And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. — Genesis 1:2
Verse 2 describes the condition of the earth at this stage of creation. It was “without form, and void.” That does not mean something was wrong with creation. It means that God was not finished ordering and filling it yet. The earth existed in an unformed, unfilled condition. It was not yet prepared for human habitation. The material was there, but the ordering and furnishing of the world was still to come.
Darkness was upon the face of the deep. The earth is pictured as covered in watery darkness, not yet arranged into the beautiful world that would soon be suitable for life. God is about to bring order out of what appears to be disorder. He is about to shape, divide, name, fill, and bless.
This verse is important because it shows us the pattern of God’s work. God brings order where there is disorder. He brings beauty where there is barrenness. He brings fullness where there is emptiness. He brings light where there is darkness. He is not the author of confusion. He is a God of peace, purpose, and order.
The phrase “the earth was without form, and void” must be left as it stands. The text says was, not became. Attempts to insert long ages, catastrophic judgments, or earlier worlds between verses 1 and 2 only force something into the text that is not there. The passage reads plainly. God created, and then God formed and prepared what He had created.
Then we read these wonderful words: “And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.” The Holy Spirit was not absent from creation. He was active in it. The word “moved” carries the idea of hovering or brooding, like a bird over its young. There is tenderness as well as power here. The Spirit of God is present over creation, not detached from it.
This again reminds us that creation is a Trinitarian work. The Father speaks, the Son is the divine agent of creation, and the Spirit moves upon the face of the waters. The same triune God who was present in the old creation is active in the new creation as well. The Father sends the Son, the Son accomplishes redemption, and the Spirit applies that saving work to hearts.
There is a spiritual picture here too. Before God’s saving work in our lives, we were spiritually without form and void. Darkness was upon the soul. But the Spirit of God moves, and where He moves, light will soon come.
When God began to arrange this world in order, it was shrouded in darkness, and it had been reduced to what we call, for lack of a better name, chaos. This is just the condition of every soul of man when God begins to deal with him in his grace; it is formless and empty of all good things.
God said, Let there be light; he willed it, and at once there was light. Oh, the power of the word of God! And in the new creation, the first thing that is wrought in the soul is light: the blessed Spirit works upon the will and affections by enlightening the understanding. Those who by sin were darkness, by grace become light in the Lord. Darkness would have been always upon fallen man, if the Son of God had not come and given us understanding, 1Jo
5:20. The light which God willed, he approved of. God divided the light from the darkness; for what fellowship has light with darkness? In heaven there is perfect light, and no darkness at all; in hell, utter darkness, and no gleam of light. The day and the night are the Lord's; let us use both to his honour, by working for him every day, and resting in him every night, meditating in his law both day and night.
Source Coverage: Genesis 1:1-2
The first verse of the Bible gives us a satisfying and useful account of the origin of the earth and the heavens. The faith of humble Christians understands this better than the fancy of the most learned men. From what we see of heaven and earth, we learn the power of the great Creator. And let our make and place as men, remind us of our duty as Christians, always to keep heaven in our eye, and the earth under our feet. The Son of God, one with the Father, was with him when he made
the world; nay, we are often told that the world was made by him, and nothing was made without him. Oh, what high thoughts should there be in our minds, of that great God whom we worship, and of that great Mediator in whose name we pray! And here, at the beginning of the sacred volume, we read of that Divine Spirit, whose work upon the heart of man is so often mentioned in other parts of the Bible. Observe, that at first there was nothing desirable to be seen, for the world was without form,
and void; it was confusion, and emptiness. In like manner the work of grace in the soul is a new creation: and in a graceless soul, one that is not born again, there is disorder, confusion, and every evil work: it is empty of all good, for it is without God; it is dark, it is darkness itself: this is our condition by nature, till Almighty grace works a change in us.
Verse 2 describes the condition of the earth at this stage of creation. It was “without form, and void.” That does not mean something was wrong with creation. It means that God was not finished ordering and filling it yet. The earth existed in an unformed, unfilled condition. It was not yet prepared for human habitation. The material was there, but the ordering and furnishing of the world was still to come.
Darkness was upon the face of the deep. The earth is pictured as covered in watery darkness, not yet arranged into the beautiful world that would soon be suitable for life. God is about to bring order out of what appears to be disorder. He is about to shape, divide, name, fill, and bless.
This verse is important because it shows us the pattern of God’s work. God brings order where there is disorder. He brings beauty where there is barrenness. He brings fullness where there is emptiness. He brings light where there is darkness. He is not the author of confusion. He is a God of peace, purpose, and order.
The phrase “the earth was without form, and void” must be left as it stands. The text says was, not became. Attempts to insert long ages, catastrophic judgments, or earlier worlds between verses 1 and 2 only force something into the text that is not there. The passage reads plainly. God created, and then God formed and prepared what He had created.
Then we read these wonderful words: “And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.” The Holy Spirit was not absent from creation. He was active in it. The word “moved” carries the idea of hovering or brooding, like a bird over its young. There is tenderness as well as power here. The Spirit of God is present over creation, not detached from it.
This again reminds us that creation is a Trinitarian work. The Father speaks, the Son is the divine agent of creation, and the Spirit moves upon the face of the waters. The same triune God who was present in the old creation is active in the new creation as well. The Father sends the Son, the Son accomplishes redemption, and the Spirit applies that saving work to hearts.
There is a spiritual picture here too. Before God’s saving work in our lives, we were spiritually without form and void. Darkness was upon the soul. But the Spirit of God moves, and where He moves, light will soon come.
When God began to arrange this world in order, it was shrouded in darkness, and it had been reduced to what we call, for lack of a better name, chaos. This is just the condition of every soul of man when God begins to deal with him in his grace; it is formless and empty of all good things.
God said, Let there be light; he willed it, and at once there was light. Oh, the power of the word of God! And in the new creation, the first thing that is wrought in the soul is light: the blessed Spirit works upon the will and affections by enlightening the understanding. Those who by sin were darkness, by grace become light in the Lord. Darkness would have been always upon fallen man, if the Son of God had not come and given us understanding, 1Jo
5:20. The light which God willed, he approved of. God divided the light from the darkness; for what fellowship has light with darkness? In heaven there is perfect light, and no darkness at all; in hell, utter darkness, and no gleam of light. The day and the night are the Lord's; let us use both to his honour, by working for him every day, and resting in him every night, meditating in his law both day and night.
The first verse of the Bible gives us a satisfying and useful account of the origin of the earth and the heavens. The faith of humble Christians understands this better than the fancy of the most learned men. From what we see of heaven and earth, we learn the power of the great Creator. And let our make and place as men, remind us of our duty as Christians, always to keep heaven in our eye, and the earth under our feet. The Son of God, one with the Father, was with him when he made
the world; nay, we are often told that the world was made by him, and nothing was made without him. Oh, what high thoughts should there be in our minds, of that great God whom we worship, and of that great Mediator in whose name we pray! And here, at the beginning of the sacred volume, we read of that Divine Spirit, whose work upon the heart of man is so often mentioned in other parts of the Bible. Observe, that at first there was nothing desirable to be seen, for the world was without form,
and void; it was confusion, and emptiness. In like manner the work of grace in the soul is a new creation: and in a graceless soul, one that is not born again, there is disorder, confusion, and every evil work: it is empty of all good, for it is without God; it is dark, it is darkness itself: this is our condition by nature, till Almighty grace works a change in us.