Genesis 1 – Study

For those who may wish to ‘study’ this chapter, the following simple resources are provided for you. Each passage has a four-Part approach to help you take in and think further about what you have read.

Passage: Genesis 1:1-13     

1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

2 Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.

3 And God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light. 4 God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light ‘day’, and the darkness he called ‘night’. And there was evening, and there was morning – the first day.

6 And God said, ‘Let there be a vault between the waters to separate water from water.’ 7 So God made the vault and separated the water under the vault from the water above it. And it was so. 8 God called the vault ‘sky’. And there was evening, and there was morning – the second day.

9 And God said, ‘Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear.’ And it was so. 10 God called the dry ground ‘land’, and the gathered waters he called ‘seas’. And God saw that it was good.

11 Then God said, ‘Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds.’ And it was so. 12 The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. 13 And there was evening, and there was morning – the third day.

A. Find Out:

1. What was the state of the earth when God first made it? v.2
2. What was the first thing He “added”? v.3-5
3. Then what did He insert? v.6,8
4. What was His next stage of change? v.9,10
5. What did He then put on it? v.11
6. How would this keep on reproducing? v.11,12

B. Think:

1. How is the coming into being of our world shown to be the purposeful act of God?
2. God could have spoken, and a completed world came into being instantly. Why do you think He didn’t?
3. How many times does “And God saw that it was good” come up? What do you think that says?

C. Comment:

In these opening verses of the Bible, we are confronted with the awesome power of God. Whatever else, the Bible doesn’t allow room for evolution by chance. Behind the coming into being of the world is the purposeful, creative hand of God. The picture we are given is of God taking a solid mass surrounded by water in space (1:1,2), shedding light on it (1:3-5), then putting an atmosphere around it and then bringing up land masses in the water to form what we know as the earth (1:6-10). On the land masses He brings vegetation that is to be self-sowing (1:11-13).

No explanation is given as to the “how” of all these things. God can just speak, and the thing happens. There may have been scientific activity that orders it all but that is not the main point. The main point is that GOD orders it all. Again, the fact that there is no mention of the source of the light first of all, is of no consequence. GOD can make light without source. He is God Almighty!

D. Application?

1. Is the God YOU worship, God ALMIGHTY who is sovereign over all things?
2. Is the God YOU know, a creative God who works stage by stage at bringing things into being?

Passage: Genesis 1:14-25

14 And God said, ‘Let there be lights in the vault of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark sacred times, and days and years, 15 and let them be lights in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth.’ And it was so. 16 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. 17 God set them in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth, 18 to govern the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that it was good. 19 And there was evening, and there was morning – the fourth day.

20 And God said, ‘Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the vault of the sky.’ 21 So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living thing with which the water teems and that moves about in it, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 22 God blessed them and said, ‘Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the water in the seas, and let the birds increase on the earth.’ 23 And there was evening, and there was morning – the fifth day.

24 And God said, ‘Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: the livestock, the creatures that move along the ground, and the wild animals, each according to its kind.’ And it was so. 25 God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.

A. Find Out:    

1. What was the 1st purpose of the sun and moon? v.14,
2. What was the 2nd purpose of them? v.15
3. What creatures were created on the fifth day? v.20
4. What did God tell them to do? v.22
5. What 3 sorts were created on the sixth day? v.24
6. How many times does “according to their kinds” occur? v.21-25

B. Think:

1. How does the product of each day show that God is a God of variety?
2. Why do you think He should make such variety?
3. What did God feel about each thing He made?

C. Comment:

Having already established the earth, the Lord now establishes a variety of light-sources to both light the earth and form days and seasons (1:14-19). We may take seasons for granted but the positioning of the sun determines our seasons and what happens in them. Then He populates the seas and the air that He has already formed (1:20-23), with a tremendous variety of creatures. Then finally on the sixth day he populates the land masses with a tremendous variety of land creatures (1:24-25).

From verse 11 on variety has been the name of the game! Variety in vegetation, plants and trees, variety in time and light, variety in creatures of the earth.

     Two possible reasons that God made such variety (did you know there are over a thousand different types of edible bean on the earth!) are:

1.     HE ENJOYED making it so and
2.     He did it for OUR ENJOYMENT.

Perhaps we take for granted the great variety of “Creation” so next time you are watching a TV nature program or are out in the country, take note of the variety and praise and thank the Lord for it.

D. Application?

1. Stop and think about the variety of different trees, plants and animals you know about and the different seasons and climates.
2. Thank & Praise the Lord for the wonder of this world that He has given us for our enjoyment

Passage: Genesis 1:26-31     

26 Then God said, ‘Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.’

27 So God created mankind in his own image,
    in the image of God he created them;
    male and female he created them.

28 God blessed them and said to them, ‘Be fruitful and increase in number; 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.’

29 Then God said, ‘I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. 30 And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds in the sky and all the creatures that move along the ground – everything that has the breath of life in it – I give every green plant for food.’ And it was so.

31 God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning – the sixth day.

A. Find Out:

1. On what basis was God making man? v.26a
2. With what purpose in mind? v.26b
3. What threefold instruction did He give them? v.28
4. What were they to eat? v.29
5. What were all the land creatures to eat? v.30
6. What was God’s assessment of what He had made? v.31

B. Think:  

1. What, in this passage, in the making of man, makes him special?
2. What in his purpose makes man special, above all other creatures?
3. How was Creation at the beginning different from what it is now?

C. Comment:   

Whatever else it means, “in God’s likeness” (1:26) means that in some way we are similar to God and different from all other creatures. Man is an active, thinking, rationalizing, planning, designing, creating, worshipping being who has the capability of making moral judgements and who is to rule over all other creatures. In this sense he is quite distinct from all other creatures on earth. It is BECAUSE God has made man like this that He gave man the mandate to rule (1:26,28) and subdue (1:28). That clearly, is to be a wise “looking after” and “bringing order” type of ruling and subduing. Man is to look after God’s creation and use it wisely.

It is interesting to note that at the very beginning both men and creatures were entirely vegetarian (1:29). The clear indication is that at the beginning God made it so that animals could live alongside animals (1:30). That was not to last very long and the later sacrificial system for Israel prevents us from deriving any sort of “vegetarian only” theology. The picture of God’s creation at the beginning is of complete peace with man being appointed to maintain that order.

D. Application?

1. Thank the Lord for the sort of being He has made you to be, capable of being thoughtful, caring, creative and decision making. Pray for His wisdom.
2. Thank Him again for the variety of His provision.