Creation (Reformed Theology Series)

When it comes to creation, the reformed are able to stand with the rest of Christian orthodoxy. We hold the same type of things that conservative believers do all across the globe and between different theological traditions. 

The doctrine of creation is an essential part of Christian theology. It tells us so much about the power of God, his intentions toward mankind, and how we are made. In the Westminster confession, several of these things are covered. We will begin with what it says about God.

General Revelation

In our post on the doctrine of Scripture, we mentioned that there are two kinds of revelation—general and special. Special revelation encompasses scripture, the things God has spoken. General revelation encompasses creation, the things God has made.

Creation is called a type of revelation because it reveals to us things about God that we do not need the Bible to tell us. For instance, it shows us that God is powerful, good, and wise. Jeremiah testifies to this: “It is he who made the earth by his power, who established the world by his wisdom, and by his understanding stretched out the heavens” (Jer. 10:12). This is easy to see by looking out on a mountain landscape—who could have created that except an immensely wise and powerful Creator?

Romans 1:20 tells us that God’s “invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made.” Creation was designed to display God to us in His power and glory and turn us back to Him.

The Creation Week

Two things are important to note about the account of God creating all things in Genesis 1. First, God created everything out of nothing. Second, the creation happened in six literal days just as Genesis records.

The Latin term ex nihilo comes into English as “out of nothing.” This accurately describes how God made the world and lines up with the language of the confession, that God did “create, or make of nothing, the world, and all things therein.”

Regarding the time creation took, the confession agrees with the mainstream testimony of Christianity throughout the ages that God made everything “in the space of six days.” While there have been many attempts to impose millions of years upon Genesis or interpret the creation story in allegorical or poetic ways, a simple historical narrative reading of Genesis is the best—it means we read it like history, taking the contents of its pages literally. This approach preserves the integrity of the rest of Genesis and is most faithful to the text.

The Creation of Mankind

The last major point the confession covers is the creation of man. God made man first with a “reasonable and immortal soul,” something that makes him unique from the animals. He is able to reason, think, and will ultimately live past death, though outside the body for a time. 

Second, God made man in His image. The confession helps us identify what this consists of when it says that God “endued” man “with knowledge, righteousness, and true holiness, after his own image.” These qualities were true of man before the fall, but he has lost them now. We still retain vestiges of the image of God (such as our rational minds and upright bodies), but these three initial qualities have been lost.

Our Response

This brief study of the doctrine of creation helps point us back to something foundational to Christianity: scripture must be our starting place in all things. If we start with nature, for example, we could get a wrong idea of how creation went. If we start with biology, we could draw incorrect conclusions about being made in God’s image. We must start with the Bible in everything.

In addition to this, our heart’s posture is set to a state of awe and humility by the reality of general revelation. To look out into the world and behold God speaking to us through mountains, streams, valleys, meadows, and sunsets ought to inspire nothing short of worship in our souls. 

In conclusion, I would point you toward reading Psalms 19 and 104, but for now, I will give the psalmist the last word: “O LORD, how manifold are your works! In wisdom have you made them all; the earth is full of your creatures” (Psalm 104:24).

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Recommended Reading:

• The New Answers Books, 1–4, Ken Ham

• The Ultimate Proof of Creation, Jason Lisle

• Better Than the Beginning, Richard Barcellos

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Text of the Westminster Confession, Chapter 4:

1. It pleased God the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, for the manifestation of the glory of His eternal power, wisdom, and goodness, in the beginning, to create, or make of nothing, the world, and all things therein whether visible or invisible, in the space of six days; and all very good.

2. After God had made all other creatures, He created man, male and female, with reasonable and immortal souls, endued with knowledge, righteousness, and true holiness, after His own image; having the law of God written in their hearts, and power to fulfill it: and yet under a possibility of transgressing, being left to the liberty of their own will, which was subject unto change. Beside this law written in their hearts, they received a command, not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil; which while they kept, they were happy in their communion with God, and had dominion over the creatures.