28God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, and subdue it. Rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, and every creature that crawls on the earth.” 29God also said, “Look, I have given you every seed-bearing plant on the surface of the entire earth, and every tree whose fruit contains seed. This food will be for you, 30for all the wildlife of the earth, for every bird of the sky, and for every creature that crawls on the earth—everything having the breath of life in it. I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so. 31God saw all that He had made, and it was very good. Evening came, and then morning: the sixth day.
2:1So the heavens and the earth and everything in them were completed. 2By the seventh day, God completed His work that He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work that He had done. 3God blessed the seventh day and declared it holy, for on it He rested from His work of creation. (Genesis 1:1-2:3 –HCSB)
Genesis chapter 1 verse 1 says, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” This is the very first verse of the Bible and possibly the most profound statement than can be made. This statement establishes the fact that everything we see around us, we ourselves and, in fact, the whole universe is not the result of random chance, but rather, exists as a result of the decision of a creator, God. According to Hebrews 11:3, moreover, what we can see (and feel and touch and examine) was created from things that are not visible. Hebrews 11:3 says, “By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen has been made from things that are not visible.” This verse also says that the universe was created by the word of God. Do you remember the very first verses of John’s gospel? “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. All things were created through Him, and apart from Him not one thing was created that has been created.” Who is the Word? It’s Jesus Christ the Lord! Listen to Hebrews 1:1-3: “Long ago God spoke to the fathers by the prophets at different times and in different ways. In these last days, He has spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things and through whom He made the universe. He is the radiance of His glory, the exact expression of His nature, and He sustains all things by His powerful word. After making purification for sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.” Jesus was there in the beginning. Everything –everything –was created through him.
In terms of time, verse 1 of Genesis 1 really covers all of creation. The rest of chapter 1 and the beginning of chapter 2 give more detail.
Now let’s look at verse 2. Verse 2 says, “Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness covered the surface of the watery depths, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters.” The Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters. The Holy Spirit of God was also present to take part in the creation. (By the way, the word Spirit, according to my lexicon, means breath, wind or mind.) God the Father, Jesus the son (before he took on flesh and before he was called Jesus) and the Holy Spirit all took part in the creation.
Verse 2 says that the earth was formless and empty and that darkness covered the surface of the watery depths. In talking about the rest of the text for today’s message, Genesis 1:1-2:3, I’m going to follow one interpretation of the events that are described that I read a number of years ago. There are others. Anyway, verse 2 says that the earth was formless and empty and that darkness covered the surface of the watery depths. That means the earth was featureless. The whole surface of the earth was under water. There were no mountains or rivers or valleys –there were no continents – only water. Also, at this time, there was no light at the surface of the earth. According to the interpretation I’m following, God had already created the sun, the moon and the stars –all the universe – but the atmosphere was opaque, so no light reached the surface of the water. Darkness covered the surface of the watery depths.
Then, in verse 3, God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. The atmosphere became translucent, like an overcast day, but over the entire earth –and right down to the surface of the water, as well. God had separated the light from the darkness. He had made night and day. Darkness came and then light came again and it was the end of the first day of creation. God saw that the light was good.
Then, in verse 6, God said, “Let there be an expanse between the waters, separating water from water.” What God did was to cause the clouds to rise so that there was sky between the clouds and the surface of the water. Evening came, and then morning: the second day.
Now look at verse 9. God said, “Let the water under the sky be gathered into one place, and let the dry land appear.” And it happened. The surface of the earth was no longer featureless. There were continents – hills and valleys –and there were oceans and seas. (If we had a fancier operation here, I would be showing some animation. But, as it is, you will just have to use your imagination.)
Then, that very same day God said, “Let the earth produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants, and fruit trees on the earth bearing fruit with seed in it, according to their kinds.” And it happened just as God had commanded. Did you notice that everything was created through God’s word? He spoke and it happened. Also, did you notice that God created everything, all the various plants and fruit trees according to their kinds? God did not create kinds so that one kind could change into different kind. Some kinds have become extinct, but as far as we know, one kind has never changed into another kind. (Kinds are broader than species, by the way. And if anyone wants to talk about microevolution and macroevolution, I’ll be happy to talk about it later.) After God had created the plants, he saw that it was good. Evening came and then morning: the third day.
Now look at verse 14. God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate the day from the night. They will serve as signs for festivals and for days and years. They will be lights in the expanse of the sky to provide light on the earth.” God spoke and it happened according to his word. According to the interpretation I’m following, the sun and the moon and the stars existed from the first day of creation, but just weren’t visible; only the light was visible. But on the fourth day, when God spoke, the sky cleared up and the sun, the moon and the stars shown through. Again, no animation. But imagine how beautiful it must have looked! Notice also that God chose to do things the way he did to provide a way to tell time –so the sun, moon and stars would serve as signs for festivals and to mark days and years. Why do you suppose he did it that way? I’ll give you a hint. Plants (and fish and birds and animals) don’t care about celebrating festivals on certain designated days! In any case, God saw that it was good. Evening came, and then morning: the fourth day.
Now look at verse 20. God said, “Let the water swarm with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the sky.” God created the fish and all the sea creatures and the birds –notice again, according to their kinds. Also, this time he blessed them and commanded them to be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth. And evening came, and then morning: the fifth day.
Now look at verse 24. This is now the sixth day of creation. God said, “Let the earth produce living creatures according to their kinds: livestock, creatures that crawl, and the wildlife of the earth according to their kinds.” And it happened just as God had spoken. It was so. Notice again that the animals were each created according to their kind. Verse 25 says, “So God made the wildlife of the earth according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and creatures that crawl on the ground according to their kinds.” In giving this account of his creation, he chose to reiterate the fact that he made each creature according to its kind! And God saw that it was good.
So far, God declared all that he had created to be good! Everything he had created was just as he wanted. And what God says is good, is good by definition. There was no evil in any of God’s creation.
Now look at verses 26 through 28:
26Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness. They will rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, the livestock, all the earth, and over every animal of the land and the creatures that crawl on the earth.”
27So God created man in His own image;
He created him in the image of God;
He created them male and female.
28God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, and subdue it. Rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, and every creature that crawls on the earth.”
As a side point, first, notice that God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness.” The fact that God used the words Us and Our is interesting. He didn’t say, “I will make man in my image, according to my likeness,” but, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness.” Also, the Hebrew word translated God is plural. But, in spite of these things, God has declared that he is one. And verse 27 says “So God created man in his (singular) own image.” The New Testament writers have also said that there is one God. I’m not going to discuss this further, but it’s something to think about.
But notice also that God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness,” (with the emphasis on Our image and on Our likeness.) God did not make any of the other creatures in his image or according to his likeness. He only made man in his image and according to his likeness –no –other –creature! And I should point out that, although verse 27 says that God created man in his own image, the word man refers to mankind, to human beings. Verse 27 also says, “He created them male and female.” Both men and women are created in God’s image!
What does it mean that men and women are created in God’s image? We have two arms and two legs and we stand upright, but so do gorillas. We have emotions. We can be happy or sad. We grieve at the loss of a loved one. But animals do that too. We seem to have much better reasoning ability and communication skills than animals do; but that seems to be a matter of degree, not a fundamental difference. How do we differ from animals? How are we made in God’s image, while animals are not?
One thing I believe that is different: We are able to seek God. We are able to have fellowship with him. That’s a fundamental difference. Ecclesiastes 3:22 says that God has put eternity in our hearts. God has not said that he has done that with any animal. I believe we are also able to appreciate beauty (and sadly, also ugliness) in a way that no animal can. We can look at God’s creation and marvel at it. We are able to look at God’s creation and say there must be a God. We are able to rejoice in the Lord. And we are also able to choose between good and evil, between obeying God and disobeying him. We are able to choose life or choose death.
Now let’s look at verses 29 and 30. In verses 29 and 30 God said, “Look, I have given you every seed-bearing plant on the surface of the entire earth, and every tree whose fruit contains seed. This food will be for you, for all the wildlife of the earth, for every bird of the sky, and for every creature that crawls on the earth—everything having the breath of life in it. I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so. God provided food for man as well as for all the animals. And neither men nor animals had to kill to eat. Verse 31 says, “God saw all that He had made, and it was very good. Evening came, and then morning: the sixth day.”
Up until this point, at each step of his creation, God looked at what he had created and said that it was good. After he had created man, he looked at his creation and said that it was very good. His creation was complete. Chapter 2 verses 1 through 3 tell us that God rested from all his creation. He blessed the seventh day and declared it to be Holy.
Man was the crown of all creation. It’s clear that the purpose of all of the rest of God’s creation was to provide an environment for man. God said to them, “Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, and subdue it. Rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, and every creature that crawls on the earth.”
God is good. His creation was a work done in love. When we examine the creation, we marvel at the vastness of space and the incredible power of the universe. We also marvel at the intricacy of the way all the tiny microscopic cells and molecules and atoms work together. God designed all these things. We marvel at the way our own bodies work. King David said to God, “I praise you because I have been remarkably and wonderfully made. Your works are wonderful, and I know this very well.” (For Kim, who was brought up on the King James: “I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvelous are thy works and that my soul knoweth right well.” (Psalm 139:14) But, the fool says in his heart, “There is no God.”
How does knowing all these things affect us? How should it affect us? It’s the difference between knowing there is a purpose for our existence – a loving purpose –and believing that everything, including our own existence, is a product of random chance – that our lives are completely meaningless. It’s the difference between knowing that there is a loving God who created us to have fellowship with him and to become like him –a God who created us in his own image and who put eternity in our hearts, and believing that we will simply go out of existence when we die, and that everything we have done, whether good or evil, will effectively go out of existence with us. It’s the difference between hope and despair. God gave us the ability to choose between good and evil, to choose between truth and lies, to choose between life and death. And he says to us, “Choose life!” So let’s choose life! Amen!
[Prayer]
END NOTES
1 Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holman Christian Standard Bible ®, Copyright © 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Holman Christian Standard Bible ®, Holman CSB ® and HCSB ® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers.