The first verse of Genesis is explosive. The name of the book comes from the opening words “In the beginning.” Genesis = beginning. Certain religious and philosophical teachings claim that the universe is eternal, but Genesis teaches that our universe had a beginning. The Big Bang theory, currently the dominant model in cosmology, also affirms that the universe had a beginning. Cosmology = the study of the origin and development of the universe.
While the age of the universe is a highly contentious issue, Genesis doesn’t begin with an explicit date of the universe’s origin, but rather with the generic, “In the beginning.” (For more on the six days and the age of the universe see this post.)
Genesis is unique in the modern world because it doesn’t give logical arguments for God’s existence; it simply asserts God’s existence from its first sentence. And then it goes on to assert that the one God who exists, made everything. Elohim is the Hebrew word used for God in Genesis 1. Elohim = God.
Genesis was also unique in the ancient world because it doesn’t explain the origin of God. Ancient Mesopotamian and Egyptian writings narrate the origin of the gods. Theogony = the birth story of the gods. Moses, who has traditionally been understood to be the author of Genesis, wrote “from everlasting to everlasting you are God” (Ps 90:2). In other words, God always existed. (For more info. see Bill T Arnold, Encountering the Book of Genesis (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 1998), 49.)
Bara = the Hebrew word for create. Throughout the Bible, God is the subject of bara. It is God who can bara. Bara is usually focused on the creation of something new by God. (For support see Richard E. Averbeck, Reading Genesis 1-2: An Evangelical Conversation, ed. J. Daryl Charles (Peabody: Hendrickson, 2013), ch. 1.)
In Genesis 1, bara is used to refer to three entities:
1.) “Heavens and the earth” (v. 1)
2.) “Great creatures of the sea” and every creature in the sea (v. 21)
3.) The image-of-God bearing humans (used 3x in v. 27)
The phrase “the heavens and the earth” = everything. (That is the traditional interpretation of “the heavens and the earth.” A minority interpretation views the phrase more concretely and literally as a reference to “the sky and the land.” Technically, the Hebrew words shamayim and erets can be translated as sky and land respectively, but when placed together they are usually understood as a merism for the totality of all that exists.) Merism = an expression of totality that uses contrasting parts.
Everything includes:
1.) all matter—even atomic and subatomic,
2.) the physical laws that govern all matter,
3.) and space and time.
Since God made everything, nothing existed before God created it. So before creation, God and only God existed. That rules out dualism = the existence of two eternal entities. And it implies creatio ex nihilo = creation out of nothing, because nothing could have existed before God created it. We should admit that creation ex nihilo is not stated explicitly in Genesis, but it is a reasonable inference.
In this one brief verse, the key biblical theme of monotheism = the belief in only one God, is introduced. And monotheism is a rejection of the following: polytheism = the belief in many gods; pantheism = the belief that everything is god; atheism = the belief that God does not exist; and agnosticism = the belief that we cannot know for sure if God exists.
“By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.” (Hebrews 11:3)
Genesis 1:1 can keep us thinking for a lifetime. (If you’re interested in engaging interviews with leading scientists and philosophers on the nature of the universe, both Christian and non-Christian, see the Cosmos section of closertotruth.com.)
Write out the vocabulary words and definitions listed in this lesson.
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Click on the link to download the sample version of Genesis 1-3: Bible Study Lessons. Here are the links to the entire course:
After graduating from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, I served as a high school Bible teacher in Asia. I enjoy traveling, writing, and playing the drums. My latest book focuses on Paul’s work as a tentmaker and what it means for today.