Latin version of the Bible. Daystar means “morning star.” He is also called the son of the dawn, indicating that Satan was one of the earliest angels created by God at the “morning” of the universe.
Ezekiel 28:13-14 says that Satan was in Eden, the garden of God. This is not the Eden in Genesis 2, which was the Eden on the earth. The Eden here is the garden of God upon the holy mountain in the heavenlies. Furthermore, Satan was anointed by God to be the chief archangel. Jude 9 also tells us that he was the chief archangel and was above all the angels.
From the day of Satan’s creation, God prepared musical instruments around him (Ezek. 28:13b). This indicates that he was a ruler, a king. Furthermore, in John 12:31 the Lord says that Satan is the ruler of the world. Then in Luke 4:5-6 Satan himself indicated that he has authority over the world. Ephesians 2:2 calls Satan the ruler of the authority of the air.
Ezekiel 28:14 goes on to tell us that Satan was the cherub covering the Ark. This is not the Ark on the earth but the Ark in heaven. He was the cherub upon the Ark, covering it. He was very close to God as the high priest serving God. Therefore, on the one hand he was a king, and on the other hand he was a priest. Today we have taken this position. We were born priests, and we are going to be kings. Our position today was once Satan’s position. Because of his failure, this position has come to us.
Satan’s heart was lifted up because of his beauty and his brightness (v. 17). This was arrogance. He said in his heart, “I will ascend to heaven; / Above the stars of God / I will exalt my throne. / And I will sit upon the mount of assembly / In the uttermost parts of the north” (Isa. 14:13). The uttermost parts of the north means the highest place. This was Satan’s arrogant declaration. He wanted to sit upon the throne of assembly, where God sits in the uttermost parts of the north. In Job there are two times when God assembled with all the angels in this place of assembly (1:6; 2:1). Isaiah 14 continues: “I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; / I will make myself like the Most High” (v. 14). These are the five points of Satan’s arrogant declaration, each beginning with the words I will. Satan wanted to be on the same level as God. This was his rebellion.
When Satan rebelled, one-third of the angels of heaven participated in that rebellion. Revelation 12:4 says that one-third of the stars, that is, one-third of the angels, followed the dragon Satan. This indicates that they followed Satan in his rebellion. These angels eventually became the fallen angels.
The living creatures in the preadamic age also joined Satan in his rebellion. Students of the Bible agree that according to the record of the Bible, in the age before Adam, there should have been some living creatures. Those living creatures also followed Satan in his rebellion.
Because of his rebellion Satan became God’s adversary, God’s enemy (Zech. 3:1-2; Rev. 12:9a; 20:2a). Satan is a Hebrew word that means “adversary.” He is the adversary within and the enemy without. Satan and his subordinate angels then became the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenlies, of which Satan is the ruler. This is clearly revealed in the book of Ephesians (6:12; 2:2b; Dan. 10:13, 20). The living creatures of the preadamic age became demons (Matt 12:43-45), working for Satan’s kingdom of darkness (v. 26; Acts 26:18a; Col. 1:13a).
God then judged Satan so that he will be cast from the heavens to the earth and into Sheol, to the uttermost parts of the pit (Ezek. 28:16-17; Isa. 14:15). Sheol in the Old Testament equals Hades in the New Testament. Satan wanted to go to the uttermost parts of the north, to the highest place, but eventually God judged him, and He will throw him into the uttermost parts of the pit.
God also judged the heavens and the earth, which had become polluted because of Satan’s rebellion. The heavens were polluted by Satan because after his rebellion he continued to go into heaven. Hence, the entire universe became dark (Job 9:5-7). In Genesis 1:2a the darkness of the entire universe is mentioned.
Although God has judged Satan, He will execute His judgment upon him step by step, until Satan is cast into the lake of fire. God judged Satan and declared His verdict on him, but He did not execute the verdict at that time. According to the Bible, God carries out the execution of His judgment upon Satan gradually, step by step. In Luke 10:17-19 the Lord Jesus said that while He was on the earth, He saw Satan falling down out of heaven. Then in Revelation 12:9 Satan is cast down from the heavens at another time, and in Revelation 20:2-3 he is bound and cast into the bottomless pit. Finally, he is cast into the lake of fire (Rev. 20:10). Yet before the completion of the execution of God’s judgment upon him, he can still enter into the presence of God to accuse God’s people, as he did in the case of Job (Job 1:6-12; 2:1-7; Zech. 3:1-2; Rev. 12:10b). Today he also walks about on the earth as a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour (1 Pet. 5:8). Nevertheless, whatever he does is a kind of help to God so that God may perfect His people.
Hebrews 2:14 tells us that Christ, in His flesh on the cross, destroyed Satan, in his person and nature, as the one who has the might of death. Thus, Satan’s judgment has been executed on his person and nature, because Christ has destroyed him on the cross.
In the history of God in time, these are the initial things: God’s creation, Satan’s rebellion, God’s judgment on Satan, and God’s carrying out of His judgment on him.
