Creation is foundational to Christianity.
But what are we to understand from Genesis 1?
- God made all things — v.1
- God created all things out of nothing (i.e. ex nihilo1 — v.1
- God established order and time — vv. 5, 8, 13, 19, 23, 31
- Each species had progeny after its own kind; No cross species progeny — vv. 11, 12, 21, 24, 25, 26
- Mankind was made in God’s image (i.e. imago dei) — vv. 26-27
- Creation was called very good — vv. 4, 10, 12, 18, 21, 25, 31
- God made everything with its own purpose
- God’s Word creates life
- God establishes hierarchy — vv. 16, 26
- All life has freedom within established parameters — vv. 20-21
Genesis 1
1:1 In the beginning, Elohim (God) created the heavens and the earth.
1:2 The earth became chaotic and vacant and darkness was upon the surface of the chaotic deep, and the Spirit of Elohim (God) was hovering over the surface of the waters.
1:3 And Elohim (God) said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.
1:4 And Elohim (God) saw the light was good, and Elohim (God) separated the light from the darkness.
1:5 And Elohim (God) called the Light, “day” and the darkness, “night”, and it became evening and it became morning, day one.
1:6 And Elohim (God) said, “Let there be atmosphere in the midst of the waters,” and He separated the waters from the waters.
1:7 And Elohim (God) made the atmosphere and separated the waters under the atmosphere from the waters above the atmosphere and it was so.
1:8 And Elohim (God) called the atmosphere, “sky”, and it became evening and it became morning, day two.
1:9 And Elohim (God) said, “Let the waters flow together under the sky in one place and let the dry land appear,” and it was so.
1:10 And Elohim (God) called the dry (area), “land” and the confluence of the waters, “seas”; and Elohim (God) saw that it was good.
1:11 And Elohim (God) said, “Let the land be verdant of abundant herbage yielding seed after its own kind, and the fruit tree making fruit of its own species whose seed is in itself upon the land,” and it was so.
1:12 And the land brought forth herbage and foliage yielding seed after its own kind and the tree making fruit after its own kind whose seed was in itself; and Elohim (God) saw it was good.
1:13 And it became evening and it became morning, the third day.
1:14 And Elohim (God) said, “Let the luminaries in the atmosphere of the heavens separate the day from the night that they may be signs for seasons, appointments, days and years.
1:15 And they become luminaries in the sky of the heavens to give light on the earth and it was so.
1:16 And Elohim (God) made two great luminaries, the greater luminary for ruling the day and the lesser light for ruling the night along with the stars also.
1:17 And Elohim (God) set them in the sky of the heavens to give light upon the earth,
1:18 And to rule in the day and in the night, and to separate the light from the darkness; and Elohim (God) saw that it was good.
1:19 And it became evening and it became morning, the fourth day.
1:20 And Elohim (God) said, “Let the living creatures roam the waters and the birds fly over the face of the earth in the atmosphere of the heavens.”
1:21 And Elohim (God) created great monsters and all living creatures that move which roam the waters after its own kind and all birds after their kind. And Elohim (God) saw that it was good.
1:22 And Elohim (God) blessed them and said, “Be fruitful, increase (in number), and fill the waters of the seas and let the birds increase (in number) in the earth.”
1:23 And it became evening and it became morning, the fifth day.
1:24 And Elohim (God) said, “Let the earth bring forth living beasts after its kind, living and moving animals of the land after its kind,” and it was so.
1:25 And Elohim (God) made the animals of the land of its kind, the beasts and moving animals on the ground after its kind, and Elohim (God) saw that it was good.
1:26 And Elohim (God) said, “We shall make humans in our image, after our likeness, and they shall have sway over the fish of the sea, birds of the heavens, and beasts over all the earth and the moving animals on the land.
1:27 And Elohim (God) created the human in His image in the image of Elohim (God) created him; male and female he created them.
1:28 And Elohim (God) blessed them, and Elohim (God) said to them, “Be fruitful! Increase! Fill the earth, subdue it, and have sway over the fish of the sea, the birds of the heavens, and all the living and moving animals on the land.”
1:29 And Elohim (God) said, “Behold! I give to you all herb bearing seed which is on the surface of the earth and every tree and its fruit of the tree yielding seed, for you it shall be for food.”
1:30 “And for all of life on the land, and all of the birds of the heavens, and for every moving animal on the land wherein has life, herb for food.” And it was so.
1:31 And Elohim (God) saw all of which he made and behold it was very good. And it became evening and it became morning, the sixth day.
Notes
1Genesis 1:1, Psalms 33:6, Psalms 148:5, John 1:3, Colossians 1:16, and Hebrews 11:3 gives a more complete picture of how God created the world. Viewing the entire biblical account provides the conclusion that God created ex nihilo.