GENESIS CHAPTER ONE ------------------- Verse 1 - The Bible begins with God, who is the cause of all that exists. He was all that was before time began. Modern man begins with himself and works his way up to God, but the Bible begins with God and works DOWN to man. Here we see God's sovereign act in creating heaven and earth. God = 'elohiym {el-o-heem'} which is the plural of 'elowahh {el-o'-ah} which means God. (plural intensive - singular meaning) Speaks of the plurality in deity but oneness in substance. The first verse in the Bible supports the Trinity. Created = bara' {baw-raw'}, Stem - Qal ("simple" or "casual" action of the root in the active voice) Mood - Perfect (expresses a completed action). 1) to create, shape, form 1a) (Qal) to shape, fashion, create (always with God as subject) No argument is given to prove the existence of God, but rather His existence is presented as a fact and something to be believed, as man has no excuse form believing to the contrary. If man had an excuse to doubt the existence of God then surely God would have presented argument and proof to the contrary. This opening verse condemns atheism, as it presents God as before all that is. Material communism is refuted as God is distinguished from the material creation and was before it. And most definitely New Age pantheism is abolished because matter and energy are not eternal but were created by an eternal personal God. Verse 2, Much is made of the word "was" in that it means "became" or "came to pass." The two main ideas here are that the earth was created in a formless manner as matter and that God fashioned it in these next verses, or that the earth was changed as a result of divine judgement (gap theory) on the rebellion of Satan. It is in this gap which many believe that the dinosaurs lived, but this would mean that death entered into the world other than through Adam. One of the verses used to support the gap theory is: Isa 45:18 For thus saith the LORD that created the heavens; God himself that formed the earth and made it; he hath established it, he created it not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited: I [am] the LORD; and [there is] none else. The reasoning is that in verse 2 of Genesis "without form and void" means "formlessness, confusion, unreality, emptiness and void, waste." So the argument is that God, according to Isa 45:18 did not make the earth as it is viewed in Genesis verse two. But in Isa 45:18 it says that the Lord "formed the earth" which according to my lexicon means to "form or fashion" "through the squeezing into shape," as a potter would a lump of clay, but the clay before it is shaped is without form. Pink believes in the "gap theory" and says that the remainder of Genesis chapter one is describing a restoration of what has fallen into ruin, which would be more in line with being a picture of the "new birth". As we look at the creation here, we should keep in mind that it is a picture of the "new creation in Christ Jesus." God is the creator and everything else, including man is passive. Darkness was upon the face of the deep, and man before he is "born again" is in a state of darkness and it is the Spirit of God that must move upon him. Waters represent peoples in the Bible (Rev 17:15). Verse 3, Here we see the spoken Word causing something to be. Some argue that the sun and the moon and the stars were already created in verse one and that the were not visible until the fourth day (vs 14-19). Light in the scriptures also is a picture of "spiritual light." Without light it is impossible to see, and without spiritual light it is impossible to see spiritually. Verse 4 & 5, The light is divided from the darkness and the light is called good. The light is called day and the darkness is called night. We also see in verse 5 that the day begins with the evening. Darkness preceded light (compare verse 2 with 3). The Jews reckoned the day beginning at sunset and ending at sunset. This is the completion of the first day of creation or of recreation as the "gap theorist" believe. Verses 6-8, The beginning of the second days work. The waters are separated into water vapour above and the waters on the earth. It was this water vapour above that protected the earth from the harmful rays of the sun and which changed after the flood. Here again it is God's word that causes this to happen. Heb 4:12* For the word of God [is] quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and [is] a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. What is the difference between soul and spirit? Man is a "tripartite" being (composed of or divided into 3 parts), spirit, soul and body. "The spirit is capable of God- consciousness; the soul is the seat of self-consciousness; the body of sense-consciousness" (Dr. Pierson). When Adam sinned his spirit was not annihilated, but rather was separated from God. Just as the physical body becomes dead when it is separated from the spirit, so the spirit becomes dead when separated from God. The spirit of man then fell to the level of the soul and ceased to function separately so today the unregenerate man is dominated by his soul. But in regeneration, the Word of God "pierces even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit" and the spirit is brought back into communion with God. In our verse here we see the Word of God dividing asunder the vapour above and the waters below. Firmament - raqiya` {raw-kee'-ah} 1) extended surface (solid), expanse, firmament 1a) expanse (flat as base, support) 1b) firmament (of vault of heaven supporting waters above) 1b1) considered by Hebrews as solid and supporting 'waters' above The firmament above is called heaven or the first heaven. This was the end of the second day. Verses 9-13, The third day. The waters are all together in ONE place and the dry land appeared which he called earth which is the same Hebrew word used for earth in verse one. I believe that the earth was one land mass in the middle of the one waters. It was sometime after the flood that the land mass was separated into what we know as continents. Ge 10:25 And unto Eber were born two sons: the name of one [was] Peleg; for in his days was the earth divided; and his brother's name [was] Joktan. {Peleg: that is Division} This would explain how that the animals that came off of the ark are found on all the continents, with some continents having animals different, such as Australia. In these verses we see vegetation (all that is green), and each plant yielded seed after its own kind. We see fruit yielded. Now scientist know that the seed contains all of the information that distinguishes a certain plant from another, what it looks like, etc. Verses 14-19, The Fourth day. Some believe that these verses only describe the appearance of these heavenly bodies; that they were created on the first day and only became clear or visible on the fourth day. It would seem to me that on the first day God created light but it was not till the fourth day that he made the instruments of light. Gill agrees with this thought. The earth does revolve around the sun, so it might be thought that it would exist before the earth, but nothing is impossible with God and He does many things backwards of man's logic and thinking. He could just as easily make the earth first and then later the sun and place the earth in orbit around the sun. Much is made about the difference between "made" and "create." That you make something out of material already created. However in verse 26 God said that he MADE man and then in the next verse says that He CREATED man in the plural, and we know that He created the first man from clay and then woman from man's rib. It is the rotation of the earth on its axis that gives the days, and it is the revolution of the earth around the sun which gives years and the tilt of the earth in connection with its path around the sun which gives the seasons. The sun is the greater light which rules the day and the moon is the lesser light which rules the night with the stars. Verses 20-23, The fifth day. God makes the creatures in the sea and the birds of the air. The lung structure of birds is different that other land animals. A birds lungs have uni-directional flow through them. The evolutionary scientists claim that birds evolved from reptiles, but here we see birds before, and it has been proved because of the dramatic difference in the lung structure of between birds and reptiles that a slow conversion would be impossible. The theory of evolution requires a slow conversion (small and slight modifications) until the change occurs. In verse 21 the word creature is "nephesh" {neh'-fesh} which is commonly translated "soul." This probably distinguishes this form of life from the mindless plant life that had already been created. All animal life, whether fish or mammal or man uses oxygen to live, whereas plant life uses carbon-dioxide to live. Everything brought forth after its kind. Cats did not produce dogs, etc. A new species could arise when a population is isolated and inbreeding occurs. By this definition a new species is not a new "kind" but a further partitioning of an existing "kind". They are commanded to "fill" the earth and not "replenish" the earth as is in verse 28. The Hebrew word, the stem and the mood are exactly the same in both verses and means "to fill, be full." Verses 24-31, The sixth day. Everything that lives on the earth other than birds is created. The creeping thing and the beasts of the field and all after its kind. It was all good, but the verse says that God SAW that it was good, which seems to show that it pleased Him. One of the definitions of the Hebrew word "towb" {tobe} is "pleasant, agreeable (to the senses)." Let US make man: Some have said that God is consulting with the earth from which he formed the man. Others, say with the angels; but they had no part or hand in man's creation. The correct theological position is that of the Trinity. The Father, Son and Holy Spirit all created all that is made. Joh 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 The same was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. ( This verse is, without a doubt, speaking of the Lord Jesus Christ. ) In the image of God: Gill says, even in the form of his body, being that Christ is eternal. However his body was prepared in time, but the fashion of it was from all eternity. The immortality of his soul, in his intellectual powers, and in purity, holiness, and righteousness in which he was created and fell from. As well as his dominion, power, and authority over the creatures that he was placed over. He created man both male and female. He was commanded to fill the earth and subdue it which would have to take place in time. It was over every living creature in the sea, in the air and on the earth. Subdue = kabash {kaw-bash'} 1) to subject, subdue, force, keep under, bring into bondage 1a) (Qal) 1a1) to bring into bondage, make subservient 1a2) to subdue, force, violate 1a3) to subdue, dominate, tread down God saw that it was VERY good. This is the seventh "good" that appears in the first chapter of Genesis (vs 4, 10, 12, 18, 21, 25, & 31). In every case God SAW that it was good and now that it is complete (the number 7) God SAW and BEHELD that it was VERY good. Rev 4:11 Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.