Where was God before He created the heavens and the earth?<\/p>\n\t
“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth<\/em>” (Genesis 1:2).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
In this simple statement are many implications. Since it was “in the beginning,” it is implied that time did not exist before this. So thus, time was created at this point.<\/p>\n
The word “heavens” means “expanse” and the Bible uses it to refer to three different expanses: 1) It can refer to the region where birds fly, which we call the sky or the atmosphere (Jeremiah 4:25). 2) It can refer to the region occupied by the planets and stars, which we call outer space (Isaiah 13:10). 3) And it can refer to the region where God dwells and has His throne (Hebrews 9:24). That is why you find Paul mentioning a man caught up into the third heaven (II Corinthians 12:2), he is referring to going to where God dwells.<\/p>\n
If we understand that God created the heavens refers to the first two realms, the sky, and outer space, then we see that God also created the concept of space (or dimensions) at this point.<\/p>\n
He also created the earth, but the next verse mentions it was without form, so we know that “earth” isn’t referring to the planet. It is suggested that it is referring to matter in general before God formed it into various things.<\/p>\n
The word “create” means to make something from nothing or to make something that has never existed before. It is a word that only applies to God. So in this first verse, God has created times, space, and matter — the foundational building blocks of our universe.<\/p>\n
There is nothing implied in this verse that God necessarily created His own home (the third heaven) at the same time.<\/p>\n
“For thus says the High and Lofty One Who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: “I dwell in the high and holy place, …<\/em>” (Isaiah 57:15).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Question: Where was God before He created the heavens and the earth? Answer: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:2). In this simple statement are many implications. Since it was “in the beginning,” it is implied that time did not exist before this. So thus, time was created at this…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[20],"tags":[302,90],"class_list":["post-16387","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-creation","tag-god"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":28307,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/does-genesis-11-say-there-was-nothing-except-god-before-the-beginning\/","url_meta":{"origin":16387,"position":0},"title":"Does Genesis 1:1 say there was nothing except God before the beginning?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 3, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Here's another question and it may seem silly but all I want is you to answer it in the best way you can. Genesis 1:1 \"in the beginning there was nothing except God.\" or \"in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth\" (different versions of the Bible)\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":36572,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-is-the-sky-referred-to-as-heavens-in-genesis-16-8\/","url_meta":{"origin":16387,"position":1},"title":"Why is the sky referred to as “heavens” in Genesis 1:6-8?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 19, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hello, I am currently bust with a Bible study of Genesis and I am confused about something. In Genesis God said: \"Let there be a space between the waters, to separate the waters of the heavens from the waters of the earth\". If the first heaven is the atmosphere\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":5384,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/are-the-new-heavens-and-new-earth-been-already-made-or-will-it-be-created-in-the-future\/","url_meta":{"origin":16387,"position":2},"title":"Are the new heavens and new earth been already made or will it be created in the future?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 22, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Are the new heavens and new earth been already made or will it be created in the future? Answer: This is a question that leaves me wondering whether an answer one way or another will make any difference in how you and I must live our lives on this\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":18175,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/peter-cant-be-referring-to-the-physical-elements-being-destroyed-can-he\/","url_meta":{"origin":16387,"position":3},"title":"Peter can’t be referring to the physical elements being destroyed, can he?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 19, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: To get to my point here, it is stated in the study you gave me on \"The Second Coming of the Lord\" that in II Peter 3 is talking about the \"end of the world.\" Let us have a closer examination of it, and we will find it means\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3735,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-was-before-the-heavens-and-earth-where-does-god-come-from\/","url_meta":{"origin":16387,"position":4},"title":"What was before the heavens and earth? Where does God come from?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 17, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: God\u00a0created heaven and earth. What was around before heaven and earth? Where does God\u00a0come from? Answer: In regards to the creation, see: Could there have been a gap between Genesis 1:1 and 1:2? How old is the world? Was there a world before Genesis? In regards to God, the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":13431,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/are-the-new-heaven-and-new-earth-been-already-made-or-will-they-be-created-in-the-future\/","url_meta":{"origin":16387,"position":5},"title":"Are the new heaven and new earth been already made or will they be created in the future?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 22, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Are the new heaven and new earth been already made or will they be created in the future? Answer: This is a question that leaves me wondering whether an answer one way or another will make any difference in how you and I must live our lives on this\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16387","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16387"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16387\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16387"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16387"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16387"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}