Something in the Nothing
The Bible does not say this is the case, but it seems logical to assume that God’s first three creations were darkness, space, and time. I believe that these three constituted a kind of cosmic canvas which our universe required. It is also my belief that one of the reasons God spent six orderly days in creation was to symbolically celebrate and fill these three things. The tangible objects of the universe filled the space, the lights filled the darkness, and the moments of the days commenced time. Let’s look at each one of these things specifically.
Time
Time is a fascinating mystery that has not ceased movement since creation began. In cooperation with space, time was needed for anything in the created universe to exist. There is a clever saying that says “God created time to keep things from happening all at once.” Very clever, but think about it. If time did not exist yet, where did all the “onces” in this scenario come from? “Once” is time. If there was no time there would not be any at onces at all.
Space
As mentioned, time requires cooperation with space. Space defines time and time defines space. Any space at all would mean there is at least one “once” or moment of time. Earth was the first moment of space. It wouldn’t have been able to be created at all if space and time did not first exist. That is, with the rules of nature that God instituted. If He had wanted to, He could have instituted an entirely other set of rules. But He didn’t. Before the beginning, there was nothing—not even an atom whose mere existence would itself suggest time. We can assume these things if we are also assuming that time suggests space and space suggests time.
Then earth and all the other objects in the universe kept on existing. We are talking about a forward motion into many billions and billions of moments. If we are going with the view that the earth is about 6,000 years old and depending on several factors, that’s over 189,000,000,000 seconds. That’s a lot of moments.
Darkness
John 1:3 tells us that Jesus who is God made all things and that nothing came into existence without Him. Darkness is one of these many things. Some assume that darkness must have existed with God before He created anything. Are we saying, then, there is an object that wasn’t created by God? Rather I think that our feeble minds can only really imagine pre-creation as God floating around in the dark when in reality it is just one of those things our finite minds can because it involves something that preceded anything that we know. It’s like imagining heaven; we can only really do so with pictures of things here in our universe that we know.
Time, space, and darkness. God Himself did not and does not need these or any other thing that governs the nature of our universe to exist. He never has and never will. Our God is Father of light, beyond time, beyond space. He made these things for us and for His glory. He is obsessed with us that we might become obsessed with Him. And God’s obsessive preoccupation with humanity doesn’t seem to change throughout the entirety of the Bible or history for that matter. He remains wholeheartedly fixated on us. God’s infinite grace was displayed on the very first day in creating something at all. And it never stopped. Time, space, and darkness may end with this present universe. God’s love and grace won’t.
Ben was a founding member of Rambling Ever On and a regular contributor and editor until his untimely death in April 2020.
We wrote a tribute to him, but the best tribute you can give him would be to read all the wonderful poems, short stories, book reviews, theological essays, and ridiculous satire pieces he wrote for us. Pass them on to others and maybe allow Ben to inspire you to write something yourself.
- The Chorus (Considering Ecclesiastes) - November 20, 2024
- The Aftermath (Considering Ecclesiastes) - September 24, 2024
- A Lesson (Considering Ecclesiastes) - August 20, 2024
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Deep thoughts, Ben. Thanks for sharing them.
Something from nothing is something I will never understand. At least, not unless God allows our minds to understand it after death. Good stuff Ben!