Genesis Lesson 1
GOD CREATED THE HEAVENS AND THE EARTH
Genesis 1:1-25
Key Verse 1:1
Memorize verse 1. How did the heavens and the earth come into existence? How is this ‘In the beginning’ different from that of John 1:1? What does ‘the heavens and the earth’ mean? (Col 1:16)
What does the word ‘creation’ imply? (Jn 1:3) Compare this to evolution theory. Who is God who created the heavens and the earth? (Ex 3:14; Rev 1:8)
What was the state of the earth when it was created (2a)? What do the words ‘formless’, ‘empty’, and ‘darkness’ mean? What work was the Spirit of God performing (2b)? Think about the role of the Holy Spirit in the work of creation.
What did God say first (3)? Think about God who created light. (Ps 104:2; 1Ti 6:16; 1Jn 1:5; 2Co 4:6).
Write down what God created during the six days (3-27). Do you find some structure and order in it?
With what did God create all things? (Heb 11:3) Find the verses where ‘God said’, ‘it was so’ are repeated. Think about the power of God’s words.
What was God’s testimony when He saw what He had created (4,10,12,18,21,25)? What can we learn here about the meaning and purpose of created things? (Ps 19:1)
What things did God create, each according to its kind (11,12,21,24,25)? What does this tell about who God is?
How did God place each created thing (9,15,16,20,24)? Think about God who established the order of the universe and manages it.
Genesis Lesson 1
GOD CREATED THE HEAVENS AND THE EARTH
Genesis 1:1-25
Key Verse 1:1
“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”
Genesis is the first of the Bible’s 66 books, and was written in approximately 1406-1446 B.C., as the first of the Five Books of Moses (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy). Genesis has had the greatest influence on human history of any of the books. It is the foundation of the entire Bible. If Genesis were removed from the Bible, it would be impossible to understand the remaining books. It would be like a building without a foundation or a bridge without supports.
The word “Genesis” means “beginnings.” The book of Genesis is about many beginnings—the beginning of the universe, of the solar system, of life, of mankind, of marriage, of civilization, of language, of culture, of race, especially, of human sin, of God’s promises and plans for salvation, and of a special relationship between Abraham and God. Through the study of Genesis we can resolve our fundamental life problems and lay a strong and unshakable foundation for our lives.
God’s creation in chapter one is a majestic and grand drama. It is God’s creation drama, revealing his character and wisdom. We will study two things in today’s passage. First, how did the heavens and the earth come into being? Second, who is the God who created the heavens and the earth?
In the Beginning (1:1,2)
The Bible does not attempt to prove the existence of God scientifically; neither does it argue philosophically about his existence. This is because the fact of God’s being is as clear and obvious as the indisputable existence of the universe. Those who say there is no God are denying God deliberately because they want to live as they please. The Psalmist calls such people fools (Ps 14:1). The Bible testifies that God is self-existent. When showing himself to Moses, God said, “I am who I am” (Ex 3:14). This means he is self-existent and the originator of all things. As a self-existent being, God did not come into existence but is the one who caused all things to exist. As an eternal being, God is always living and working. He is the Alpha and the Omega, who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty (Rev 1:8). We can’t see God’s true nature, or touch his form; his mystery transcends human understanding (1Ti 6:15,16). That we do know of God’s existence is only possible because he himself grants us the Spirit of wisdom and revelation (Eph 1:17).
An astounding proclamation is made at the outset of Genesis, in verse 1: “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” This verse proclaims God’s sovereignty in creating and his identity as the Creator. Here, “In the beginning” indicates the starting point and time of creation. The phrase “In the beginning” that appears in John 1:1, on the other hand, means “the state of things before creation” - eternity. “Heavens” comes from the Hebrew word shamayim (םימשׁה) and ‘earth’ from eh'-rets (ץדאהו). “Heavens” speaks of the vast expanse of the universe, and “earth” of our planet. Thus, by “heavens and earth” we understand God’s creation of time, space, and matter, the primal creation.
Genesis 1:1 tells us that God is the Lord of creation. In fact, the Bible repeatedly tells us that things did not come into being by chance - God created them. Psalms 33:6 says, “By the word of the LORD were the heavens made, their starry host by the breath of his mouth.” And we read in Isaiah 45:18 that, “he who created the heavens, he is God; he who fashioned and made the earth, he founded it; he did not create it to be empty, but formed it to be inhabited - he says: “I am the Lord, and there is no other.” John 1:3 further says that all things were made through God the Word. Revelations 4:11 says, “You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being.”
In verse 1:1, the Hebrew word bara (ארב =to create) is essentially different from asa, (השׁץ =to make). Asa, (השׁץ =to make) means to form using preexisting material, whereas bara (ארב =to create) means to form out of nothing. The idea of bringing something out of nothing is truly unique to the Bible, and is found in neither the Babylon creation story or Chinese mythology, Platonic philosophy, or anywhere else. The word bara is available to God alone. This verse teaches us that the universe did not spring up by some spontaneous accident of nature. It came into being through the almighty power of intellect and infinite wisdom of Creator God.
Genesis 1:1 tells us that God created everything according to His divine will. The word “creation” itself conveys clearly that there was a purpose and plan involved. When God created the world, he had a clear purpose and plan, and he created it with his absolute will. Therefore, in God there is no fatalism, futility, or chance. Even a flower or the grass of the field has God’s will and purpose. How much more absolute must God’s will be for a human being, who is the crown of his creation? If we assume that the world was formed by chance, everything becomes meaningless and empty. Suppose my parents just met by chance, and gave birth to me. I become a by-product of my parents’ mistake and my life has no meaning. We fall into an abyss of despair and become fatalistic. This leads us to a life devoted to the pursuit of pleasure, and eventually, to lives lived out at random. Indeed, “by chance,” without the will of God, is terrible for us.
Life, however, completely changes when I accept that, in his necessary will, God created the world and included me: there is meaning to all things under the sun, and there is absolute meaning in my life. We break free of emptiness and fate and live a life full of assurance, giving thanks in all circumstances. And no matter what hardships we come up against, like Joseph, we can live a life of meaning, providing for others and walking with God.
Genesis 1:1 rejects all kinds of wrong ideas about God:
It rejects the idea of atheism, because the universe was formed by God.
It rejects the idea of pantheism, because God is beyond all things He created.
It rejects the idea of polytheism, because only one God created all things.
It rejects the idea of materialism, because God created the material world. The idea that the physical is pre-eminent over all other things, making the mind and spirit mere byproducts of the physical, is wrong.
It rejects the idea of dualism, because God alone was present when he created the universe. Thus the idea that good comes from a “good god” and evil from an “evil god” is wrong.
It rejects the idea of humanism, because God is the ultimate reality. Therefore a human-centered image of the universe is wrong.
It rejects the idea of evolutionism, because God created the universe.
It rejects the idea of deism. Deism only accepts truth based on human reason, and it does not acknowledge revelation from God. “Deism” was the prime philosophy of the 18th century, and it holds that God was not involved with the universe after He created it, as if it is a sort of clock that will run by itself once a man puts a battery in it. But God is involved in the world and works even now.
The Bible testifies that God is a personal God, transcendent yet immanent, and living and active in history. Life is radically different depending on whether we receive Genesis 1:1 or not. This verse determines whether one can become a believer or will remain an unbeliever. Our attitude toward Genesis 1:1 will determine our attitude toward the whole Scripture.
Verse 2 begins with the conjunction ‘and’ (KJV). This tells us that there was no empty period between verses 1 and 2, that they proceed in one continuous action. Verse 1 is proclamatory, and verse 2 is also proclamatory. What was the state of the created earth in the beginning? Verse 2 reads, “Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.” Here, “formless” means without any fixed morphology, rough and in disorder. The word “empty” tells us it was void of life. ”Darkness” means absence of light. So the earth had no shape, no life, and no light—there was only fearsome loneliness everywhere. We might rephrase verse 1:2: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth (space and matter), but at first that matter had no form, was empty, and there was no light.”
‘To hover’ here means ‘to wander about’, ‘to vibrate’, and ‘to flutter’. As an eagle will spread its wings to protect its young, the Spirit of God was wandering over the water-covered surface of the earth (Dt 32:11, Isa 31:5). And as a hen sits on her eggs, clucking softly until they hatch, verse 2 conveys that the Spirit was breathing life into the planet. For the universe to begin to move, it needed a source of energy. As energy began flowing from God to fill the universe, various forms of life-giving energy came into existence, originating from light and heat.
The Spirit of God, that is, the Holy Spirit, is the source of life. It was the work of the Holy Spirit to breathe life into the man made from dust (Ge 2:7). It is also the work of the Holy Spirit when a man who is spiritually dead in sin is born again as a new spiritual being (Jn 3:5).
“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” This verse is indeed unshakable and unchanging truth. This verse is the foundation of philosophy, science, and all else. More than that, it is the foundation of human life. When we build our lives like houses on the foundation of God’s sovereignty, no matter what comes our way, we have a solid house - a life - that will not be shaken. Let us pray that we may lay a firm foundation of our life on Genesis 1:1, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”
God Created All Things (1:3-25)
God’s creation work begins in verses 1 and 2, when he creates space and earth and breathes life into the earth. Beginning with verse 3, God specifically and systematically creates the universe. Verses 1 and 2 are included in the creation of the first day. On the first day God created space and the earth and breathed life into the earth. Then he created light. God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. The light shone out from total darkness. The light he created on the first day is different from the lights he created on the fourth day, for it is the source of energy. God created light on the first day, and through it he provided enormous energy.
On the second day, God created an expanse between the waters to separate water from water. The word “expanse” is lakia (ציקד) in Hebrew. It means “expansion” or “spreading thinly.” It means “space” or “air” or “atmosphere.” In this way, God created “atmosphere” and “water” that can protect the earth. In the expanse there is air, which is for all living creatures to breathe. The expanse also protected the earth. The expanse burned 20 million meteorites that fell to the earth each day, at a speed of 30 miles per second. If we did not have this expanse, there would be no living creatures on earth. Uniquely, at that time the water above the expanse helped the earth to keep its temperature and humidity constant. It worked like an ideal greenhouse: there were no storms or hurricanes. The temperature and humidity of the earth were exactly suited to all the plants and vegetation, so there were plenty of vegetables. There was no desert or icy land on earth at the time. The expanse screened out various harmful rays from the universe and outer space, electromagnetic rays that can cause all kinds of physical and genetic problems and harm the health and life of animals and men. After Noah’s flood, however, these rays all poured down onto the life of animals and men without hindrance.
On the third day, he divided the land and sea, and he decorated the land with many kinds of plants and trees that bear fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. The land became fertile, with a variety of kinds of soil. On this day, God created the chemical elements that can form seeds. Each seed can reproduce a unique kind of organism, relying on an excellent internal information system. Every kind of seed has unique DNA and only reproduces the same kind of seed. Change within a kind is possible, but there is no evolution from one kind to another kind. There are only varieties within the same kind. God created all kinds of vegetation and plants and trees according to their kinds. 1 Corinthians 15:38 reads, “But God gives it a body as he has determined, and to each kind of seed he gives its own body.”
On the fourth day God created the sun like a bridegroom and the moon like a bride, and all the stars in the sky. They serve as signs to mark seasons and days and years. Here “signs” refers to their power to proclaim God’s glory (Ps 19:5,6). Sometimes the signs work like the star that led Magi to Jesus. They can also become signs of God’s judgment. Matthew 24:29 reads, "Immediately after the distress of those days, ‘the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from the sky, and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.'” “Seasons” and “days and years” can be clearly determined as the earth revolves and rotates in the midst of a universe of stars.
From the first through the fourth day of creation, all kinds of elements essential for living creatures, such as light, air, water, land, vegetables and fruits, came into being. The only things lacking were the residents. These God created on the fifth and sixth days. On the fifth day he created birds and fish according to their kinds and filled the sky and sea. See verse 20: “And God said, ‘Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the sky.’" And then, in verse 22, “God blessed them and said, ‘Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the water in the seas, and let the birds increase on the earth.’" According to God’s commands, birds and fish became fruitful and increased in number. A herring can produce 68,000 eggs at a time, a carp 500,000 eggs, and a codfish 4,000,000 to 9,000,000 eggs. A pair of water birds could produce 19.5 million offspring if they were without natural check. Because of this, there was never a shortage of fish and birds.
On the sixth day, God created all kinds of living creatures and animals. Finally, God created man. By his creation, God transformed the world of chaos into an orderly world, an empty world into a world of fullness, and a dark world into a world of light. When the word of God comes to us, all darkness is removed and the light of life comes into our hearts. When the word of God comes to us, our empty hearts are filled with God’s grace. God also established order among all of his creatures, so that every creature lives within God’s order. In the same way, God gave order to our spirit. He allowed us to know what is evil and what is good, and what is valuable and what is not.
When God created the universe, he did not do it at random. He did it according to a perfect plan and system. He created it in perfect harmony and unity. He created the environment first before filling it with creatures; in this way, he cared for details. He also created things according to a progression: from things that do not have life to things that have the breath of life, and from lower forms of life to higher forms of animals. He created everything to be connected and related. The world was ultimately created for man, the crown of God’s creation (Isa 45:18). No life can survive on the moon because it does not have air and fertile land. There is a radical difference in temperature between day and night, more than 100 degrees. But the earth is suitable for man to live on. The space that holds air and water is essential for man’s survival. These exist only on earth. Most of the stars are composed of hydrogen and helium, and they are very simple in structure. But the earth is very complicated, and is created to be the most suitable place for all living creatures. God’s creation work is not imperfect evolution but perfect creation. Since God has unlimited wisdom and power, he could create everything perfectly in 6 days. The very fact that God was pleased with what he had created shows its truth.
The Purpose of God’s Creation
What, then, is the purpose of God’s creation? Verses 4,10,12,18, 21 and 25 relate God’s assessment of his creation of each day. Verse 31 reads, “It was very good.” There are two meanings in this verse. First of all, the world created by God is good. Those who believe in dualism believe that the created world is evil because material things are evil. In contrast, the Bible teaches that the world has been corrupted because of man’s sin, but the world was created in the beginning to be good before God’s eyes. 1 Timothy 4:4 reads, “For everything God created is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving.” The world created by God is good and beautiful. Think about the sun that rises every morning, the moon that shines at night, and all the twinkling stars; consider the high and blue sky, the singing streams, high mountains and deep valleys, a vast green field; see all kinds of animals in the field and hear the singing birds. The world created by God is beautiful, and mysterious, and, most of all, good. In the same way, our life in this world is worth living because God does exist. The world without God is meaningless, ugly and sorrowful, and it makes people tired.
Secondly, the purpose of all the creatures is to reveal God’s glory. Psalm 19:1 says, “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.” The heavens declare the glory of God and great mountains reveal God’s majesty. Birds sing the goodness of God, and flowers in a field praise God’s beauty.
Who is God, Who Created All Things?
So far we have learned that in the beginning God created all things. Now who is God, as revealed in his creation? First of all, God is light. If we return to verse 3, we see that, “God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light.” It was the first spoken word of God on the earth. When God spoke, shining light came into being in the darkness. God’s word brought the light. God the Father is the source of all life, and the Spirit gives life to all things, and the Son causes everything to exist. The light God created on the first day is the light that is the foundation of all life. There are more than 300,000 varieties of light. Light is energy. Light gives life. Light removes darkness. Light leads man. Light brings warmth. Light gives hope, and light brings beauty.
Who is God who created the light? Psalm 104:2 reads, “He wraps himself in light as with a garment; he stretches out the heavens like a tent.” 1 Timothy 6:16 says, “Who alone is immortal and who lives in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see. To him be honor and might forever. Amen.” 1 John 1:5 says, “This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all.” God is light. God is the source of all energy. Albert Einstein proved that E=MC2 (Energy = Matter multiplied by speed of light to the power of 2). This means that energy and matter can be interchanged. It shows that God is the one who has unlimited energy and power, for he is the Creator God who is light.
God, who is light, is also the source of all life. All species of trees and vegetation maintain their lives through light by means of photosynthesis. Animals and men cannot survive without light. Our spiritual life cannot be maintained without God, who is light.
God, who is light, dispels darkness. Darkness is a force as elemental as sin. All kinds of sin, such as hatred, envy, greed, lust, and complaining and sorrowful thoughts, work in our hearts like a force. This kind of sinful force is strong, and we cannot remove it by means of our own strength and will. For example, we know that we should not envy and hate others. But we do, because we are possessed by the dark power. But when the heavenly light shines, all the darkness in our hearts disappear and our hearts are filled with light. Jesus said in John 8:12, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life." Apostle Paul said in 2 Corinthians 4:6, “For God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.” God shines his light on our hearts, although our hearts are darkened by our sin. His light reveals the glory of God through Jesus Christ. Then our hearts will be filled with inexpressible joy and hope and life. The source of light is the word of God. As God removed darkness by creating light, so he takes away the darkness from our hearts by shining the light of his words. Psalm 119:133 reads, “Direct my footsteps according to your word; let no sin rule over me.”
Verse 5 reads, “God called the light ‘day,’ and the darkness he called ‘night.’ And there was evening, and there was morning - the first day.” God separated light from darkness. The darkness was not completely removed, but separated from the light. In this world there are two worlds – the world of light and the world of darkness. In the beginning of his creation, God physically separated light from darkness. When a man is born again, God separates the light from darkness spiritually.
“And there was evening, and there was morning - the first day.” This verse shows that a day ends in the morning. God separated day and night. Day refers to the time when God works and night refers to the time when God does not work. Night refers to dark time.
Secondly, God is almighty. By what instrument did God create the world? If we look at chapter 1, “And God said” (v.3, 6, 9, 11, 14, 20, 24) and “it was so” (v.7, 9, 11,15, 24) appear repeatedly. This shows that God created all things by his words. In creation, God’s words are not words of encouragement or words of hope. They are words of command. Psalm 33:6 and 9 say, “By the word of the Lord were the heavens made, their starry host by the breath of his mouth . . . For he spoke, and it came to be; he commanded, and it stood firm.” How can we know that God created the universe by his words? No one can know because no one was there when God created the world. But Hebrews 11:3a reads, “By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God's command.” God’s words have personality. John 1:1-3 shows that the Word is Jesus, who is the Creator. God’s creation is his personal creation and expresses his personal will. Thus, it is a willful creation.
The word of God has power to create something out of nothing. The word of God is living and active: it takes the formless and empty and dark world and brings forth the harmonious and beautiful world, which is full of form, substance and light (Heb 4:12). No other idea or philosophy can change men fundamentally. But the word of God can change men fundamentally, even if they are most wicked men.
The God who is revealed in chapter 1 is Elohim (םיהלא), which means almighty. The word Elohim is repeated 30 times in chapter 1. When God revealed himself to Abraham, he said, “I am God Almighty” (Ge 17:1). God also told Sarah, who was barren and past the age for childbearing, “Is anything too hard for the Lord?” (Ge 18:14). Nothing is impossible for God. There are many miracles in the Bible that are beyond man’s understanding and imagination. The Red Sea is divided, streams of water gush out from a rock, and a dried stick blossoms. A leper is healed, a man who has been an invalid for thirty eight years gets up and walks around, and dead Lazarus is made alive. When we read these stories sometimes we feel that they are like fairy tales. But when we believe God’s almighty power we can believe all of them, because God who created the heavens and the earth is the Almighty God. Since God is almighty, he can raise Jesus from the dead. Because God is the Almighty God he can save us from the power of sin and death. Since he is the Almighty God he can change our bodies into imperishable, strong, holy and glorious bodies. When we rely on the Almighty God we can overcome our weakness and limitation, and live a powerful and brave life of faith.
Thirdly, God is the God of order and harmony. Before the creation of the world the earth was chaos. But as God created things, order was established. This creation order that God established can be discerned. The universe moves according to the creation order. The earth moves around the sun even as it rotates around its own axis. Stars have been moving in their paths without colliding against each other since their creation. If something disobeys God’s order there will be chaos in the universe. But there has never been a day of such chaos since the creation of the universe. God’s order is not only seen in the vastness of the universe; it is also in the small world of the atom. In the world of atoms, protons and neutrons follow an order and move through rotation and revolution. We can call these things the natural order. God maintains the universe through natural order (Heb 1:3). When objects disobey God’s natural order, they lose their lives.
God is also the God of harmony. God was pleased whenever he created something and saw that what he had made was good. He was very pleased with them all. This means that God created everything in beautiful harmony. God is a beautiful artist. His beauty is revealed in how he created all things according to their kinds. God did not create the world in a boring way but in a colorful way. Think about all the different kinds of trees. Or see the vast array of vegetables in a market, the spinach, carrots, broccoli, cabbage, eggplants, cucumbers, onions, and so forth. There are all kinds of fruits: tomatoes, apples, grapes, pears, watermelons, pineapples, papaya, peaches, peanuts, almonds, coconuts – there are 50 varieties of mangoes alone! They make us happy.
Consider flowers. There are so many kinds of flowers. Even cacti come in 4,000 varieties. They make God’s world beautiful. Think about birds and fish, which God created on the fifth day. There are so many kinds of birds and fish. What about living creatures and animals? There are so many. There are 15,000 kinds of ants. So far, humans have found 230,000 kinds of plants and over 1,000,000 kinds of animals. And each of these plants and animals possesses its own unique color, size, coat, smell and character. God created all things according to their kinds and made the world such an interesting place!
The Psalmist said, “From the lips of children and infants you have ordained praise” (Ps 8:2). God is the supreme artist and his wisdom has no limit. God is great and sensitive. He is full of variety, and he is the personal God. God is the great God. We praise God who created the heavens and the earth.
In conclusion, God is the Creator who created the heavens and the earth according to his will. “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” It is an undeniable truth. It is the foundation of all science and philosophy. Most of all, it is the very foundation of life. When we accept God’s Sovereignty in his creation, we can have a foundation in life, we can find order and we are filled with the light of life. All who build their lives on God’s Sovereignty as the Creator build a house on the rock.