Genesis Study: Lesson 2
God Speaks Life Into Being!
In the very first verse of Genesis, God revealed to us that He created Heaven and Earth. This lesson aims to help us understand how God created by hearing the Word of God as revealed in Genesis 1:1-8. From verse two onwards through the first chapter, God explains exactly what He created, providing precise clarification on the order in which He created all living things. God also reveals to us how He created Heaven and Earth. The profound and beautiful revelation in Genesis 1 is Gods explanation of who He is. Understanding who God is helps us to understand HOW God created Heaven and Earth.
If you are new to Bible Study and are not clear on the triune nature of God (Father, Son, Sprit), you may find a recap helpful. Lesson One in this study aims to help you understand that God is three and that we find our Saviour Jesus Christ with God and as God from the very beginning and before time as we know it was created. Follow the link below to review Lesson One.
How God Created
Before we move on to explore the finer details of what God created. Let's get HOW God created Heaven and Earth firmly established in our minds. My aim is to help you make the connection between the Jesus you read about in the New Testament and the Jesus you may not have realised you have read about in the Old Testament. I sincerely hope that in making the connection you will know and understand Jesus better. This has been my personal experience. In the first few verses of Genesis God reveals exactly how he created the universe. The language is so blatant in its simplicity that you may miss the point completely. Firstly in verse 2 " And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters." Notice that the word 'Spirit' is capitalised to denote a personal title. This reveals to us that the text is describing 'the' Holy Spirit moving across the waters. The Holy Spirit has an active role in creation, The Holy Spirit is doing something specific. (you'll find further information under the verses below) So we begin to see the three persons of the Trinity specifically involved in the act of creation, they have distinct roles and actions as individuals. I personally see God as a conductor, music is not created because the conductor waves a hand. We need an instrument and a musician too. The trumpet player does not create a musical note without acting upon the trumpet. Neither produce a note unless breath is involved. Each component in my overly simplistic and inadequate analogy paints a picture of individual agents coming together to create something that can't happen without the involvement of each. I hope it helps but don't hold it as sufficient to explain precisely or accurately. God speaks life into existence, He uses His voice. There are three distinct agents, God, His Breath and His Voice. You will find a collection of verses below from scripture that provide a little more clarity. The Holy Spirit is often depicted as Gods breath or the wind of God. We have already acknowledged that God's Word is Jesus "1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God" John 1:1) Jesus is both with God and is God. The Holy Spirit is of God and with God, moving upon the face of the waters. All three persons of the trinity are present at creation. They are each distinct, eternally together and collectively God. God the Father, Son and Holy spirit are eternally God and that literally means without beginning or end. The logic follows that in the beginning, before heaven and earth were created, God existed. God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are coequally involved and eternally involved, supernatural agents creating and maintaining heaven and earth. This is almighty supernatural power beyond anything we can possibly comprehend This is the almighty and supernatural power of God. His supernatural power created the flood, the virgin birth, the resurrection and the transfiguration. In His grand finale, God will use His supernatural and almighty power to create a new heaven and earth after the Second Coming of Christ. It may be beyond our comprehension, beyond our imagination and denied by those who reject Jesus but if God exists and we know He does. He can be nothing less than The Almighty Creator. We are His because He created us and He is ours because He created us. God created the world and so the world is His. God is righteously the Sovereign Lord of all that He Created. We are lawfully and righteously His subjects, regardless of whether we acknowledge Him or accept Him.
Now we have a better understanding of the nature of The Creator, we can read on to understand more about how God created the heaven and the earth. Read through the first 8 verses of Genesis 1 and ponder everything that is bold and underlined. I hope you will make the connection between what is described as happening and how it is happening in relation to the three persons of the trinity.
Maybe imagine God The Father thinking first, then speaking and then something very specifically happening. God's voice is His Word and we understand the the Word of God is Jesus, therefor God speaks the universe into existence.
"3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made." John 1:3 (KJV)
Genesis 1:1-8 (KJV)
The Creation Narrative
Scroll through a selection of Old Testament verses that confirm the Creation story as revealed to us in Genesis.
Psalm 33 (KJV)
6 By the word of the Lord were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth.
7 He gathereth the waters of the sea together as an heap: he layeth up the depth in storehouses.
8 Let all the earth fear the Lord: let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him.
9 For he spake, and it was done; he commanded, and it stood fast.
Jeremiah 32:17 (KJV)
17 Ah Lord God! behold, thou hast made the heaven and the earth by thy great power and stretched out arm, and there is nothing too hard for thee:
Psalm 33:8-9 (KJV)
8 Let all the earth fear the Lord: let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him.
9 For he spake, and it was done; he commanded, and it stood fast.
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Lesson 1
In the Beginning (Genesis 1:1)
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Lesson 3
Lesson 4
Coming soon
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Lesson 5
Coming soon
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