Survey of the Westminster Confession of Faith (Chapter 4)

Survey of the Westminster Confession of Faith

Chapter 4

Creation

I. 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.

The Confession begins its explanation of creation by including all the members of the Trinity in its statement. All three persons in the Godhead were active in the creation of the world. The purpose of this creation, according to the Confession, is the manifestation of certain attributes of God: eternal power, wisdom, and goodness.

The manner of the creation is also touched upon when the Confession defines “to create” with the phrase, “or make of nothing…” Creation, properly speaking involves bringing into existence that which did not exist before. This is what happened when God made the universe. The term theologians use is ex nihilo, which means, “out of nothing.”

Note that God’s creation contains things visible and things invisible. The Bible indicates there are dimensions that are normally unseen by the human eye. Whatever exists was made by God.

One of the most important statements in this paragraph is this: “in the space of six days.” The “common sense” reading of the Bible indicates God’s original creative activity spanned six literal days. Although this view has been challenged by unbelievers, it has remained the position of the Church, by and large. In more recent times, however, some Christians have become more agreeable to theories that would say the six days of creation were not six literal days, six extended time periods, or six literal days separated by an immense amount of time. The purpose of such views is, of course, to accommodate the so-called “scientific” data.

II. 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 fulfil 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.

The Scripture clearly represents the creation of human beings as the crowning part of God’s activity during the seven days of creation. After the earth had been prepared, God made man, “man and female.” The Bible contains two accounts of man’s creation. In chapter one of Genesis, there is no detail given about the order of the creation of Adam and Eve; the emphasis is on their relation to the rest of creation and the fact that they bear the image of God.

The second chapter, however, specifies a “sequence” in the creation of man and woman: Adam was created first and Eve was created as his suitable helper. (cf. Gen. 2:18 ff.) It is this order of creation to which the apostle Paul refers in every passage in which he deals with male-female role relationships in the New Testament (with the exception of Col. 3:18). His instructions regarding how men and women are to relate to one another are based in the theology of creation.

Much could be said about this subject, but the most important thing is this: The order of the creation of Adam and Eve established the nature of their role relationships for all times in all cultures. This is precisely Paul’s argument in 1 Cor. 11, 14, Eph. 5 and 1 Tim. 2.

The Confession also describes the condition in which our first parents were created: They had “reasonable and immortal souls”; they were “endued with knowledge, righteousness and true holiness” after God’s own image. We often speak of man being created “in the image of God.” This means that he “resembles” his Creator in certain aspects.

Here, we are told what this image consists of. Man is “reasonable,” which means he can think, know, and apply knowledge. He has an “immortal soul,” which, besides distinguishing him from the animals, means his body is not his whole essence. Man has a spiritual “part” that cannot perish. Further, as man came from the hand of God, he had knowledge, righteousness and true holiness. Adam had knowledge of himself and his Creator; that is, he enjoyed a relationship with God based upon personal recognition and the ability to communicate. And, prior to his transgression, Adam was righteous and holy before God. These last three things in particular are mentioned as that which is restored in regeneration (cf. Eph. 4:24 and Col. 3:10).

Another important element in the record of man’s creation is the fact that Adam had the power to fulfill the law of God. Prior to the Fall, Adam and Eve were capable of doing that which pleased God; they were also capable of transgression, as we know, and the Confession acknowledges this. Man was in a state of innocence, as it is called, from the point of his creation to the point of his sin. During that period, he possessed a will free to obey and free to disobey. Following his Fall, of course, as we will be reminded, man was no longer free to obey, but was confirmed and bound in unrighteousness.

In addition to the morality of God written upon the heart of our first parents, they received a command concerning a specific situation. They were told not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. As long as they obeyed God’s command concerning this tree, they would remain in communion with Him and the purposes for which they were created would be achieved.

We should explain that the command not to eat of a particular tree had nothing to do with the tree itself. Rather, God was illustrating the nature of the relationship between Himself and man. He was the Creator, man was the creature. Therefore, it was God’s right to command and man’s duty to obey. Adam was tested in this matter.

If he refrained from eating from the tree, he demonstrated a desire to continue in the Creator-creature relationship. If that command were violated, Adam would be declaring that he would assume the place of God and decide between right and wrong, yes and no. There could be only one ultimate source of authority in this relationship—God or Adam. Therefore, this simple prohibition was magnificent in its implications.