Systematic Theology: God is the Sovereign Creator and Sustainer of All Things [4], and the Whole Bible Helps Us Know God Rightly
"In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth" (Genesis 1:1). Thus the Bible, God's special self-revelation, begins to teach us about who God is and what God has done. Several implications can be made from this simple sentence. However, as the narrative continues, and we read, "And the earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters" (Genesis 1:2), and we are given more information about God and divine activity in creation, we have to think carefully about what we should learn from the text, and what misunderstandings we should avoid. We have reference to the "Spirit of God... hovering." As "hovering" is a term used in ancient texts concerning birds, we may understand this as a birdlike image concerning the Spirit of God. This initial introduction to the Spirit of God gives a certain significance to "the Spirit of God descending like a dove" upon Jesus at His baptism (see Matthew 3:16). From Genesis 1:2, we see (at least) that the Spirit of God is active in creation, and the Spirit of God expresses care over creation. (Similarly, in Matthew 3:16, we see that the Spirit of God is active upon Jesus and the Spirit of God expresses care for Jesus, as Jesus is the firstfruits of the new creation.)
However, does the "Spirit of God... hovering over the face of the waters" indicate a certain permanent form for the Spirit, or that the Spirit is locally situated (existing in one place, while absent from another)? These would be illegitimate conclusions from the language of Genesis 1:2. How can we know which conclusions we should draw, and which we should avoid? One key principle that we must employ in this regard is that "Scripture interprets Scripture." Later Scriptures clarify the valid implications we should draw from earlier Scriptures. As Fred Sanders notes in The Triune God:
"If, in fact, the two-Testament canon of Scripture is all one book, then the beginning has to be read in light of the ending.The second half of a sentence has a conclusive interpretive priority over the first half of the same sentence, while the first half has identifying priority over the second half. Likewise, the Old Testament has identifying priority over the New, while New Testament has conclusive interpretive priority over the Old."
What is true of the Old Testament and the New Testament as large units of Scripture is also true of smaller sections of Scripture. We build our understanding of who God is by learning what each verse teaches, but then we check our understanding of God by looking at Scripture as a whole, trusting that God's revelation is for the purpose of leading us to knowledge of God, and confident that God's revelation does not contradict itself.
[For more on biblical hermeneutics and theological method, I highly recommend "The Context and Hermeneutics of 2LCF 4.1" from Dr. Richard Barcellos at the 2017 Southern California Reformed Baptist Pastors' Conference, which you can listen to at the following: https://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?SID=112017143464 ]
However, does the "Spirit of God... hovering over the face of the waters" indicate a certain permanent form for the Spirit, or that the Spirit is locally situated (existing in one place, while absent from another)? These would be illegitimate conclusions from the language of Genesis 1:2. How can we know which conclusions we should draw, and which we should avoid? One key principle that we must employ in this regard is that "Scripture interprets Scripture." Later Scriptures clarify the valid implications we should draw from earlier Scriptures. As Fred Sanders notes in The Triune God:
"If, in fact, the two-Testament canon of Scripture is all one book, then the beginning has to be read in light of the ending.The second half of a sentence has a conclusive interpretive priority over the first half of the same sentence, while the first half has identifying priority over the second half. Likewise, the Old Testament has identifying priority over the New, while New Testament has conclusive interpretive priority over the Old."
What is true of the Old Testament and the New Testament as large units of Scripture is also true of smaller sections of Scripture. We build our understanding of who God is by learning what each verse teaches, but then we check our understanding of God by looking at Scripture as a whole, trusting that God's revelation is for the purpose of leading us to knowledge of God, and confident that God's revelation does not contradict itself.
[For more on biblical hermeneutics and theological method, I highly recommend "The Context and Hermeneutics of 2LCF 4.1" from Dr. Richard Barcellos at the 2017 Southern California Reformed Baptist Pastors' Conference, which you can listen to at the following: https://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?SID=112017143464 ]
Labels: Reformation Theology
posted by Andrew Lindsey | 10:39 AM
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