Yen,. 1-5.-A true and firm foundation of revelation and fnith mnst be laid in a Di,·ine doctrine of "Genesis,'' the beginnings out of which have come both the world of nature and the world of grace. In this book we are taught what is the order by which all things must be ti;ed, Coming forth from Elohim, from the lufinite Per- sonality; flowing in his appointed course. The genesis of lieaven and eartli becomes the genesis of tlie human family. Out of the natural cliaos is brought forth the Eden of rest and beauty. Out of the moi·al waste of a fallen humanity is formed by the gracious work of a Divine Spirit, through a covenant of infinite wisdom and l~ve, n seed of redeemed and sanctified human beings, a family of God. The genesis of the matenal creation leads on to the genesis of the invisible creation. The lower is the type and symbol of the higher. The .first day is the true beginning of days. See "·hat is placed by the sacred writer between that evening and morning. J. THE COMING FORTH OF THE EVERLASTING, UNSEARCHABLE SECRET OF THE DIVINE NATUr.E INTO MANIFESTATION. "God cre,ated." The word employed denotes more than the bare summoning of existence out of nothingness. The analogy of human workmanship (" cutting," 11 carving," "framing") suggests the relation between creation and the God of creation. The heaven and the earth reflect their Maker. '\Vorks embody the mind, the spirit, the will, the nature of the workman. Althoug·h the name Eloliim, in the plural form, cannot be taken as an equivalent of the Trinity, it points to the great fundamental fact of all revelation, the Divine Unity corning forth out of the infinite solitude of eternity, and declaring, in the manifold revela- tions of the visible and invisible worlds, all that the creature can know of his fathom- less mystery. II. HERE rs A GLIMPSE INTO GoD'B ORDER AND METHOD. "In tlie beginning," the immeasurable fulness of creative power and goodness. Formless void, darkness on the face of the deep, apparent confUBion and emptiness, within a limited sphere, the earth ; at a certain epoch, in preparation for an appointed future. Chaos is not the first beginning of things; it is a stage in their history. The evening of the first day preceded the morning in the recorded annals of the earth. That evening was itself a veiling of the light. Science itself leads back the thoughts from all chaotic periods to previoUB developments of power. Order precedu disorder. Disorder is itself permitted only as a temporary state. It is itself part of the genesis of that which shall be ultimately II very good." III. THE GREAT VITAL FACT OF THE WORLD'S ORDER IS TIIE INTIMATE UNION DETWEEN THE SPIRIT OF GOD AND THAT WHICH IS COVERED WITH DARKNESS UNTIL HE ll!AKES rr LIGHT. The moving of the Spirit upon the face of the waters represents the brood- ing, cherishing, vitalising preseuce of God in his creatures, over them, around them, at once the source and protection of their life. 11 Breath;" 11 wind," the word liter- ally means, perhaps as a symbol at once of life, or living energy, and freedom, and with an immediate reference to the creative w<>rd, which is henceforth the breath of God in the world. Surely no candid mind can fail to feel the force of such a wit- ness in the opening sentences of revelation to the triune God. IV. To us THE BEGINNING OF ALL THINGS IS LIGHT, The word of God "com- mands tbc light to shine out of darkness." 11 God said, Let there be light," or, Let light be. The going forth of Gorl'a w<>rd upon the universe very well represents the twofold fact, (1) that it is the outcome of his will and nature; and (2) that it is his language-the expressi~n of liimsel.(, Hence all through this Mosaic coemogo~y God is represented as epeakrng to creation, that we may understand that he speaks in creation, as he is also said to look at that which cornea forth from himself to behold it, to approve it, to name it, to appoint its order and use. Snch intimate blending of the personal with the impersonal is the teaching of Scripture as distinguiehc>d from 1111 mere human wisdom. God is in creation and yet above it. Man is thus invited to seek the personal pr~ence as that which is higher than nature, which his own per• sonal life requires, that it may not be oppressed with nature's greatness, that it may err. 1. 3-- 5.) nm DOOI( OF GENE818. !)
ho light, nnd not d[lrkne8B, There is darkness in creation, darknc.;s in the clcep wutors of tlie world's history, darkness in the human soul itself, ur:til God Rpcah an,! 1mm hears. Lialit is not, physically, the first thing created; but it is tho first fact of the Divine days-tbnt is, the beginning of the new order. For what we have to do with is not the infinite secret of creation, but the manifestation of tl,e vi.WJle world, " God manifest." The first day in the history of the earth, as man can recvl it, must be the day when God removes the covering of darkness and says 1 " Let there be light." The veil uplifted is itself a commencement. God said that it wa.i goocl. His own appointment confirmed the abiding distinction between light anrl darkness, between day nnd night; in other words, the unfolding, progressive inter- change of work and rest, of revelation and concealment, the true beginning of the world's week of labour, which leads on to the everlasting sabbath. How appro- priately this first day of the week of creation stands at the threshold of God's word of grace I The light which he makes to shine !n our hearts, which divides our exist- ence into the true order, the good and the evil separated from one another, which commences our life; and the Spirit is the light of his own word, the light which shines from the face of him who was "the Word," "in tlie be(]innin(J witli G0cl," " without whom nothing was made that was made." -R.
EXPOSITION.