WEEK 52 “IN THE BEGINNING….” GENESIS 1:1-2

Read Genesis 1:1-2

vs 1- IN THE BEGINNING GOD CREATED THE HEAVENS AND THE EARTH… This verse shows us that there was a start to TIME (beginning), SPACE (the heavens) and MATTER (the earth).

vs 1- Notice that in the BEGINNING, GOD was already in existence? This reveals to us that GOD IS ETERNAL and UNCREATED! (Psalm 90:2, Isaiah 40:28)

In fact, the word LORD (Yehovah in hebrew- from Psalm 23:1 for example) means “the existing one, Self-existent, Eternal”.

vs 1- GOD CREATED the heavens and the earth!! (See Isaiah 45:12, Acts 17:24) It is by faith that we understand the universe was made at GOD’S COMMAND and not by random chance! (Hebrews 11:3) Science tries to tell us that NOTHING CREATED THE UNIVERSE! Yet there is no observable evidence of SOMETHING COMING FROM NOTHING! Therefore the Big Bang theory cannot be a scientific claim!!

vs 1- Interestingly, the word for “GOD” here is the Hebrew word “Elohim” and is in the PLURAL, yet the word “CREATED” that follows is in the singular. This is the first glimpse of the TRINITY that we get here!! In vs 2 we see THE HOLY SPIRIT already at work hovering over the waters and in John 1:1, in the beginning was THE WORD which was WITH GOD and also was GOD! Thus, we see GOD THE FATHER (Genesis 1:1, GOD THE SON (John 1:1) and GOD THE HOLY SPIRIT (Genesis 1:2)! This plurality within a singular is also seen in Genesis 1:26-27 when God said “LET US make man in our image…” and yet vs 27 says God created man in “HIS OWN IMAGE….” GOD IS THREE-IN-ONE!

vs 1- God created the HEAVENS AND THE EARTH! The “heavens” here is the Hebrew word “shamayim” and can simply mean the “UNIVERSE/SKY”. This is confirmed by the fact that this word is used again in Genesis 1:8,15,17 referring to both the sky and the universe where the stars exist!! The same word is also used in Psalm 19:1 referring to the universe/sky!

These “HEAVENS” that were created by God here would be different to the “HEAVEN” (possibly the 3rd heaven- 2 Corinthians 12:2) where God dwells which is His THRONE (Isaiah 66:1, Psalm 103:19, Matthew 5:34, 1 Peter 3:22)!

The assumption could be that the ANGELS were created by God as part of the heavens!! (See Psalm 96:11- Luke 15:7,10, Psalm 148:2- angels linked to being “heavenly host”, Psalm 8:5-Hebrews 2:7)

vs 2- the earth that God created was initially FORMLESS AND VOID! The word formless is the Hebrew word “Tou” and can either mean “empty space, formless” or “a place of chaos, confusion.” The word void is the Hebrew word “Bou” which can mean “emptiness, void”. But Isaiah 45:18 reveals to us that God did not create the earth to ultimately be “empty” but rather to be INHABITED!! We see this process take place during the rest of Genesis 1!

This shows us that there is a process behind God’s creation!! Things don’t just come out mature straight away, but go through a process to become mature and what God created it to be!!!

vs 5- And finally, did you notice how God ORDERED THE DAYS in Genesis? “And there was EVENING, and there was MORNING…..” (vs 5,8,13,19,23,31). This is why the Jew’s start their day at 6pm in the evening til 6pm the next day!! We normally order our days as MORNING, then EVENING, but the Lord ordained it from the beginning to be the other way around!! 2 SPIRITUAL LESSONS we can learn from this is:

-Firstly, that our day was meant to start off with REST! (Since you normally rest in the evening and work during the day- John 9:4) DO YOU START THE DAY OFF RESTING WITH THE LORD OR RUSHING?

-And secondly, the way in which God ordered the days reminds us that DARKNESS always ends with the LIGHT!!

Psalm 30:5 tells us that though the SORROW MAY LAST FOR A NIGHT, THE JOY COMES IN THE MORNING!

And There is light at the end of the tunnel in our trials too!!

May God’s creation story remind us of His ETERNAL NATURE, AMAZING POWER, and fill us with hope that there is light at the end of the tunnel!! The darkness was always meant to end with the light!!