Genesis: The Book of Beginnings

The book of Genesis is a book of beginnings.  Chapters 1-11 record the history of the beginnings of the world.  Chapters 12-50 record the history of the beginning of God’s chosen people, Israel.  Yet here in Genesis, beginning in the first chapter, God confronts His people with the revelation of who He is and what He has done.

In The Beginning, God - Genesis 1:1

The universe is not the by-product of natural processes.  Instead, creation is the result of the supernatural power of God.  By looking at the word, the witness, and the work of creation, one will see the supernatural power of God.  Hence, Genesis 1:1-31 examines the truth of “God created.”

God Created - Genesis 1:1-31

Genesis 1 presents the steps God took in creation.  First, God took steps to form that which was tōhû and bōhû (i.e., unformed and unfilled) and then proceeded to take that which He formed and filled it.  Thus, days one through three, God is forming creation and days four through six, God is filling creation.  On day one of creation God formed space and on day four, He filled it.

From Unformed & Unfilled To Formed & Filled: Creation Days 1 And 4 - Genesis 1:1-5, 14-19

Genesis 1:1-31 reveals how God created from unformed and unfilled to formed and filled.  Here in Genesis 1:6-8, God forms the heavens.  The first creative work of day two is separating the waters into two parts.  At the end of day one, the earth was covered with a primeval world ocean (i.e., the deep), which the Holy Spirit intended to form and fill.  Here, on day two, the forming begins.  By cleaving the waters into the waters above and waters below, God shaped the earth into a spherical object.

From Unformed & Unfilled To Formed & Filled: Creation Day 2 - Genesis 1:6-8

Genesis 1:1-31 reveals how God created from unformed and unfilled to formed and filled.  Here in Genesis 1:20-23, on day five, God fills what He formed on the second day.  He fills the waters with living creatures and sea monsters and the sky with birds.

From Unformed & Unfilled To Formed & FiIlled: Creation Day 5 - Genesis 1:20-23

Genesis 1 presents the steps God took in creation.  First, God took steps to form that which was tōhû and bōhû (i.e., unformed and unfilled) and then proceeded to take that which He formed and filled it.  Thus, days one through three, God is forming creation and days four through six, God is filling creation.  On the third day, God performed two created acts.  The first act was the separation of the waters and dry land.  The second act was the creation of plant life.

From Unformed & Unfilled To Formed & Filled: Creation Day 3 - Genesis 1:9-13

Genesis 1 presents the steps God took in creation.  First, God took steps to form that which was tōhû and bōhû (i.e., unformed and unfilled) and then proceeded to take that which He formed and filled it.  Thus, days one through three, God is forming creation and days four through six, God is filling creation.  On the sixth day, God performed two creative acts.  The first act was to fill the land with mammals and reptiles.  The second act was the creation of humanity, the crown jewell of God’s creative works.

From Unformed & Unfilled to Formed & Filled: Creation Day 6 - Genesis 1:24-31

God did three things on the seventh day that He did not do on the previous six.  First, He rested (šābat) on the seventh day.  The term sabbath (šabbāt) means to cease and is derived from the term rested or šābat.  Second, He blessed (bārak) the seventh day.  Blessed (bārak) means to endow with longevity, to memorialize.  By blessing the seventh day, God made the day a memorial of His creative power.

The Seventh Day: The Lord’s Sabbath - Genesis 2:1-3

The recurrence of the sixth day of creation in Genesis 2 is framed by three mandates: the Creation Mandate, the Dominion Mandate, and the Marriage Mandate.  The Creation Mandate provides further details into the simple commands, “Let there be” and “Let us make.”

The Sixth Day Retold: The Creation Mandate - Genesis 2:4 - 6, 8 - 14, 17

In many ways, Western Civilization is living as they did in the days of Noah.  People are living their lives without God and embracing depravity to its fullest.  How is a believer to live in an age of rampant sin and depravity?  Genesis 7 provides three truths for living is such an age: God is still sovereign, the righteous are still to be obedient, and the unrighteous will be judged.

Living in an Age of Rampant Sin and Depravity - Genesis 7:1-24

In times of distress and judgment, it is a normal human reaction for a believer to lose hope and think that God has forgotten them.  In Psalm 10:1, David confessed that he was distressed because he felt as if God had forgotten him during troubling times.  Paul admitted that his issues in Asia were so severe that he was close to giving up on life (2 Corinthians 1:8).  Even Jesus experienced the human emotion of hopelessness on the cross when He cried out to God (Matthew 27:46).  Genesis 8:1-9:17 shows that when hope is lost, all is not lost.  God does not remain silent or still.  When hope is lost, God remembers His creatures, blesses His people, and remembers His covenant.

Genesis: The Book of Beginnings

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