Untitled Sermon

The Bible’s opening narrative introduces the Bible’s main character—God. The creation account emphasizes God’s power as He brings all things into existence through divine decree. God’s creative activity occurs over six days in Gen 1:3–31. The account ends with the description of God’s rest on the seventh day in 2:1–3. The six-day structure reflects the overall pattern the writer gives to God’s work. Creation is organized into three categories: the heavens, the sea and sky, and the earth. God’s creative activity forms and then fills each of these categories. The focus of the creation account demonstrates how God brought order and structure to the universe. Throughout the Bible, God’s power over creation shows his sovereignty (see Ps 104:1–35 and note; Isa 40:12 and note). Genesis 1:1–2:3 in its Literary Context LRC:G111 The Two Narratives of Creation ILOT Literary Structure of Genesis 1:1–2:3 NAC:G111:26

John D. Barry et al., Faithlife Study Bible (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2012, 2016), Ge 1:1–2:3.

The Hebrew word for “create” (bara) is used in the ot to refer to divine activity only—Yahweh alone serves as its grammatical subject—implying the writer wanted to emphasize that people cannot create in the way that Yahweh creates and that no other god can claim to be the creator. The verb bara also conveys the idea of ordering or determining function, suggesting God’s creative activity consists of bringing proper order and function to the cosmos.

John D. Barry et al., Faithlife Study Bible (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2012, 2016), Ge 1:1.