The Main Points of Genesis 1-3

The first three chapters of Genesis are theological dynamite. They were explosive in the ancient world filled with polytheism and violence and they are still explosive today.

Genesis 1

Summary: God creates everything.

• There’s only one God, Creator of everything. Genesis 1:1 says, “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.”¹ “The heavens and the earth” means everything. The Hebrew word for God is “elohim.” One God made everything.
• There’s a distinction between the Creator and creation. We shouldn’t confuse the two by worshiping the sun, trees, or human beings. This was a revolutionary idea in the ancient world where, for example, the sun or the king was identified as a god.
• God created everything through his Word. Other ancient creation stories describe the origin of the world as a battle between the gods, but the God of Genesis creates by merely speaking. “And God said” begins each of the six days of creation, resulting in the creation of light, sky, dry land, vegetation, the sun and moon, sea creatures, birds, land creatures, and human beings.
• God created everything by his Spirit. Before God created, the Spirit was hovering over the water on Earth. Genesis doesn’t say how long the Earth was covered with water.
• God designed humans to live in relationship with him. Humans were made in God’s image so we have a special connection with God.
• God designed humans to rule responsibly over his creation. Contrary to other ancient creation stories, humans were not created to be slaves of the gods. We were designed to exercise dominion on Earth.
• Men and women have the same status—both created in God’s image. Throughout human history women have been viewed as inferior to men, but Genesis 1 affirms that both have the same dignity and status.

So God created mankind in his own image,
    in the image of God he created them;
    male and female he created them. (Gen 1:27 NIV)

• God designed humans to reproduce. He said, “Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth and subdue it.”
• Everything God made was “very good.” Much of the ancient world embraced dualistic ideas, which differentiated between good and bad aspects of creation, but Genesis begins with the idea of original and universal goodness. God didn’t make a mistake, nothing was made accidentally, and nothing was originally evil.

Genesis 2

Summary: God enters the world he created to form the first human couple and place them in their original environment.

• God rested on the seventh day and made it holy. Since we are made in God’s image, we should also work then rest.
• God is both transcendent (above and beyond the world) and immanent (within the world). In Genesis 1 God speaks things into existence. In Genesis 2 God forms the man from the dust of the ground and breathes into his nostrils.
• God designed humans to enjoy his creation. He placed Adam in the Garden of Eden, surrounded by vegetation, animals, and rivers.
• God designed humans to work. He placed Adam in the garden “to cultivate and keep it.” This shows that God wants humans to have a role in improving our environment.
• God designed humans to live in relationship with each other. He said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper comparable to him.”
• God wants humans to live within his boundaries. God told Adam which trees he could eat from and which tree was forbidden.
• God initiated human marriage. God made the woman and brought her to the man. Hence, God is the creator of the first human couple.
• The first humans (Adam and Eve) originally lived without shame and fear toward God and each other.
• God’s personal name is “LORD” or “Yahweh.” This name appears about 7,000 times in the Hebrew Bible. Scholars are not certain how best to bring this name into English, but most English translations use “LORD” to indicate the divine name. Keep in mind that LORD in capital letters, technically small capital letters, is God’s personal name. (For more information, see my YouTube video: “The Tetragrammaton in Under 4 Minutes.” )

Genesis 3

Summary: The first humans give in to temptation and suffer the consequences. 

• There is an evil being (the serpent) who seeks to tempt and deceive human beings. In Revelation, John calls Satan, “that ancient serpent . . . who leads the whole world astray” (12:9).
• The first humans gave in to temptation because they were deceived. Eve listened to the serpent’s arguments, which contradicted God’s words, and Adam followed her.
• The first humans gave in to temptation because they were greedy. “When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took some of its fruit, and ate. Then she gave some to her husband with her, and he ate it, too” (3:6).
• Human sin led to increased pain, shame, separation from God, and death.
• The serpent is doomed to be defeated by one of Eve’s male descendants. God told the serpent, “He will bruise your head, and you will bruise his heel.”
• God still cared for the first humans after they sinned. After Adam and Eve ate from the forbidden tree, they became more self-conscious. They realized they were naked so they sewed fig leaves together and covered themselves. But their clothing must have been inadequate. Before God drove Adam and Eve out of the garden of Eden, he made garments of skin for them and clothed them. (Some translations say, “garments of animal skin,” which is a reasonable assumption, but the Hebrew only says “skin.”)

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Les Bridgeman

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.

1. Unless otherwise indicated, all quotations are from the World English Bible (WEB), which is in the public domain.[↩]