Creator God

Introduction

The Bible Reader’s Companion Genesis 1

Creation myths. Ancient explanations of the universe ranged from the Mesopotamian claim that matter represents the corpse of a slain deity, Tiamat, to the Greek conviction that the physical universe preexisted the gods. Only Genesis exalts God above His Creation. And only Genesis gives human beings a central place in Creation, as persons made in God’s image who are deeply loved by Him. Thus the biblical view of Creation has always been radical—and remains in direct conflict with the modern notion that everything is the product of chance evolution.

There are many today who would say that Genesis is an obsolete, Bronze Age, account of creation that has no place in a scientific age. We must come to understand the creation account Biblically, theologically, and apologetically.

The Beginning:

Congregational Reading

2

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.

Lexham Theological Wordbook רוּחַ

רוּחַ (rûaḥ). n. fem. breath, wind, spirit. Can refer to immaterial beings as well as to wind, breath, human spirits, and the spirit of God.

Calvin: Commentaries Chapter II: The Knowledge of God

By the word create, he shows that something was made which did not before exist. For he does not use the verb yatsar which means shape or form, but baraʾ. What he means is that the world was created from nothing.

By the word create, he shows that something was made which did not before exist. For he does not use the verb yatsar which means shape or form, but baraʾ. What he means is that the world was created from nothing.

By the word create, he shows that something was made which did not before exist. For he does not use the verb yatsar which means shape or form, but baraʾ. What he means is that the world was created from nothing.

By the word create, he shows that something was made which did not before exist. For he does not use the verb yatsar which means shape or form, but baraʾ. What he means is that the world was created from nothing.

What is the difference between making something, and creating something?

Haroutunian, Joseph, and Louise Pettibone Smith. Calvin: Commentaries. Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1958. Print.

Day One:

Haroutunian, Joseph, and Louise Pettibone Smith. Calvin: Commentaries. Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1958. Print.

Haroutunian, Joseph, and Louise Pettibone Smith. Calvin: Commentaries. Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1958. Print.

Haroutunian, Joseph, and Louise Pettibone Smith. Calvin: Commentaries. Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1958. Print.

Congregational Reading

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.

Luther’s Works, Volume 1 3. And God Said: Let There Be Light, and There Was Light.

And so here for the first time Moses mentions the means and the instrument God used in doing His work, namely, the Word.

Day Two:

Congregational Reading

Congregational Reading

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.

The Lutheran Study Bible (Notes) Chapter 1

1:2–8 Describes matter at the first moment of creation (v 2) and then describes how God arranged the matter He created. First, God separated light from darkness (vv 3–5). Next, God separated what is below the sky from what is above it (vv 6–8). These arrangements established what we call “time” (expressed in the sequence of days and nights) and “space” (expressed in the separation of the waters above and below the sky). This work was the first two days of creation.

Day Three:

Congregational Reading

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.

The New American Commentary: Genesis 1–11:26 (3) Third Day of Creation (1:9–13)

God’s approval (“it was good”) for the work of the second day was delayed until the third, when the final separation of the waters was achieved (1:10). This finishes the three “separations” of days one through three, which together differentiate the spheres of time and space where life exists.150 The consequence of the three days is the productivity of the earth that yields its vegetation.

Application:

Hebrews 11:3 ESV

By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible.

Saint Augustine: On Genesis: Two Books on Genesis against the Manichees; and, on the Literal Interpretation of Genesis: An Unfinished Book Chapter 3

23 But let us understand that there is a different light in which God dwells.24 From it there comes that light of which we read in the gospel, “He was the true light that enlightens every man coming into this world.”25 For the light of this sun does not enlighten all of man, but the body of man and his mortal eyes, in which we are surpassed by the eyes of eagles which are said to gaze upon this sun much better than we.26 But that other light feeds, not the eyes of irrational birds, but the pure hearts of those who believe God and turn themselves from the love of visible and temporal things to the fulfillment of his commands. If they wish to, all men can do this, because that light enlightens every man coming into this world.27 Hence, darkness was over the abyss before there was this light, about which more is said in what follows.

The light of God’s illuminating Spirit preceded the light that we now understand as sun, and moon and stars. The light we see with our eyes, is light that points to our Heavenly, eternal Father. To be made in the image of God, is to be awash in visible reminder of Him at every moment of our existence.

Further Reading and Watching