The creation of the world

Every great story has a beginning, and the greatest story ever told begins with words that have echoed for millennia: “In the beginning God created.” With this episode we begin a series that will walk through the Bible from the creation of the world to the coming of Jesus Christ, stopping at every prophet, patriarch, judge, king and chosen servant of God. We will see the places where events happened, surprising facts and, above all, how each story prepares the way for the Saviour.

Before speaking of Adam, Noah or Abraham, we need to look at the stage where everything happens: a universe created by a wise, powerful and good God.

“In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.”

Genesis 1:1-3

“In the beginning”: before everything, God

The Bible does not begin by trying to prove the existence of God; it simply affirms it. Before time, space and matter, God already existed. The first book of the Bible is called in Hebrew Bereshit, which means precisely “In the beginning”. This phrase tells us that the universe is not eternal and did not arise by itself: it has an origin, and that origin is a person.

The Hebrew verb used for “create” is bara. It is a very special verb: in the Old Testament it always has God as its subject. Human beings can make, form or build, but only God creates in this full sense, calling into existence what did not exist. Hebrews explains: “Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear” (Hebrews 11:3).

The formless earth and the Spirit over the waters

The second verse describes an earth “without form, and void”, covered in darkness, and adds a precious detail: “the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters”. From the first page the Bible shows us the Holy Spirit at work, like a bird hovering over its nest. Then God speaks, and his Word brings order and life.

The account follows a beautiful pattern. In the first three days God separates and forms the spaces: light and darkness, the waters above and below, the sea and the dry land. In the next three days he fills those spaces: the sun, moon and stars; birds and fish; land animals and human beings. What was formless receives shape, and what was empty receives fullness.

The six days of creation

Day 1 — Light. “And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.” God divides the light from the darkness and calls the light day and the darkness night. It is striking that light appears before the sun, which is created on the fourth day. Many readers see a message here: the ultimate source of light is not the sun but God himself. At the end of the Bible, in the new Jerusalem, there will be no need of the sun, for the glory of God will light it (Revelation 21:23).

Day 2 — The firmament. God makes an expanse that divides the waters above from the waters below, and calls it heaven.

Day 3 — Dry land and plants. The waters are gathered into one place, dry land appears and God commands it to bring forth grass, seed-bearing plants and fruit trees, each “after his kind”.

Day 4 — Sun, moon and stars. God places lights in the sky to mark seasons, days and years. At a time when many peoples worshipped the sun and moon as gods, Genesis presents them simply as created lamps placed at the service of creation. The text does not even name them; it calls them “the greater light” and “the lesser light”, and adds almost in passing: “he made the stars also”.

Day 5 — Fish and birds. The waters teem with living creatures and the sky with birds. For the first time God blesses his creatures: “Be fruitful, and multiply.”

Day 6 — Animals and humankind. The earth brings forth cattle, creeping things and beasts. And then comes the climax of the account.

In the image of God

“And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.”

Genesis 1:26-27

Here the language changes. God does not say “let the earth bring forth”, but “let us make”. Many Christians since the early Church have seen in this plural a first hint of the Trinity, which will be clearly revealed in the New Testament. Human beings are created in God’s “image” and “likeness”. In the ancient world, kings set up statues bearing their image in the lands they ruled to display their authority. God, instead, places his living image in every man and woman, and entrusts them with caring for and governing creation.

This truth is the foundation of human dignity. Every human being, of any race, nation, age or condition, reflects something of God and has a value no one can take away. The text also stresses that “male and female created he them”: man and woman, of equal dignity, together reflect the image of their Creator.

“Very good”

Throughout the chapter a refrain is repeated: “and God saw that it was good”. It appears seven times, the last with special emphasis: “And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good” (Genesis 1:31). Creation is neither evil nor contemptible. Matter, the body, nature and life are good because they came from God’s hands. The evil we know is not part of the original design; it will enter later, as we will see in the next episode.

The seventh day: God’s rest

“And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.”

Genesis 2:2-3

God did not rest because he was tired; the prophet Isaiah says that the Creator fainteth not, neither is weary (Isaiah 40:28). He rested in the sense that he finished his work and delighted in it. By blessing the seventh day, he set a rhythm for humanity: work and rest, activity and worship. From this comes Israel’s Sabbath and, for Christians, Sunday as the Lord’s day, in memory of Christ’s resurrection, which inaugurates the new creation.

Two accounts that complement each other

Genesis 1 presents creation as a great panoramic vision, ordered in days. Genesis 2 retells the origin of humankind with a more intimate focus: God forms man from the dust of the ground, breathes into his nostrils the breath of life and plants a garden in Eden. The first account shows God’s greatness; the second, his closeness. Both are needed to know the Creator.

How should we understand the days of creation?

Christians have read the creation account in different ways. Some understand the six days as literal twenty-four-hour days. Others see each day as an age or long period. Others consider that the text uses a seven-day literary structure to communicate theological truths, without intending to describe a scientific chronology. These differences exist among believers who love the Bible. What they all affirm is the essential: God is the Creator of all, creation is good, human beings bear his image and everything exists for his glory.

Places in the story

Interesting facts

Creation sings the glory of God

The Bible returns again and again to the theme of creation. Psalm 104 is an entire hymn to the Creator’s work. In the book of Job, God asks: “Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth?” (Job 38:4). Isaiah invites us to lift up our eyes and see who created the stars and calls them all by name (Isaiah 40:26). And Paul states that the invisible things of God are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made (Romans 1:20).

“The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork.”

Psalm 19:1

What creation teaches us today

We are not an accident: we were wanted and planned by God. Life has value: every person bears God’s image. We are stewards: we are called to care for the earth, not destroy it. We need rest: the rhythm of work and rest is part of God’s design. God is worthy of worship: the beauty of the world invites us to praise its Author.

On the road to Jesus

This series will end in Jesus Christ, and creation already points to him. Paul says that by Christ “were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth” and that “by him all things consist” (Colossians 1:16-17). The one who created the world would come into it as a child in Bethlehem, and by his resurrection a new creation would begin: “if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature” (2 Corinthians 5:17).

In the next episode we will meet the first human beings, Adam and Eve, their life in the garden of Eden, the temptation, the fall and the first promise of salvation in the whole Bible.

Prayer

Creator God, you made the heavens and the earth by your Word. Thank you for the beauty of the world and for creating me in your image. Help me care for your creation, rest in you and live for your glory. Through Jesus Christ, by whom all things were made. Amen.