Cosmic order consists of clearly demarcating the various elements of the universe. God divided light and darkness, waters and dry land, the world above from the world below. Likewise people should maintain the other divisions in the universe.54In three days God made the uninhabitable earth productive, and in three more days He filled the uninhabited earth with life.
1:3 The world came into being by God's word (cf. Ps. 33:9; Heb. 11:3). Each of the six creative days began with God speaking.55Jesus Christ, the Word of God, was the Creator (John 1:3). The theme of God's word (spoken, written, or incarnate) continues through the Bible. His word is consistently powerful, as here. "Fiat"(the Latin word for "Let there be") creation means creation that came into being by God's word.
The "light"might not have been sunlight (cf. v. 14). Perhaps it came from a source fixed at a distance from the earth such as the shekinah, the light that manifests God's glory (cf. Rev. 22:5).56Perhaps God created the sun on the first day, but it became visible on the fourth day.57Another view is that God created the sun, moon, and stars on the first day and assigned them their specific functions on the fourth day (cf. vv. 14-18).58
1:4 Darkness was not a creation like light but the absence of light (cf. v. 2). Darkness (Heb. hosek) in Scripture often connotes evil (cf. Exod. 10:21-23; 1 Sam. 2:9; Job 2:4, 5; Ps. 35:6; Joel 2:2).
Moses presented God as knowing what was good for man (wise) and as providing that for him (loving). In this way he prepared the reader for the tragedy of the Fall (ch. 3).
1:5 God named things as well as creating them.
"In the ancient oriental view the act of giving a name meant the exercise of a sovereign right."59
The terms day, night, evening, and morning imply the beginning of the earth's rotation on the first day.60The Jews reckoned the beginning of a day with the evening rather than the morning.
"A few years ago in England some Christians became excited about the Big Bang theory, thinking that it favored Christianity. But they really missed the point--either the point of Scripture or the Big Bang theory or both. The simple fact is that what is given in Genesis 1:1 has no relationship to the Big Bang theory--because from the scriptural viewpoint, the primal creation goes back beyond the basic material or energy. We have a new thing created by God out of nothing [Lat. ex nihilo] by fiat, and this is the distinction."61
Nevertheless, though it is not the same, "The Big Bang theory sounds very much like the story that the Old Testament has been telling a long time."62
From the beginning God made divisions. He later divided the holy from the profane, the Holy Place from the Holy of Holies, and Israel from the nations. This shows His sovereignty (i.e., ultimate authority).
1:6 The "expanse"refers to the heavenly vault above the earth. Moses called it the "firmament"(AV) or "sky"(NIV). God placed the sun, moon, and stars in it (vv. 16-17).63
1:7 God separated the waters so some of them remained on the earth and some were above the earth in the atmosphere. Before He made this division there may have been a dense fog over the whole surface of the earth.64
1:8 "Heaven"is the same as the "expanse."Moses used it here as a general term to describe everything above the earth from man's viewpoint (v. 8).
1:9 "Seas"(Heb. yammim) refers broadly to all bodies of water, not just oceans.
1:10 "Good"indicates beauty as well as purpose and order.65It was only when the land was ready for man that God called it good. This shows God's loving concern for human beings. It was good for people.
The separation of water from the land so that man could enjoy the land prepares us for the stories of the Flood (chs. 6-9) and the Red Sea crossing (Exod. 14-15). God later used the waters as His instrument to judge those who opposed His will. The waters were an obstacle to man's enjoying the land, so God removed them from the land.
1:11 Since God created plants with seeds in them the original creation evidently had the appearance of age. He created trees with rings and Adam an adult.66Why did Moses mention only shrubs and trees that bear seeds and fruits? These are the ones that provide food for man. He created others, of course, but Moses was stressing God's care for man.67
1:12 "Kind"(Heb. min) is not a biologically exact term. It indicates that God created several different families of plants as separate acts of creation (cf. vv. 21, 24-25; 6:20; 7:14; Lev. 11:14-29; Deut. 14:13-18). All plants, therefore, did not evolve from one.68
"With the conclusion of the third day yet another color is added to God's cosmos. To the basic white and black of day and night has been added the blue of sky and sea. Now the canvas is adorned with green. The golden-yellow sun and the reddish human being will complete this rainbow of colors."69
Note that on the first and second days God did one work each day. He created light and the firmament. On the third day He did two works. He created the land and vegetation. Similarly on the fourth and fifth days God did one work. He created the lights' functions on the fourth day and the birds and fish on the fifth day. Then on the sixth day He again did two works. He created the land animals and man.70On the first three days He gave form to what was formless, and on the last three days He filled what was void.
The luminaries served four purposes.
1. They distinguished day from night.
2. They provided signs.
3. They distinguished the seasons.
4. They illuminated the earth.
"The narrative stresses their function as servants, subordinate to the interests of the earth. . . . This differs significantly from the superstitious belief within pagan religion that the earth's destiny is dictated by the course of the stars."71
"Here is a stern warning for our times for any who would seek the stars in charting their lives."72
"The term signs' has been given special attention by the author elsewhere in the Pentateuch. For example, the so-called plagues' of Egypt are, in fact, called signs' by the author of the Pentateuch (e.g., Deut 29:2-3). The meaning given this term in the Exod account . . . is that the acts of God in the bringing of disorder upon the Egyptians were signs' that God was more powerful and majestic than the Egyptians' gods. This sense of the term signs' fits well in Gen 1:14. The author says that not only are the sun and moon to give light upon the land but they are to be visual reminders of the power and majesty of God. They are signs' of who the God of the covenant is. The [sic] are telling of the glory of God,' as the psalmist puts it (Ps 19:1). Not only does the term signs' serve as a reminder of the greatness and glory of God for the author of the Pentateuch, signs' are also a frequent reminder in the Pentateuch of his grace and mercy (Gen 4, 9, 17)."73
Why did Moses use the terms greater and lesser lights to describe the sun and moon (v. 16)? He probably did so because these Hebrew words, which are very similar in other Semitic languages, are also the names of pagan gods.74He wanted the Israelites to appreciate the fact that their God had created the entities their pagan neighbors worshipped as gods.
"This, the fourth day, is the only day on which no divine word subsequent to the fulfillment is added. On days 1-3 this divine word names the created objects (vv 5, 8, 10); on days 5-6 the creatures are blessed (vv 22, 28). The omission may be just elegant stylistic variation, or it may be a deliberate attempt to avoid naming sun' and moon' with their connotations of deity."75
The Hebrew word translated "seasons"appears elsewhere in the Pentateuch. It means "appointments,"but the translators have also rendered it "feasts"in Leviticus.
"They [the sun and moon] were not mere lights or reminders of God's glory, they were, as well, calendars for the celebration of the covenant. The world is made for the [Mosaic] covenant. Already at creation, the land was being prepared for the covenant."76
The writer's perspective throughout is geocentric rather than heliocentric. He used the language of appearance that is very common in the Old Testament. Even modern scientific textbooks use such language without fear of being criticized as unscientific when they refer to sunrise, sunset, etc. Probably God created light on the first day (v. 3), but then on the fourth day the sun, moon, and stars appeared distinctly for the first time.77
Creationists have proposed several solutions to the problem of how light from stars that are millions of light years away could get to Adam if the universe was only days old. These explanations are too involved to discuss here, but I have included some sources for further study in the following footnote.78I think the best explanation is the appearance of age. As God created humans, plants, and animals fully formed, so He created the light from distant stars already visible on the earth.
"Great sea monsters"(Heb. tauninim, v. 21) were large fish, whales, squid, and all large creatures living in the water. The pagans worshipped these, but they were under God's authority.
Note that Moses wrote that God created both marine animals and birds on the same day. Evolution claims that birds evolved from reptiles and that this process took millions of years.
"The blessing of God is one of the great unifying themes of Genesis. God blesses animals (1:22), mankind (1:28), the Sabbath (2:3), Adam (5:2), Noah (9:1), and frequently the patriarchs (12:3; 17:16, 20, etc.). God's blessing is most obviously visible in the gift of children, as this is often coupled with being fruitful and multiplying.' But all aspects of life can express this blessing: crops, family, and nation (Deut 28:1-14). Where modern man talks of success, OT man talked of blessing."79
1:24-25 "Cattle"probably refers to animals that man could tame and "beasts"to wild animals.
What happened to the dinosaurs? Conservative Bible interpreters generally believe they existed but became extinct before the Flood or probably after it.
"Before the Flood, dinosaurs and man lived together on our planet. Extinction of the great marine reptiles, along with the majority of all other types of sea creature, would have been caused by the violent upheavals of the Flood, many being buried and preserved as fossils."80
1:26-27 "Us"is probably a plural of self-deliberation (cf. 11:7; Ps. 2:3), though possibly God was addressing His heavenly court (cf. Isa. 6:8). This word involves "in germ"the doctrine of the Trinity. However, we should not use it as a formal proof of the Trinity since this reference by itself does not prove that one God exists in three persons.81
"Although the Christian Trinity cannot be derived solely from the use of the plural, a plurality within the unity of the Godhead may be derived from the passage."82
The theological controversy in Moses' day was not between trinitarianism and unitarianism but between one self-existent, sovereign, merciful God and many limited, capricious, often immoral gods.83
"First, God's deliberation shows that he has decided to create man differently from any of the other creatures--in his image and likeness. God and man share a likenessthat is not shared by other creatures. This apparently means that a relationship of close fellowship can exist between God and man that is unlike the relationship of God with the rest of his creation. What more important fact about God and man would be necessary if the covenant at Sinai were, in fact, to be a real relationship? Remove this and the covenant is unthinkable.
"Secondly, in Gen 1, man, the image bearer, is the object of God's blessing. According to the account of creation in Gen 1, the chief purpose of God in creating man is to bless him. The impact of this point on the remainder of the Pentateuch and the author's view of Sinai is clear: through Abraham, Israel and the covenant this blessing is to be restored to all mankind."84
"Man"refers to mankind, not Adam (v. 27). "Them"indicates this generic significance. God created (cf. vv. 1, 2) mankind male and female. Adam was not androgynous (i.e., two individuals joined physically like Siamese twins) or bisexual (i.e., one individual possessing both male and female sexual organs). There is no basis for these bizarre ideas in the text.
"The image is found in the type of relationship that was designed to exist between male and female human beings, a relationship where the characteristics of each sex are valued and used to form a oneness in their identity and purpose. When God created human beings as male and female he formed them to exhibit a oneness in their relationship that would resemble the relationship of God and his heavenly court.
"By ruling as one, male and female fulfill the purpose of God for which they were created. United as one humanity, male and female are one with God and his heavenly court. And it is this unity between male and female, and between humanity and God, that is destroyed in the Fall described in Genesis 3."85
As a husband and wife demonstrate oneness in their marriage they reflect the unity of the Godhead. Oneness means being in agreement with God's will and purposes. Oneness is essential for an orchestra, an athletic team, and a construction crew, as well as a family, to achieve a common purpose. Oneness in marriage is essential if husband and wife are to fulfill God's purposes for humankind. (Generally speaking women feel a marriage is working if they talk about it, but men feel it is working if they do not talk about it.)
God created man male and female as an expression of His own plurality: "Let usmake man . . ."God's plurality anticipated man's plurality. The human relationship between man and woman thus reflects God's own relationship with Himself.86
"Image"and "likeness"are essentially synonymous terms. Both indicate personality, moral, and spiritual qualities that God and man share (i.e., self-consciousness, God-consciousness, freedom, responsibility, speech, moral discernment, etc.) These distinguish humans from the animals. Some writers have called the image of God man's "spiritual personality."87In another sense man isthe image of God (e.g., he rules and creates [procreates] as God does thus reflecting God).88The Fall marred but did not obliterate the image of God in man.
Does the image of God in man include his body?
"Most theologians have recognized that that [sic] we cannot interpret it [i.e., the phrase the image of God'] literally--that is, that man's physical being is in the image of God. Such an interpretation should be rejected for at least four reasons. In the first place, we are told elsewhere that God is a spirit (John 4:24; Isa. 31:3) and that he is ubiquitous (1 Kgs. 8:27). In the second place, a literal interpretation would leave us with all sorts of bizarre questions. If man's physical being is in the image of God we would immediately wonder what, if any organs, God possesses. Does he have sexual organs, and if so, which? Does he have the form of a man, or of a woman, or both? The very absurdity that God is a sexual being renders this interpretation highly unlikely. Thirdly, it seems unlikely that man's dignity above the rest of the animals (Gen. 9:5 f.; Jas. 3:7-9) is due to his slight physiological differences from them. Is it credible that animals may be killed but that man may not be killed because his stature is slightly different? Finally, a literal interpretation seems not only contradictory to the rest of Scripture, and unlikely, but also inappropriate, Gardener aptly observed: But our anatomy and physiology is demanded by our terrestrial habitat, and quite inappropriate to the one who inhabits eternity.' For these reasons, theologians have concluded that the statement in Genesis 1:26-28 must be metaphorical of man's spiritual or immaterial nature."89
1:28 Note that God's blessing of man finds expression in terms of posterity that connotes the ideas of seed and life, two prominent themes as Genesis and the whole Bible unfold.90
Interpreters have generally recognized the commands to "be fruitful and multiply"as commands to Adam and Eve (and later to Noah, 9:1) as the heads of the human race, not simply as individuals. That is, God has not charged every human being with begetting children. This seems clear from the fact that God has made many men and women incapable of reproducing.91Consequently one should not appeal to this command as a support for the theory that God wants all people to bear as many children as they possibly can. This verse is a "cultural mandate,"not an individual mandate.
"This command, like others in Scripture, carries with it an implicit promise that God will enable man to fulfill it."92
Sexual union is God's ordained method of implementing His command to multiply descendants. Consequently sex is essentially good.
When God gave this command Adam and Eve were in an unfallen condition. Therefore the descendants they would produce would be godly. It is particularly a godly seed that God has charged the human race to raise up. Likewise He commanded Noah and his wife, who were both righteous, to be fruitful (9:1).
God did not make men or women emotionally, spiritually, or physically capable of raising children without a marriage partner. Consequently single parents struggle. As children observe both godly parents modeling a harmonious marriage they learn to appreciate their own sexual identity, the roles of husband and wife, and unconditional love. Unconditional love is necessary for a harmonious marriage.
"Rule and "subdue"imply a degree of sovereignty and control that God delegated to man over nature.93
"The dominion which man enjoyed in the Garden of Eden was a direct consequence of the image of God in him."94
For a married couple oneness in marriage is necessary to manage God's creation effectively.
"Our Christian proclamation of hope has antecedents in the theological soil of three divine programmatic expectations first heard in Genesis: (1) God will bless the human family with procreation and dominion (1:26-28); (2) he will achieve victory over mankind's enemy (3:15); and (3) he will bring about both through the offspring of Abraham (12:1-3)--namely, the one man Jesus Christ."95
1:29-31 God gave man authority and responsibility to regulate nature and to advance civilization. Nature was to serve man, not vice versa. This does not give man the right to abuse nature, however.96Neither does it justify giving animals and plants the "rights"of human beings.
"Man is the climax of creation, and instead of man providing the gods with food, God provided the plants as food for man (1:29)."97
Verse 29 suggests that man was originally a vegetarian. After the Flood, God told man that he could eat animals (9:3). The animals were evidently also herbivorous at first (v. 30).98
Verses 27-31 are a general account of human creation. The more detailed account of the creation of Adam and Eve follows in 2:4-25. These two accounts do not necessarily reflect a two-document composition of the creation story, but they illustrate the writer's purpose. He wanted to emphasize the creation of humankind in the larger context of the cosmic creation.
There are three majorviewpoints regarding the origin of man as recorded in 1:26-31; 2:7; and 2:21-25.
1. Evolution(both Darwinian and neo-Darwinian) asserts that all living organisms arose from a single, simple cell through a process that took millions of years. This first cell resulted from the accumulation of chemical and protein elements that came together because of unknown change factors over a long time period. This view contradicts Scripture, and it is not scientifically demonstrable.99
2. Theistic evolutionattempts to harmonize Scripture with scientific theories. It holds that God ordered and directed the evolutionary process. This view fails to explain specific statements in the text of Scripture; it accommodates the text to scientific theory. The major problem with this view is that it is not completely true to either science or Scripture but is inconsistent.100
3. Special creationasserts that God produced the world and all life forms through a series of supernatural acts. Some special creationists believe He did this in a relatively brief period of time. Others, such as progressive creationists, believe the creation process took thousands of years. This view gives primacy to the text of Scripture and interprets it more literally, historically, and grammatically.101
Progressive creationism teaches that God created the universe in several acts of creation that time periods of indefinite duration separated from one another. The process of evolution was at work within these eras and accounts for the development of phyla, species, etc.102The following quotation distinguishes theistic evolution from progressive creationism.
"I do not believe in theistic evolution. Theistic evolution means simply that God guided the evolutionary process so that it is not to be explained on a purely naturalistic basis. It assumes that all living things, including man, are biologically descended from a common ancestor. By contrast with theistic evolution, Scripture indicates that God made different basic kinds of beings and that all existing plants and animals are not descended from a common ancestor."103
I do not believe that Scripture supports progressive creationism, as these notes will explain.
