Genesis 1

Chapter 1

V. 1 In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.

In The Beginning 

The Book of Genesis contains some of the oldest words in human history. The book takes its name from the opening line, the word beginning is Bereshith in Hebrew. The name for God is Elohim, which has strong implications and I will get to that in a moment. Bereshith bara Elohim is the Hebrew translation of the opening line.

Ancient customs often named books from the opening lines, and the book is named after Bereshith – which means beginnings. 250 years before Christ, a group of scholars translated the Hebrew bible into Greek and translated Bereshith as Genesis, which also means beginnings. After the resurrection, both Latin and Greek Bibles adopted the Genesis name, and here we are to this day.

A Final Apologetic About The Beginning

When children ask who made God, the answer is no one. God has always existed, that is why he is God. The universe however had a beginning.

1. The Big Bang Theory has many nuances to it, but the basic scientific concept says that in a moment of time, the physical universe began, and expanded to what we have today. Some academics debate the age of the earth, and the mechanics of how it all took place.
2. The existence of the Second Law of Thermodynamics points to the earth having a beginning. One charming way to think of that, is to say, the Second Law of Thermodynamics is  the reason for why you cannot unscramble an egg. Here is another principle that comes with it – The conversion and transfer of heat and energy are always irreversible and lead to disorder – not the other way around. Our physical universe lives with this constant.
3. There is something called Irreducible Complexity, and it is not too hard to understand. There are many biological systems in nature defying evolution because they are too complex. Another way to say that is, if they had to evolve they would die a quick death. The reason for that is because if  you take one part of the equation away, the entire system dies or doesn’t work. Michael Behe made this famous in his book Darwin’s Black Box. In that book Behe devoted a whole chapter to blood clotting, using it as an illustration to make his point – evolution has no answer for irreducible complexity. Behe noted that the blood clotting mechanism in the body, known as a cascade, is a big problem for Darwinian evolutionists  – take one part of the cascading clotting mechanism away, and the body bleeds out and dies a quick death.

About God’s Existence

1. This is a highly simplified version of the Kalam Cosmological Argument, as popularized by Dr. William Lane Craig. It’s sometimes called “First Cause” thinking. Here is what we know, everything that is alive (exists) has a beginning (was born). The universe is alive (exists), so it was born (had a beginning). In order for that to take place, someone had to exist who has always existed. God has always existed, and he is the first cause.
2. Everything that begins to exist has a cause. The universe began to exist, so the universe must have a cause that itself was not caused. This ultimate first cause is God.

God – Think Elohim

Genesis is about God from A to Z. The reference here for God is not God’s actual name, that name is YHWH, which is the personal name of God, given to Moses, and the name God’s chosen to be known by forever (Exodus 3:15). The reference here is to Elohim, since God has chosen at this point to not reveal more of himself. The description of God as Elohim, occurs thirty-five times in chapter 1 alone. It seems God reveals himself this way so that we can first begin to understand his Trinitarian nature. Writes R. Kent Hughes, “Remarkably, the mystery of the Holy Trinity is embedded in the first three Hebrew words of the text, (Bereshith bara Elohim), because the name of God, Elohim is in the plural, and the verb created (bara) is in the singular so that God (plural) created (singular)” Kent Hughes, Genesis,  page 18.

Robert Alter, a world-renowned scholar in Hebrew Literature explains it this way, “The most common designation of deity is Elohim, a word that is plural in form but is generally treated  grammatically as singular.” (Robert Alter, The Hebrew Bible, translation and commentary page xl

Christians and Jews are monotheists, because scripture says God is one, “Here O Israel the Lord our God is one,” (Deuteronomy 6:4, 1 Corinthians 8:6). The one united God, living as three persons,  was activated in creation. God and the Holy Spirit are here in Genesis 1:1-2. Jesus is activated as seen in John 1:1-3, 10, and Colossians 1:15-17.

God Created

This verse is the genesis of all human dignity and the fountainhead of existence. God is scientific, yet chose romantic words to describe his actions. God intentionally chose to limit his scientific explanations. Instead, he invites us to his banqueting table, to enjoy the celebration of his love, where our inner soulful conflicts and psychological despairs find rest. Who am I? Why am I alive? What does God have to say to me? In answering these questions, God reaches low and brings tender kisses to our needs.

No parent tucks their small children in bed at night quoting scientific facts. Parental love at that moment is not biological but spiritual.

Heavens and Earth

Heaven and earth refer to how God works in creation. He created what he created, by a spoken Word, which makes what was spoken right, and which also makes it good—because God spoke it, therefore it was right and good. God’s spoken Word also means that which he spoke, he owns.

There was no pre-existing matter (as some have inferred), nor material of any kind. Creation in this sense, is one of many pronouncements in scripture demonstrating that God is the Lord. God  is the Promise Keeping/Covenant Lord spoken about in all scripture, the Covenant Keeping/Promise Keeping Lord God, of which there is no other. No one and no thing compares to this singular mighty God who can speak into the bankruptcy of nothingness, and moments later a created order exists. In creating the heavens and the earth, the Lord God on High then created the matter and the materials by which all creation would rest upon.

A few clarification are in order:

1.  Creation is not made out of God’s own being. The importance of this cannot be overstated. Some hold strongly to Pantheism and Monism, both which falsely claim that the heavens and earth came from God’s own material being —that is a false understanding of scripture. Creation is not an emanation from God, where some say it operates in the same connection that light and the sun have together. Such thoughts are entirely unbiblical, and inaccurate.
2. God created the world without any preexisting conditions. God created the world without a medium.
3. There was nothing but God, and then God created the heavens/earth, and at that singular moment time, matter and physics came into being —all done by the miraculous work of God.

This Brings Us To Worship

These first verses in scripture, is God’s chosen revelation to us. God creates the world as the Lord. “And when we think of God as creator, we encounter his holiness, and we are moved to worship.” John Frame, Doctrine of God, 291

So the God of scripture is entirely unique and unlike anything else. He is beyond human description except for the wonderful gift of his love toward us, choosing to make himself known, so that we may know him – which is his intimate desire.  The Lord first reveals himself as a holy being, one before whom we must bow in worship. Many references to creation in scripture are liturgical: they present creation as a reason for worshipping God (Psalm 19:4, 50:6, 89:5, 98:7-9, 148:1-14).” John Frame, Doctrine of God, page 291

Isaiah 66:1 instructs us that God made the heavens and the earth to be his temple, a place where he can abide and make his presence known. The heavens and the earth are an intimate expression from God’s heart. Creation then reveals the Lord God as Lord. Others call this aspect of God his Lordship, and as the Covenant Keeping Lord God Almighty, he has ownership over his creation. Since he created the seen and the unseen (all things), he has the right to do as he wishes with that which he owns.

V.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.

Without Form and Void

At this point the world is uninhabitable. Once there was only God, and he once lived without creation, and currently lives independent of it. But now there is matter, energy and the laws of physics, tools God created and uses to shape the universe.

Darkness and the Face of the Deep

The universe at this point is just empty. The phrase without form and void is Tohu wabohu in Hebrew. It’s found only here and two other places pointing to this reference. According to Rober Alter, Tohu by itself mean emptiness of futility. R. Kent Hughes arrives at a similar conclusion, “it is an expression for a place that is disordered and empty.” hughes page 21 alter page11

Know The Hebrew Word Panim (Paw-Neem)

Adama (GEn 2:7), Moses, David (Ps 27), Aaronic blessing, Jacob – all saw God’s presence/face…genesis 32:24

revelation 22:3…John says God’s children will see his face

https://digitalcommons.andrews.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3447&context=pubs

V. 3 And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.

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Click Here For Genesis Chapter 2