Genesis

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The First Verse in the Bible Genesis 1:1

I.           OUTLINE: THE ORIGINAL CREATION STATEMENT 

NOTE: In the King James Bible, Genesis 1:1 has ten words. Other key verses in the Bible that have 10 words include the Jewish Shema (Deuteronomy 6:4) and the wonderful verse, 1 Chronicles 16:11. The creation story in Genesis One has ten instances where the Bible says, “And God said.” These are the ten commandments of creation. 

A.   Its Time – “In the beginning” 

B.   Its Author – “God created” 

C.   Its Product 

1. “the heaven”

2. “and the earth” 

NOTE: God always begins with that part which is closest to Him and comes toward us. We have a tendency to do the opposite. For instance, most men speak of the body, soul and spirit. However, when God names the three together in 1 Thessalonians 5:23, He places them in the order of spirit, soul and body. When God describes the articles in the tabernacle and its court in Exodus, He begins with the items in the Holy of Holies, proceeds out to the Holy Place and finally goes to the laver and brazen altar outside the tabernacle. You may have noticed that most teachers start teaching about the tabernacle by describing the articles outside and then going inside, leaving the Holy of Holies for last. This is only one example of God’s ways not being our ways (Isaiah 55:8-9). In this passage, God first creates the heaven and then the earth. The order is important. 

II.          IMPORTANT BEGINNINGS IN SCRIPTURE 

NOTE: The word beginning does not always refer to the same point in time or even to the same beginning. Here are several specific beginnings. Some are easy to pinpoint; others are not. But they are all a part of God’s truth and they make an interesting study. 

A.   The Beginning of His Way (Proverbs 8:22-23) 

B.   The Beginning of Creation (Mark 10:6; 13:19; 2 Peter 3:4) 

C.   The Beginning of the World (Isaiah 64:4; Matthew 24:21; Acts 15:18; Ephesians 3:9) 

D.   The Beginning of Evil (John 8:44; 1 John 3:8) 

E.   The Beginning of Humanity (Matthew 19:4, 8) 

F.   The Beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ (Mark 1:1; John 15:27; Acts 1:22; 1 John 1:1-2) 

G.   The Beginning of the Church Age (Acts 11:15) 

H.   The Beginning of Our Confidence (Hebrews 3:14; 1 John 2:7, 24) 

I.    The “Beginning” (Colossians 1:18; Revelation 1:8; 3:14; 21:6; 22:13) 

1. Without beginning of days (Hebrews 7:3)

2. Who was in the beginning (John 1:1-2)

III.         DOCTRINAL IMPORTANCE OF GENESIS 1:1 

A.   Refutes Atheism (Psalm 14:1); it begins with God

B.   Refutes Pantheism (Isaiah 45:5-9); God created. Therefore, He transcends His creation 

C.   Refutes Polytheism (Deuteronomy 6:4); there is only one God 

D.   Refutes Materialism [Uniformitarianism] (2Peter 3:1-7); matter and creation had a beginning; therefore, there was a time when they were not 

E.   Refutes Dualism [the idea that good and evil co-existed before creation and will continue to exist eternally] (Revelation 20:10); God is alone at the time of creation 

F.   Refutes Humanism (Psalm 39:4-6); God, not man, is the ultimate reality 

G.   Refutes Evolutionism (Psalm 33:6-9; Genesis 1:24); God created by the word of His mouth

IV.        BIBLICAL SYNONYMS FOR CREATE 

NOTE: The Bible has three common words for making something: create, make and form. These words are similar and their meanings often overlap. God created the world (Genesis 1:1); He made the world (Genesis 2:2); He formed the world (Psalm 90:2). You might assume that this makes the three words identical in meaning. However, this is not the case. They are distinct words having distinct shades of meaning. The notes below will help you to understand how they compare and how they contrast. 

A.   How They Compare: create, make, form 

1. Both create and make (made) are used in reference to general creation (Genesis 2:3-4; 5:1; 6:6-7)

2. All three words (create, make, form) are used to describe the creation of man (Genesis 1:27; 2:7; 5:1)

3. The common thought in all three words is to bring something to a finished or completed state of being 

B.   How They Contrast 

1. Create 

a.    Means to bring into being; to cause to come into existence

b.    Emphasizes origin and the originator (Creator)

c.    Use exemplified in Genesis 1:1, 21, 27; Psalm 89:12; Isaiah 42:5; Ephesians 2:10; Revelation 4:11; 10:6 

2. Make 

a.    Means to put together; to produce an end result by putting parts or ingredients together

b.    Emphasizes process

c.    See Genesis 1:7, 16, 25, 31; 2:2, 22; 3:1 

3. Form 

a.    Means to give shape; to bring to its final form

b.    Emphasizes finished product

c.    See Genesis 2:7, 8, 19; Job 26:13; Psalm 90:2; 94:9; 95:5 

NOTE: Pay close attention to how these words are used in scripture. They can all be applied to the same item but they emphasize different aspects of the act. In other cases, the distinction is very important. A man can make a chair because he can put the pieces together. However, he cannot create a tree. Always notice what God is saying. 

V.         THE TRINITY IN THE BEGINNING 

A.   In the First Three Verses of the Bible (Genesis 1:1-3) 

1. The Father (v.1) – God created

2. The Spirit (v.2) – The Spirit moved on the face of the waters

3. The Son (v.3) – “And God said”; Christ is the Word of God (John 1:1-3; 14); God created by His word (Psalm 33:6)

B.   In the Work of Creation 

1. The Father (Genesis 1:1; Exodus 20:11; Isaiah 40:28)

2. The Son (John 1:3; 1 Corinthians 8:6; Ephesians 3:9; Colossians 1:16)

3. The Spirit (Genesis 1:2; Job 26:13; Psalm 104:30)

VI.        THE THREE HEAVENS 

A.   The Bible Declares the Three Heavens in 2 Corinthians 12:2 when Paul speaks of going up to the third heaven—God’s abode. 

B.   The Three Heavens are Illustrated in Scripture 

1. Amos 9:6 speaks of God building “his stories in the heavens”

2. Noah’s ark has three stories (Genesis 6:16) 

C.   The Three Heavens Defined in Scripture 

1. The third heaven

a.    The divine heaven

b.    The place of God’s abode (Psalm 11:4; Jeremiah 17:12)

c.    Created in the original creation (Genesis 1:1)

d.    Located on the sides of the north (Isaiah 14:13; Psalm 75:6-7) 

2. The second heaven

a.    The starry heaven

b.    The place of the lights of the sky: sun, moon and stars (Genesis 1:14-16)

c.    Called “the firmament of the heaven” (Genesis 1:14)

d.    Created on the second day (Genesis 1:6-8) 

3. The first heaven

a.    The atmospheric heaven

b.    The place where the birds fly (Genesis 1:20)

c.    Called “the open firmament of heaven” (Genesis 1:20); it is open to flying fowl

d.    Created on the second day (Genesis 1:6-8)

VII.        SPIRITUAL APPLICATION OF GENESIS 1:1 

A.   The Preeminence of God 

1. God’s preeminence in creation

a.    He needed no matter from which to create but framed the worlds “by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear” (Hebrews 11:3).

b.    He is the beginning and therefore the purpose of all things (Revelation 4:11). Nothing is completed or fulfilled until God has His proper place. 

2. God’s preeminence in Genesis, chapter one

a.    The name God is mentioned 32 times in this chapter. This is more than in any other chapter in the Bible.

b.    By application, all things must begin and end with God. 

B.   The Order of Creation 

1. Statement: First, heaven was created and, then, the earth

2. Illustration: Man refers to his body, soul and spirit because that is his point of view. God refers to man’s spirit, soul and body – in that order – in 1 Thessalonians 5:23 because that is His point of view.

3. Application: Take care of heavenly things first because that is what is most important to God (Matthew 6:33; 2 Corinthians 4:16-18; Colossians 3:1-2); the others things will then follow in proper order