The following is a Bible Study of Genesis Chapter 1. It includes a video presentation along with message notes.
Message Outline - Genesis 1 Bible Study
Genesis 1:1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 The earth was formless and void, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the water.
In the Beginning
The beginning and the expression of time are started.
This time period is unknown; day/night had not started.
The measure of time is not indicated, but we know time began because we have the beginning mentioned here.
Creation of Heavens - 3 heavens
Sky and earth's atmosphere.
The cosmos or universe.
Heaven as the realm or habitation of God.
Question: Why is the universe so expansive?
Romans 1:20 - The invisible things about Him—His eternal power and deity—have been clearly seen since the creation of the world and are understood by the things that are made, so that they are without excuse.
Science/human reasoning says the universe is so big there must be another planet capable of sustaining life.
Romans says the invisible things about Him (God, His eternal power and Deity) are understood by the things that are made.
The universe was made this way to reflect who He is.
Creation of the Earth
It was formless and void.
Darkness was over the surface of the deep.
It could not sustain life.
As a dark wasteland.
TWO IMPORTANT THINGS TO NOTE
God Created - In the first four Words of Scripture, we have the declaration that God, unformed, uncreated, without beginning, was the first cause of all things.
Holy Spirit Hovered - the Holy Spirit signifies and is necessary for the beginning of life. This shows the necessity of the Holy Spirit for the activities of God to be accomplished.
THE DAYS OF CREATION
DAY 1
Genesis 1:3 God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. 4 God saw that the light was good, and God separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night. So the evening and the morning were the first day.
Seven times we see the manner in which God created, "God said - let there be."
Interestingly the first quote of God, "Let there be light." These words express a prominent theme throughout the Bible. Here, God produced physical light. The New Testament tells of God sending His Son to be the light of the world, John 8:12. In the end, there will no longer be any darkness at all, Revelation 21:23.
God said it, and it was done. He commanded the light to shine out of darkness and established the Day and Night cycle (24hrs).
Note: God is not subject to the laws of science or nature. He was establishing them as He was creating. Therefore none of His creation was limited to those things. I will show you an example in a minute.
DAY 2
Genesi 1:6 Then God said, “Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.” 7 So God made the expanse and separated the waters which were under the expanse from the waters which were above the expanse. And it was so. 8 God called the expanse Heaven. So the evening and the morning were the second day.
Before the second day, the earth was surrounded by a thick layer of water, perhaps in the form of a heavy vapour. On the second day God divided this layer.
DAY 3
Genesis 1:9 Then God said, “Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear.” And it was so. 10 God called the dry land Earth, and the gathering together of the waters He called Seas. Then God saw that it was good. 11 Then God said, “Let the earth produce vegetation: plants yielding seed and fruit trees on the earth yielding fruit after their kind with seed in them.” And it was so. 12 The earth produced vegetation, plants yielding seed after their kind and trees yielding fruit with seed in them after their kind. And God saw that it was good. 13 So the evening and the morning were the third day.
God caused the dry land to appear out of the waters that covered the face of the planet. We see the formation of the land (continents) and the Seas/Oceans/Lakes. Also, on the third day, He caused vegetation and trees of all kinds to spring up in the earth.
Note: the first time that God saw that is was good.
DAY 4
Genesis 1:14 And God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night, and let them be signs to indicate seasons, and days, and years. 15 Let them be lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth.” And it was so. 16 God made two great lights (sun and moon): the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night. (in fact, the moon has no light within itself; it is a reflection of the sun, hence much lesser, as the Scripture says): He made the stars also. 17 Then God set them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth, 18 to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness. Then God saw that it was good. 19 So the evening and the morning were the fourth day.
It was not until the fourth day that the Lord set the sun, moon, and stars in the heavens as light-bearers and as means for establishing a calendar.
Note: Laws of Nature/Science - The sun was created after God established the vegetation on the earth.
DAY 5
Genesis 1:20 Then God said, “Let the waters swarm with swarms of living creatures and let the birds fly above the earth in the open expanse of the heavens.” 21 So God created great sea creatures and every living thing that moves, with which the waters swarmed, according to their kind, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 22 Then God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and let the birds multiply on the earth.” 23 So the evening and the morning were the fifth day.
The fifth day saw the oceans and all the lakes and waters filled with all the assortment of fish and sea creatures, and the earth filled with birds. Again we see God’s declaration that they were good. God instructed them to multiply.
DAY 6
Genesis 1:24 Then God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures according to their kinds: livestock, and creeping things, and beasts of the earth according to their kinds.” And it was so. 25 So God made the beasts of the earth according to their kind, and the livestock according to their kind, and everything that creeps on the earth according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.
God first created animals and all beasts and animals that breathed air and lived on the earth. The law of reproduction is repeatedly given in the words "according to its kind."
CREATION AND EVOLUTION
This is a major stumbling block in the theory of evolution. Science has never been able to cross that barrier. There is no such thing as an animal that is half fish and half land animal. An animal can’t breed with an animal of its kind (for example: dog with a dog) and produce something else, especially when there were no genetic mutations (God saw it was good). There was no sickness; there were no mutations; everything functioned as God had created it, so a dog would produce a dog.
CLOSE OF CHAPTER 1
Genesis 1:29 Then God said, “See, I have given you every plant yielding seed which is on the face of all the earth and every tree which has fruit yielding seed. It shall be food for you. 30 To every beast of the earth and to every bird of the air and to everything that creeps on the earth which has the breath of life in it, I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so.
It is clear from these verses that animals were originally herbivores and that man was vegetarian. It would indicate that animals were not initially created as predators, meaning they were all docile. This was changed after the Flood.
Genesis 1:31 God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good. So the evening and the morning were the sixth day.
God looks at His creation, with man being the crown and glory, and it was not simply good but exceedingly good. It was the product of God's infinite wisdom, power, and love. There was no evil in it. No sickness. It reflected the plan and purpose of God. God Himself was expressed in the creation.
Everything was created with a purpose in mind.
Isaiah 45:18 - For thus says the Lord, who created the heavens, who is God, who formed the earth and made it, who has established it, who did not create it in vain, who formed it to be inhabited: I am the Lord, and there is no other.
The establishment of everything we have seen is the infrastructure that God put in place and was to lead to the inhibition of the earth by mankind.
THE CREATION OF MAN
Genesis 1:26 Then 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 birds of the air, and over the livestock, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” 27 So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. 28 God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and replenish the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”
On the 6th day, we have the creation of man in the image and likeness of God. This is speaking of man as male and female. Both men and women are created in this manner and are necessary to carry out this function of expressing the image and likeness of God.
God created Man
We are not evolved.
How can we be produced through an evolutionary process that involves the evolution of one kind into a completely other kind?
Animals (fish, birds, etc) are under man. We are not merely a more intelligent animal. We are created above the animals.
Created us in His Image and Likeness
3 part being - body, soul, spirit (Father, Son, Spirit).
Our personality/character in the good in which it was created is a reflection of Him.
We are created with intellect, a moral nature, the power to communicate with others, and emotional nature that transcends instinct.
This speaks to the specialness (sanctity) or importance of human life.
We are also created to have dominion and rule.
Created as Male and Female
The image that God that was being expressed was not complete without the creation of male and female.
This is what God intended and purposed.
There is nothing in between, no confusion, and no mixup.
SOVEREIGNTY/PREDESTINATION - introduced
Sovereignty Defined - God is Ruler over all, and He is in complete control over everything, and He does as He pleases. God has the power, wisdom, and authority to do anything He chooses within His creation. Everything that happens is, in the end, His will.
God created us and commanded us to exercise dominion on the earth.
Genesis 1:26 - let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the livestock, and over all the earth, ... 28 God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and replenish the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”
The earth is to be our domain. Many argue that we lost that at the fall because Satan says that this earth was delivered to him, but we also need to consider that the Bible says that Satan is a liar.
Psalm 8:4-6 - what is man that You are mindful of him, and the son of man that You attend to him? 5 For You have made him a little lower than the angels, and crowned him with glory and honor. 6 You have given him dominion over the works of Your hands; You have put all things under his feet,
One tension of Scripture, God has the power, wisdom, and authority to do anything He chooses within His creation.
Another tension is - Numbers 23:19 - God is not a man, that He should lie, nor a son of man, that He should repent. Has He spoken, and will He not do it? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?
Malachi 3:6 - For I am the Lord, I do not change;
God, in His sovereignty, at the time of creation, initiated the dominion of earth by mankind, and now that this has been established, will not change from that because He makes good on what He spoke. In other words, God will not change His mind simply because He has the power or right to do so.
Understanding this begins to answer a question.
Why is the world the way it is? If God was real, then why wars, murders and evil? He could just stop it.
Here is the trouble with that from a scriptural point of view. God will not, cannot, override the authority He gave to humanity, or He is a liar. One reason the world is screwed up is that man is in charge.
Not every event is God’s will.
Not every event in your life is God’s will.
That is a very dangerous concept because then God becomes the author of evil. How can God want sin, evil, and innocent suffering to happen even if it hurts or dishonours Him? This is in direct conflict with Him.
This leads to God needing a man to do His will so that He does not violate His Word.
This is one reason that Jesus had to come as a man. If He would’ve come outside of human flesh, God would’ve violated what He put in place. When He comes again and establishes His reign on the earth, He will come as a man.
See the second coming of Christ as described in Matthew 24:30 - Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
We are now an extension of Christ working on the earth because God, living inside us by His Spirit, can work through His Will as His representatives on earth. This to was in the plan and purpose of God.
Reasons For The
Importance of Prayer - Have you ever thought, why do I need to pray and bring my needs before God when He already knows what they are? Yes, it is an expression of faith. In prayer, you communicate with God to establish His plan and purpose on earth.
Importance of Prophecy - Prophesy is not only a foretelling of what is coming but also a declaration by the Spirit of God through a man of the plans and purposes of God. Amos 3:7 - Surely the Lord God does nothing without revealing His purpose to His servants the prophets.
Do not despise prophesy - Every prophetic voice of Scripture is a revelation of the plan of God. It is also a partnership between God and man to see that accomplished on earth. God works through man, His designated authority, to fulfill His plan.
God, in His sovereignty, placed responsibility upon mankind. Balance - We, as Christians, having the Spirit of God living inside, are to be like Christ and exercise the dominion given to us in complete dependence upon God.
CONCLUSION
God set the foundation of the earth in such detail and splendour.
This was God's incredible plan before any creation took place.
It shows us we can trust in God.
We have responsibility.
We can and are to rely upon Him.
God, in His sovereignty, has established the plan of salvation for you. God does not need to decide today because He decided upon those things long ago. Therefore look to Him.
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