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regarding creation from the point of view of God’s sovereignty and purpose in creation, Isa.
43:7; Rom. 1:25. (5) Passages that speak of creation as a fundamental work of God, I Cor. 11:9;
Col. 1:16. One of the fullest and most beautiful statements is that found in Neh. 9:6: “Thou art
Jehovah, even thou alone; thou hast made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host,
the earth and all things that are thereon, the seas and all that is in them, and thou preservest
them all; and the host of heaven worshippeth thee.” This passage is typical of several other,
less extensive, passages that are found in the Bible, which emphasize the fact that Jehovah is
the Creator of the universe, Isa. 42:5; 45:18; Col. 1:16; Rev. 4:11; 10:6.
C. The Idea of Creation.
The faith of the Church in the creation of the world is expressed in the very first article of the
Apostolic Confession of Faith, “I believe in God the Father, Almighty, Maker of heaven and
earth.” This is an expression of the faith of the early Church, that God by His almighty power
brought forth the universe out of nothing. The words “Maker of heaven and earth” were not
contained in the original form of the creed, but represent a later addition. It ascribes to the
Father, that is, to the first person in the Trinity, the origination of all things. This is in harmony
with the representation of the New Testament that all things are of the Father, through the
Son, and in the Holy Spirit. The word “Maker” is a rendering of the word poieten, found in the
Greek form of the Apostolic Confession, while the Latin form has creatorem. Evidently, it is to
be understood as a synonymous term for “Creator.” “To create” was understood in the early
Church in the strict sense of “to bring forth something out of nothing.” It should be noted that
Scripture does not always use the Hebrew word bara’ and the Greek term ktizein in that
absolute sense. It also employs these terms to denote a secondary creation, in which God made
use of material that was already in existence but could not of itself have produced the result
indicated, Gen. 1:21,27; 5:1; Isa. 45:7,12; 54:16; Amos 4:13; I Cor. 11:9; Rev. 10:6. It even uses
them to designate that which comes into existence under the providential guidance of God, Ps.
104:30; Isa. 45:7,8; 65:18; I Tim. 4:4. Two other terms are used synonymously with the term “to
create,” namely, “to make” (Heb., ’asah; Greek, poiein) and “to form” (Heb. yatsar; Greek,
plasso). The former is clearly used in all the three senses indicated in the preceding: of primary
creation in Gen. 2:4; Prov. 16:4; Acts 17:24; more frequently of secondary creation, Gen.
1:7,16,26; 2:22; Ps. 89:47; and of the work of providence in Ps. 74:17. The latter is used similarly
of primary creation, Ps. 90:2 (perhaps the only instance of this use); of secondary creation, Gen.
2:7,19; Ps. 104:26; Amos 4:13; Zech. 12:1; and of the work of providence, Deut. 32:18; Isa.
43:1,7,21; 45:7. All three words are found together in Isa. 45:7. Creation in the strict sense of
the word may be defined as that free act of God whereby He, according to His sovereign will
and for His own glory, in the beginning brought forth the whole visible and invisible universe,
without the use of preexistent material, and thus gave it an existence, distinct from His own