Genesis 1 - God the Creator, Sustainer, and Source of Life

Figure skating was my favorite childhood spectator sport in the Olympics. But it always began with frustration and boredom during the first phase of competition when the athletes were judged for exact precision in small patterns on the ice. No music, elaborate costumes, exhilarating spins, breathtaking jumps or devastating falls to entertain the spectators. Just endless figure eights on a fine edge while judges watched to detect the slightest deviation from a thin line in the ice cut by the same blade. 
Over and over again.

I would try to break the monotony by leaping around the room in my pajamas. But my awkward jumps and lack of coordination would quickly send me back to scrutinize the agonizing drills of trained athletes who knew the discipline that preceded the glory.

When I first began to study the Bible, I was filled with this familiar frustration, but also anticipation. The pages of my Bible were crisp with bare margins, one page clung to the other. While others flipped easily to familiar passages, I agonized to find the books. But soon, I became captivated by the Author and wanted to know more.

Who is the Creator? What did He create? Why did He create?

God alone can reveal the answers to such questions. But what can be known about God and His creation is revealed by God in the Bible, the only book that contains God’s divinely inspired revelation of truth about Himself, His works, and His purposes. “All Scripture is breathed out by God” (2 Tim 3:16a). God seeks worshipers who worship in spirit and truth. God reveals divine truth through the divinely inspired truths of Scripture. God's Word inspires praise and worship of God.

Perfecting praise and worship of God requires knowledge of God as Creator, Sustainer, and Source of life. God’s first revelation in the Bible begins with the account of creation in Genesis. Genesis 1 provides a divinely inspired account of creation, recorded by Moses, a prophet of God who was born in 1526 BC, who led Israel during the Great Exodus in 1446 BC, and who died in 1406 BC. Through Moses, God revealed the Scripture recorded in the first five books of the Bible, also called the Torah.

Genesis 1:1 reveals God as Creator. Genesis 1:2-19 reveals God as Sustainer. Genesis 1:20-31 reveals God as the Source of life. In Genesis 1, God reveals what must be known about God to perfect praise and worship of Him as Creator, Sustainer, and Source of life.

“In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth” (Gen 1:1).

“In the beginning” reveals creation in relation to time, providing the first contrast between God and His creation. Whereas the heavens and earth had a beginning, God existed before that time. God is eternal. Finite minds are bound by the concept of finite time. But God eternally exists beyond the scope of the finite. God is infinite. God is eternal, which means that there is no time that God has not, does not, or will not exist.

The one eternal God has eternally existed in three distinct persons: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. The plurality in the Godhead is indicated in the name Elohim, the Name of God applied in Genesis 1. Elohim is the Hebrew plural form of El.

The three persons are not three different Gods, nor is God one person appearing in three different forms at various times. God is immutable. God has eternally coexisted in three distinct Persons who are co-equal, co-existent, and share the same divine essence.

The Father is not the Son or the Holy Spirit, but the Father is God. The Son is not the Father or the Holy Spirit, but the Son is God. The Holy Spirit is not the Father or the Son, but the Holy Spirit is God.

One God eternally exists in three distinct persons. Scripture acknowledges God the Father as the Creator and Sustainer of all that exists. God the Father created all things by, through and for His Son, Jesus Christ (John 1:1-18; Col 1:16), by and through the Holy Spirit who facilitates and energizes God’s creative will.

“God created” (Gen 1:1) reveals the action of God that resulted in the heavens and earth. The Hebrew verb ברא (bara), "to create", is used in the Bible invariably with God as the subject. God alone has the eternal power to create what previously did not exist. Creation exists because God created.

God created the heavens and earth. God dwells in majesty and splendor in the heavens, the place of His holy temple and throne of glory. "Our God is in the heavens; he does all that he pleases" (Ps 115:3). He gave earth to humanity. "The heavens are the LORD's heavens, but the earth he has given to the children of man" (Ps 115:16). God created the earth to be inhabited by the children of man.






~God is the Creator.

 Knowledge of God as the Creator of the heavens and earth inspires praise and worship of God.

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. In His wisdom, He created them all. Clothed in splendor and majesty, covering Himself with light as with a cloak, God reigns from His upper chambers in glory, majesty, and power. The heavens are the LORD's. The earth is full of His possessions. The sea creatures flourish in the waters. God causes the eagle to take flight. God knows when a sparrow falls to the ground. God hears the cooing dove, the hooting owl, the mewing doe. They all wait for Him to give them their food. His eye sees every precious thing. His hand upholds.

God waters the mountains from His upper chambers, the beams which He laid upon the waters. God makes the clouds His chariot. He walks on the wings of the wind. He makes the winds His messenger, flaming fire His ministers. God established the earth on its foundations so that it will not totter forever and ever. God covered the earth with the deep and He delivered it from the depths of the sea, renewing the ground. The earth is satisfied by the fruit of the work of His hands. He causes grass to grow for the cattle and vegetation for the labor of man so that he may bring food from the earth.

God is exalted in the heavens and above the earth, yet He draws near to answer the cries of those who call on His Name through Jesus. He invites His children to cast their cares on Him for the eternal God cares for us. Blessed are all whose trust is in the blessed God Who created the heavens and the earth.

God keeps count of the strands of hair on the head of his beloved child. The same all-powerful God who can hold the oceans in the palm of His hand, who created and can shake the heavens and earth from their foundations, is the same tender God who promises to uphold the right hand of His child.

Who do you acknowledge as Creator? Do you know Him? Are you known by Him? How often does He hear your praise and worship? Are you familiar with His voice? When has He answered from His holy mountain? How often do you enter His Presence just to say, "I love You" or "Thank You"?

What is keeping you from delighting in the Creator of all that delights and satisfies?

God first reveals Himself as Creator. In Genesis 1:2-19, God reveals Himself as Sustainer.

In perfect wisdom and power, God created and prepared the perfect dwelling for His inhabitants. "The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters" (Gen 1:2).

Day 1: Light. "And God said, 'Let there be light,' and there was light." (Gen 1:3). God saw that the light was good. God separated light from the darkness. He called the light Day and the darkness He called Night.

Day 2: Heaven, an expanse in the midst of the waters, separated from the waters below.

Day 3: An expanse below, dry land which He called Earth and gathered waters which He called Seas. And God saw that it was good. "And God said, 'Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind, on the earth.' And it was so" (Gen 1:11). God saw that it was good.

Day 4: Lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night, for signs and for seasons, for days and years, and to give light upon the earth. "And God made the two great lights--the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night--and the stars. And God set them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth, to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good" (Gen 1:16-18).

In four days, God shaped and formed creation to suit and sustain its inhabitants.


~God is the Sustainer.
 
God is the Creator. God is the Sustainer. The Spirit of God hovers over what was once formless, void and dark. In the beginning, the Spirit of God hovered over the deep to bring order and form to creation. Today, the Spirit of God hovers over the deep of sinners' hearts, ready to bring order and form to what was once formless, void, dark.

Apart from Christ, sinners are formless, void, and dark, a wasteland. Apart from Christ, sinners are dead. But to those whom God has qualified for the kingdom of Christ, removed from the sphere of darkness and placed in the light and glory of Christ, redeemed by His blood and renewed by the Holy Spirit, God is forming and molding His children of glory, conformed to the likeness of Christ. Over the lives of God's chosen and redeemed, the Spirit of God hovers, giving new life to what was dead.

"Yet among the mature we do impart wisdom, although it is not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are doomed to pass away. But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glory. None of the rulers of this age understood this, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. But, as it is written, 'What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him'" (1 Cor 2:6-9).

How have you responded to God's wisdom and truth revealed in the Bible? Trust and faith in God? Unbelief? What will be the eternal outcome of your response? Eternal delight in Christ's kingdom of eternal glory and light? Or eternal torment in the place of eternal darkness, condemnation, and death?

God first reveals Himself as Creator (Gen 1:1), then He reveals Himself as Sustainer (Gen 1:2-19), and finally, in Genesis 1:20-31, God reveals Himself the Source of life (1:20-31).

In four days, God formed and shaped the environment that He designed to be inhabited. In review, the content of what God made and saw was good in four days when the earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep and the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters was: light, which He called Day, and darkness, which He called Night, an expanse in the midst of the waters that He separated, which He called Heaven, dry land, which He called Earth, gathered waters, which He called Seas, vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit from the earth, lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night, for signs and seasons, for days and years, and to give light upon the earth, two great lights to rule the day and night, and stars (Gen 1:2-19).

On days five and six, God created living creatures to dwell in the waters and on the earth.

Day 5: Swarms of living creatures in the waters, including great sea creatures and every living creature that swarms in the waters, and winged birds on the earth. Each was created according to their kinds. "And God blessed them, saying, 'Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth'" (Gen 1:22).

Day 6: Livestock, creeping things, beasts of the earth. "And God made the beasts of the earth according to their kinds and the livestock according to their kinds, and everything that creeps on the ground according to its kind. And God saw that it was good" (Gen 1:25).

Earth was prepared. Sea creatures were swimming. Waters were swarming. Birds were flying. Beasts were prowling. Livestock were grazing. Creeping things were creeping.

"Then God said, 'Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.' So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them" (Gen 1:26-27).

God created man in the image, after the likeness, of God. He created male and female. The other living creatures were made according to their kinds. But man was created in the image of God, to bear His likeness. And God gave them dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the heavens, the livestock, all the earth, and over every creeping thing.

"And God blessed them. And God said to them, 'Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth'" (Gen 1:28).

God blessed humanity, commanded them to be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it. He gave them dominion over all the living creatures on the earth. Man became steward of earth which God created and filled with His own possessions.

God gave man food to eat from every plant yielding seed on all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit (Gen 1:29). Later, God would introduce meat with cooking instructions into the diet of man. He gave animals green plants for food (Gen 1:30).

"And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day" (Gen 1:31).

God appraised all that He had made as very good. He delighted in the work of His hands. Creation was complete. God was satisfied. Man, male and female, were discovering the wonder of all that God had made in perfect communion and fellowship with the Creator.

~God is the Source of life.

God is the source of life. God created man, male and female. Humanity is His creation. God created life on earth for the purpose of glorifying and serving the Creator. Man was commanded to be fruitful, multiply and fill the earth, created to be inhabited.

Creation reflects the dynamic power and personality of the Creator. Diversity in the created world reflects God's appreciation of beauty in various shapes, forms, and colors. The greatness of God's work reveals His eternal power. No detail was overlooked. God is a personal God, revealed in His communion with man. God communes with people. God allows Himself to be known, and what can be known about God has been made known since the beginning. The glory of the Creator is revealed in His creation.

God is the Creator, the Sustainer, and the Source of life. There is no other. The account of creation was revealed by God and recorded through His servants by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. The Bible contains the only divine explanation of creation. Creation points to the glory of the One and Only Creator. The Bible explains what human eyes see. The veil of unbelief is removed through Jesus Christ, through Whom God gives light and sight to the blind and new birth by the Spirit of God.

"Thus says God, the LORD, who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread out the earth and what comes from it, who gives breath to the people on it and spirit to those who walk in it: 'I am the LORD; I have called you in righteousness; I will take you by the hand and keep you; I will give you as a covenant for the people, a light for the nations, to open the eyes that are blind, to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon, from the prison those who sit in darkness. I am the LORD; that is my name; my glory I give to no other, nor my praise to carved idols. Behold, the former things have come to pass, and new things I now declare; before they spring forth I tell you of them'" (Is 42:5-9).



Are you still dead in sin, imprisoned by the darkness? Who are you trusting to set you free? All who Jesus sets free are free indeed. Jesus is the Source of life to all who are sanctified by faith in Him. Jesus is making all things new. Jesus died on the cross to reconcile sinners to God in peace and love. 

The redeemed of Christ receive the free gift of eternal life and will enjoy everlasting communion with God. God raised Jesus from the dead, and His resurrection gives assurance of a future resurrection of glory and immortality to all who are sanctified by faith in Jesus. Will you seek Jesus to receive the gift of forgiveness of sin and eternal life in His kingdom of glory and light that will endure forever?

~God is the Creator, Sustainer, and Source of life.

I never went on to become an Olympic figure skater. But I do remember my first formal competition. After endless hours in the woods on the bare back of my pony, my parents brought us to our first horse show. The events and rider's etiquette were foreign to me. Someone politely informed me afterwards that a saddle is required in western pleasure.

But by God's grace, I won my first trophy. The speed event involved running a figure eight around two cones. Two riders had entered the event. I was up first. It never occurred to me to ask how many figure eights were required. After a few times around the cones, I was instructed to exit the arena. The next seasoned competitor rode by on a large steed without a glance as she entered the arena. Unfortunately, she knocked over a cone and was disqualified. So, I received the first place trophy. Amen.