In the Beginning God Created

When we speak of vertical movement, we are speaking of spiritual ascension, moving from one level of spirit to another. Paul referred to it as moving from glory to glory. But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord. II Corinthians 3:18.

The Holy Spirit is teaching us spiritual principles that have been veiled. For example, we have learned that increments of time in the Scriptures often represent steps of ascension. Many times when they speak of days, weeks, years, etc., they are not referring to horizontal movement on a time line but levels or realms of spirit.

I Thessalonians 5:5 Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness.

We are not children of the night; we are children of the day. What day are we the children of? We are of the day Peter referred to when he spoke of the Day Star rising in our hearts (II Peter 1:19). The Lord Jesus Christ is our Day Star. If we are children of the Day, we are children of Him. So we are learning that often when the Scriptures speak of a day it is referring to a particular relationship with the Lord. We move from one spiritual day to another as we move from one relationship with the Lord to another. That is vertical movement.

Genesis chapter one is about the creation. Many people look at that chapter and only see the creation of the natural world. However, it also speaks mystically of a creative work that God is involved in now. God worked for six days and on the seventh day He rested for His work was finished. There has been debate on whether a day in Genesis chapter one was a 24-hour day or an extended period of time. Viewed prophetically this chapter is about the creation of the Body of Christ, the mystical man of Ephesians 4:13, and each day represents a progressive relationship with the Lord. Psalm 102:18 speaks of a people who are yet to be created. This shall be written for the generation to come: and the people which shall be created shall praise the Lord. Then Paul tells who these people are in Ephesians 2:10. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them. The generation to come, the people which shall be created, is the primary teaching of Genesis chapter one.

Genesis 1:1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

In the beginning God created. In the beginning of time? No, we need to get our thinking off the horizontal time realm and think in terms of vertical movement. The Hebrew word for “beginning” here is re’shiyth. Literally it means the first in time, order, or rank. It is often translated “firstfruit,” “chief” or “chiefest,” and “principal thing.” If you are looking only at the historical interpretation of this chapter, it would mean the first in time, but if you are looking at the mystical interpretation it would be correctly thought of as the first in rank. This is confirmed in Revelation 3:14. These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the Beginning of the creation of God. The Lord Jesus Christ here calls Himself the Beginning of the creation of God. This confirms the fact that the mystical and most important interpretation of Genesis chapter one is concerning the creation of the many membered Body of Christ.

The Lord Jesus Christ is the Beginning of the creation of God. He is also the ending or the final result of the creation. I am Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the Ending, saith the Lord. Revelation 1:8. He is the start and He is the finish. He begins as the individual Jesus Christ and when this creation is finished He will have become the Many-membered Christ. The Lord will be manifested in His people. He will be glorified and admired in them (II Thessalonians 1:10). There will be a new heavens and a new earth!

Genesis 1:27 So God created man in His own image, in the image of God created He him; male and female created He them.

This is prophetic perfect. Do you understand prophetic perfect? The Hebrew language does not have past, present, and future tenses as does our English language. It has perfect and imperfect. If an action is perfect, it is a completed work. If it is imperfect, it is uncompleted. God very often speaks in what is called prophetic perfect. Paul explained it in this way. God…calleth those things which be not as though they were. Romans 4:17. What He says is not yet manifested in the natural, but it is a reality because He spoke it. A familiar example is found in Isaiah 9:6. For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon His shoulder: and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. Isaiah is obviously talking about Jesus Christ. He spoke it as though it was already done, but we know that hundreds of years passed before Jesus was born. That is prophetic perfect, and so it is with Genesis 1:27. Man was not created in the image of God at the beginning of time. That is a work that God is presently involved in, as Psalm 102:18, Ephesians 2:10 and other Scriptures plainly confirm.

Genesis 1:3-5 And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.
4 And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.
5 And God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.

We are children of the Day, children of the Lord. Also, Jesus said, I am the Light of the world (John 8:12), and we are the world being enlightened by Him. The revelation of the Lord Jesus Christ is the first step toward becoming a new creation.

Genesis 1:6-8 And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.
7 And 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.
8 And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day.

Psalm 19:1 tells us that the firmament is the realm of ministry. The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament showeth His handiwork. The living Word is ministered and it divides between that which is soul and that which is spirit (Hebrews 4:12). The soul is an expression of what we are in our human nature. So there has to be a separation between our soul and our spirit. God does not want what we minister to be a mixture of man and God. The second day ministry is a work that takes place in us in preparation for a ministry to take place through us.

Genesis 1:11-13 And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so.
12 And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good.
13 And the evening and the morning were the third day.

The third day is a day of resurrection life. The grass, herbs, and trees represent various stages of spiritual growth as the Lord is being resurrected in us. In this realm everything brings forth after his kind. Now you will begin a ministry that produces what God has produced in you.

Genesis 1:14-19 And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years:
15 And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so.
16 And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: He made the stars also.
17 And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth,
18 And to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that it was good.
19 And the evening and the morning were the fourth day.

The Hebrew word for “lights” is ma’owr, and the literal translation would be “light-bearers.” The first day relationship we have with the Lord is the beginnings of revelation. The second day is the separation of soul and spirit. The third day is a higher relationship with the Lord when His life is being resurrected in us. Now, the fourth day has to do with light-bearers in the firmament; that is, bearers or ministers of light in the realm of ministry. You will remember that Jesus said that He was the Light of the world (John 8:12). Then in Matthew 5:14, speaking to His disciples, He said, Ye are the light of the world. The disciples of the Lord will become light-bearers. They will minister a revelation of the Lordship of Jesus Christ.

The sun represents the Lord; He is called the Sun of Righteousness in Malachi 4:2. The moon represents the Church, for it has no light of its own but reflects the light of the sun. The stars represent the ministering members of the Body of Christ; most particularly does it speak of the ministries of Ephesians 4:11 – apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers. These ministries are what Paul referred to in I Corinthians 15:41. There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars: for one star differeth from another star in glory. Daniel, in his prophecy, also referred to the stars as ministers of righteousness. And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever. Daniel 12:3.

Genesis 1:20-23 And God said, let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven.
21 And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good.
22 And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters of the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth.
23 And the evening and the morning were the fifth day.

Creatures of the sea are of a different life form, and so are the birds of the air. All flesh is not the same flesh: but there is one kind of flesh of men, another flesh of beasts, another of fishes, and another of birds. I Corinthians 15:39. Paul speaks of different life forms again in his epistle to the Colossians. (God) who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the Kingdom of His dear Son: in whom we have redemption through His blood, even the forgiveness of sins: who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature: 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 consist. Colossians 1:13-17.

The creation of God involves many kinds of life forms, all of which were subjected to futility both visible and invisible, and all must be delivered and redeemed. The redemption process begins with the Body of Christ and then through the Body of Christ (I Peter 4:17). This is the fifth day relationship with the Lord when all of the life forms of our adamic nature are redeemed in order that He may deliver and redeem all of creation through His sons. For the earnest expectation of the creature (creation) waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God. For the creature (creation) was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of Him who hath subjected the same in hope, because the creature (creation) itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. Romans 8:19-22.

Genesis 1:26-28, 31 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
27 So God created man in His own image, in the image of God created He him; male and female created He them.
28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.
31 And God saw everything that He had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.

The sixth day completes the creation of man in the image of God. Then He is given authority and dominion over all the life forms of creation. The many-membered Body of Christ is “filled with all the fullness of God” (Ephesians 3:19) and is then given the commission to be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth (verse 28).

The seventh day is the “Day of Rest Realm.” When the Body of Christ enters the day of rest relationship with God, it has ceased from its labors. That does not mean that it does not minister anymore, but that it does not minister in its own strength. Now it is God working through them. It is as Jesus said, The Father that dwelleth in Me, He doeth the works (John 14:10).

So, you see, the seven days are not segments of time when viewed in the light of God creating man in His likeness and nature. Each day is like a realm of glory as we progress from glory to glory into His fullness. The first day is a relationship born of the revelation of Him that shines upon us. Then the second day begins the process of separating soul and spirit, but it is not the stopping of one day and the beginning of another day, for the light of the first day continues to come. That which is created each day continues to work throughout the six days. Also, every member of the Body of Christ is not necessarily in the same relationship-day. Some may be experiencing the first day while others are experiencing the third day, etc. We are all moving from glory to glory in the Lord (I Corinthians 3:18). In Him we are being created. In the Beginning God created.

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