We begin our study of the book of beginnings way back at the beginning of time. Nothing existed except an eternal God who has no beginning (Psalm 90:2). He has always existed. He has no beginning and no end. Think about this for just a moment. We, who have always existed within time, find it difficult to imagine a God who exists out of time. Such is the nature of God. His existence exceeds our boundaries. Many people try to make God fit into molds they have designed for Him or make Him be what they want Him to be. As we proceed on this study through Genesis, put away your preconceived ideas of who God is and we will encounter a God who is far beyond our comprehension in so many ways.
The week of creation will cover a lot of territory. I need you to start this study by creating two columns in your journal. The first column will be titled, “What was created each day” and you will need to number 1 through 7 underneath, leaving enough space to record the things we learn. The second column will by titled, “Attributes of God”. You can begin by entering item one in the second column already – God is eternal.
This section we are studying today records the first day of God’s creation. Now, the Bible’s account of creation does not address or debate evolution and so we will not do so either. The Bible’s account simply states directly that it was God who created everything. It makes no apologies for its position. In the New Testament, we learn from the Apostle Paul that the Creation itself is such that those who do not believe in God have no excuse (Acts 14:14-17, Romans 1:20). Paul, and many others in the Bible, spent their lives telling the Good News that the Christ had come, and Jesus Himself commands us to tell others (Matthew 28:19-20), so we should not take these verses to say that there is no need to spread the Gospel. However, I want you to see God’s truth that creation itself is another witness to God’s existence and to His traits as you read in Romans 1:20.
Have there been times when nature has spoken to you of God? I know I have been amazed at the study of geography and how the earth’s intricate systems of air and water currents maintain the earth and its temperatures. Who but God could have designed a process where two single cells join together and then, unassisted, grow into a perfectly formed, human being with complex organs and biological systems? Meditate on these things for a moment and record in your journal any traits of God you have seen in science or nature in your life.
Let’s look now at the first words in the Bible. “In the beginning”. Time has just started. And what happened there at the beginning of time? God created the heaven and the earth. We need to understand what is meant here by the word heaven. We will see later on in our study that outer space objects will be created on day four, so this is probably less than all that. I would suggest to you that this was earth and a place for earth to exist within. Previously, there was only God and He was intangible needing no physical location. The earth, however, needed a place to exist.
What was this new earth like (verse 2)? We see in verse 2 that the earth was made up of water but basically empty otherwise. With nothing else in existence except water, that would certainly explain the earth being formless, would it not? So we have this formless, empty mass of water existing within the empty confines of space.
Who else does verse 2 tell us was present at this point in creation (Psalm 104:30)? Now we see in verse 1, God the Father, and in verse 2, God the Holy Spirit. But the Bible tells us there was one other present at the creation. Who was it (John 1:1-3, 14, and Colossians 1:13-17)? Yes, God the Son was also present at creation. Record this trait of God in your journal… God is three persons (triune).
Let’s look at verse 2 yet again. What is the Holy Spirit busy doing here at the beginning of creation? Why do you think He is doing this (Psalm 5:11, 91:4, Isaiah 31:5)? God is caring for and protecting His new creation. Record this trait of God in your journal… God is love.
In verse 3, we see God creating one more thing that first day. What was it? What did God do to create it (Psalm 33:6, 9, Hebrews 11:3)? Now, as mortals, we must use something previously existing to make things, but God is able to create something from nothing, and this is exactly how it happened. God spoke His creation into existence. Imagine a being who is able to do that. Record this trait of God in your journal… God is all powerful (omnipotent). Record in your journal what was created the first day of creation.
Verse 4 tells us that God made an evaluation of His first day’s creation. What was His assessment? Good is the opposite of evil. It is about only what is right. There is nothing evil about God and so it follows that His creation was without evil and only contained what is right and beneficial. Sin did not exist in the world at this point. This goodness is an important fact that God wanted in the record book. Record this trait of God in your journal… God is good.
Verse 4 also tells us that God separated the darkness and the light. This leads us to something interesting in verse 5. God has separated darkness and light, dividing the day exactly in half. Notice in this verse that evening comes first and then the day. The Jews, who base their beliefs and practices on The Pentateuch, or Torah, still observe the calendar this way. When you see Jewish holidays on the calendar, or read about them in books, there is usually a notation that they begin at sundown the day before. It has been this way since the very first day in time. A complete day consists of night first and then day.
We will look at creation more in our next study. Meanwhile, hold on to the two columns we have started so we can add on to them later.
Responding to God: When you see amazing things in nature or science, do you think of them as evidence of God’s hand in creation? Do you share them with others as such? Praise Him now for His marvelous works and ask Him to reveal Himself to you in His world. Ask God to show you the miraculous nature of His traits and worship Him for the God that He truly is. Thank Him for His creation of water and light, remembering that we could not exist without either one.
Further Research: To learn more about God’s creation, use a concordance or online dictionary to search for occurrences of the word ‘creation’ in the Bible.
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