Genesis 1:3 – And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.
Genesis opens by revealing that everyone and everything begins with God. Everyone and everything are made by God, ruled by God, and responsible to God. Furthermore, although the Bible is for us, as the opening line shows, it is mainly about God, as He is both the author and subject of history and Scripture. Consequently, everything else in human history and Scripture is dependent upon God and only good when functioning according to His intentions for it from creation.
The opening line of Scripture clearly reveals that creation comes from God. Genesis 1-2 further reveal God as a prophet who both made creation and prepared it for us solely by the power of His word. This is indicated by the repeated phrases, “And God said” and “Let there be” or “Let the . . .” When God spoke, creation obeyed His command, as is repeatedly demonstrated by the phrase “And it was so.” After each act of creating, God pronounced the perfectly sinless nature of His creation with the phrase “And God saw that it was good”. Except for after Monday, which is kind of curious and funny, because I sort of agree that Mondays aren’t all that “good”.
Therefore, original creation came not from preexisting matter but rather out of nothing, by God’s word. Hebrews 11:3 confirms this saying, “By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible.”
The Bible teaches that God made creation ex nihilo (Latin for “out of nothing”). This doctrine is important because it negates the possibility of naturalistic evolution and an eternal universe. While God did not make creation from any pre-existing matter or the proverbial hunk of mud, creation did come into existence and was prepared for human inhabitation by the powerful word of God.
It is curious that God did not create from nothing on each of the six days of creation. Still, God did speak as both a prophet and poet on each day. Furthermore, there is a set pattern to God’s words in Genesis 1. It is as follows:
- Announcement: “And God said.”
- Commandment: “Let there be.”
- Separation: God separated the day and night, water and land, animals and plants.
- Report: “And it was so.”
- Evaluation: “And God saw that it was good.”
Why do you think it doesn’t say God said it was “good” on the second day and also says it was “very good” after the sixth day?
To help you study the book of Genesis with us, we have the first of three free e-book study guides here.
For a free PDF of Pastor Mark and Dr. Breshears’ Doctrine book, click here as chapter 3 specifically addresses creation.
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