Genesis 1 - In the beginning...
Updated: Jul 26, 2022
You are created in the image of the one who created all things, and He's given you dominion over all that He made.
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Genesis 1 (ESV)
1 In
the beginning,
God created
the heavens
and the earth.
2 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.
3 And God said,
“Let there be light,”
and there was light.
4 And God saw that the light was good.
And God separated the light from the darkness.
5 God called the light Day,
and the darkness he called Night.
And
there was evening
and there was morning, the first day.
6 And God said,
“Let there be an expanse
in the midst of the waters,
and let it separate the waters from the waters.”
7 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.
8 And God called the expanse Heaven.
And
there was evening
and there was morning, the second day.
9 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.
10 God called
the dry land Earth,
and the waters that were gathered together he called Seas.
And God saw that it was good.
11 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.
12 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.
13 And
there was evening
and there was morning, the third day.
14 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,
15 and let them be lights
in the expanse of the heavens
to give light upon the earth.”
And it was so.
16 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.
17 And God set them in the expanse of the heavens
to give light on the earth,
18 to rule over the day and over the night,
and to separate the light from the darkness.
And God saw that it was good.
19 And
there was evening
and there was morning, the fourth day.
20 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.”
21 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.
22 And God blessed them, saying,
“Be fruitful and multiply
and fill the waters in the seas,
and let birds multiply on the earth.”
23 And
there was evening
and there was morning, the fifth day.
24 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.
25 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.
26 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.”
27 So God created man
in his own image,
in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them.
28 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.”
29 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.
30 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.
31 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.
Listen to the DIG DEEPER audio:
Genesis 1 Summary
v1-2 - The opening verses introduce us to our Triune (three in one) creator God:
God the Father who speaks creation into existence;
God the Word (As Jesus is described in the New Testament creation account in John 1:1-5), who puts what the Father speaks into reality;
God the Spirit, whom is present from the very beginning.
v3-31 - The creation of all things is described over a span of six days.
Dig Deeper
Genesis is not meant to be a science book which explains every mysterious element of how things came to be. At a minimum, faithful creation theories will conform to these non-negotiable truths:
God created all things out of nothing.
God spoke all things into existence.
God created all things in six orderly days.
Don't get hung up on the length of these days. We measure time in fractions of the earth's rotation and orbit around the sun (minutes, hours, days, years, etc), yet the solar system wasn't created until the fourth day, so for the first half of the creation week, time is unmeasurable.
Besides, God created all things with the appearance of age. He created birds, not eggs. He created man & woman, not embryos that would grow into adults. Therefore, geological features like mountains and canyons looked like they'd been forming for millions of years the moment God created them.
God created mankind as His crowning achievement.
Mankind didn't evolve from lesser life forms, rather we're uniquely created in the image of God.
Man and Woman have distinct identities, qualities and roles, yet both are equal in status as image bearers of God.
Mankind is given dominion over all of the other living things God created.
AAA Prayer:
ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Father God, you powerfully created all things...
ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Help me to exercise the dominion you've given me in a way that glorifies you...
ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED:
