Below are thoughts on my first ever read-through of Genesis, chapter 1. Let me know what you think 🙂
Verses 1-2
I think this paragraph is really interesting. I’m unsure as to whether the first verse is a summary of the chapter, or whether it pertains to God creating a “heavens and earth” before he created that which we know now (i.e. a time gap between verse 1 and 2). In verse 2, “was” could also be “became” (in the NIV, at least) – if it’s the latter, then I’m more inclined towards thinking that God had previously made the earth, something happened, then he started creation again. This is also compounded by the fact that water existed prior to light in this instance, and that there’s not an account of God creating the “formless,” “empty” earth in Genesis chapter 1 verse 2.
It’s also of note that the Spirit of God is hovering over the waters in the second verse, rather than simply “God”. This leads me to postulate that it’s through His Spirit that God performed the feat of creation. I think when I first imagined creation, it was an anthropomorphic figure (God the Father, combined with the Son and Holy Spirit) effectively gesturing and conjuring different elements of creation, and moving them into place with these gestures. However, when I think of the Spirit hovering over the waters, I think of a thin layer of silver mist enveloping the earth, generating the different elements of creation from within itself. Metaphysics aren’t really relevant here, but it’s truly fascinating to think about.
The first verse is probably the most important. I think whoever the author of Genesis was (?Moses) didn’t intend it to be a detailed account of exactly how God created the heavens and the earth; rather, a medium through which we could understand that He did. To use an analogy, let’s assume creation is a window. You can look for defects in the window and study its composition (i.e. worry about the metaphysics of creation), but you’re missing the point. There’s a loving Father on the other side of the window, inviting you towards Him, and you’re missing Him because you’re studying the glass!
Verses 3-25
At first glance, I think verses 3-25 serve to demonstrate just how powerful and intelligent God is. He simply commanded creation to appear, and it did. Speaking something to existence must require a frightening amount of power and ability; that which can only come from a supernatural being – a God.
I think there is also compelling evidence for God’s superior intelligence in these verses. Asking why God created everything He did is ludicrous; we’re not Him, nor do we have His phone on speed-dial to ask Him directly – we won’t know until we meet Him. But take creation as we know it as an endpoint – light and darkness, sky and sea, and land were created in a completely logical succession over the first 3 days. You’d need light to see creation as you made it, and without separating sea from sky (effectively giving the “formless” a form), and then collecting it into oceans, “dry” land wouldn’t be so dry and inhabitable! The same methodical approach was taken for the Sun and moon, birds and aquatic life, and land animals and humans over the latter 3 days; they mirror the order of their dependencies. You can’t have the Sun as a light source if light itself doesn’t exist, you can’t have birds as we know them without a sky to fly in, air to breathe and fish to eat, and you can’t have land animals and humans without land and vegetation upon which to survive. Allow me to put these into a table for easier visualisation of this intelligence:
| Day 1 | Light | Day 4 | The Sun and moon |
| Day 2 | Sky and sea | Day 5 | Birds and aquatic creatures |
| Day 3 | Land and vegetation | Day 6 | Land animals and humans |
Throughout the first chapter, everything God makes is “good” in His eyes. I think the use of the word “good”, rather than any other word, defines creation as multiple things on purpose. If you Google-define the word “good”, you get a long list of qualities, each of which (and more) I believe God to have instilled within creation:
- Of a high standard
- Healthy, strong or well
- Useful or beneficial
- Appropriate to purpose
- Displaying moral virtue
- Showing kindness
- Obedient to rules
- Enjoyable or satisfying; giving pleasure
I think verses 12, 21 and 25 highlight God’s passion for His work; He created each and every species of animal and plant we’ve known throughout history. I have no doubt that God could have created an earth where much fewer species co-existed, but He didn’t choose to do that. The multitude of absolutely stunning creatures and vegetation, intricately co-existing with each other (much more so at this early point in time too, as will be talked about later in this chapter, and in Genesis Chapter 3), underscores a remarkable amount of ardour and creative flair God must have created them with. It is also of note that absolutely nothing He attempted failed.
Interestingly, in verse 24, God defines certain land animals as “livestock”. As such, I think this verse shows that God had an end-goal involving human beings, and that by extrapolation, He didn’t create things spontaneously – He created everything for a reason or purpose. Otherwise, why do livestock need to exist, defined as “livestock”? Surely they’d just be another type of wild animal? This also shows that God knew He wanted to create intelligent beings, and knew that they would be able to domesticate and gather from animals. In my opinion, this verse is a foreshadowing to chapter 1 verses 26 and 28.
Verses 26-31
Verse 26 is really interesting to me; it’s the first use of “us” and “our” when referring to God. From the first chapter of the Bible, we know that our God is more than one entity; He’s a Trinity – the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
Right from the first chapter of the Bible, God’s incredible character is being revealed. He’s creative, intelligent, powerful, gracious and He’s good.
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