Genesis 1:1-13

“In the beginning God created . . .” (v. 1). Everyone who opens God’s word is confronted with this declaration. One can either accept or reject this statement. Those who reject these words do not deny the existence of a physical creation. They deny the cause of all things. They deny God, the Creator. One can accept or reject the obvious. “The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God” (Ps. 14:1). The declaration which God has placed before us will be rejected by fools.

Creation had a beginning marked by an act of God — the creation of heaven and earth. Genesis 2:2 states that God ended His work of creation on the seventh day. The Hebrew word which is translated as “day” can refer either to a 24-hour period or to an era of time characterized by a happening or happenings. God’s word describes happenings which transpired on each day. The creation which exists at the end of each day is different from the creation which existed at the beginning of each day.

At the beginning of the first day, the earth was not as it is today. The earth was without form and void (without arrangement). This description of earth does not apply to the planet which came to exist in a future time. It is a description of that which applies to a time prior to the existence of light (see v. 3). Darkness was upon the face of the deep. Deep is the translation of a Hebrew word which expresses the thought of things secret and unknowable.

“And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters” (v. 2). Today, we live in a time in which knowledge of physical matter has increased. Approximately 750 years after Moses recorded the book of Genesis, Daniel prophesied that knowledge would be increased at the time of the end (Dan. 12:4). Today, we know that physical matter must exist in a certain form or state to produce light. That state came into existence when God said, “Let there be light” (v. 3).

The word of God is true. It is not surprising that men with the increased knowledge of today should develop theories which state that light came into existence after the initial creation. Genesis 1, while not a scientific treatise, is in harmony with the understandings of today.

“ . . . and there was light” (v. 3). The first day began with darkness and ended in light. The emergence of light from darkness on the first day was a physical happening. It is, however, a physical happening which reflects a spiritual reality. All who have been created new in Christ were brought from darkness into light by the Holy Spirit. God’s physical creation testifies of spiritual things. That which occurred on the first day (going from darkness into light) is a picture of the spiritual birth.

God’s physical creation did not end with Day 1. The appearance of light was followed by firmament formation. God called the firmament sha-ma-yim, Hebrew for heaven, meaning either an expanse above our planet of habitation in which clouds move or the expanse beyond the planet that is occupied by celestial bodies.

The firmament divided the waters below from the waters above (v. 7). On the second day, God caused the physical matter which He created to stratify into three layers: the waters below, the firmament, and the waters above. Stratification is a natural phenomenon which is caused by gravitational force. We do not know if gravity (a force created by God) produced the stratification that occurred on the second day. We know with certainty that God said “Let there be” separation and “it was so” (v. 6). God caused physical separation of waters (matter) to occur on Day 2.

Moses, the human author of Genesis, recorded these words when men possessed little understanding of the physical nature of God’s creation or of the vastness of His universe. Today, men in pursuit of scientific truths observe evidence of natural laws (laws created by God) at work in far distant locations — locations beyond the most distant stars which can be seen with the eye. While that which occurred on Day 1 and Day 2 are applicable all parts of the universe, the events which transpired on the Day 3 upon planet Earth.

On the third day of creation, waters below the firmament of heaven underwent change. In verse 9, God issued two separate lets — one for gathering of the waters and one for the dry land to appear. The dry land emerged from the waters that had gathered. Scientists of today find evidence that tectonic forces cause land masses on planet Earth to rise and to fall. Again, we cannot state that God used the laws which He created (tectonic laws) to cause dry land to appear. We know only that God said, “. . . let the dry land appear: and it was so.” The appearance of dry land was followed by the issuance of the third let and the emergence of life. God caused the dry land to produce grass, seed-bearing herbs, and trees which bear seed-containing fruit.

The plant life which the dry land brought forth on the third day is not different from the plant life which is found on dry land today. Every type of plant life sprang forth from the ground on Day 3.

“. . . and God saw that it was good” (v. 12). What is good? God is the standard of good because only God is good (see Mk. 10:18). His creation is good because it testifies of Him. In the first 12 verses of Genesis 1, God identifies three things that testify of Him: light, the gathering of waters and appearance of dry land (conditions necessary for life), and life. Without light, there can be no life. Without God there is no light or life.

In Genesis 1, God reveals the step-by-step manner in which He laid down the foundations of the earth. God had a plan. It was His plan that men might be redeemed by the precious blood of Christ (see I Pet. 1:19-20). Let us do that which He has instructed — love one another and tell others of His love.