The Main Points of Genesis 1-3

The first three chapters of Genesis are theological dynamite. They were explosive in the ancient world 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” (NIV). “The heavens and the earth” means everything. The Hebrew word for God is “elohim.” One God made everything.

• The universe had a beginning. Some religions, such as Buddhism, teach that the universe is eternal. But Genesis teaches that God “created the heavens and the earth” so matter, space, and time had a beginning.

• There’s a distinction between the Creator and creation. Many people in the ancient world worshiped the sun, moon, stars and other parts of the physical world because they perceived them as divine. But God made everything, including those things that people perceived as divine: “God made two great lights—the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars” (v. 16). The Creator is distinct from everything in creation and only the Creator deserves to be worshiped.

• 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. God blessed the first humans and said to them, “fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground” (v. 28). 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. (v. 27)

• God designed humans to reproduce. God said, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth” (v. 28). This doesn’t mean people are required to reproduce because the Bible also affirms celibacy as a valid way of life, but it shows that God is pleased when humans flourish on this planet.

• Everything God made was “very good.” Much of the ancient world embraced dualistic ideas, which differentiated between good and bad aspects of creation. In particular, the material or physical world was viewed as evil while spirit was perceived as good. Hence, salvation occurs when the spirit is released from the body. But Genesis begins with the idea of original and universal goodness so the physical world is part of God’s good creation. In creating all things, 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. This means rest is good so it is not good to be a workaholic. *For more information on the specifics of the Sabbath day and Sunday, see below.

• 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 enters into his creation by forming the man from the dust of the ground and breathing into his nostrils the breath of life.

• God designed humans to enjoy his creation. He placed Adam in the Garden of Eden, surrounded by vegetation, animals, and rivers. Then God brought Eve to Adam in that same setting.

• God designed humans to work. God placed Adam in the garden “to cultivate and keep it.” This shows that God wants humans to have a role in improving the environment and he wants them to have meaningful work.

• God designed humans to live in relationship with each other. Before God created Eve, 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 so God is the first matchmaker.

• The first humans originally lived without shame and fear toward God and each other.

• God’s personal name is “LORD.” This name first appears in Genesis 2:4. In total it is used almost 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.” or read this post.)

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.” This is known as the first messianic prophecy in the Bible because it promises that a male descendant of Eve will “bruise” or “crush” the serpent’s head.

• 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.”)

————

*Since God finished all of his work of creation in six days then rested on the seventh day (the Sabbath), the seventh day is set apart from the other days of the week and this has implications for humans. One of the Ten Commandments says, “Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work” (Exodus 20:9-10). Orthodox Jews continue to observe the Sabbath by refraining from work beginning at sundown on Friday to sundown on Saturday. It’s important to note, however, that the biblical text doesn’t minutely define what constitutes work as the rabbis did throughout the centuries.

For this reason, Jesus frequently got into trouble with the religious authorities for doing “work” on the Sabbath (ex. John 5, 9). During one of these controversies, Jesus explained, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath” (Mark 2:27). This means the commandment to rest is intended to be a blessing for humanity not a burden. Jesus performed good work on the Sabbath such as healing the sick and he even allowed his disciples to pick heads of grain, which the Pharisees said was unlawful (Mark 2:23-28).

The first Christians were Jews so they would have continued to observe the Sabbath. However, probably due to Christ’s resurrection on the first day of the week, they began gathering together on Sundays (Acts 20:7; 1 Corinthians 16:2) or the “Lord’s Day” (Revelation 1:10). Hence, if they were not excommunicated from the synagogue, first-century Jewish Christians probably continued going to the synagogue on the Sabbath and observing a Sabbath rest and they would have gathered for worship on Sundays, either early in the morning or late in the evening because Sunday was a regular workday. In 321 AD the Roman emperor Constantine declared Sunday an official day of rest. By this time, most Christians were Gentiles so they had no tradition of observing the Sabbath, making Sunday the only day of rest for the majority of Christians.

So what should Christians do today? There is no biblical text that states the Sabbath has moved from Saturday to Sunday so this topic has been controversial. It is also complicated because two concepts are often intertwined: a weekly rest and a weekly gathering for worship. Remember the commandment only mentions rest not corporate worship. A minority of Christians, such as the Seventh-day Adventists, believe we should continue observing the Sabbath on Saturday. The majority view Sunday as the day of rest, or, at least, a day to gather for worship. Practically, it makes sense for most Christians to continue gathering for worship on Sunday because there is already a strong tradition of doing so. Who will you gather with on Saturday?

Are we obligated not to work on Saturday or Sunday? And if so, how do you define work? Remember the “Sabbath was made for man.” It is in your best interest not to work seven days a week. By work I am referring to what you do for a living on the other days of the week. It is not healthy to be a workaholic. For most people in the modern Western world, though, we actually have two days a week where we don’t have to work—Saturday and Sunday. So, in that case, aren’t we automatically getting more than the required amount of rest? Maybe. Some people work on their side hustle on the weekends so even with two days off they actually end up working seven days a week. Many of us need to hear this: Take a day off each week, including refraining from your side hustle.

It is clear that the Sabbath points us toward heaven (Hebrews 4), where we will rest from our labor (Revelation 14:13) and ultimately, it points us to Christ who said, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). As Paul writes, “Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ” (Colossians 2:16-17). 

————–

*Thanks for reading this post. If you are looking for a brief overview of the Bible, check out my book The Heart of Scripture: God with Us. In under 40 pages this book will take you from Genesis to Revelation by highlighting the life-giving theme of God with us.