Genesis 1
Here are some opening lines to books or poems. See if you recognize them.
"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times" -A Tale of Two Cities- Charles Dickens
"Call me Ishmael" -Moby Dick – Herman Melville
"Tell me, O Muse, of the man of many devices, who wandered full many ways after he had sacked the sacred citadel of Troy." - The Oddesy – Homer
"Two households, both alike in dignity" - Romeo & Juliet – Shakespeare
Writers know the importance of opening lines. An opening line sets the tone for the entire book. It tells the reader to pay attention because this is what we’re going to be talking about. It’s the thesis statement upon which everything else is built.
God’s opening line was, “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.
There’s no mistaking what this book, the book of Genesis, is all about. It’s all about beginnings – beginnings caused by God.
The Hebrew title for the book was actually the first word of the writing which meant “in the beginning.” We get the English title “Genesis” by way of the Greek translation which uses the word for creation or origin. And that’s exactly what we have here. We have a book of creation; A book of origins; A book of beginnings.
I believe that the book of Genesis is a God-inspired, historical book that chronicles actual events that tell of the beginnings of everything. Genesis tells of the beginnings of:
- the world
- life
- humanity
- sin
- civilization
- nations
- Israel
- the redemption of mankind
This is going to be an exciting, informative study that will take us to a deeper
understanding of the rest of the Scriptures. After all, the ending has so much more meaning when you know the beginning.
[Arrival at mission site with pizza after running out of gas story.]
Knowing the beginning helps us better understand the ending. So let’s start at the beginning shall we? First of all let’s look at who actually wrote these events down and when. I don’t think there was anyone taking notes while the earth was being created.
The book of Genesis is actually part the larger literary work called the Pentateuch. The Pentateuch is the first five books of the Bible – Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. Each book picks up where the previous one ends historically. But each book has it’s own emphasis. Genesis – beginnings, Exodus – redemption, Leviticus – worship, and so on.
These five books were written by Moses around 1450 B.C. in order for Israel to better understand God, life and what God expected from them. He gathered oral and written history together and under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit wrote down the first five books of the Bible.
Now in the book of Genesis, it doesn’t mention Moses as it’s author. But no less than 9 Old Testament books and 4 New Testament books attest to the fact that Moses is the author.
So we have Moses, a man used by God in incredible ways, who wrote this book called Genesis so that all of mankind could know how it all got started. Where did life originate?
Now that’s the million dollar question isn’t it? Where did life begin? People have been trying to answer that question for centuries. And things got really messed up when Darwin came on the scene and proposed his “Origin of the Species” that espoused the theory of evolution. That life just accidentally happened and evolved over millions of years.
But I don’t think that there was a lot of questioning the origin of life in Moses’ day. I mean, when he wrote the book of Genesis around 1450 B.C., creation had happened maybe 600-1000 years before that. When you follow the genealogies in the Bible back in time it causes us to think the earth is between 4-5 thousand years old. So it wasn’t all that long before the writings that it actually happened. And as we’re going to see in this book, people lived a long, long time back then. Moses lived to be 120 years old himself! So it didn’t take as many generations to span time like it does today. So I’ll bet not many people doubted that the One True God was the author of life.
And that’s where Moses starts his writings – with the One True God.
[Read Genesis 1:1a.]
In the beginning of time, human time – there was God. He was in existence before our time began. As a matter of fact, there was no time before God began it with us. God always has been and always will be. Eternity has no beginning and no end. So when Moses says, “In the beginning” he’s referring to our beginning.
And our beginning was because of God. The word used here for God is Elohim which means the strong one, the mighty leader, the Supreme Deity. Elohim is also in the plural form which allows for the triune nature of God – Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
So we have the Supreme God at the beginning of time about to do something amazing. And that amazing feet was creation.
[Read Genesis 1:1-2.]
Out of nothing God made a universe. Remember, there was nothing there at creation – not even time was in existence. God existed in a different realm of reality than we exist today. He existed in another dimension that we can’t even fully comprehend. So it’s as if He stepped out His supernatural dimension and created a whole new realm of reality.
It says He created the heavens and the earth, so obviously the heavens, or the sky, the universe, wasn’t in existence before this. So God created space.
The earth He created was without form and dark and was covered entirely with water. Wouldn’t you love to have a video of the Spirit of God moving across the waters of the earth?
And you know what, I happen to have some of the actual water that God created right then in the beginning.
[Hold up a glass of water.]
This is some of the actual water that God created in the beginning. This is some of the actual water that the Spirit of God moved across at creation. That’s right? How do I know this? Because there is no new water. We aren’t making any new water in the world – we’re just recycling old water!
The water comes down from the rain, we consume it, we release it, we flush it, it ends up in the ocean, it evaporates, and then it starts all over again.
Now don’t think about this too much. You know, wondering just where you’re water has been over the last five thousand years. It can kind of gross you out.
But think about it, God created this right here. This drink that gives us nourishment. This solution that helps us get clean. This fuel that we can get power from. This symbol of our forgiveness during baptism. This liquid that poured out of Jesus’ side along with His blood when He hung on the cross. God created this water.
Along with space and water, God also created light.
[Read Genesis 1:3-5.]
Some of the most well known words in all the Scriptures – “Let there be light.” God spoke and the universe was illuminated. Now remember, this isn’t the sun that is being talked about here. The sun wasn’t created until the forth day.
And by the way, these are literal days being talked about here. The verbiage used here to describe evening and morning as one day is totally consistent with the Jewish view of a literal 24 hour cycle of a day. People who try and say that these days represent ‘ages’ or ‘eons’ or ‘large spaces of time’ are reaching for a way to justify their belief in evolution.
You see, when we read this story as it’s written, we have to conclude that the Lord is talking about a literal 6 day creation and 1 day of rest. But that doesn’t jive with the theory of evolution. Evolution took millions of years to bring forth humanity and civilization, not 6 days!
So people come up with different ways to justify the story and evolution. One is saying that these days represent millions of years and allow for evolution while telling a good story.
Another theory is the ‘gap theory’ that says there’s a huge gap of time between verses 2 and 3 that would allow for God to create the earth and then allow for billions of years to let evolution take over the creative process.
There’s nothing in the text that allows for that or even hints at that. And you know what, it doesn’t even make sense. Why would God create the earth and then let evolution happen? If He can create an earth, He can create you and me.
Furthermore, there’s just as much scientific evidence in a 5,000 year old earth as there is in a billion year old earth. Both creationism and evolution are theories, and both take faith. But of course, Jesus has changed our lives. We know the truth. And Jesus Himself endorsed the book of Genesis and all of the Old Testament, as it was written, with the creation model. So why would we try and insert something that isn’t there? We should never come to the Bible with a preconceived notion of what it ought to mean. The Bible can speak for itself.
So, on this literal first day of creation, God created space, He created water, and He created light. But again, if the light wasn’t the sun then what was the source of the light?
The text doesn’t really say what the source of the light was, but I happen to think that God Himself was the source of the light.
Turn to Revelation chapter 21 as we see a description of the New Jerusalem that we’ll spend eternity in someday.
[Read Revelation 21:22-23.]
God glory is the light source in eternity. No lamps, no light bulbs, no candles needed. God’s glory is bright enough to illuminate all of eternity. And I think He displayed His glory at creation when He declared, “Let there be light!” And space was lit up. Lit up by Him.
So on the first day, God Almighty created space, He created water, He created light, and He also created something else. Let’s go back to the text.
[Read Genesis 1:1-5.]
When God created the formless earth of water He probably set it in motion like it is today – rotating on it’s axis. So we can understand how as it rotated there would be a day and a night. A 24 hour cycle. But in doing this, and as emphasized in the text, God separated day and night. He separated the light and the darkness. God had created distinction.
You see, there was no light in the world. Darkness was over the waters of the earth. But God created light and He even declared that the light was good! He made such a distinction between the light and the darkness that we would have a name for each; Day and night. And you know what, you can carry that theme of light and darkness throughout the entire Bible. Throughout the entire Bible we’re encouraged to walk in the light and reject the darkness.
But listen to how this theme is picked up again as John begins the story of Jesus Christ.
[Read John 1:1-3.]
There’s the triune nature of God again. Jesus, the Holy Spirit and the Father as One creating the universe, just as the plural form of Elohim allows in Genesis one. Let’s keep reading.
[Read John 1:4-5.]
That light that was created in the beginning, that was created by the father, Son and Spirit, that light that made a distinction between night and day, that light would also make a distinction between a life lived for Jesus and a life lived in spiritual darkness. That distinction created by God in the beginning would, and still does, play itself out every day in the lives of the saved and the lost.
The light in the beginning illuminated the entire universe. The light of Jesus Christ illuminates the lives of those who choose to believe.
[“Southtown” lyrics.]
When God created light He said it was good. What a great invention of the Lord! And isn’t it great when we can see the light of the Lord show up in people’s lives. And when it does, the Lord says it is good!
[Brian Welch baptism story.]
The light of Jesus Christ has come into that man’s life and is shining all over the place. Just like the light at creation shined all through the universe.
As we go through this book of Genesis, let’s ask God to shine His light so bright through it that it lights up our lives and our understanding of all of Scripture.
[Pray.]
