Abracadabra. Shazam. Alakazam. Presto chango. Bibbidi-bobbidi-boo. Hocus pocus. Or simply, open sesame. Scholar of magic Craig Conley categorizes these words as “pseudo-Latin phrases, nonsense syllables, or esoteric terms from religious antiquity.” But he also calls them a part of “language as an instrument of creation.”* While their narrative context may be innocent, it is interesting to note that what often undergirds the majority of fantasy and fiction is a presuppositional spiritualism, in which humanity creates something from nothing, with a little supernatural help.
When God created the heavens and the earth, Genesis 1:3 narrates that God said and it came to be. Whereas the English uses three words (let there be), the Hebrew is more dramatic, in that one word is used to command existence: yehi. God speaks, and the reality of matter and material come to be (Ps. 33:9). Said in another way, God’s Word holds the power of existence. For God, there need be no space, pause, or gap between speech and reality—a fundamental characteristic of the unique Creator.
As a corollary, there is something that is impossible for God to do. He cannot lie (Titus 1:2; Heb. 6:18). Yes, Luke 1:37 says nothing shall be impossible with God, but that is within the human framework. When it comes to the divine, God alone has the power to speak things into existence—to create and make things as He wills by fiat. The one with such ability must be careful with speech. The consequences of misusing it are explored in our fairy tales, magic stories, comic books, myths, and legends. But God is a perfect Creator, for His ultimate goodness ensures that speaking and being can coexist.
There is something that is impossible for God to do. He cannot lie.
Perhaps this is why Scripture takes a hard stance on spiritualism, in which human beings claim to entertain the power of creation through speech. On a lower level, perhaps this is why Scripture takes a hard stance on sins of the mouth altogether, sins in which speaking and reality are dissonant: lying, gossip, slander, boasting, flattery, profanity, harshness, cursing, breaking promises, idle chatter, backbiting, contrarianism, and the like (James 3 counsels on controlling the tongue). Note Revelation 21:8, which lists sorcerers and all liars in the same category as those receiving the second death.
Romans 4:17 connects creation and the covenant with our conversion. God who called “those things which do not exist as though they did,” created the world ex nihilo, and promised Abraham to be the first of many who would be spiritually reborn, giving that same experience to anyone today.
This presuppositional characteristic of creation ex nihilo is one that is interlaced throughout Scripture. As already described, it is in the creation narrative. It is the basis for the covenants given to Adam, Noah, Abraham, Jacob, and Moses. It is the voice for the law of God given to humanity and to Israel. It is the source of prophecies—conditional, unconditional, local, and universal. It is the power for the incarnation, birth, life, death, resurrection, and ministry of Jesus Christ. It is the grace for conversion, salvation, justification, and sanctification. It is the origin of the church, the gospel, evangelism, and ministry. It is the foundation for the judgment, the Second Advent, the resurrection, the millennium, and the apocalypse.
The belief in macroevolution or the denial of creation ex nihilo should not be relegated to a philosophical scientific debate. Rather, pulling at this one string loosens and undoes the entire fabric of Genesis to Revelation. Not as pseudo-Latin or nonsense words of creation, but may His Word unite our being and speaking to be one like our Creator—only by His creative and re-creative grace.
* Craig Conley, Magic Words: A Dictionary (Weiser Books, 2008), p. 18.
