The Belgic Confession of Faith (14)

Article 12

We read in Isaiah 40 about what we all are. “The nations are as a drop of a bucket, and are counted as the small dust of the balance: behold, He taketh up the isles as a very little thing” (Isa. 40:15). But, “Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who has created these things, that bringeth out their host by number: He calleth them all by names by the greatness of His might” (Isa. 40:26). It is the everlasting God of whom we read, “the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of His understanding” (Isa. 40:28). These words are a comfort, for this God is the helper of His people. He is the One who gives power to the faint and increases the might and strength of those who do not have any strength. “Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall: but they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint” (Isa. 40:30-31).

It is this Creator that our Confession speaks about in Article 12. We read in Hebrews 11:3, “Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the Word of God.” When we speak about creation, we do not just deal with mere facts, visible reality, or the report which we can find in Genesis 1 and 2. We deal with something which can only be understood through faith. In order to have a right knowledge of creation, we need true faith. Therefore this article is also an article of faith. “We believe,” the instructor says. We believe that all which has been made has been created out of nothing. When a constructor makes something, he uses materials. The Lord, however, made something out of nothing. In that respect we sometimes speak about a painter or a sculptor creating a work of art, but they all use materials. In the work of creation, there is only One who creates. There is only One who can make something out of nothing.

This creation has taken place by God alone. There have been heretics who thought that it would be too condescending for a high and majestic God to be involved in the creation of heaven and earth. They taught that it was created by other means, by half-gods, who were used by God as a mediate cause to create the heaven and earth. In their opinion it was impossible for the God of heaven to condescend so deeply as to be the Creator of heaven and earth.

We believe that Scripture is very clear in this matter. God alone created all things without the help or assistance of any creature or anything that He made. God did not just create an eternal matter and then leave it alone, so that this eternal matter further developed; nor was there a conjunction of matters to which He gave the ability to increase in a way of evolution. He created everything after its own kind.

We read that the creation is a work of a triune God. In our Confession we read that it is the Father who created by His Son. Not everyone agreed with that. Karl Barth believed that God the Father created the heaven and the earth by means of Christ. Well, that is right, isn’t it? No, it is not. He said that God created the heaven and the earth by the Word Incarnate, by the person of the Mediator who had a human as well as a divine nature. We believe that which Scripture tells us: God the Father created by means of the Logos, that is the Word, or the Son of God. That is not the Mediator, but the Second Person in the Godhead. Does that make any difference? Yes, for if we follow the idea of Karl Barth and say that God the Father created the heaven and the earth by means of the Word Incarnate, then Christ would be the Mediator of the whole creation. What does that imply? Barth, first of all, says that Genesis 1 and 2 should not be taken literally, not literal history, but as a myth or story with perhaps a historical basis. The consequence of Barth’s doctrine of creation by the Word Incarnate is that finally all men will be saved. The only difference among these men is that God’s people know this now already. They are pilgrims who know that they are on their way to eternal salvation. All others, who do not know it here, will also ultimately be saved. Because Christ is the Mediator of creation, He will not allow His creatures to be destroyed.

We firmly reject this error of Barth, and believe that the Father indeed created the heaven and the earth. “But to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things” (1 Cor. 8:6).

The work of creation is also ascribed to God the Son. “By the Word of the LORD were the heavens made” (Psa. 33:6). John 1 speaks of the Word, the Son of God, “All things were made by Him: and without Him was not any thing made that was made (John 1:3).

The Holy Spirit is also mentioned in reference to creation, “The Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters” (Gen. 1:2).

Why did a triune God create this heaven and earth? What was His reason? Our Confession gives a clear answer: “as it seemed good unto Him.” That is the only reason. It seemed good in His sight; it pleased Him to make man as he was. It pleased Him to create the heaven and the earth. It pleased Him to create the angels also. The only reason for creation is God’s sovereign will. That is also the only reason of recreation, God’s sovereign will — His good pleasure.

When speaking of creation, some of our Reformed fathers have made a distinction between a so-called primary creation and a secondary creation. Primary creation is the creation of unformed and unshaped matter. The secondary creation is the orderly formation of unshaped matter in the course of six days. Days one, two and three correspond with days four, five and six. That which God created in day one was populated on day four, and that which He created in day two He filled on day five. Also between day three and six we see a harmony. We should also be very firm in stating that the whole creation was performed in six days, not in six periods of time, as some would say.

The Hebrew word which is used in Genesis for “days” is also mentioned in Exodus 20:11 when the Lord says, “For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth.” It is evident in Exodus 20 that the Lord speaks of literal days. Also in Genesis 1 the word “day” must be taken for a literal day.

Another point we must address is that the Lord made everything after his kind. He made male and female. He made animals in different classifications, according to climate and environments. The animals from tropical areas as compared to those in colder climates are very different. One type never changes into another type. Evolution says that it does. Darwin came up with a theory, which actually is already very old, that there is a continual evolution from a less complicated creature to a more refined one, and that man (homosapiens) is the final crown at the top. We would then say that man must be a very high-class creature; however, we know that sometimes the animals put us to shame and we are less than the beasts. It is true, we were the crown of creation; we were the ornament of God’s hand, but now we are fallen creatures. With all the theories about evolution, there is no clear evidence that one form can change into another and there is no link between monkeys and homosapiens.

We must reject those theories, as well as theistic evolution, which states that God created in the beginning and put certain powers into matter so that it developed during the course of millions of years. We firmly believe in creation as Scripture states: “in six days.” We should not try to compromise between a theory which doesn’t have any real basis, even if it is taught as a matter of fact, and that which Scripture reports to us. In public schools biblical creation is seldom taught, because the instructors claim there is no scientific basis for it, and the theory of evolution, according to them, is the only acceptable teaching. We should not forget that this so-called scientific approach is really nothing more than a hypothesis, and another false religion which people want to believe.

We read that the Lord “upholds and governs this creation by His eternal providence and infinite power, for the service of mankind, to the end that man may serve his God.” What is the reason that the world is still here? We might say it is because people must still be converted. Souls must still be conquered by God’s grace and be drawn out of darkness into God’s marvelous light. While this is true, it is not the final answer. God must be served and honored. That was the initial purpose of creation. The Lord made the heaven and earth, created man, and gave him that beautiful Paradise in order that he might serve his Maker. The only reason that the heaven and the earth still stand is that the number of elect may be full and the church may be gathered, but with this purpose: to serve God.

If you would say, friends, that we are here on earth to be converted, then that would not be the best answer. The purpose of your being on this earth is to serve our Maker. To that end we need conversion and regenerating grace. We cannot excuse ourselves by saying that we are unconverted and hope that one day this might happen. No, each moment of the day we are to spend all our gifts, talents, and abilities to His honor. That should be the goal and purpose of our life. That purpose can only be restored by the work of Him who said on the cross, “It is finished,” which also means, “the goal, the purpose has been reached.” Therefore the Lord will have a seed that will serve Him.

The Lord also created angels. We don’t preach and hear very often about angels. Yet the Bible speaks about angels, and this article clearly speaks of them also. “He also created the angels good, to be His messengers and to serve His elect.” They also have a task toward God and toward Christ. They were the messengers of His birth and they sang about God’s “good will toward men.” They were present when Christ was tempted in the wilderness. In the garden of Gethsemane there was an angel who strengthened the Surety. There were angels at the sepulcher, sitting upon the stone after His resurrection. At the ascension there were angels who welcomed Christ into heaven. Psalm 47 also speaks of this joy of the angels, the heavenly hosts. This psalm refers also to the ascension of Christ. There will be angels at the last day blowing on the trumpet when Christ will come again.

Each moment of the day we are to spend all our gifts, talents, and abilities to His honor. That should be the goal and purpose of our life.

The angels have a task in regard to God’s children, the elect. They must protect, comfort and counsel them. “He shall give His angels charge over thee to keep thee in all thy ways” (Psa. 91:11 ). They are also very interested in what your response will be to the preaching and the use of the means of grace. There is gladness in heaven when one sinner repents. They are in God’s house in the public worship. We also read that women must have a covering on their head because of the angels’ presence in the house of God. The angels speak of the holiness of God, but also of the joy of His service.

All the angels were created at once. There is no entering into existence, as with men, through birth. There is a multitude, an army, a host of angels, messengers of God and servants of His elect.

There are different classes of angels. We could mention the seraphims who proclaim the holiness of God. You read of them in Isaiah 6. There are also the cherubims who maintain God’s justice. Some special names are mentioned: Gabriel and Michael.

There is a hierarchy among the angels. There are archangels. All have their specific task and high calling, as our confession says.

There are also fallen angels who did not preserve their principles, who fell out of the place they received from God because of their pride. Those angels are now devils and evil spirits. They are also present in God’s house and in all places. Those evil spirits are full of hatred against God, His people, and His servants. There are also levels among these devils. These is Beelzebub, their captain. Bunyan called the leader of the devils Diabolos, the same name by which he is called in the Greek text of Ephesians 6:11. The devil is called a liar from the beginning. He is called the prince of darkness and also has many other names. Those fallen angels are very busy. We so often hear about the fallen angels, but hear very little about the other angels. Do you know something of the devil in your life? Or do you often put the blame on the devil for your faults?

There is a people who have so much trouble with Satan. They don’t see him, for he is a spirit, but they can be aware of his power and temptations. He often buffets them. He is full of hatred against God and His church. He cannot pull God from the throne and he cannot keep God’s people from heaven, but he tries to keep heaven out of their heart. Yet the Lord has said, “And the gates of hell will not prevail against them.” They came with all their power upon Christ and assaulted Him in the Garden of Gethsemane and they tempted Him in the wilderness, but He was preserved and He remained standing. He did not fall under temptation. He stood there as the Head of that new race, of His people, that new creation. The first Adam fell, but the Second Adam did not; and therefore God’s people may be assaulted and tempted, even left to themselves for a moment and fall under that temptation, but they cannot entirely fall away. The Lord delivers them out of the power and dominion of those evil spirits. Zion is kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation.

Our Confession also speaks of some other errors. The Sadducees in the days of the Lord Jesus did not believe in the existence of spirits and angels. Also the Manichees, who lived in the time of Augustine, believed there were two kinds of powers: the power of darkness (the evil spirits — not created by God but always having been there) and the power of the good God and the good angels. We disagree, for the devils also have their origin in creation. They were also created very good by God, but certain angels fell away. As the Lord has elected His people, there is also an election of angels. Those who remain standing are the elect angels. We read of them in 1 Timothy 5:21. What a blessed state these angels have, glorifying God day and night, but also serving God’s dear children!

God is the Creator of heaven and of earth and of all of us. He gave us our mouths, eyes, ears, some mental abilities, and some strength. The only purpose of our life and of creation is to honor and serve God and love our neighbor. Did that already become your purpose, your desire, by grace? May the Lord glorify this grace, by His Word and Spirit, in the hearts of us and our dear children.

Entering the Cloud

“And they feared as they entered into the cloud.”

— Luke 9:34

My soul, here is much instruction for thine evening thoughts to be employed upon. Sit down, and take a leisurely view of the situation of the disciples of Jesus, at this hallowed season, on the mount. The Lord Jesus was about to manifest to them somewhat of His glory. But the prelude to it was infinitely solemn. “They feared as they entered into the cloud”; though, when there, Jesus was going to open to their souls the richest enjoyment of Himself. And is it not so with all the sweetest manifestations which the Lord makes to His people? Seasons of sickness, bereaving providences, afflictions from the world, disappointments, crosses, and the like; these are like the cloud to the disciples, as we enter them; but what gracious events have we found folded up in them, and when opened to our view, how much of Jesus’ love, and grace, and glory, have come out of them, which, but for the dispensation, we must have lost. And recollect, my soul, as thou lookest back, and tracest the divine hand leading thee through dark and trying providences, in how many cases, and in how many instances, though the cloud was frowning as thou didst enter, the most blessed sunshine soon after broke in upon thee. Precious Jesus! choose for me in every circumstance yet remaining to be accomplished. I know not what is in Thy sovereign appointments concerning me; but sure I am that both love and wisdom are at the bottom of all. Give me grace to enter the cloud, be it what it may, without fear, because I know Jesus is with me; and though, in this my day, it be neither clear nor dark, yet well I know all shall be well in Thee and from Thee; “and at evening-time it shall be light.”

— Rev. R. Hawker

Rev. C. Vogelaar is pastor of the Ebenezer Netherlands Reformed Church of Franklin Lakes, New Jersey.

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