Wonderful way that the Bible
opens Genesis 1-1, in the beginning God created the heaven and the
earth. Now, we will look at one word
out of that, the word God. during our study of the morning. Psalm 19 and verse 1, the heavens
declare the glory of God and the firmament showeth his handiwork. Then Romans chapter 1 and verse
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, or literally divinity,
so that they are without excuse. But our principal text is Genesis
1 and 1. In the beginning, God created
the heaven and the earth. Now from these texts, I'd like
to speak on that subject, the being and the existence of God. This is the beginning place for
all religion. Or let me add the word, true
religion. This God is the beginning place
of all true religion. The being and the existence of
God, that He exists as a real being, especially so in the area
of Christian theology. For if there were no God, no
such thing as God, then there is neither ground nor reason
for any kind of religion whatsoever. Yet from olden times has there
been both the worship of the one true and the living God,
Jehovah, plus a multitude of heathen deities and idols, which
are called gods and are worshipped and are served by many. Paul
acknowledges in 1 Corinthians 8, 5, and 6. For there be many
that are called gods, whether in heaven or in earth, but to
us there is but one God, the Father of whom are all things,
and we in Him, and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things,
and we by Him. So I repeat, if there were no
God, religion would be a vain, empty, worthless futility. If there is not a God, or it
be as well to worship some inanimate object, whatever one might choose. If there is no God, then there
is no fear of what the Bible calls sin. If there is no God,
then there is no salvation to be sought and there is none to
judge our deeds in this world, no heaven and no hell and such
like, no profit from religion, nothing to be gained by it at
all if there is not a living eternal being called God. Well, let's go at our subject
and our first text, beginning here, if you would. This opens,
as we see, the canon of the Scripture. It is the first verse of the
first book of the canon of the sacred Scripture. And by the
way, when we hear or use the word canon, C-A-N-O-N, or even
the word canonization in connection with the book of the Bible, it
refers to those writings, those scriptures that are included
in the scripture that have been reckoned the status of being
the holy word of God. It also means that they have
the authority of the Scripture, and they are the standard of
practice, of belief, and of doctrine. Now, according to the New Testament,
Moses is the author of the text that we read in Genesis. In fact, Moses is the author
of the first five books of the Scripture, also call law or call
by the name of Pentateuch. Now, Pentateuch is a combination
of two words. First of all, Penta, P-E-N-T-A,
meaning five, and then Teuchos, referring to a containing vessel. And yet some say that the Jewish
canons of the Scripture refer to these five books collectively
by the name of the Torah and that they are teaching books
unto the people. Be that as it may, the name Genesis
means in the beginning. All the first five books of the
Bible have a very significant name or title, and Genesis means
beginning. For it gives us an account of
what John Gill called the creation of all things and treats of the
generation are the beginning or the origin of all things. It tells us how all things had
their beginning, especially the world and the heavens and humanity,
and all things in the world. They neither evolved from pre-existing
matter. God created all things by the
word of His power. He did not create it from pre-existing
matter, but He spoke into existence by the power of His own word
and will. God created all things, many
of them simply by the Word of His power. Think about that. He spoke them into existence. He said and it was so. He spake and it was done. In Hebrews 11 and verse 3 we
read, through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by
the Word of God, so that the things which are seen are not
made of things which do appear." Psalm 33, verse 8 and 9. Let all the earth fear the Lord,
that all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him, for
He spoke, and it was, He commanded, and it stood fast." Now, a couple
of facts become evident to us from our Scripture of the morning. Number one is that All things
owe their very existence to God, as in John chapter 1 and verse
3. All things were made by Him,
without Him was not anything made. that was made. By the way, this is said of the
Lord Jesus Christ, that He is Creator. Now the second thing
that we want to look at, and it brings us closer to our subject
and to our text, is that God existed before all things else
had an existence. God existed before all things,
but that doesn't take it quite far enough. God existed before
all things, but He Himself had no beginning. He had no beginning
of His being. There never was time. We have to use the word time.
What other word can we use when God was not? So it is not just
that God existed before all things, but that He eternally, everlastingly,
existed, or to put it another way, He was never non-existent. We might make the case that the
angels, the heavenly hosts, existed themselves before the creation
of the heaven and the earth, here in Genesis chapter 1. And
yet the angels are not eternal, for they had a beginning. They were created by God at some
point before God created the heaven and the earth. They are
not truly eternal, for being created by God, they had a beginning,
so that takes away any hope of their eternality. Now, let me
say it clearly, only God has absolute eternality. And He has it privately, or independently. We'll explain that as we go along. Meaning that he, as Stephen Charnock
put it in his wonderful book, The Existence and Attributes
of God, quote, God is his own eternality, unquote. Think about
that for a moment. God is eternal. And God is His
own eternality. Meaning, it was not earned, it
was not bestowed upon Him as a gift, it was not attained after
a period of endurance or perseverance on the part of God. He had no
beginning. That's His eternality. For there
never was Instead of saying time, I'm going to say point. There
never was a point at which God was non-existent. And because He had no beginning,
He therefore can have no end. He is Alpha and Omega. He had no beginning. He can have
no end. We read in Psalm 90 and the second
verse, before the mountains were brought forth, or ever Thou had
formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting
Thou art God." Now that's a way of expressing the absolute eternality
of God. from everlasting to everlasting
thou art God. Now, let's look around a bit
there in the 90th Psalm before we move along. In verse 1, Lord,
you have been our dwelling place in all generations. In other
words, in every previous generation. over all of the passing years
of their history. The Lord had been their dwelling
place. Or, as a man named William Bradshaw
put it, our mansion house. Thou hast been, Lord, our mansion
house. that God had a special care for
His people, providing all necessary unto them? And this says the
Scripture from generation unto generation. Nor is this any surprise,
since from everlasting to everlasting, He is the unchangeable God. And as Calvin, a good theologian,
noted, this everlasting, Everlastingness includes not only the essence
of God, not only His being, but also His oversight and His providence
is included. Everlasting to everlasting. As to the essence or the being
of God, He is capable and did abide alone. Let's say that again. The essence of God, His being,
is capable and did abide alone, having neither lack nor need. before time or before human history,
if you will, was set in motion by the creation of the heaven
and the earth and creatures upon it, there was only that infinite
being the eternal everlasting God. And that God, as the scripture
said, inhabited eternity. He was all sufficient in and
of himself. He stood in need of nothing from
without. Nothing from without to supply
His need, to make up any lack, to make Him happy, to give Him
joy. He stood in need of nothing from
without as He was inhabiting eternity. Now the eternality
of God is the great foundation of His being. Take that away
and what have we left? of God and His attribute. If
He were not eternal, He would not be God. If He had a beginning,
He is not true and real God. So that His deity, or His Godhood,
is therefore inseparably connected to His eternality and vice versa. How can He be God who once was
not at all? How could He be this great God
if He were once not in being? Or what is there that could give
being to this God, this great God? Not even God could create
Himself. Not even God is able to make
Himself. So He eternally, everlastingly
existed. And to consider God as evolving
is utter blasphemy to the worst degree. Now perhaps we ought
to notice that Moses writing in Genesis chapter 1, an account
of the creation. He takes for granted the existence
of God. In the beginning God created. There is no doubt about the one
to whom he is referring, for he uses that name Elohim, which
some good expositors contend is a plural name of God used
in almost every single verse here in Genesis chapter 1 and
many other places. Moses does not attempt to prove
to us the existence of this Elohim. He writes from the standpoint
that God exists. that He is, and He created the
heaven, and He created the earth. Neither does He leave any room
for evolution, but writes from the standpoint of special, direct
creation by God. A creative week, if you will,
is set out in Genesis chapter 1. The morning and the evening
were the first day, and so on. So Moses offers no proof here
to convince any of the existence of this God who created. For it is the fool who has said
in his heart, there is no God. Psalm 14 and verse 1. Psalm 53
and verse 1. The fool has said in his heart,
there is no God. Now, as soon as one believes
to the saving of their soul, they then and there not only
believe in the one true and the living God, but that the very
same God is the Creator of all things and that every word of
the Scripture is in essence the very Word of God. Now, let's make some distinctions
here concerning eternal, everlasting, forever and ever. These are terms
that we meet with throughout the Scripture. Some things are
said, now hear me carefully, some things are said to be everlasting,
and are said to be forever and ever, but which had a beginning
point. Some things are called everlasting,
forever and ever, which had a beginning point and were created by God. Only God, is my point, possesses
true and absolute eternality. A true eternality has neither
beginning nor end. Now, consider what is said of
that great high priest of ours, the Lord Jesus, in Hebrews chapter
7 and verse 3. Without father, without mother,
without descent, that is, the margin has pedigree, having neither
beginning of days nor end of life." That refers to Melchizedek. We've studied that before. Now,
it is in the sense that God has neither beginning or end, that
He is called eternal and from everlasting to everlasting. For example, Deuteronomy chapter
33, verse 27. The eternal God, the eternal
God is thy refuge. In Romans 16, 26, Paul writes
of the everlasting God, Isaiah 40, verse 28. the everlasting
God. And in 1st Timothy chapter 1
and verse 17, Paul refers to God as eternal, immortal, invisible. Eternal, immortal, and invisible. And because of the nature of
true eternality, God alone is absolutely eternal. is only properly applied unto
God, and would be improperly applied to any person, angel,
or thing, or ordinance which God instituted among the people. On the other hand, some things
are called everlasting which took a beginning and an end,
such as the rite of circumcision, which in Genesis 17 and verse
13 is said to be in the flesh, quote, An everlasting covenant. An everlasting covenant. But now, according to Paul, means
nothing toward any kind of spiritual advantage. Now concerning the
instituted Passover, we read in Exodus 12 and verse 14, You
shall keep it a feast to the Lord throughout your generation. You shall keep it a feast by
an ordinance forever. was God's command unto them.
And yet, we know that it was abolished in the death of the
Lord Jesus Christ. So we can see from Exodus 12
and verse 14 that the expressions are synonymous. Throughout your
generation? Forever. Forever. Throughout
your generation. And Gil and Sharnock and others
have made the point that some things are called eternal or
everlasting, which shall have no end, though they had a beginning
point." Charnock named in this class the angel, the souls of
men and of women, that there was a time when these were not
existent, and then they were given being. But we'll never
have an end, the soul of man, or the angels, or whatever. Charnock
put it, there were nothing before they were something, though they
shall never be nothing again, unquote. That though their being
shall never cease, Yet there was a time when it began. And therefore, the everlastingness
is not the same as the eternality of God. Consider eternal life. John 3 and verse 15. Or everlasting
life. Romans 6 and verse 22. That though it has a starting
point in the individual, in the elect, some point in time when
it took effect in them, yet it can and will have no end, for
it is everlasting or eternal life. But true and absolute eternality
is unique to God in that only He had no beginning. Yet, as Sharnock wrote, this
eternality of His is not held in common with any other creature."
Eternality in this sense is not bestowed on any that had a beginning. No, not even those who were given
in eternity before the world was created, given their being,
such as the angelic family. While some of the angels are
elect, 1 Timothy 5, And verse 21, yet none are absolutely eternal,
though they will never go completely out of existence. Now as we think
about those things, by the way, we must accord the very same
eternality to Christ the Son that we accord unto God the Father. Christ, as to His divine nature,
get that, as to His divine nature, had no beginning. Christ the
Son, as to His divine nature, was never non-existent. He is co-equal and he is co-eternal
with the Father, as seen in that wonderful passage whereby John
opens up his gospel, chapter 1, verses 1-4. through three. Christ is not the first of God's
creation in that He was given being. And though there was a
time when the Son of God was not man, there was never a time
when He was not very God. He was always God and was made
flesh, assumed flesh, in union with His divine nature. So, let's
try to put the eternality of God and its importance in a proper
perspective. That eternality defines the duration
of God. As to His duration, it is eternal. As duration is His continuing
existence from everlasting to everlasting, but not having any
beginning. But hear the short quote, which
until this week I had overlooked in a commentary that I have had
for years. Quote, Eternality is the first
and the choice perfection of God and the glow and the luster
of all other attributes. What a wonderful statement is
that. Eternality, the first and the
choice, perfection of the Almighty God. This attribute, I then thought,
gives being unto the other. The loss of eternality. for God
to not be eternal, would in effect strip him of his very deity or
godhood and wipe out the accompanying attributes of the Almighty God. First of all, because God is
eternal, There is no passing of time with Him. Think about that. No passing
of time with Him. As to His being, or can we call
it experience? As to His being, there is no
past. There's no future. There's no
yesterday. There's no tomorrow. There's
only a constant presence with God. As time passes with us,
we grow older. We begin to deteriorate. But
God is eternal and time Not only is of no essence, but
has no effect on him. He ever exists, but he never
ages. Ever existing, but never aging. He never changes because of his
eternality. His immutability is rooted in
his eternality as well. A man named Herman Bevinck, a
Dutchman I think, wrote in his book called The Doctrine of God. The concept of God's eternality
has three main characteristics that we can see and distinguish. Number one, no beginning. No beginning with God. At no
point was God non-existent, then became or took existence. So the first point, no beginning. Secondly, there cannot and will
not be an end to the eternal God. He cannot be destroyed,
He cannot die, for He has life in Himself. John 5, verse 26,
what a wonderful verse is that. There is nothing that threatens
the being of our God. Think on what the Lord Jesus
Christ said. both about the Father and about
Himself. And you'll find it in John chapter
5, 24 through verse 29, but especially in verse 26. Now the context
is concerning eternal life, and raising up from the dead. And the Son's ability to do the
same thing as the Father. It amounts to a claim of divinity
on the part of Christ. In John 5, verse 21, the Father
quickens the dead, both spiritually and physically. So does the Son. Then look at the 22nd verse,
the father judges, so he has committed judgment into the hand
of the son. Verse 23, the son is due equal
honor with the father. And then verse 24, 25, he that
hears and believes on the Son, has
eternal life, and the Son has power to call forth the dead
out of their death, and to act as the great mediator between
God and men. Then, verse 26, The Father has life in Himself. Now think about that and the
theological meaning of it. The Father has life in Himself. The Son has been given to have
life in Himself. Not only are they their own life,
not dependent upon any other for their life, but are the givers
of life and the rescuers out of death. But the third thing
about God's eternality, which Bebink mentions we already have
alluded to, and that is, There is no succession of time in God's
experience. There are not even any moments,
neither are there days, or weeks, or months, or years, or seasons,
or decades, or centuries, or millenniums with the great and
eternal God. To this someone might argue,
listen, Scripture speaks of the years of God in such places as
Job 36 and 26. The number of His years is past
finding out. In Psalm 40 verse 4, A thousand
years in your sight. Or as yesterday when it is past
and as a watch in the night. So why then, if God is eternal
and does not experience passing of time, does the Scripture on
the other hand speak of years? Years in regard to God. Well,
we answer, as did the Puritan Thomas Goodwin, that Scripture
at times uses anthropomorphic language. That is, Scripture
uses human terminology to enable us to grasp some truth about
our great God. And the psalmist uses years to
declare the uncounted a duration of God. Years in men's terms
which cannot be numbered. Here's what Goodwin said about
years being ascribed unto God. Quote, the Holy Ghost expresses
Himself to the capacity of man to give us some notion of an
infinite duration by a resemblance suited to the capacity or ability
of man." This does not mean that God experiences His being as
we do in passing time or year. Compare this thought then with
the last one. Scripture speaks of the eyes
of God, does it not? It speaks of the hand of God,
the mouth of God, the arm of the Lord, Yet, we do not ascribe
unto Him a literal, physical body because members known to
man are ascribed to the great and eternal God that we might
better understand His way and His work. But let's return to
the previous point of emphasis. that His eternal being is the
first and leading attribute. The choice perfection of God
is His eternality, that He had no beginning, that He has life
in Himself. is the essence of the other attributes
of God which are incommunicable unto any other creature. As for example, His infinity,
the infinity of God. Psalm 147 and verse 5. His understanding is infinite. Now, infinite means that what
God is, that every attribute that He possesses, He is and
possesses to the absolute fullness of that attribute. He is unbounded,
He is limitless, and by His very being and nature is exalted above
any and every finite creature. That every attribute of God is
infinite. In His eternality can have no
end. His power, He has all power. in heaven and earth, no limit. As to His knowledge, there is
nothing to be known but that God knows it. There is nothing
that God does not know to be known. As to His holiness, He
is immutably holy and it is that attribute that He swears by. I swore by my holiness, I will
not lie. Unto David. So, not only is there
His infinity, but let's use another word. There is the aseity of
God. A-S-E-I-T-Y. In the light of Exodus 3 and
verse 14. that what God is, He is of Himself. Remember Him saying unto Moses,
I am that I am. Now how are we to understand
that? I am that I am. This is how God would be identified
to the Egyptian and the Israelites when Moses went to Egypt. tell
them, I AM has sent you." That literally means, I will be what
I will be. I am what I am. And will be what I will be is
a good way to explain I am that I am. He'll put it, this signifies
the real being of God, especially His self-existence. that he is
God of all gods, the being of being, including his eternality
and immutability. Remember how many times the Lord
Christ referred to himself as the I Am? Remember how many times
Christ said that? I'm the way, I'm the light, I'm
the resurrection, I'm the truth, and such forth. And it had reference
to this great I AM. By the aseity of God, it's most
usually understood that God is His own existence. That He exists in and of Himself,
though not in the sense that he gave himself being, or is
the cause of his existence, but as being eternal, so that he
possesses his eternal being in an eternal present, that he has
need of nothing from without. Think about that. Need of nothing
from without. Being eternal and possessing,
therefore, every perfection unto its fullest degree, he therefore
is fully independent. He is the only one that is. God is fully independent, having
not a single need from without. There is no void that needs filling. There is no need that either
an angel or a man can supply, and God pity those poor Armenians
who teach that God created man because he was lonely and needed
some fellowship. This would imply that God had
a need, had an imperfection, if you will, that must or can
only be fulfilled from without. And this is a horrible blasphemy
that God had need of anything that comes from without. In Psalm
50 and verse 12, God illustrates that. If I were hungry, I would
not tell thee. Why? For the world is mine, and
the fullness thereof. If I were hungry, I would not
ask a supply of you, nor is that all. But because of the nature
of His essence, which duration is eternal, and which nature
is pure and uncreated spirit, God's nature is spirit. Pure, uncreated spirit. For God is spirit. John chapter
4 and verse 24, which by the way dictates how He is to be
worshipped. He's spirit and must be worshipped
in spirit and in truth. In this mode of existence, His
eternality and His spirit being accounts for His attribute of
omnipresence. In Psalm 139, verse 7 through
12. I don't think we'll take time
to read it there. But there, whither shall I go
from thy presence? Nowhere could you escape from
the presence of God. Jeremiah 23, 24. He fills heaven
and earth. is everywhere present, one in
the same time. Though not in the sense of pantheism,
that he is mixed up in creation. God is essentially everywhere
in heaven and in earth. And there is not a place but
what He is present in some way, nor could there be. And then
there is the immutability of our God, that He changes not,
Malachi 3 and verse 6. James 1. 17, neither shadow of
turning with Him. Two points quickly. Number one,
this doctrine of God establishes the great distance that there
is between God and His creature, man. His multi-perfections, if
you will, set Him apart and distinguish Him from the creature. Secondly, the great disparity
there is between the true God and the false gods of the heathen. He hath an eternal being, hath
no beginning, they are made or they are created. God is supreme
essence, altogether perfect. infinite, unlimited, who with
himself possesses all essence of himself. To quote Charnot,
as eternality is the perfection whereby he has neither beginning
or end, immutability is the perfection whereby he has neither increase
or diminution, that is, be less. So his immensity or omnipresence
is that whereby he has no bounds or limitations whatsoever. And think about this. The eternal
God is thy refuge. He is our refuge, our great and
eternal God, without beginning and without end. God is or possesses
perfect eternality. These things are deep and wonderful.
May the Spirit of the Lord help us and enable us to understand
them and take them into our heart.