Genesis 1:1
“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” This is an extremely important verse. It’s a foundational verse. It’s foundational to the book of Genesis. It’s foundational to the whole Bible. One of the most well-known verses in scripture, it is also one of the most disbelieved. In our last blog (click here to view), we studied the first four words in Genesis. As we move on through the remainder of the first verse in Genesis, we continue with the next word.
“In the beginning God created…” The English word created comes from the Hebrew word bara (bah-rah) which means something from nothing. “Bara” is not a word meaning made. It is a different word in Hebrew and has a different meaning than made. For example, with a few pieces of wood, a person could “make” a rocking chair (if that person was good at carpentry or woodworking). But a person could not “create” a rocking chair in the sense of the Hebrew word, bara. Creating something is different than making something. Therefore, in Genesis 1:1, God did not “make” the heavens and the earth using pre-existing matter. God “created” the heavens and the earth from nothing at all! This truth flies in the face of the belief system of many scientists and science professors, but it is a Bible truth and the Bible is reliable in its accuracy. If the verse read: “In the beginning God made…,” that would not be a completely accurate interpretation. “In the beginning God created…” is the true interpretation of the verse in the original language of Hebrew. The heavens and the earth [universe] were created. Where nothing had existed—something came into existence!
The Webster’s Dictionary defines the word create as, “to cause to come into existence.” Interestingly, the English dictionary definition of create and the Hebrew word bara do not contradict each other. But many scientists and evolution theorists believe that the world was made by “the big bang.” In other words, a bunch of molecules that already existed (they can’t explain why the molecules pre-existed) came together at the perfect time, and this earth and this galaxy and this universe were fully formed by a big explosion that sent particles out from the center of the explosion, and those particles became planets or stars, etc.
To the Bible believer this is foolishness because we know what the Bible clearly teaches. Still, many believe the universe came into existence by accident—an unsolvable, mysterious event that just happened—and weren’t we lucky to have a planetary ball upon which to evolve! The teaching that the universe came into existence by accident is a false teaching! Many incorrectly believe God (if He truly exists, say some) had nothing to do with the existence of the universe. The absolute truth is that God had EVERYTHING to do with it! He CREATED it! Now, what exactly did God create?
“In the beginning God created…the heavens and the earth.” This is fascinating to think about: God SPOKE the world into existence! I remember this truth being taught in a Bible class when I was a teenager. I can remember thinking that God must have extended His arm out over the nothingness of space and with a slow, sweeping motion of His mighty hand willed the universe to come into existence. He may have motioned in that manner, but we don’t know that for sure. The Bible doesn’t give us that much detail. But it does say later in Genesis One and elsewhere in scripture that God SPOKE the world into existence, Consider the multiple times we find the words, “And God SAID…” (emphasis added). See Genesis 1, verses 3, 6, 9, 11, 14, 20, 24, 26, 28, and 29. Also consider Psalm 33:6 and Hebrews 11:3.
Genesis 1:1 is a summation verse. It summarizes everything God did in the beginning. All of the remaining verses in chapter one detail what occurred in verse one. The Bible clearly teaches that the heavens and the earth came into existence by the spoken Word of God. God spoke, and what He said…what He willed…happened! It happened because He’s God! Take just a moment today and delight yourself in our God—the mighty Jehovah God of creation. Praise His name!