Ex Nihilo

Are we children of God or children of nothing? If Adam was the son of God, Luke 3:38, and if Adam was created in the image of God, Genesis 1:26, then Plato was very close to being correct when he said this:

 

"In one of his dialogues, the classical Greek philosopher Plato developed the idea that the world was made out of preexistent matter, which was fashioned into the present form of the world. As well as being taken up by most Gnostic writers, this idea was adopted by early Christian theologians heavily influenced by Platonism, such as Justin Martyr. They professed a belief in preexistent matter, which was shaped into the world in the act of creation."

How about that! Romans 1:20 was fulfilled in Plato. The prominent secular philosopher is recorded in history as admitting that all things came from God, Romans 11:36, not ex nihilo which means "out of nothing." Granted, Plato's understanding about God was not perfect, but whose is? The point is that Plato shared some unity with the first century disciples.

Let's put preexistence aside for a moment and look just at ex nihilo. If we were born ex nihilo, we would all be sons of nothing and thus NOT sons of God. How would that be any different than what the evolutionists proclaim?

Hebrews 11:3 explicitly states all things were made out of that which is NOT SEEN, or out of what is currently hidden from our fallen eyes. Could this be why Jesus describes the Father as "in secret" in Matthew 6:6? The Greek word for "in secret" literally means hidden. All things are made out of that which is unseen or "in secret." Thus, Hebrews 11:3 agrees with Romans 11:36. 

In order for God to have called things out of "nothing," "nothing" would have had to actually exist prior to the actual event of the calling. For "nothing" to have existed prior to the beginning of creation, there would have had to be a boundary line between "nothing" and God! God is NOT nothing. So, there could have never been a boundary line between God and nothing. See John 1:1-4. 

Furthermore, if "nothing" existed simultaneously prior to the actual works of creation in Genesis 1 & 2, then an address BESIDE or NEXT TO God would have had to exist prior to creation. The boundary which creates that address would have made "nothing" equal to God in every way as God would have been prevented somehow from crossing that boundary line. Thus, Isaiah 45:5-6 would have been a bunch of lies coming from God's own mouth and God would NOT have been infinite. And, that would have been a hideous accusation against God and His holiness indeed.

The Holy Bible never once states that the source of all things is "ex nihilo." However, the Holy Bible does describe HOW the birth of the earth, Psalms 90:2, happened in at least three very distinct and clear ways. These three ways are covered in more depth in other articles in this blog.

1. Genesis 1-2:3 describes the literal cut performed by the word which is sharper than a two edged sword and able to divide soul and spirit. God cut Himself down.  
1. Because the son does the things he sees the father doing, John 5:19, 8:37-47, then Genesis 17 describes the sign of Abram cutting himself down to become Abraham, Father of many nations, see Job 26:10.
2. The dying duplicates here in the kingdom of darkness testify to the eternal originals in the kingdom of heaven. For example: Genesis 1:14-19 records the beginning of stars while Jude 1:13 and Revelation 1:20 declare the stars as the dying duplicate of the eternal angels. (Side Note: Is it no wonder that black holes exist in space because of Job 18:5?) When angels show up in the physical whelm, lights shine Acts 12:7; 2 Corinthians 11:14. Satan, the highest created angel, fell and became very wicked indeed. This caused his light to go out. Remember 1 John 1:5 while reading Peter's description of demons in 2 Peter 2:17.
3. Jesus repeated the events of creation in Genesis 1-2 while He walked on earth both forwards and backwards in sequential order.  

If you want to know what God thinks of you, then pray/read all the above Bible verses over yourself while asking God to show you the truth about where you come from and where you are going. You don't have a preexistence in the manner Plato described but, you do have a preexistence in the manner that the Holy Bible describes.

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Alister E. McGrath, The Complete Book of Everyday Christianity: An A-To-Z Guide To Following Christ in Every Aspect of Life, ed. Paul Stevens (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1997), s.v. “CREATION,” WORDsearch CROSS e-book.