Genesis 1
Author’s Note: Below are some thoughts and comments resulting from my personal Bible study in Genesis 1. The primary objective of this study is to help myself grow in my relationship with the Lord, but I am sharing them here in the hopes that someone else may benefit as well. The notes were taken while reading from the Christian Standard Bible (CSB) as it appears on BibleGateway.com.
1 Several elements make this verse a fantastic litmus test for faith. In the beginning God declares that the singular God predated the beginning. That is, he has always existed from eternity past. This suggests he will continue to exist beyond the end of history to eternity future. God created indicates that he was the creative mastermind who initiated all things. History began when God decided to create rather than destruct. This is significant because we so often focus on his judgments and destructive power. This is even more true for pagan deities, many of whom were known primarily for their destructive tendencies. Yet, God’s original intent was to create. God created the heavens and the earth encompasses the whole of creation. To the ancient Hebrew mind, the heavens included everything from air that we breathe to the sun, moon, and stars in the sky and even the unseen spiritual realm beyond that. The earth included the land underfoot, the waters of the seas, and even the spiritual underworld. This verse, then, pronounces that the singular, creative God who fashioned everything that exists. If you can believe this declaration, then nothing else in the Bible should be beyond belief.
The word here rendered God is elohim. Technically, this word is plural and literally translated “gods,” but it is here used as a plural of transcendence. The basic notion is that God is too great to be represented by a simple, singular noun. It also provides the first hint of the Trinity.
1:2-2:3 The creative account is more than just God fashioning the different elements that we see at work in the world. It is the progression of the initial creation from formless, empty, dark, and watery (i.e., free-flowing, constantly shifting) to formed, filled, light, and concrete. That is, it is the story of how God brought order to the chaotic cosmos. This order is embodied in the poetic rhythm of the account. Beginning in verse 3, we find a cadence: God spoke, it was done, evening came and then morning.
2 The Spirit of God drops the second hint of the Trinity. It is also interesting to me that the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters. There is a distinction and separation here between God and his creation. God had created the heavens and the earth, but he had not yet injected himself into them.
3-5 Let there be light. It is significant that the first thing God introduced to the new creation is light. Throughout Scriptures, light represents God’s glory, and now it is the foundational element which saturates the universe. Indeed, even a single glimmer of light chases away darkness. Further, light represents all that is loving, kind, and hopeful in the world. Indeed, these are the core characteristics of God, and now, they form the foundation of the creation as a permanent testimony to its creator. It is fitting, then, that at the conclusion of his work on the first day of history, God evaluated what he had created and deemed it good. In fact, light has been associated with good in every culture across history.
6-8 In the Hebrew way of thinking, the world is like a bubble in the middle of a great sea. The landmass of earth floats upon the water below, and the sky creates a habitable pocket between the water below and the water above.
9-13 It is interesting to consider all that went into each of these creative acts. Moses recorded everything that happened on this third day in a couple of verses, but everything about this points to God’s power and creative genius. He had only to speak, something so effortless that we take it for granted, and the water under the sky – half of everything that existed at the time – rearranged itself. Dry land, something which never before existed, appeared. He conceived and defined these things. Then he called forth vegetation in all its diversity and splendor. Who knew what a seed or fruit was before this? No one! By the time God saw that it was good (12), one can almost hear him laughing with glee, tickled by all the wonderful stuff he had made.
14-19 Again, the creation of the sun, moon, and stars seems trivial enough. God populated the heavens. Yet, do not overlook the implications of this simple statement. Ancient people could not fly, but God placed the sun, moon, and stars in the sky. They had no light pollution, so they could see the night sky in all its glory and knew there was no way to count the stars, but God knew them each by name. Our concept of time is dictated by the movements of the sun, moon, and stars. God only introduced these things on Day 4. Therefore, the 24-hour interval that we consider a day was utterly meaningless prior to Day 4. The first three days, then, could have been epochs long.
20-23 It is interesting here that God here uses water rather than sea. If the universe is water, does this mean there may be life outside the bubble of our world? I suppose he could be speaking of heavenly creatures (e.g., angels, cherubim), but could this also include extraterrestrial life? C.S. Lewis did not think the notion of extraterrestrial life antithetical to Christian faith when he wrote his Ransom trilogy. Here, God issues his first command to the living creatures he had just created: Be fruitful, multiply, and fill. This same basic command would be issued to mankind, but for humans, it would be expanded upon because humans have a greater capacity than animals.
26-31 Humans were created last. This prevented them from taking the credit for any of creation. It also set them as God’s masterpiece, the absolute pinnacle of his creative work. The thing that set them apart from the other creatures was that they were made in our image, according to our likeness. The nature of God’s image in mankind is a bit murky. The two words here contain the complimentary ideas of “essence” and “likeness,” respectively.[1] Some believe it is in our literal appearance, but this seems unlikely given that God is here deliberately described as a Spirit. Others suggest it is our capacity to reason or to do God’s work. Whatever it is, “They are symbols of his presence and act on his behalf as his representatives.”[2] It is important to notice that man (Heb. adam) was first applied to the race and only later given as a proper name to the first male person. So also, the Hebrew language used masculine pronouns to represent the prototypical person. Thus, vs 27 is entirely appropriate when it says God created him in the image of God and then turns around and adds he created them male and female.
28 God’s first interaction with mankind was to bless them. And his first directive to them was the same as what he gave to the animals in vs 22: be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth. This time, however, he added subdue it and rule the fish… This translation could seem harsh, but it is important to understand that these words were often associated with kings and leaders who took care of their people. The meaning here would seem to be more consistent with domesticate. That is, attend to it, develop it, and make it into something that you can control and leverage in creative endeavors. “Human beings were to occupy and enjoy, not fear, creation.”[3] Conversely, we must never take God’s creation for granted. It is his, and we are called to steward it, not abuse it.[4]
It is also crucial to note that this directive was given to them together. This is emphasized in the wording: God blessed them, and God said to them. The blessing and mandate were not given to male humans, or to female humans, alone. It was given to all humans together. Indeed, both genders are needed to claim the blessing and accomplish the mission to be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, and subdue it. There is not one part of this mandate that is assigned exclusively to one gender while the rest is given to the other gender. They are equal recipients and therefore must be equal partners.
31 At the end of Day 6, God saw all that he had made, and it was very good indeed. Humans started good. In fact, men and women together leveled up the whole of creation to very good. Yes, sin tarnishes that nature, but let us never forget that this is where we started. It is also what God intends to restore by the last day.
Footnotes
[1] Keener and Zondervan 2016, Genesis 1:26
[2] Keener and Zondervan 2016, Genesis 1:26
[3] Adeyemo 2010, Genesis 1:1-31
[4] Carson 1994, Genesis 1:24-31