In the Bible water symbolizes either life (John 4:10, 14; 7:38; Rev. 22:1) or death (7:17-24; Exo. 14:21-30; John 3:5; Rom. 6:3). The water here in Genesis 1:1 signifies death. As a result of God’s judgment on the preadamic universe, the entire earth was covered with deep water, signifying that the earth was filled with death and was under death.

As the dry land appeared in Genesis 1, all the other essential matters and things which would be necessary to support and sustain the Life which would eventually come forth were created in a marvelous order. Without going into great detail it can be seen that there is a progression of the levels of created things, from lower to higher, which corresponds to the normal progression in the experience of Life which eventually became manifested in the New Testament reality. The entire section from Genesis 1:2b—2:3 refers not to God’s original creation but to God’s restoration of the damaged universe, plus His further creation, in six days. “Created” here, in 1:1 denotes to bring something into existence out of nothing. It differs from “made” in 2:4 and “formed” in 2:7, the latter two denoting to take something that already exists and use it to produce something else. So in the process of God’s creation, the heavens and the angels therein were created first, and the earth, probably with some living creatures, was created second (Job 38:4-7). In the work of restoration then, the things which appear are not manifested out of nothing, but come into existence out of the substances which already exist.

So first, we see that there is the Spirit’s brooding (v. 2b), signifying that the Word of God came to bring in the light (cf. Psa. 119:105, 130). In spiritual experience, the coming of the word is the second requirement for generating life (John 5:24; 6:63b), and the coming of the light is the third requirement (Matt. 4:13-16; John 1:1-13).

According to the revelation of the whole Bible, light is for life; light and life always go together (Psa. 36:9; Matt. 4:16; John 1:4; 8:12; 1John 1:1-7). The higher the light, the higher the life. The indefinite light of the first day (v. 3) was sufficient for generating the lowest forms of life; the more solid and more definite light from the light-bearers—the sun, the moon, and the stars (v. 16; Psa. 136:7-9)—on the fourth day was necessary for producing the higher forms of life, including the human life. This signifies that for our spiritual rebirth, the light of the “first day” is sufficient; but for the growth in the divine life unto maturity, more and stronger light, the light of the “fourth day,” is needed.

Now we come to the creation, the forming, of the vessel which would be the container of Life. This clay being, Adam, was formed of the dust of the ground. He was given a body, formed from the dust of the ground, which is man’s outward form and an organ for him to contact the material realm. Next, this marvelous vessel was given what in the Hebrew is named neshamah, and translated spirit in Prov. 20:2.This indicated that the breath of life breathed into man’s body became the spirit of man, the human spirit (cf. Job 32:8). Man’s spirit is his inward organ for him to contact God, receive God, contain God, and assimilate God into his entire being as his life and his everything. It was specifically formed by God and is ranked in importance with the heavens and the earth in God’s holy Word (Zech. 12:1). The spirit of man is for man to worship God (John 4:24), to be regenerated by God (John 3:6b), and to be joined to God (1 Cor. 6:17; 2 Tim. 4:22) that man may walk and live in an organic union with God (Rom. 8:4b) to fulfill God’s purpose. Nevertheless, this spirit is not life and the man who received this wonderful organ still did not have Life.  What he did have at this point was eternal existence. This is and will be the condition of the vast majority of all those descended from Adam, and who is not descended from him? No one. To be continued…