The Beginning and our Creator: Genesis chapter 1 provides the opening scene, per say, for everything that occurs in the Scriptures. The stage for God’s Redemption plan is established through the omnipotence of our heavenly Father. Every natural process, every intricate detail, every single organism was formed by the Almighty God with the mere beckoning of His voice. It is in this book that records the time the eternal, all-knowing, and all-powerful Lord of hosts created the reality we dwell in and everything in it.
Creation’s Testimony of our God: The beginning of Genesis offers incredible insight to our heavenly Father’s character and traits. For example, we learn of His love for astounding creativity, perfect work, and even the flawed and wayward beings collectively known as humanity. Despite knowing of the consequences that the human race would bring upon His Creation, the Lord, in His infinite grace and wisdom, not only created us without a second thought, but also based His Creation around His plan to rescue us from our hopeless situation.
Genesis 1:1 In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.
1 In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. 2 The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.
The importance of these two verses cannot be stressed enough. Far too many people read the Bible, or claim that they understand it, and yet completely ignore the truths of these foundational statements. Within verse 1, in this tiny and simple, yet powerful and informative sentence, we are given the opportunity to discover the origin of the physical universe we dwell in, how it was created, and, most importantly, Who created it. We are clearly informed that we are not the result of nothing and nothing somehow coming together to somehow decide to create something, but that we are the beautiful, delicately crafted, and indescribably beloved masterpiece formed from the craftsmanship of an omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent, infinite, and personal Creator. It is this benevolent and merciful God that lovingly brought into existence an initially perfect universe that He knew would inevitably become tainted and corrupted with the ungrateful sin and rebellion of His greatest creations. Yet, despite this stupefying fact, He still lovingly chose to create the entirety of Creation because He eternally and perfectly loved us, the undeserved crown of His Creation, even before the foundations of the world were laid in faultless glory.
Also, these two verses, particularly verse 2, contain easily overlooked, yet foundational and interesting facts about both the Creation and its Creator. It could be argued that the very first thing that God ever created was water, and it was definitely the first thing created in the physical universe, even before the Lord called light into existence. When the Earth was initially created, it was completely covered in water, with the Lord carefully and meticulously forming and molding it like a potter forming a masterpiece with clay. Even before there was light to shine on our planet, it was being carefully and lovingly molded by the Lord.
Another thing to point out in the first two verses of Genesis is that these two verses are the earliest reference to the Trinity in the Scriptures. The Spirit of God mentioned in verse two is taken to be the Holy Spirit, due to comparisons made between this passage and others throughout the Scriptures, such as John 3:8 and Acts 2:2. The main similarity here is the association of the Holy Spirit, the third member of the Godhead, with the element of wind. The Hebrew used in Genesis 1:2 is ruach, which means “the spirit of God.” Further adding to the reference to the Trinity is Genesis 1:1, which uses the Hebrew word Elohim, which is a plural word for the Lord. It does not refer to there being more than one god, but rather is another reference to the multipart Godhead.
3 And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. 4 God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.
It should be noticed here that this light that the Lord created was not from a star or other physical heavenly body, because those were not created until later in the Lord’s creation process. How the Lord lit the universe at this point is not clearly understood. The simplicity of the statement given in Scriptures leaves much to interpretation, and perhaps much more to the human imagination. Thinking upon the deeper concepts of this statement raises many questions. For example, we can ask ourselves, “If God created light, did God dwell in darkness for all eternity past prior to Creation?” 1 John 1:5 states that God is light, which is apparent in Revelation 21:23, where the Lord’s glory will be the light that brightens the New Jerusalem, thus negating the necessity of the sun or moon in the new heaven and earth. Understanding that the Lord’s domain is outside of the physically created universe, one probable explanation could be that the Lord was, has been, and always will be in light, for He is light, but the physical universe we dwell in was outside of His domain, and was thus in darkness until the Lord created the light source that brightened His Creation.
Going back to this light that was created in verse 3, there have been many different attempts to explain it. Many scholars and theologians have debated this topic, with some explanations including fire, a lightsome cloud, the sun, or even angels. The truth of the matter is that we cannot truly know what this light was that the Lord created. However, what is truly known and confirmed is that it was definitely not the sun or any other physical heavenly body. It is perhaps best to take the verse as it is, and leave it at this: God created light, and there was light.
One other note from this passage is that it can be assumed that the Lord established more than light in this passage. From the usage of the words “morning” and “evening” in the text, it can be assumed that the Lord established the Earth’s rotation, and created a form of light, whatever that may be, to implement the cycle of day and night.
6 And God said, “Let there be a vault between the waters to separate water from water.” 7 So God made the vault and separated the water under the vault from the water above it. And it was so. 8 God called the vault “sky.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the second day. 9 And God said, “Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear.” And it was so. 10 God called the dry ground “land,” and the gathered waters he called “seas.” And God saw that it was good. 11 Then God said, “Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds.” And it was so. 12 The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. 13 And there was evening, and there was morning—the third day.
Verse 10 marks a very important occurrence in the language used throughout this chapter. In the verse, God referred to what He created as being “good,” which is a description that He repeats throughout the Creation account. The word comes from the Hebrew word tob, which means to be pleasing or good. This is very important, as it signifies the absolute and infallible perfection in His work. When the Lord initially created the universe, it was completely without the corrupting stain of humanity’s sin and rebellion against the Lord. If this were not true, and the work of the Lord was anything but perfect, He would not have used the term “good.” Sin, suffering, death, and bloodshed had no place in the universe prior to Adam and Eve bringing sin into the universe by eating of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil.
Verses 11 and 12 record the first instance of the greatest gift that the Lord has bestowed upon His Creation: life. Though not in the same way as animals and humans, the Lord first gave the gift of life in His Creation to plants. Also, in His infinite wisdom, the Lord created plant life prior to creating animals and humans for an important reason. The Lord’s perfect providence for His creations is seen here, where He is seen preparing the Earth to properly sustain animal and human life with water, sunlight, and food, with the latter being fulfilled with plants.
14 And God said, “Let there be lights in the vault of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark sacred times, and days and years, 15 and let them be lights in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth.” And it was so. 16 God made two great lights—the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars. 17 God set them in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth, 18 to govern the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that it was good. 19 And there was evening, and there was morning—the fourth day.
An interesting point noted by Answers in Genesis is that there is a reason behind why God established a form of light to brighten the universe before He created the sun on the fourth day. It is probable that this was done to demonstrate that our solar system’s star is not as important as countless civilizations have believed it to be. Many pagan cultures throughout the ages have focused their worship not on the Lord, but rather the sun, with the Egyptians being the most well-known example of this. Many have taken this to the point that they believe the sun to be responsible for the creation of our solar system, and not the Lord. Perhaps as a sign of His authorship of the entire universe, our heavenly Father created the sun after He made the Earth to demonstrate that it is not the creator of all things, but He alone is worthy of that title.
20 And God said, “Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the vault of the sky.” 21 So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living thing with which the water teems and that moves about in it, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 22 God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the water in the seas, and let the birds increase on the earth.” 23 And there was evening, and there was morning—the fifth day. 24 And God said, “Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: the livestock, the creatures that move along the ground, and the wild animals, each according to its kind.” And it was so. 25 God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.
In yet another demonstration of His foresight and perfect providence for mankind, God planned ahead by creating the tremendous multitude of fish and birds that we see in our world today. This was in preparation for when sin would enter into the world and the consumption of meat would be necessary for the survival of man and beast alike. The most amazing example of this is that He not only filled the oceans with innumerable kinds of fish and microorganisms, but He also created them to reproduce at extremely quick rates. The most incredible example of this is the cod, which has the estimated potential to lay over 9 million eggs. Fish remain an extremely common and pivotal part of the diets of millions of people and animals to this day. In His infinite wisdom, the Lord prepared an abundant and healthy staple for an imperfect and carnivorous world.
Another thing we can see from these verses is the Lord’s high value of life. The Lord’s desire to fill the Creation He meticulously formed. This desire was initially given a verbal statement in verse 22, where God gave the avian and aquatic creatures the ability to reproduce and create more of their kinds. The Lord did not desire to have an empty world only indwelled by one of each kind of animal with one human being, but instead desired a world teeming with blessed life that testified of His goodness and providence. To this day, the Lord still considers the gift of life as a holy and blessed thing; a notion that should also apply to humanity. As seen in Psalm 139:14, every human life that the Lord crafts in the womb is a beautiful masterpiece that is fearfully and wonderfully made. The Lord holds a high value on life, and He has charged us to continue this godly thinking even in the face of a godless and death-filled world.
26 Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” 27 So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. 28 God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.” 29 Then God said, “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. 30 And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds in the sky and all the creatures that move along the ground—everything that has the breath of life in it—I give every green plant for food.” And it was so. 31 God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day.
In verse 26, another hint is made about the concept of the Triune relationship between the Godhead. When the Lord said, “Let us…,” He was not referring to angels taking part in the formation of man. Rather, He was speaking of God the Son and God the Holy Spirit collaborating with Him in creating Adam.
It is in this portion of the chapter that the Lord brought forth His most impressive, complex, and blessed creation. All the previous verses built up to the focal point of the Lord’s creation, this being humanity. Unlike the other being the Lord brought into existence, He created man to be the crown of His creation, and the center of His attention and interest. It is humanity that He gave the exclusive blessings of having a spirit that gives Him direct access to communication with the Creator. It is humanity alone that was formed in His image, allowing its members to have an exclusively deep access to creativity, emotions, intellect, and decision making. It is humanity that was the focal point of the Lord’s intricate rescue plan, with them being created to not only serve the Lord, but also to be saved from eternal separation by His perfect Son.
It is also in this portion of Scripture that the establishment of some extremely important and applicable principles are firmly made. One of them was marriage. The Lord created two genders, male and female, in order to establish the perfect biological combination for such a relationship to be successful and productive. He established this one-man-one-woman relationship to be the standard of marriage and reproduction for all humans and animals, with no exceptions. Another is mankind’s dominion over the earth. The Lord gave the human race authority over His whole creation, from every plant and animal, to every inch of land and water. It is imperative to remember that even though He has given us the freedom to do what we want with His Creation, it is also our responsibility to take care of it properly to prevent the negative consequences that come from irresponsible use of the Earth.
As a final side note, it is interesting to point out that throughout this chapter, along with the remainder of the Creation account in Genesis, that there is absolutely no mentioning of the Lord creating the angels. However, the book of Job does give some insight into this peculiar omission. In Job 38:4-7, God states that the angels were singing His praises while He was creating the universe. Although this seems to imply that they were made before the Lord created the heavens and the Earth in verse 1 of Genesis chapter 1, this cannot be confidently confirmed. Nevertheless, the Lord did create His angels, and have always had major roles in God’s dealings with humanity.
The first chapter of Genesis provides a multitude of pivotal truths and revelations that remain undeniably applicable and important to us today. From outlining the very first moments of our universe’s existence to offering insightful details concerning our heavenly Father, the Bible’s opening verses beautifully set the stage for the initiation of God’s rescue plan for humanity. Though the importance of these verses may appear shallow and irrelevant to Christ and His saving work, nothing could be farther from the truth.
The significance of Genesis chapter 1 cannot be underestimated, especially when the revelations offered by these verses are taken into account. We are shown that our world was not created for no reason or rashly thrown together by an uncaring god, but was meticulously and perfectly fashioned by a loving and compassionate God who cares about His work and fashioned it to absolute perfection. We are shown many interesting sides of the Lord in these verses, from His creativity to His incredible providence that allowed Him to prepare for humanity’s fall even before a single living being touched the face of our planet. We are given invaluable insight into the depths of God’s existence as a Triune being consisting of Father, Spirit, and Son. We are given a pivotal look at what humanity truly is: not a mindless, purposeless animal, but a divinely crafted masterpiece created for purpose and dominion on this earth to worship and adore God while also partaking of the delightful blessings He has provided them.
Though it can be easy to dismiss it, the Bible’s first chapter holds a very special place among the entirety of the Word of God. Its foremost placement in the Scriptures is a crucial reminder where the Lord’s proper placement in our lives is. His Creatorship over all existence is more than sufficient a reason for Him to always remain first in our lives and everything that we do.