1. SOME APOLOGETIC
IMPLICATIONS OF GENESIS 1:1
by
Kevin Ball
It is the motivation of this writer to honor and glorify the One and Only True God as
revealed in Scripture by publishing the truth about Him and what He has done for the
benefit of believers, as well as those who are not yet believers.

2. PRESUPPOSITONS
This presentation presupposes that the Bible, comprised
exclusively of the thirty-nine books of the Old Testament
and twenty-seven books of the New Testament, is the
Word of God. Every word is “God-breathed,” the product
of divine inspiration and as such is divinely authoritative
(2 Tim 3:16). Since Scripture was "God-breathed," it is
wholly inerrant and true in everything that it affirms (John
17:17), whether in doctrine, practice, history, science, or
geography.

3. PRESUPPOSITONS (Con’t)
This inspired text has been preserved for us in the totality
of manuscripts and versions containing Holy Scripture.
The Bible is perspicuous and the understanding of it is
by normal and ordinary means, using the plain sense of
human language. This method, variously called "normal,"
or "grammatical-historical," is the only hermeneutic
consistent with the doctrine of perspicuity.

4. PRESUPPOSITONS (Con’t)
Furthermore, the transcendent and final nature of its
authority prohibits the subjection of its truth claims to
another authority (Ps 119:89; Isa 42:8, Heb 6:13).
Instead, the Word of God is self-attesting and self-
authenticating (John 10:35, 17:17) and the certainty of its
authority is imparted to believers through the illumination
of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor 2:4-5, 14; 1 John 2:20-21). The
Word of God is final. There is no higher authority, nor is
there an equal authority necessary to complement it (Ps
119:89). As such it is sufficient for the believer in all
matters pertaining to life and godliness (2 Tim 3:15-17, 2
Pet 1:3-4).

5. PRESUPPOSITONS (Con’t)
Lastly, Scripture is a progressive revelation of God and his
plan (Heb 1:1-2) for time and eternity intended for the
good of His creation. The ultimate and unifying purpose
of this revelation is the glorification of God.
Consequently, this presentation of the Apologetic Import
of Genesis 1:1 is within a distinctively doxological
framework.

6. THE NEED FOR THIS PRESENTATION
There is a tendency on the part of Christians to
advocate apologetic strategies and methodologies
that are less and less derived from Scripture.
Philosophical and other purely rational
apologetics fail from the start.
As a result, many Christians loose the battle for the
beginning at the beginning and they fail to do
justice to the character of God and His
Revelation.

7. THE NEED FOR THIS PRESENTATION (CON’T)
“Of absolutely radical importance for the development
of Christian apologetics is the biblical doctrine of
creation. Indeed, so much is this the root of the matter
that apart from it no effective apologetic is possible;
for the doctrine of creation is the indispensable
foundation of our understanding of all existence. This
doctrine affirms, first of all, the absolute primacy or
priority of Almighty God, and thus the eternity and
total independence of his existence.”
Cornelius Van Til

8. I sing the mighty power of God, that
made the mountains rise, That spread
the flowing seas abroad, and built the
lofty skies. I sing the wisdom that ordained
the sun to rule the day;
“I Sing the Mighty Power of God”

9. The moon shines full at God’s command, and all the stars obey.
I sing the goodness of the Lord, who filled the earth with food,
Who formed the creatures through the Word, and then
pronounced them good
Lord, how Thy wonders are displayed, wherever I turn my eye,
If I survey the ground I tread, or gaze upon the sky.
“I Sing the Mighty Power of God”

10. There’s not a plant or flower below, but makes Thy glories
known,
And clouds arise, and tempests blow,
by order from Thy throne;
While all that borrows life from
Thee is ever in Thy care;
And everywhere that we can be, Thou God art present there.
“I Sing the Mighty Power of God” (Con’t)

11. Given the key nature of Genesis 1:1, it is
only proper then to study its
contents carefully,
hence an exegetical study. For the
purpose of this presentation, only
definitive or conclusive exegetical
highlights will be presented. This
will be followed by Some
Apologetic Implications of Genesis 1:1.
INTRODUCTION

12. “In the beginning God
created the heaven and the earth”

13. “In the beginning”
Is in the ABSOLUTE state (meaning In the absolute beginning
of time God created)
This adverb is used frequently as an antonym for the “end”
(Job 8:7; Eccl 7:8)
• All ancient versions, Masoretes, LXX, most all early Jewish
and Christian writers,Barrick, Buzenitz, Craigen, A. Ross,
Matthews, Hamilton, Calvin, Luther, Rooker, Kidner,
Ridderbos, Young, Childs, and Hasel.

14. “God”
Has revealed Himself in the Scripture.
He made everything (Exodus 20:11, Neh 9:6, Psalm 104:24,
Isaiah 44:24)
In him all things were created, in heaven and upon the earth,
things visible and things invisible and all has been created
through Him and unto Him (Col 1:16)
All men are His creation (Prov 22:3).
This God who created all things rules
over all (Ps 103:19; Matt 11:25)

15. “Created”
The subject of in Scripture is always the God
of the OT and never pagan deities.
It refers to past completed action.
Context (absolute beginning and no preexisting
materials implied) and the
Analogy of Faith (Ps 148:5; Rom 4:17; Heb 1:3),
not word itself command creation ex nihilo

16. “The Heaven and Earth”
Is a Merism describing the
All that God Created in the Universe
*Heaven and Earth and everything in between
like Day and Night and everything in between.

17. Herbert Spencer in 1862 in a work entitled
“First Principles” identified time, force, action,
space, and matter as ultimate scientific ideas.
The five categories, according to Spencer
comprise everything subject to scientific
examination.

18. Genesis 1:1 encompasses
all of these categories:
“In the beginning”—that’s time. “God”—that’s
force. “Created”—that’s action. “The
heavens”—that’s space. “And the earth”—
that’s matter.
In the first verse of the Bible God laid out plainly what no
scientist or philosopher cataloged until the nineteenth
century.”
MacArthur, John. The Battle for the Beginning : The Bible on Creation and the Fall of Adam,
Nashville, TN: W Pub. Group, 2001, Page 40.

19. “That free act of the triune God
by which in the beginning
for his own glory he made,
without the use of preexisting materials,
the whole visible and invisible universe.”
A. H. Strong
Creation

20. Some Apologetic Implications of
Genesis 1:1

21. Implication # 1 Genesis 1:1
Presupposes God!
Genesis 1:1 “In the beginning God!”
Note: There are no formal proofs in the Bible for God’s
existence. It is and understood fact.
Application: Concluding from creation that God
probably exists is blasphemous
Application: God has no antecedents, and no equals

22. Implication #2 Genesis 1:1 Presupposed
the God of Scripture!
He is identified later as the Lord God (Gen. 2:7)
He owns everything (Ps 24:1) “whatsoever is under
the whole of heaven is His” (Job 41:11; cf. Gen
14:19)
His sovereign rule extends over the earth …over
every soul (Ezek 18:4) unto all generations
(Exodus 15:18, Psalm 10:16).

23. This God who created all things rules over all (Ps
103:19; Matt 11:25)
Application: Concluding from creation even that a
“god” definitely does exist is
equally blasphemous.
Note: Sinful man is content with a God of their own
devising but not with the God who is,
the God of Scripture.
Implication #2 Genesis 1:1 Presupposed
the God of Scripture! (Con’t)

24. Implication #3 Genesis 1:1
Establishes that God is in Charge
Genesis 14:19
“God Most High, Possessor of
heaven and earth”

25. Romans 9:21
“Does not the potter have power
over the clay…”
Daniel 7:27
”His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,
And all dominions shall
serve and obey Him.”

26. Daniel 4:25
“…till you know that the Most High rules in the
kingdom of men…”
* There is not one square inch of the world, not
a split second of time that is not dependent on,
controlled by, and subservient to God.
That is why all are commanded to praise (Ps
150:6) and serve Him (Ps 72:11).

27. Implication #4 Genesis 1:1 Presupposes the
God of Scripture is Eternal
and Prior to All
(God is Transcendent)
Before God created there was only
the Eternal God (Aseity of God), matter, man,
time, space are all subsequent to
and proceed from God.
*Failure to realize this tends to temporalize the
Creator/eternalize the created.

28. Implication # 5 Genesis 1:1 (i.e. Creation)
Proclaims God is Glorious (Great)
Psalm 19:1
The heavens declare the glory of God;
And the firmament makes know the work of His hands
Day to day pours forth speech,
And night to night reveals knowledge
The idea is the constancy of the
heaven’s testimony.
There is no place that it is not observed
(“to the end of the world”)

29. Psalm 8:3-4
“When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your
fingers,What is man that You are mindful of
him…”
*NOTE: General Revelation is God’s witness of Himself
to all men. It is given to mankind in general and gives a
general knowledge of God. It is a universal witness to
His existence and something of His character. There is
nothing in G.R. about the love of God, the character of
sin, the need for faith and repentance, the person and
work of Jesus Christ, or the promise of forgiveness

30. Implication # 6 Genesis 1:1 (i.e.
Creation) Proclaims God is Powerful
Romans 1:20
“For since the creation of the world His invisible
attributes are clearly seen,…even His eternal
power and Godhead, …”
God has made known to all men things about Himself
God Himself is the Revealer/Teacher
(He has shown it to them) and
He has revealed His eternal power and
Godhead are clearly seen

31. Implication # 6 Genesis 1:1 (i.e. Creation)
Proclaims God is Powerful (Con’t)
Genesis 1:3
“Then God said, “Let there be light”
and there was light.”
No one creates like this but God! God’s
effortless, totally free act of creating is a
manifestation of His sovereignty.
Commonly described as creation by divine fiat.
.

32. Implication # 6 Genesis 1:1 (i.e. Creation)
Proclaims God is Powerful (Con’t)
By His exhaustless power, God can do all things
consistent with His nature and purpose. “
Power” is the ability to produce effects.
Genesis 17:1
“God Almighty”
Jeremiah 32:17
“God made heaven and earth by His great power.
Nothing is too difficult for thee.”

33. Implication # 7 Genesis 1:1 Postulates (that
is, demands) that God is the eternal,
exhaustive, and exclusive source of life.
John 5:26
“For as the Father has life in Himself,
so He has granted the Son to have life in Himself”
Psalm 36:9
“With thee is the fountain of life”
*Indeed all that we are is derived from
the Uncreated One!

34. IMPLICATION # 9 GENESIS 1:1 GOD IS
THE FOUNDATION OF ALL
KNOWLEDGE
God’s knowledge includes all things past,
present, and future, immediately, simultaneously,
and eternally,whether things actual or possible:
God is all-knowing.
This is true because He is the eternal, exhaustive,
and exclusive source of all other knowledge.

35. IMPLICATION # 9 GENESIS 1:1 IMPOSES
A CREATOR / CREATURE DISTINCTION
*There exists a sharp division
between the eternal and
the temporal.

36. As Christians and especially as leaders we
are called by God to defend and contend
for the faith. This demands that we
understand the Bible’s cosmology because
the faith is in a major way tied to and
predicated upon it.
CONCLUSION

37. We must do the work of exegesis, arrive a solid
conclusions and then boldly
proclaim the truth!
CONCLUSION (Con’t)
“casting down arguments and every high thing that
exalts itself against the knowledge of God,
bringing every thought into captivity to
the obedience of Christ”
2 Corinthians 10:5

38. CONCLUSION (Con’t)
And Ezra said: “You are the Lord, you alone;
you have made heaven, the heaven of heavens,
with all their host, the earth and all that is on
it, the seas and all that is in them; and you
preserve all of them; and the host of heaven
worships you.
Nehemiah 9:6

39. Give God the Glory He is Due
and Praise Him for His
Awesome Creation