Day 1 - Genesis 1:1-2:25 - Creation

The Triune God

It is here in Genesis 1 that we first see the Trinity at work. We see the Father, the Son (the Word that was spoken) and the Holy Spirit (hovering over the waters of the deep). We know that the Word spoken was the Son, Christ Jesus, because of what we read in John 1:1-3, which says, “¹ In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ² He was in the beginning with God. ³ All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.” It is also worth noting that Genesis 1:26 uses the plural as it says, “Then God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.’”

How God Created

I have heard many debates surrounding the creation of the world. I feel like we need to be careful not to add to or remove anything from what the Genesis 1 account tells us. Genesis 1 is written as beautiful poetry and was never intended to be used as a science book detailing the specifics of creation. We need to look no further than the account of Noah and the Flood or the book of Leviticus to see how specific God can get when He wants to be specific. We don’t see the exact way that God formed everything (including man). What we do see is two key truths: 1. God created; 2. He did so through by speaking.

Beautiful Poetry

As indicated above, I believe that Genesis 1 is written with beautiful poetry. A good friend once pointed out that nothing more greatly shows the beauty of creation than a sunrise and sunset. My friend then pointed out that a sunrise and sunset is indicated in each day during the biblical account of creation when we are shown that there is morning and evening in verses 5, 8, 13, 19, 23 and 31 of Genesis 1. Regardless whether or not that phrase is used at the end of each day to give a picture of a sunrise and sunset, it is certainly hard to argue the point that ending each day with that phrase is meant to be poetic. The most beautiful piece of poetry that I see in Genesis 1 is the picture we are given in verse 1 and then how it’s followed up. In verse 1, we see that the Spirit of God is hovering over the waters of the deep. Another way to translate Spirit of God is Breath of God. I see this picture of the Breath of God hovering, just waiting for creation to occur. Then, all of a sudden, the Breath of God is no longer left hovering as God speaks forth His Word. Eight different times in Genesis 1 we see that “God spoke” in a direct connection to creation (verses 3, 6, 9, 11, 14, 20, 24, and 26). I believe that the Genesis 1 account of creation is accurate and how things actually happened. I also believe that it was written with beautiful poetry, which is fitting for the beauty of the event (the creation of the world) being described.

It Was Good

God doesn’t make mistakes. And God certainly didn’t make any mistakes during creation. On seven different occasions in Genesis 1 (verses 4, 10, 12, 18, 21, 25, and 31), we see that God saw His work and that it was good. I was challenged a few years ago when I said I had a bad day. I was reminded in my heart that God created that day and all that God creates is good. I have no right calling something bad that God called good. Some days are more challenging than others, but they are all good. How do I know? Because God creates them all. I think this is also important for some people to see because they may not think very highly of themselves. Let’s be honest, some people don’t feel smart or funny or beautiful or whatever other shortcoming they may feel. Let us be reminded by this portion of Scripture, though, that God did not make any mistakes when He created any of us!

Imago Dei

We were made in the image of God. How cool is that? When some try to claim that humans are just another kind of animal or when people even put animals ahead of humans, I like to remind them that we were created with a huge difference: unlike animals, humans were created in the image of God. We are reminded of the significance of this truth in Genesis 9:6 when God told Noah and his sons:

“’Whoever sheds the blood of man,

  by man shall his blood be shed,

for God made man in his own image.’”

Vegetarian

Genesis 1:29 seems to indicate that Adam and Eve were created as vegetarians. God gave them the fruit of every tree (except one as we see in chapter 2 and will discuss shortly) to eat. And Genesis 1:30 shows us that the greens were originally intended for the animals. While this may seem insignificant, I believe that its significance will be seen when we read and discuss chapter 3.

The Sabbath

Genesis 2:1-3 tells us that after six days of creation, God took the seventh day to rest. God is all-powerful and He was certainly not so overwhelmed by fatigue that He needed to take a nap. God, in His great wisdom and love, was setting aside that day (that’s what it means to make something holy: to set it apart) for our benefit. He was also creating a situation for us to always remember His glory in creation. We know this is true because in reading the Exodus 20 account of the Ten Commandments, it says in verses 8-11, “⁸ “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. ⁹ Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, ¹⁰ but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. ¹¹ For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.” Is the Sabbath supposed to be Saturday or Sunday? I think that’s the wrong question. We need to ask ourselves what it means to Sabbath (or to rest). We need to make time to rest in God and remember Him for His glory in creation.

Adam and Eve

Genesis 2 gives us a little more depth than Genesis 1 did with regard to the creation of Adam and Eve. We know that Adam was created from the dust. Most importantly, though, we see that God breathed life into Adam. I just think that’s awesome! The creation of Eve is completely different, however. God used Adam to create Eve. Like many translations you may be using, my English Standard Version of the Bible says that God created Eve from Adam’s “rib” (Genesis 2:21, 22). It is noteworthy, however, that the Hebrew word used here is tsela. Many scholars believe that a better translation for this might be “side.” In fact, it is believed by many (including me, though I am no scholar) that Eve was created from more than simply a small bone rib. It seems that Eve may have been made from a larger portion of Adam’s side. In fact, we know for certain that it wasn’t only a bone as the following verses (23, 24) indicate that Eve came from Adam’s bone and flesh. Verse 24 is why we say that when a man and woman get married, the two become one. Some people use unity candles to signify this truth during a wedding ceremony.

The Two Trees

There is a lot to be said about the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. From what we read in Genesis 2:16, 17, this is the one and only tree they are forbidden to eat from. If they weren’t to eat from it then why was it put there? This is a question that has been asked throughout the ages. Why has it been stumping people for so long? Because the Bible doesn’t come right out and tell us the specific answer. All I can tell you is what I believe to be true. I believe that we are free will beings. God created us to worship Him, but I believe that He wanted us to choose to worship Him. Why is choice so important? As a dad, I like to make this analogy: is it more meaningful to you when to tell your child to kiss you and they do or when they kiss you without you telling them to? I argue that it means much more to be loved by someone without making them love you. In truth, if you have to make someone love you, it’s not real love. I believe that God wanted us to choose to love Him (while also understanding that we cannot make that choice without the power of the Holy Spirit). We will see the tree of the knowledge of good and evil become incredibly important when we read and discuss Genesis 3. So, what about the other tree? I believe that it’s easy for us to pay so much attention to the tree of the knowledge of good and evil that we can forget that there is another important tree mentioned in this chapter. Genesis 2:9 tells us that the tree of life was also in the Garden of Eden. And we never see any indication that they were commanded not to eat from it. So, why didn’t they? This might go under the old “woulda, shoulda, coulda, didn’t” category, but I don’t believe this is a question that can actually be answered, just something I wonder. Like the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, we will see the greater significance of the tree of life when we read and discuss Genesis 3.