Chapter Summary
Series 1 - Genesis 1
Chapter Summary 1
I believe the most important words in this Study are these in Genesis 1:1 “In the beginning God created the world…” God exercises His creative power and, by merely speaking, brings the universe into being. He focuses His attention on Planet Earth, carefully shapes it to support life, and populates it with living creatures. Finally, God creates humankind in His own image, and sets man to rule over His Creation. The chapter emphasizes the awesome power of our Creator, and yet it reminds us that human beings are the clear focus of God’s loving concern. In the midst of all of this God’s revelation of Himself is the heart of this chapter. We find God's majestic name no less than 32 times, and usually is the subject of some active verb. He speaks makes, separates, sets the sun and stars in the heavens, and blesses. He demonstrates His trustworthiness in the regularity of day following night, and season succeeding season. He displays His love and unselfishness by sharing His likeness with human beings. In all we see and find out about God, we come to understand that God is a Person who is immensely intelligent, but also compassionate and warm. The Creation story, like Creation itself, reveals our God. Genesis 1:27 is a key verse in that God affirms our significance by way of personal application in that God has shared His own image with us. Gen.1:27 says, “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.”
“In the beginning.”
God’s creative acts set history in motion, and determined its flow toward an intended end. From the very beginning God has known, and indeed controls, the end. Take a look at (Prov. 8:23; Isa. 41:4, 20, 26). What a reminder that God is sovereign. For those who believe and are heaven bound - what reassurance.
Creation myths
Ancient explanations of the universe ranged from the [1] Mesopotamian’s claiming that matter represents the corpse of a slain deity, to [2] Tiamat, one of the foundational principles of the universe known as a maelstrom of dark, roiling seawater. (The personification of fresh water), and their union gives rise to the first generation of gods. After becoming outraged at the conduct of her offspring, she spawns a horde of demons and attempts to destroy the entire pantheon, after which point she is slain by the storm-god Marduk. The belief that materiality of the world is explained with the suggestion that it actually consists of the fragmented corpse of the great mother goddess. In this corporeal guise, Tiamat is often thought to have had the form of a dragon, serpent, or other hideous beast. To the [3] Greek conviction that the physical universe preexisted before the gods. Only Genesis exalts God above His Creation. Only Genesis gives human beings a central place in Creation, as persons made in God’s image who are deeply loved by Him. Thus, the biblical view of Creation has always been radical—and remains in direct conflict with the modern notion that everything is the product of chance evolution.
The creative “days”
Sincere Christians hold differing views. Some hold that each “day” represents a geologic era—a vast period. Some hold the days are symbolic, or are seven literal days Moses spent on Mt. Sinai (Ex. 32:16), during which God showed Moses how He created all things. Still others assume seven literal days, separated by long ages, while yet another group argues for seven consecutive days. There is no certain resolution of the conflict. However, it may well miss the point. We must focus on the fact that God created, not on disputes over how long it took Him. Our world is no product of blind chance. A living Person lovingly, carefully designed all that is. We live in a personal rather than impersonal universe, and because of this, we have hope. God is! As we commit ourselves to Him, our emptiness will be filled, and we will find life’s meaning.
“Be fruitful and increase”
Christians have sometimes argued that Adam and Eve’s fall was sexual: that they abandoned celibacy, and this was the “original sin.” Nevertheless, Gen. 1:28 makes it clear that God intended a sinless Adam and Eve to have children and “increase in number.” Human sexuality was an invention of God Himself, and intended as a gift within the framework of marriage. (Gen. 2) Sexual expression of a married couple’s intimacy is a joyful affirmation of love and this pleasure is blessed by God. “Very good” God evaluated each of the first five days’ creative work and called it “good” (attractive, useful, desirable, and morally right). God called the work of creating man “very good.”