This lecture is an edited version of the lecture given on August 20th, 2005 in the series entitled "In the Beginning."   His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse.     (Romans 1:20)     An Appropriate Attitude to GenesisIn the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. Then God said, "Let there be light"; and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good; and God divided the light from the darkness. God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night. So the evening and the morning were the first day. Then God said, "Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters." Thus 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. And God called the firmament Heaven.   So the evening and the morning were the second day. Then God said, "Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear"; and it was so. And God called the dry land Earth, and the gathering together of the waters He called Seas. And God saw that it was good. Then God said, "Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb that yields seed, and the fruit tree that yields fruit according to its kind, whose seed is in itself, on the earth"; and it was so. And the earth brought forth grass, the herb that yields seed according to its kind, and the tree that yields fruit, whose seed is in itself according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. So the evening and the morning were the third day.  (Genesis 1:1-13)   Many people present their theories about the book of Genesis. People wonder if these six days are really six days and they have various theories about this. But what does the Bible say?     So the evening and the morning were the first day. Since the Bible talks about the first day, it is enough to understand it to be the first day. We need to remember that the book of Genesis was written by the hand of the man named Moses as the law was given to him. When you read the books written by the prophets such as Ezekiel or Daniel, you find these prophets were expressing what they had seen in a dream or in a vision. One prophet wrote about what he saw as he was sitting beside a river. He saw a bright light coming out of the north and from that light came something in the likeness of four living creatures.     He also wrote that these creatures had wheels that turned and wings (See Ezekiel chapter 1). Also, when we read the book of Revelation, we find that John wrote about some locusts that appeared; he saw some creatures that looked like locusts. Passages such as these are somewhat difficult for us to understand, living as we do in the twenty-first century.     Similarly, about 3,400 years ago, Moses received this revelation from God and wrote down a description of the scene that was presented before him-the things he heard from God, and the images that unfolded in front of him. The result was this passage we have here. So the book of Genesis begins with the words, "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth."   If you try to analyze too scientifically the process of the creation from the first day to the sixth day as it appears in Genesis chapter 1, or attempt to understand it through science alone, there is no way that you will succeed. It is not because I cannot prove that the Bible is true that I am telling you these things. I am not trying to make an excuse. In the Bible it says, "For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead." (Romans 1:20)   What kind of mindset should we have when we read the book of Genesis? These words that describe the process by which God created the world contain God's eternal divine nature, which man cannot possibly understand through his own thinking. Even if science were applied in an attempt to understand this, there would definitely be parts for which science would not be able to come up with an answer. People use methods of trial and error as they seek out scientific principles, but science does not provide a definite answer. Science is only a part of the massive program that God had in mind as He created this world. Everything in this world is a part of the power of God by which He created this world. I do not think it is appropriate for us, as people who believe the Bible, to try to fit God into science. The Events that Took Place in Heaven during the Process of the CreationWhat happened on the first day of the creation? The Bible says, "God said, "Let there be light"; and there was light." Regarding the second day, it says, "God ... divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament."     In Korean it says that God divided the waters which were under the firmament and the waters which were above the firmament, but here in English it says that God divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament.   Here in Genesis it says, "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." These words contain certain matters of which we should be aware. In First Corinthians it says, "God is not the author of confusion but of peace"  (14:33). These words show us that when God is in control, all things are put in order and all things proceed in a certain orderly fashion. Also in First Timothy it says of God, "Who alone has immortality, dwelling in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see" (6:16). These are expressions that are really difficult for man to understand.   In Ezekiel chapter 28 and Isaiah chapter 14 we have a description of a certain world that stretched out before God at the time when He created this world by the word of His power. It even says that this was Eden, the garden of God (See Ezekiel 28:13). It is a place that is beyond the world in which man now lives. The book of Ecclesiastes uses the expression, "under the sun." The world under the sun is this earth on which we walk around, this world in which we live surrounded by shadows, but there is something else above this world. So the Bible tells us to "seek those things which are above" (Colossians 3:1).   In that place there was a very beautiful angel. His name was morning star, or in some Bible versions, Lucifer. This glorious angel rebelled against God. In Isaiah chapter 14, this angel is referred to as the king of Babylon, and in Ezekiel as the king of Tyre. It says, "Till iniquity was found in you" (Ezekiel 28:15). It says 'iniquity.'   The whole of the process and order of the creation and the work of salvation on this earth were part of God's plan, which goes beyond time and space. God had created a magnificently beautiful garden. It was just like the eternal heaven that we now wait for with anticipation. There, the angel that was so glorious made a mistake; he thought he would "be like the Most High" (Isaiah 14:14).   The Bible says that God is eternal. It also says, "Even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God" (Psalm 90:2) When Satan saw this glorious throne of God, however, he thought to himself that he would sit beside God. He said, "I will be like the Most High." In other words, he wanted to share God's position. God said that this was "iniquity."     How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, You who weakened the nations!  (Isaiah 14:12)     When it says, "you are cut down to the ground," this refers to the incident in which Satan, because of the sin he committed, was cast out along with all the fallen angels who took him as their leader, but I think it also encompasses the incident described in the book of Revelation when Jesus comes again, and Satan in the image of a dragon and all his angels will meet their end (See Isaiah 27:1, Revelation 20:10).     Just as a baby grows in its mother's womb surrounded by amniotic fluid and is born into the world when the time comes, the earth on which we live and walk also came forth from something that is above; it came forth from some huge creation. This is what Peter was talking about when he wrote, "the earth standing out of the water and in the water" (2 Peter 3:5). The physical body that came forth in this way, having no form and nothing by which it could be recognized, is described in the Bible when it says, "The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters." Since it says, "the earth was without form, and void," you may associate this with the wars that arise in the world of man and the disruption of order they bring with them, but the Bible says clearly that "the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep." And it says, "The Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters." It says clearly that, "the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters." "Then God said, "Let there be light"; and there was light." From that moment on, order began to be established on this earth that was formless and void, and this came about over a period of six days.   As we examine the first, second and third days of the creation as they are recorded in Genesis, and carefully consider the many events that occurred after this as described in the Old and the New Testaments, it becomes very clear what God went through in the process of the creation. These tremendous events took place before God's eyes before He created man.     The voice of the Lord is over the waters; The God of glory thunders; The Lord is over many waters.  (Psalm 29:3) In the book of Ezekiel, it says that the voice of God was "like the sound of many waters" (See 43:2), and if you look in the book of Revelation, you will find a description of "One like the Son of Man," and it says that His voice was "as the sound of many waters" (See 1:13-15). Then in the book of Job, it says that God "... drew a circular horizon on the face of the waters, at the boundary of light and darkness" (See 26:10). There we see God standing above all things, observing a certain incident. This incident is described more directly in Ezekiel chapter 28 and Isaiah chapter 14. Just as this earth was once formless and void, a shadow of darkness also once passed over the world that is above. So the earth that was produced in this way was formless and void and shrouded in darkness and the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. Just as God was watching over everything that was happening and dealt with the situation when the archangel Lucifer rebelled and sinned, this same God now appears as He came down to this earth. The Earth Was without Form, and Void; and Darkness Was on the Face of the DeepGenesis chapter 1 verse 1 says, "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth," but the next verse focuses on the earth.   The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters  (Genesis 1:2)   God was hovering over the face of the waters of this earth, waters that presented no recognizable form and simply hung there in space. This image of the earth may be compared to the confused and empty state of the hearts of men, worn out by their lives in this world. With the earnest desire to shine His light some day into the hearts of men, God is continually testifying of the blood of the cross. When, through the Bible, we come in contact with that blood of the cross, His light shines into our hearts. This is the testimony of every born-again Christian.     The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. Then God said, "Let there be light"; and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good; and God divided the light from the darkness. God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night. So the evening and the morning were the first day.  (Genesis 1:2-5)     Clearly, in God's eyes the light was good. It does not say that the darkness was good in His eyes. On which day do the words, "God saw that it was good" not appear in the Bible? It was not only the second day, but also half of the first day with which God was not pleased. It definitely does not say anywhere that God saw the darkness as good. There is the sunlight, which we see with our eyes and which we feel and enjoy, and then there is the light that transcends all such things; the light of which Jesus spoke. This is the light that can shine into our hearts through the words of the Bible, which tells us, "In Him was life, and the life was the light of men" (John 1:4), and this is the light of God's word that is able to transform our corruptible bodies into bodies like that of Jesus' glorious body after He rose from the dead.     On the fourth day of the creation, there is another reference to the division of light and darkness. There is the greater light and the lesser light; one light to rule over the day and the other to rule over the night. At that time, God saw all of this and was pleased with it. He used these lights to divide the light from the darkness. In contrast to this, however, on the first day it says that "God saw the light, that it was good," but that is all it says; it does not say anything more about the darkness.   In the Bible we find numerous references to light. But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.  (1 Peter 2:9) It says here that He called them into His marvelous light. When a person finds Jesus through the words of the Bible and comes to realize how the blood of the cross has covered his sins, a light begins to shine brightly in his heart. The light of love for the Bible is lit in his heart. Here the apostle Peter expresses this as "His marvelous light." We find something similar to this in the Old Testament as well.     Let's take a look at Psalm 80. It says that this Psalm is "A Testimony of Asaph." Psalm 80 is a prayer for Israel, but it also provides a lesson for us who have been born again through God's word.     Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel, You who lead Joseph like a flock; You who dwell between the cherubim, shine forth! Before Ephraim, Benjamin, and Manasseh, stir up Your strength, and come and save us! Restore us, O God; cause Your face to shine, And we shall be saved! O Lord God of hosts, how long will You be angry Against the prayer of Your people? You have fed them with the bread of tears, and given them tears to drink in great measure. You have made us a strife to our neighbors, and our enemies laugh among themselves. Restore us, O God of hosts; cause Your face to shine, and we shall be saved! You have brought a vine out of Egypt; You have cast out the nations, and planted it. You prepared room for it, and caused it to take deep root, and it filled the land. The hills were covered with its shadow, and the mighty cedars with its boughs. She sent out her boughs to the Sea, and her branches to the River. Why have You broken down her hedges, so that all who pass by the way pluck her fruit? The boar out of the woods uproots it, and the wild beast of the field devours it. Return, we beseech You, O God of hosts; look down from heaven and see, and visit this vine and the vineyard which Your right hand has planted, and the branch that You made strong for Yourself. It is burned with fire, it is cut down; they perish at the rebuke of Your countenance. Let Your hand be upon the man of Your right hand, upon the son of man whom You made strong for Yourself. Then we will not turn back from You; revive us, and we will call upon Your name. Restore us, O Lord God of ho

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