# Genesis 1



## Toasty (Jan 2, 2017)

I've noticed that Genesis 1 uses the phrase "Let there be" frequently. Does this phrase imply that God spoke things into existence?

Genesis 1:3 - Let there be light.
Genesis 1:6 - Let there be an expanse.
Genesis 1:9 - Let the waters below the heavens be gathered into one place.
Genesis 1:14 - Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens.


----------



## Peairtach (Jan 2, 2017)

It uses the phrase "And God said" too. So God spoke things into existence, and Christ is the Word through which He spoke (John 1).

Sent from my C6903 using Tapatalk

Reactions: Like 1


----------



## Contra_Mundum (Jan 2, 2017)

Rom.4:17, "... God, who gives life to the dead and calls those things which do not exist as though they did;"

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

Reactions: Like 2


----------



## Daniel M. (Jan 2, 2017)

Peairtach said:


> It uses the phrase "And God said" too. So God spoke things into existence, and Christ is the Word through which He spoke (John 1).
> 
> Sent from my C6903 using Tapatalk



Excellent that you mentioned Christ in this. John 1 states, "All things were made through Him"; a nugget of eternity that I always smile at in wonder.

Reactions: Like 1


----------



## Peairtach (Jan 3, 2017)

We have the Holy Trinity, therefore, in Genesis 1 (see Genesis 1:2). See also e.g. Psalm 33:6.

Sent from my C6903 using Tapatalk


----------



## Dachaser (Jan 3, 2017)

Contra_Mundum said:


> Rom.4:17, "... God, who gives life to the dead and calls those things which do not exist as though they did;"
> 
> Heb.11:3, "By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible."


 
Those 2 verses that you quoted were the ones the Lord used to show me that unlike Charasmatics who claim God used faith force to create, As I was taught, instead, that it was my faith/belief that God just spoke everything into creation by being God period.


----------



## TheologiaCrucis (Jan 9, 2017)

They are imperative verbs... I had a professor at Concordia Seminary who called these "divine imperatives" that when spoken by God actually accomplish what they command. Interestingly, Luther takes the imperative "be fruitful and multiply" in the same sense... By these words God makes us fruitful, etc. There is some reason to appreciate this reading, particularly in the light of the hiphil used in the parallel evocation of these words upon the inauguration of the Abrahamic covenant.


----------



## earl40 (Jan 9, 2017)

Toasty said:


> I've noticed that Genesis 1 uses the phrase "Let there be" frequently. Does this phrase imply that God spoke things into existence?
> 
> Genesis 1:3 - Let there be light.
> Genesis 1:6 - Let there be an expanse.
> ...



All above are great answers in that God creates out of nothing. May I ask if you may have been thinking that God literally "spoke" like we do amongst ourselves? I ask because many have a faulty view of God in thinking He has vocal chords.


----------



## Peairtach (Jan 9, 2017)

No. All language about God's acts is analogical to man's acts. God is completely "other" to his creation. by "other" I don't mean cut off from, but different, He being the Creator. We should understand this here even better, when we know that His word is the Son, and His breath is the Spirit. 

Sent from my C6903 using Tapatalk

Reactions: Like 1


----------



## earl40 (Jan 9, 2017)

Peairtach said:


> No. All language about God's acts is analogical to man's acts. God is completely "other" to his creation. by "other" I don't mean cut off from, but different, He being the Creator. We should understand this here even better, when we know that His word is the Son, and His breath is the Spirit.
> 
> Sent from my C6903 using Tapatalk



Indeed. I hope you do not think I was asking this of you Richard.


----------



## Dachaser (Jan 10, 2017)

Peairtach said:


> No. All language about God's acts is analogical to man's acts. God is completely "other" to his creation. by "other" I don't mean cut off from, but different, He being the Creator. We should understand this here even better, when we know that His word is the Son, and His breath is the Spirit.
> 
> Sent from my C6903 using Tapatalk


 When it states that God spoke, would this tie into Jesus being the Creator, the One through whom God spoke to create all things?


----------



## Peairtach (Jan 12, 2017)

Dachaser said:


> When it states that God spoke, would this tie into Jesus being the Creator, the One through whom God spoke to create all things?


Well, that's what I said there. His Word (the Word) is the Son.

Sent from my C6903 using Tapatalk


----------



## Dachaser (Jan 13, 2017)

Peairtach said:


> Well, that's what I said there. His Word (the Word) is the Son.
> 
> Sent from my C6903 using Tapatalk


 And the Logos ws the One whom the Father used to spoke to those in the OT also then, such as in the burning bush and when he came as the Angel of the Lord? So in order to make Himsef known to us, God used the Logos after creation in that fashion?


----------



## Peairtach (Jan 16, 2017)

Dachaser said:


> And the Logos ws the One whom the Father used to spoke to those in the OT also then, such as in the burning bush and when he came as the Angel of the Lord? So in order to make Himsef known to us, God used the Logos after creation in that fashion?


The Father reveals Himself through the Son/Word. The Word is God and God revealed.

Sent from my C6903 using Tapatalk


----------

