Back to the Beginning Week 1
Notes
Transcript
“In the Beginning”
“In the Beginning”
In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters. Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. And God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.
And God said, “Let there be a dome in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.” So God made the dome and separated the waters that were under the dome from the waters that were above the dome. And it was so. God called the dome Sky. And there was evening and there was morning, the second day.
And God said, “Let the waters under the sky be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear.” And it was so. God called the dry land Earth, and the waters that were gathered together he called Seas. And God saw that it was good. Then God said, “Let the earth put forth vegetation: plants yielding seed, and fruit trees of every kind on earth that bear fruit with the seed in it.” And it was so. The earth brought forth vegetation: plants yielding seed of every kind, and trees of every kind bearing fruit with the seed in it. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening and there was morning, the third day.
And God said, “Let there be lights in the dome of the sky to separate the day from the night; and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and years, and let them be lights in the dome of the sky to give light upon the earth.” And it was so. God made the two great lights—the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night—and the stars. God set them in the dome of the sky to give light upon the earth, to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening and there was morning, the fourth day.
And God said, “Let the waters bring forth swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the dome of the sky.” So God created the great sea monsters and every living creature that moves, of every kind, with which the waters swarm, and every winged bird of every kind. And God saw that it was good. God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.” And there was evening and there was morning, the fifth day.
And God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures of every kind: cattle and creeping things and wild animals of the earth of every kind.” And it was so. God made the wild animals of the earth of every kind, and the cattle of every kind, and everything that creeps upon the ground of every kind. And God saw that it was good.
Then God said, “Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the wild animals of the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.”
So God created humankind in his image,
in the image of God he created them;
male and female he created them.
God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.” God said, “See, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit; you shall have them for food. And to every beast of the earth, and to every bird of the air, and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so. God saw everything that he had made, and indeed, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.
Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all their multitude. And on the seventh day God finished the work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all the work that he had done. So God blessed the seventh day and hallowed it, because on it God rested from all the work that he had done in creation.
These are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created.
In the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens,
Then God said, “Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the wild animals of the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.”
The Wesleyan Bible Commentary, Volume 1, Part 1: Genesis–Deuteronomy f. The Sixth Day—Animals and Man (1:24–31)
But the climax of God’s creative work, the focal point of His grand design, made its appearance toward the close of this sixth and last creative day. It was then that He made man. The creation of man is set apart from all other creative acts in several ways. For one, it was so important, so vital, to the accomplishment of the divine purpose that it was preceded by a divine consultation. There are many hints at the doctrine of the Trinity in Genesis 1 which cannot be overlooked by the Christian believer—Elohim the plural Hebrew word for God, the brooding presence of the Spirit of God on the primeval chaos, the mighty utterances of God which John 1 tells us was the pre-existent Word—the Christ—acting as the agent of creation (cf. Heb. 11:3), and here the divine decision, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. This agreement could not have been made with the angels but only between the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. How beautifully God anticipates the fuller revelation of the New Testament in the opening verses of the Old, always giving to man all the truth he can receive in the way he can best receive it!
A second distinctive element in the story of man’s creation is that of his being made in the image and likeness of God. There is not the least suggestion that this likeness is a physical one. The only hint which is given in the text is that man is to exercise dominion over his appointed domain as God does over the entire universe. The likeness is thus one of nature and involves man’s spirituality, intelligence, sensibilities or emotional nature and will, with the consciousness of moral responsibility. Bowie suggests that it includes man’s power of thought, his power of communication, and his power of self-transcendence. It is significant in this connection that the word bara reappears at this point to designate man as the direct handiwork of God. And apparently for emphasis it is repeated three times in verse 27 to underscore God’s involvement.
Lee Haines, “The Book of Genesis,” in Genesis-Deuteronomy, vol. 1:1, The Wesleyan Bible Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1967), 29.
The fourth distinctive element in man’s creation is the particular commission given to him in relation to his world. God had commissioned the animals to multiply and fill the earth. Now He commissioned men to multiply, to replenish or better “fill” the earth, to subdue it, and to have dominion over all the other living creatures which inhabited it. In addition He gave to man and the animals all of the plant world for food. Science confirms the Scripture by teaching us that man and the animals are entirely dependent, directly or indirectly, upon the plant kingdom for sustenance.
Lee Haines, “The Book of Genesis,” in Genesis-Deuteronomy, vol. 1:1, The Wesleyan Bible Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1967), 30.
The Wesleyan Bible Commentary, Volume 1, Part 1: Genesis–Deuteronomy f. The Sixth Day—Animals and Man (1:24–31)
Finally, God once more looked over His handiwork. Six times before He had seen that it was good. Now His judgment was that it was very good. What a testimony to the perfection of His labors! Everything was exactly as He had designed it to be. And what a testimony to the original condition of man as that of holiness and righteousness! He, too, was very good—just as God had intended him to be.
2. That man’s creation was a more signal act of divine wisdom and power, than that of the other creatures. The narrative of it is introduced with solemnity, and a manifest distinction from the rest. Hitherto it had been said, Let there be light, and Let there be a firmament: but now the word of command is turned into a word of consultation, Let us make man—For whose sake the rest of the creatures were made. Man was to be a creature different from all that had been hitherto made. Flesh and spirit, heaven and earth must be put together in him, and he must be allied to both worlds. And therefore God himself not only undertakes to make, but is pleased so to express himself, as if he called a council to consider of the making of him; Let us make man—The three persons of the Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, consult about it, and concur in it; because man, when he was made, was to be dedicated and devoted to Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament, vol. 1 (Bristol: William Pine, 1765), 7.
Genesis & Exodus Commentary
Being the image of God means that humans share, although imperfectly, in the nature of God—that is, they were given the communicable attributes of intelligence, knowledge, spiritual understanding, creativity, wisdom, love, compassion, holiness, justice, and the like.
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—> What makes us differnt?
—> How we are created?
We shift from command to consult
v. 26
Then God said, “Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the wild animals of the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.”
So God created humankind in his image,
in the image of God he created them;
male and female he created them.
Up to this point God has simply spoke the command and it is done
God changes the mode of creation to commentary before creation
who is God commentating with???
God’s Self
—> Trinitarian references
the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters.
—> What we are created for...
God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.”
God said, “See, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit; you shall have them for food.
And to every beast of the earth, and to every bird of the air, and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so.
—> Being made in the image of God comes with authority and responsibilities
