Part II: His Creation

Chapter 3: His Creation—The Spiritual World

After His manifestation as the Word, the Word began to create. He brought into being space and time, light and darkness, and the spiritual world—the unseen realm. Now there is a beginning of things; now there is time; and now we can truly say, “In the beginning…” The verse that introduces this beginning of creation by the Word is the opening of John’s Gospel: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by Him; and without Him was not anything made that was made” (John 1:1–3).45

As we read earlier, the apostle Paul explains that it is through the Word—who was later manifested in the flesh—that all things were created, by Him and for Him: “For by Him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by Him, and for Him: and He is before all things, and by Him all things consist” (Colossians 1:16–17).46

The Word (Logos) created all things, both the things that are seen (the physical) and the things that are not seen (the spiritual). First He created space and time; He created light and darkness (Isaiah 45:6–7); then He created the heaven (singular—we will see later where the plural “heavens” comes from) and the earth, as written in Genesis 1:1: “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.” It is “in the beginning” precisely because now there is time; now there is a beginning of things. Heaven and earth themselves have a beginning.

The Creation of Heaven and Its Hosts

Heaven (singular) is a real place that God created as the abode of spiritual beings. David says, “From heaven the LORD looks down and sees all mankind” (Psalm 33:13). And Nehemiah declares, “You are the Lord, you alone. You have made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them; and you preserve all of them; and the host of heaven worships you” (Nehemiah 9:6).

Here we should pause over a word the Bible uses in more than one sense. “Heaven” can mean the atmosphere where the birds fly, or the starry expanse of sun, moon, and stars, or—highest of all—the dwelling place of God, what Scripture calls “the heaven of heavens” (Deuteronomy 10:14; 1 Kings 8:27). This is why the apostle Paul could speak of being “caught up to the third heaven” (2 Corinthians 12:2–4): not three storeys of one building, but the language of his day for the very presence of God, beyond the sky and beyond the stars.47

The following verses describe how God created and “stretched out” the heaven:

He created and stretched out the heaven like a curtain, like a tent to dwell in.48 Ezekiel tried to describe what he saw over the heads of the living creatures and beneath the throne: “And over the head of the living creature there was the likeness of a firmament, like the terrible crystal to look upon, stretched forth over their heads above. And above the firmament that was over their heads was the likeness of a throne, as the appearance of a sapphire stone; and upon the likeness of the throne was a likeness as the appearance of a man upon it above” (Ezekiel 1:22, 26).49

Ezekiel saw the firmament like a terrible crystal and the throne like sapphire stone. Moses and the elders of Israel had a strikingly similar experience: “And they saw the God of Israel; and there was under his feet as it were a paved work of sapphire stone, and as it were the very heaven for clearness” (Exodus 24:10).

Heaven belongs to a different dimension from earth, and its beauty is hard to imagine or comprehend with our finite minds. When the appointed time comes, we will see. Paul, explaining what the Lord Jesus has prepared for those who love Him, wrote: “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, neither has entered into any heart… the things which God has prepared for them that love him” (1 Corinthians 2:9).

Dr. David Leininger, in a sermon titled “Heaven,” illustrated how the things we treasure on earth, such as gold, are of little account in heaven. He told it like this:50

I love the old story of the rich man who, on his death bed, negotiated with God to allow him to bring his earthly treasures with him when he came to heaven. God’s reaction was that this was a most unusual request, but since this man had been exceptionally faithful, permission was granted to bring along just one suitcase. The time arrived, the man presented himself at the pearly gates, suitcase in hand—both hands, actually, since he had stuffed it with as many bars of gold bullion as would fit. St. Peter said, “Sorry, you know the rules—you can’t take it with you.” But the man protested that God said he could… one suitcase. St. Peter checked, found out that this one would be an exception, prepared to let the man enter, then said, “OK, but I will have to examine the contents before you pass.” He took the suitcase, opened it, saw the gold bars and asked quizzically, “You brought pavement?”

After He created heaven, the abode of spiritual beings, God created the spiritual beings themselves—an astonishing array of creatures: seraphim, cherubim, angels, and the four living creatures. He also made beings that defy our finite minds to describe, such as the “wheels” full of eyes in Ezekiel 1:16. Some of these creatures are beautiful and glorious; others are awesome and even terrifying to behold. Scripture gives us only glimpses, and even those glimpses strain at the edge of language.

Let us briefly look at how the Bible describes some of these beings, in Revelation, Isaiah, and Ezekiel.

In Revelation, John sees four living creatures: “In the center, around the throne, were four living creatures, and they were covered with eyes, in front and in back. The first living creature was like a lion, the second was like an ox, the third had a face like a man, the fourth was like a flying eagle. Each of the four living creatures had six wings and was covered with eyes all around, even under his wings. Day and night they never stop saying: ‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come.’… the twenty-four elders fall down before him who sits on the throne” (Revelation 4:6–10). These four living creatures are in the center and around the throne of God.

In Ezekiel, the prophet identifies the living creatures he saw as cherubim: “These were the living creatures I had seen beneath the God of Israel by the Kebar River, and I realized that they were cherubim. Each had four faces and four wings, and under their wings was what looked like the hands of a man…. Each one went straight ahead” (Ezekiel 10:20–22).

The seraphim appear in Isaiah 6:1–7. They have six wings—two to cover their faces, two to cover their feet, and two for flying—and they appear above the throne. The cherubim are described in Ezekiel 10:3–14, around the throne. The seraphim, cherubim, and the four living creatures are living beings (some described with one, two, or four faces) bearing wings (some with two, four, or six). Commentators differ on whether these are the same order of beings under different names or distinct orders; what is clear is that they are the worshipping guardians of God’s throne, ceaselessly proclaiming His holiness.51

God also created archangels and angels. Notably, no angel is ever described in the Bible as having wings. And these heavenly creatures already existed when God laid the foundations of the earth, as the Lord Himself declared to Job: “Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth?… When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?” (Job 38:4–7). The morning stars and sons of God—the angelic host—were already rejoicing as the earth was being made.52

Scripture names very few of these beings. The only cherub named in the Bible is the one traditionally called Lucifer, identified with the proud, fallen being behind the king of Babylon and the king of Tyre (Isaiah 14:12–14; Ezekiel 28:13–17). The chief angels named are Michael, one of the chief princes (Daniel 10:13; Revelation 12:7), and Gabriel (Daniel 8:16; 9:21; Luke 1:26). Many others appear unnamed: the angels who visited Abraham, the angel who shut the lions’ mouths for Daniel, the angel who spoke to Joseph in a dream, the angels who announced the Savior to the shepherds, the angel who strengthened Jesus in Gethsemane, the angel who freed Peter from prison, and many more in Ezekiel, Daniel, and Revelation. Among the fallen, Scripture names one—Abaddon, or Apollyon (Revelation 9:11)—and speaks of many fallen angels who are not named (Revelation 12:4).53

In the Old Testament, angels are described in various ways:

Scripture also reveals several characteristics of angels:

This last point is no small matter. When the apostle John, overwhelmed by what he had seen, fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who showed him these things, he was immediately stopped: “See thou do it not… worship God” (Revelation 19:10; 22:8–9). Even the highest creature is still a creature, and the Creator alone is to be adored.54

All the heavenly creatures worship God. They are ministering spirits, created to carry out His will, purpose, and counsel; they belong to the kingdom of heaven.55 Angels are powerful but finite—not omnipotent, not omniscient, not omnipresent—which is exactly why they point us beyond themselves to the One who is all these things.56

Through the creation of heaven and its hosts, Yahweh revealed His attribute as Creator. The perfection and beauty of heaven display His own perfection, beauty, glory, and power, and the worship of the heavenly creatures declares that He is God. He is a beautiful, glorious, and powerful God.

Notes

  1. 45. D. A. Carson, The Gospel According to John (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1991), 117–118; the Word is the agent of all creation, so that nothing created falls outside His making. ↩
  2. 46. Douglas J. Moo, The Letters to the Colossians and to Philemon (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2008), 122–124; the “visible and invisible… thrones… dominions… principalities… powers” embrace the whole spiritual order, which Christ created and over which He is supreme. ↩
  3. 47. The Bible uses “heaven” in more than one sense: the atmosphere, the starry expanse, and the dwelling place of God—the “heaven of heavens” (Deut. 10:14; 1 Kings 8:27; Neh. 9:6). Paul’s “third heaven” (2 Cor. 12:2–4) reflects this usage. See Murray J. Harris, The Second Epistle to the Corinthians, NIGTC (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2005), 834–840. ↩
  4. 48. On the Hebrew idiom of God “stretching out the heavens” (e.g., Isa. 40:22; 42:5; 44:24; Jer. 10:12; Zech. 12:1), see John N. Oswalt, The Book of Isaiah, Chapters 40–66, NICOT (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1998), 67–69. The imagery pictures God effortlessly spreading the heavens like a tent. ↩
  5. 49. Daniel I. Block, The Book of Ezekiel: Chapters 1–24, NICOT (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1997), 96–106, on the “firmament” and the sapphire throne of Ezekiel’s inaugural vision. ↩
  6. 50. David Leininger, “Heaven” (sermon, March 30, 1997). The anecdote is widely retold; the point is that what earth treasures as gold is, in heaven, merely paving. ↩
  7. 51. On the relationship of the cherubim of Ezekiel 1 and 10, the seraphim of Isaiah 6, and the four living creatures of Revelation 4, see G. K. Beale, The Book of Revelation, NIGTC (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1999), 327–333; Block, Ezekiel 1–24, 95–100. Commentators differ on whether these are the same order under different names or distinct orders; all agree they are the worshipping guardians of God’s throne. ↩
  8. 52. Louis Berkhof, Systematic Theology (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1938; rev. 1996), 141–148; angels were created good, as God’s messengers and ministers, before the foundation of the physical world (cf. Job 38:4–7). ↩
  9. 53. The identification of the “king of Babylon” (Isa. 14:12–15) and the “king of Tyre” (Ezek. 28:12–17) with Satan is a long-standing reading in evangelical and Pentecostal interpretation, reflected in many study Bibles. Readers should know that the immediate reference in each passage is to a human king, and that some interpreters—John Calvin among them—restrict the meaning to that human ruler. Even so, the language of a fallen, exalted being has widely and reasonably been heard as describing the pride and fall of Satan. ↩
  10. 54. Revelation 19:10 and 22:8–9: when John fell to worship the angel, he was forbidden—“worship God.” Worship belongs to the Lord alone. See Beale, Revelation, 940–941. ↩
  11. 55. Hebrews 1:14: angels are “ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation.” See F. F. Bruce, The Epistle to the Hebrews, rev. ed. (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1990), 64–66. ↩
  12. 56. Grudem, Systematic Theology, 461–463; angels are powerful but finite: not omnipotent, not omniscient, and not omnipresent—able to be in only one place at a time. ↩
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