The Genesis -tmp(Gen 1:1)

So when coming to {{Genesis 1}}, we are immediately impressed
upon the activity of God. The Bible makes no apologies as the main (if you will
and said) actor of the Bible is introduced with the mind-boggling words: “In
the beginning God”.

These words are of course echoed in the New Testament by
John when he reflects on {{Genesis 1:1-5}} while looking at Christ in {{John 1:1-5}}.
Note the New Testament’s commentary: There is God, in the beginning creating
the heavens and the earth and we find that the Word, the Logos, of God was
there in the beginning with God and in actuality God. Genesis hints at the
profundity of John’s explanation when we see the name of God in the plural yet
singular: Elohim. The Creator God, all powerful, a plurality in a singularity.
Of course, Moses and his fellow Israelites wouldn’t look at this passage and
say “Ah, God is a Trinity” but we would see that revealed throughout Scripture
and yet underscored with the constant repetitions of “God is one.”

We’re now shown an earth that is formless and void covered
in waters and darkness. The only movement is the Spirit of God (ignoring the
dispute on weather this is the Spirit of God or a great rushing wind of God)
moving, hovering and even looking over the surface of the waters.

It is here, during this darkness that utterance of God
breaks into the text and time stating: “Let there be light.” The power of God
is obvious and yet why the need to speak the words at all? Of course, we can’t
say that God has lips to speak but there seems to be some transference of
information which leads to the creation. In the New Testament we would be told
that by faith we understand that the worlds were formed by the word, the
utterance or speaking, of God ({Heb 11:3}}) and on such ground a believer can
firmly stand.

Sadly enough, believers bicker on these verses and make it
known to the world how nasty a family dispute can get. Some Christians believe
{{Gen 1}} speaks of the reconstruction of the world and some believe that it speaks
of the Creation ex nihilo. There are those that look at the days of Genesis as
millions of years if not indeterminate in time and there are those that hold
that these days are literal twenty four hour days. An overview of all these
positions would be helpful before seeing the point of the passage. We’ll do
that next time.

Series link. Tags: Bible, Bible study, Simple Bible Study Methods, Genesis, Creation, Evolution, Adam, Eve, Cain, Abel, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Israel