Creation and Foundation: Everything

Introduction

Today there are so many theories about how the world came into being. There are so many people that try to change what it means to be a person. There are so many lies about everything that are spread.

The very first chapter of Genesis covers so many of the lies that the world tries to spread. There are so many foundations upon which we can build our understanding of the world found right here in this chapter.

When we look at the story of creation we must first have a context in which to understand it. Without this we will stray in our imaginations. The first thing that we must understand about the account of creation is that it is a historical telling. It is not exaggerating or mythological, it is stating the facts of what happened. We must also not think of it only in terms of creation but also organization. If you think of this section only in terms of creation it becomes confusing because some days seem to overlap.

This whole story though it does state full historical fact it also carries a rhythm and pattern and in the Hebrew it almost sounds like a hymn. It is as though the author, Moses, is telling this story through a song. Notice this pattern and rhythm as we read through this section.

Now that we have established how we should view this story and the features that are in it lets turn now to the story itself and work our way through it. But first let’s pray.

The Story

It all begins in 1.1

Genesis 1:1–2 ESV

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. 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 stage is set for the most magnificent artistic expression to ever happen and that ever will happen. It all starts at the beginning with God. The name for God in an important feature in the Old Testament, here and throughout this chapter it is Elohim. This highlights his mighty power and majesty.

Day 1

Genesis 1:3–5 ESV

And 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.

Day 1 of creation we see light and dark, day and night. All of the rest of creation takes place in the light and the light alone is deemed good. Throughout the Bible light points us to God and the gospel. It is here that creation starts.

Day 2

Genesis 1:6–8 ESV

And God said, “Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.” And God made the expanse and separated the waters that were under the expanse from the waters that were above the expanse. And it was so. And God called the expanse Heaven. And there was evening and there was morning, the second day.

Day 2 we have the sea and sky. In many pagan myths the sea and sky hold a lot of significance and we find that throughout the creation story those beliefs are expelled. There is nothing special about the sea and the sky, they are just another thing that our God has created, named, and has control over.

Day 3

Genesis 1:9–13 ESV

And God said, “Let the waters under the heavens 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. And God said, “Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind, on the earth.” And it was so. The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed according to their own kinds, and trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening and there was morning, the third day.

Day 3 we see land, sea, and plants. This day marks the completion of the forming of the earth. Though we saw that sea was created on day 2, here we find its organization. This day is very important for the storyline of the Bible. With the creation of land we can look towards Israel and the land of promise. With the creation of sea we can thing of Jonah and of Paul at sea. Finally with the plants, many of the teachings of Jesus dealt with agriculture and plants.

Day 4

Genesis 1:14–19 ESV

And God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens 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 expanse of the heavens to give light upon the earth.” And it was so. And God made the two great lights—the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night—and the stars. And God set them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on 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.

Day 4 we see night and day, seasons and time. Now the earth is finished forming God begins to fill it. This is where things like the sun, moon, and stars are created. They are not named because of the prominence of the worship of them in the ancient near east. This can also look to the organization of the light as it was created on day 1. These lights are simple things and do a simple job while God is the true light and does far more than these ever could.

Day 5

Genesis 1:20–23 ESV

And God said, “Let the waters swarm with swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the heavens.” So God created the great sea creatures and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarm, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. And 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.

Day 5 shows us the creating of the water and air creatures. The seas and sky have been created but now they are filled. This day also has something else special in it, it is the first day with a blessing. God shows that there is a blessing for reproduction within his design. This puts the animals as higher than the other parts of creation but not as high as God or man.

Day 6

Genesis 1:24–31 ESV

And God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures according to their kinds—livestock and creeping things and beasts of the earth according to their kinds.” And it was so. And God made the beasts of the earth according to their kinds and the livestock according to their kinds, and everything that creeps on the ground according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 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.” So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. And 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 heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” And God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on 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 heavens 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. And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.

Day 6 we see the land creatures and man. This is the climax of creation. At this point all of creation is complete, the world is formed and filled. More than just that we are given a glimpse into who we are in the sight of God. We will look more into this in a bit.

At the creation of man the full Trinity is on display as God says let us make man in our image. After he says this there is a poetic section highlighting the beauty of what has just happened.

This part of creation also has a blessing in regards to procreation within God’s design. Man is then told to have dominion over the earth. This puts man over everything but God. Though the animals are higher than the other things man is over them.

What God desires with his divine mandate to be fruitful and to have dominion is that man would further fill the cosmic temple and rule over it so that every corner of creation is covered with the worship and glorification of God.

Day 7

Genesis 2:1–3 ESV

Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation.

Day 7 is a bit different than the others, on this day God rest. This idea of rest is not what we typically have come to mind, God is a all powerful God he does not need rest. What this is pointing us to is God taking a step back and admiring what he has made. Like a painter that finishes the last tiny detail and takes a step away from the painting to see it all come together.

This is the only day itself that is blessed and this day becomes the foundation for the Sabbath day. The work was completed on the seventh day and now this is a holy time.

What a powerful moment. All the busyness of creation is over, there is no activity, no speaking, no noise. There is a silence and stillness. All that God has willed is now in place.

The Doctrine

As stated in the beginning, Genesis in general is a foundational book and Genesis chapter 1 encapsulates many beginnings of foundational doctrines. Here in this section I want to look back to what we have seen throughout the story of creation and see a few key doctrines that we can get a basis of understanding in.

Creation

The first is the doctrine of creation. In Genesis we see that creation is what we call ex nihilo which is Latin for out of nothing. God did not start with something that was already there, it was all out of nothing by the word of his power. See creation is through the word of God.

That leads us to some new testament references about creation. The first is John 1.1

John 1:1 ESV

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

This verse in the gospel of John calls us back to this moment in creation. In the Beginning God created everything and in the beginning was the word. On down this verse in John we see that this word is Jesus. Jesus has a role in creation. In Colossians 1.15-16 it says

Colossians 1:15–16 ESV

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him.

This verse too is referring to Jesus.

So we can see that creation was out of nothing by the word of God that is Jesus Christ. We didn’t evolve from monkeys, there wasn’t some big bang where random particles collided, there was nothing until God spoke.

God

This leads us to what we learn about God through this passage.

The first thing is his mighty power. We usually acknowledge this about God but just think about what we have just read, there was literally nothing and he like an artist created it all. He painted the picture of time and reality and existence and everything in it. That is might and power beyond our wildest dreams!

The next thing is huge because it sets a prescience for the entire Bible and even into our lives. Look at the language about God here, “and God said”… “and it was so”. God speaks and it happens. This is not just in creation but it is in everything! We will see some amazing stories as we travel through the book of Genesis and in each of the stories we will see that what God says will happen does happen. God tells Noah there will be a flood before he had ever even seen rain and it happened. He tells Abraham that he and his wife will have a son at the age of 100 and it happens. On and on and on, what God says happens. Because of this we can trust what he says.

Man

This leads us to our final doctrinal focus of tonight and that is us, mankind. This is one that we will revisit in the coming weeks because it will come up more. With these doctrines that we cover there will be many that come up many times throughout our study and throughout the Bible, as you are reading in another place you can put that knowledge on top of what you learn here to have a fuller knowledge of the doctrine of man or God or anything else.

The part we see in chapter 1 here though is this, Genesis 1.27 says

Genesis 1:27 ESV

So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.

We are made in the image of God. Another Latin phrase here is imago dei, the image of God. Now there are a lot of specifics about this that we do not know but this we do know, in some way we bear the divine image of God. This does not mean that we are God but it shows us how each human has intrinsic value. This is why there is later a law that you should not murder and even throughout the Bible before the law we see that murder is wrong, because we are all made in the image of God.

The final thing that we see about man is a divine mandate, we are to be fruitful and multiply and we are to have dominion over the earth. Throughout Genesis there is a blessing for being fruitful, this goes with raising us children in the way of the Lord. This must be done in God’s design though to be a blessing, we will cover what that design is next week. Then we are to have dominion over the earth, this is saying that we are in charge of the earth, we are the highest created thing, so we rule the earth. This is why it is man and not monkeys or dolphins that rule the earth. Man has dominion.

Our Response

All of this, the story, the doctrines, should lead to a response from us. We should not read the word of God without responding in some way. Tonight I have two specific responses for you but know this you are not confined to these responses.

Live in Gods Design

The first response we should have when we see these things is one that is willing to live in God’s design. We have just seen him create everything and design things so intricately. This world that he has just created is a world without sin, he is a God without sin, we should seek and desire to live in his design because it is perfect and in his design we will find the most freedom and enjoyment.

The first thing about living in God’s design is to realize who you are, you are created in his image. Next is to realize who everyone else is, they are created in God’s image. James in talking about those who cannot control the tongue says this in James 3.9-10

James 3:9–10 ESV

With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so.

We should treat ourselves like we are made in the image of God and we should treat others like they are made in the image of God.

Part of living in God’s design too is trusting in God. he is all powerful and mighty and what he says happens so we should trust in his promises because he has the best track record of sticking to his word.

Worship

Our second response should be one that we all have, this is worship. We serve a God that made us, who made everything. He designed the beauty we see in nature from the highest mountain to the smallest atom. That is a God that is worthy of worship.

Conclusion

In 6 days God created and organized everything out of nothing. By the word of his power he spoke and it was. We are so small in all of this but God still gives us prominence and he made us in his own image. We should live in light of that image we bear. We should also worship the God who bestowed that image upon us by the word of his power.

All of this is a display of the love of God. This is how much God loves us, this is how much Christ loves us. It says in John that he was here in the beginning and in Colossians that he was active in creation. Jesus didn’t just hop on the scene in the gospel of Mark, he has been present and working throughout all of time and even before time.

Jesus didn’t give up his life for a people that he did not know and had no relationship with. He gave up his life for those whom he created, for those who were made in his divine image. Jesus is not distant here in creation it is actually quite the opposite, he is present and active.

How beautiful is the creation story, in the beginning God. May we all live our lives in light of who God created us to be, his image bearers and his worshipers.