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).
