#The Whole Bible Project Genesis

##© 2006 Northwestern Publishing House. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

#Genesis 1:1-5

In the beginning . . .

(The People’s Bible, Genesis, pages 1-14)

Look

  • Verse 1 “In the beginning God created . . .” This phrase contains three important words. There was a “beginning” to all things. In the beginning, “God” was already present. He doesn’t have a beginning or an end. God “created” the heavens and the earth. The verb translated as “create” is a special word
    (1) used only of God’s activity and (2) always expressing the origin of something extraordinary, unique.
    •

    • Verse 5 “And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.” This sentence appears at the end of each of the six days of creation. We understand them to be specific days of 24-hour duration and not epochs or eons as some believe.

    Discuss

    1. Can you find a reference to the Trinity (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) in the first two verses?

     

    2. Describe the original world as it was immediately after God created it. Define each of the words Moses uses to describe it.

     

    3. What did God create on the first day?

     

    4. Some critics say that the creation of light on the first day shows that Moses was mistaken. After all, the sun, moon, and stars weren’t created until the fourth day. What would you say to this objection?

     

     

    Apply

    5. God says that everything he created was good (seven times in this first chapter of Genesis). What does this show about him? How is this part of his nature important for us?

     

     

    In the beginning God created a formless mass. Over the next days he would shape this mass into the heavens and the earth we see around us.