The Goal of God. (I Cor. xv. 28).- (7)

by Charles H. Welch

No.7. The Creation of Gen. i. 1 a“Firstfruits”. 

We have considered very briefly “the end”, the goal of the ages, the consummation of 
redemption, the day when God shall be all in all. An “end” presupposes a “beginning”, and moreover, if we rightly apprehend what is aimed at in the “end”, we shall better appreciate what is implied by “the beginning”. Let us therefore turn back to the opening sentence of the Bible and reconsider what is intended by the revelation that “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth” (Gen. i. 1). “Beginning”, is the Hebrew reshith, derived from rosh “head”, which is the translation of this word in 349 occurrences. In Gen. ii. 10 we have the four ‘heads’ or beginnings of the rivers that encompassed Eden, and the word occurs next in the great promise of Gen. iii. 15 “It shall bruise thy head”. Reshith, the form of the word that is used in Gen. i. 1, occurs but three times in Genesis: “In the beginning” (i. 1), “the beginning of the kingdom” (x. 10), “the beginning of my strength” (xlix. 3), where it will be seen that Babel, a place or system, and Reuben, a person, not a date in the calendar, is in view. So in Leviticus to Deuteronomy we have the word translated “firstfruits” (Lev. ii. 12; xxiii. 10; Numb. xviii. 12; Deut. xviii. 4; xxvi. 10). Altogether the term “firstfruits” is stated in eleven passages, and implied in at least seven others. Several passages bring the two words ‘beginning’ and ‘end’ together. 

“Amalek was the first of the nations; but his latter end shall be that he perish for ever” (Numb. xxiv. 20). 

“From the beginning of the year even unto the end of the year” (Deut. xi. 12). 

“Though thy beginning was small, yet thy latter end should greatly increase”   (Job viii. 7). 

“So the Lord blessed the latter end of Job more than his beginning” (Job xlii. 12). 

“Better is the end of a thing than the beginning thereof” (Eccles. vii. 8). 

“Declaring the end from the beginning” (Isa. xlvi. 10). 

Common usage inclines the mind to think of time, when the phrase “in the beginning” is read, but if we press the point and ask “in the beginning of what?” how can we expect an answer? If God necessarily existed before the first act of creation, time cannot strictly be said to begin at all. When we consult a dictionary we find that the time element is of the first prominence. The English word is ultimately derived from the Greek ginomai and geno to become, to be brought forth, and the following are the headings of Lloyd’s Encyclopedic Dictionary: 

A. Transitive. 

(1) To commence action; to pass from action to action. 

(2) To trace the first ground, element, or existence of anything. 

B. Intransitive. 

(1) To come into being, or commence or enter on any particular state of existence. 

(2) To commence any action or cause of action; to take the first step from non-action to action. 

Begin and Begin with . . . . . To select any particular person or thing as the first of a series. 

It will be observed that in the above quotation, time as such does not enter into the definition; what is uppermost is the commencement of an action or of a series. When we add to this the Scriptural concept of a ‘firstfruits’, a prematurely ripened pledge of a full harvest to come, Gen. i. 1 takes on a richer meaning. 

The reference to wisdom in Prov. viii. 22-27 must not be omitted here. 

“The Lord possessed me in the beginning of His way, before His works of old. I was set up from everlasting, from the beginning, or ever the earth was . . . . . when He prepared the heavens, I was there.” 

Wisdom is here personified, and is practically the same as the Logos of John i. 1-3. This leads to the last and most important revelation of the meaning of the word “beginning” when applied to creation. In the book of Revelation the word arche ‘beginning’ is found four times, and never used in any other way than a title of the Saviour Himself. 

 “I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty” (Rev. i. 8). 
 “These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God” (Rev. iii. 14). 

 “And He said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end” (Rev. xxi. 6). 

 “I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last” (Rev. xxii. 13). 

When the sacred volume opens, the words ‘in the beginning’ are left unexplained, but when it closes, we discover that they imply not only a time, a commencement, but a Person, a Firstfruits and a Pledge, indeed the Alpha and the Omega, the Yea and the Amen (II Cor. i. 20). There is no article “the” in the Hebrew phrase “In the beginning”, the word being bereshith ‘In beginning’ or ‘to begin with’ or ‘as a commencement’ implying a goal that was in mind, a firstfruits, something future which was pledged in the opening act. Three great passages in the N.T. ascribe creation to the Saviour, namely John i., Heb. i., and Col. i., but as these passages are of fundamental importance we will reserve their study for a future article. 

It may be a useful appendix to the present examination to give the translations of arche found in the N.T. other than the word ‘beginning’: 

(1) Magistrates (Luke xii. 11). Power (of authority) (Luke xx. 20). 

(2) Corner (Acts x. 11; xi. 5). 

(3) First (Acts xxvi. 4). At the first (Heb. ii. 3). First adj. (Heb. vi. 1). First estate (Jude 6). 

(4) Principality (Rom. viii. 38; Eph. i. 21; iii. 10; vi. 12; Col. i. 16; ii. 10, 15; Titus iii. 1). 

(5) Rule (I Cor. xv. 24). 

Some of these references must appear again when the N.T. references to creation are before us. Meanwhile we have attained to one all covering and wondrous idea, namely that creation was a first step towards a goal, the creation of heaven and earth being ‘a kind of firstfruits’ pledging the harvest, and ultimately seen to be vested in the Person of Him Who takes to Himself the title The Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the Ending, the Amen, the Beginning of the creation of God. 

We now consider three great passages of the N.T. which ascribe creation to Christ. 

“In the beginning was the Word” (John i. 1-3).

There are four occurrences of the phrase en arche “in the beginning” in the N.T. namely John i. 1, 2, Acts xi. 15 and Phil. iv. 15, and it will be seen that after each occurrence we must add an explanatory term commencing with ‘when’. 

Relating John i. 1 with xvii. 5 and 24, we can read the opening words: 

“In the beginning / before the world was            \ 

                         \ and before it was overthrown / was the Word.”

If there is one fundamental truth which underlies all other revelations concerning the Godhead, it is that GOD is the Creator, and consequently when we read John i., we gather that, before the first act of creation was undertaken by the Almighty, a movement took place which is beyond our ability to describe or understand, but which can be spoken of as a descent of the unconditioned and absolute God, “Who is invisible”, into the realm of the conditioned and manifest. Hence, in the N.T. where creation is ascribed to Christ, He bears the titles “The Word”, “The Image”, and “The express Image of His Person”. Essentially “God is spirit” (John iv. 24) and God is “one” (Deut. vi. 4). 

  Economically, God is revealed as “Father” (Gal. i. 1), “Son” (Heb. i. 8) and 

“Holy Ghost” (Acts v. 3, 5), as well as Elohim, Jehovah and other titles. 

  Manifestly, before incarnation as “The Word” (John i. 1), “The Image” (Col. i. 15) and “The express Image of His substance” (Heb. i. 3). 

  Manifestly, at the incarnation “God was manifest in the flesh” (I Tim. iii.16), “The Word was made flesh” (John i. 14). 

Creation is the work of God Manifest; redemption the work of God manifest in the flesh. Creation is ascribed to Him as “The Word” as follows:

“All things were made (ginomai had a beginning, came into being) by Him; and without Him was not anything made that was made” (John i. 3). 

Creation is ascribed to Him as “The Image of the Invisible God” as follows: 

“For by Him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers; all things were created by Him, and for Him. And He is before all things, and by him all things consists” (Col. i. 16, 17). 

Creation is ascribed to Him as “The express Image of His person” as follows: 

“And Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundations of the earth; and the havens are the works of Thine hands” (Heb. i. 10). 

It will be observed that in John’s Gospel, the word ‘create’ is not used, but the word ginomai ‘to become’. This seems to have been chosen to emphasize two great facts: 

  All things came into being through Him, that is the primeval creation (John i. 1-3). 

  Grace and truth, i.e. the new creation came into being (ginomai) through Him (John i. 17). 

This is the first great comparison. The second is found in John viii. 58 and the recurring claims introduced by the words “I am”. 

 “Before Abraham came into being (ginomai), I AM.” 

 “I AM the bread of life . . . . . the light of the world . . . . . the good Shepherd . . . . . the resurrection and the life.” 

The word ‘create’ is not used in Heb. i. There we read: 

“And Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the works of Thine hands” (Heb. i. 10), 

and the strange fact is that, even though the earth and the heavens were thus brought into being, “They shall perish . . . . . and wax old as doth a garment”. This is revealed in order that the Hebrews should be prepared to find that some things which had been given as ‘foundations’, were now to be ‘left’ (Heb. vi. 1); that like the present heavens, the old covenant “waxeth old (and) is ready to vanish away” (Heb. viii. 13) in favour of the New Covenant, and that, just as the work of His ‘fingers’, so the Tabernacle ‘made with hands’ (Heb. ix. 11, 24) was also to be done away. The word ‘create’ is used in Col. i. 16 and iii. 10 of both the old and the new creations, and this relationship is further enforced by the repetition of the title “The Firstborn” in Col. i. 15 in connection with the primeval creation, and in Col. i. 18 of the church of the Mystery.

It is evident that these three books, John, Hebrews and Colossians, use their terms with precision, and the fact that inspiration has so pointed the way, makes it an established fact and no longer a pleasant theory that “In the beginning” really does mean in Gen. i. 1 that the primeval creation was ‘a kind of firstfruits’, pledging the attainment of the goal of the ages. 

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(From The Berean Exxpositor, vol. 44, page 68).

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