Creation

Genesis 1

The Creation Story

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

The story of how God made everything is, naturally, at the very beginning of the Bible:

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was empty, a formless mass cloaked in darkness. And the Spirit of God was hovering over its surface. Then God said, "Let there be light," and there was light. And God saw that it was good. Then he separated the light from the darkness. God called the light "day" and the darkness "night." (NLT, Genesis 1:1-5)

That was the first day of God's creation.

On the second day, God created the sky.

On the third day, God created the land, the oceans and all the plants.

On the fourth day, God created the sun, moon and stars.

On the fifth day, God created the birds, fishes and other sea creatures.

On the sixth day, God created all the land animals and people.

On the seventh day, God rested:

By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done. (NIV, Genesis 2:2-3)

Questions

Who Created God? How Did God Make Everything out of Nothing? and Why?

Unfortunately, these mysteries are not explained in the Bible, and they are probably just too deep for us to understand.

Did God Really Create Everything in Six Days and in the Order Listed in Genesis?

The Bible story of creation was written in a way that made sense to the people of thousands of years ago who did not know anything about science. Since then, scientists have discovered many new things about how God created everything. If the story were written today, it might mention galaxies, black holes, the age and vastness of the universe, the solar system, the development of plants and animals, and other scientific discoveries. But, we are still not much closer to understanding the mysteries of God's creation.

Lessons

People have strong opinions about whether or not God really created things exactly the way it says in Genesis, but what this story tells us about God, Himself, is much more important:

Long before there were any Christians, Genesis was part of the sacred scripture of the Hebrew people. Most people in the ancient world were pagans who believed in many different gods and goddesses, but the Hebrews believed in one all-powerful God. The Bible story of creation tells us that God is so powerful that He could create everything out of nothing! So, the people should worship only God and not the false gods of the pagans. In our own times, we must give our devotion to God and not to today's "false gods" such as money, power, success and vanity.

God created everything with love and with a purpose. Unlike the sometimes evil gods of the pagans, God cares about His creation and is actively involved with the world. From the first chapter of Genesis to the last chapter of Revelation, the Bible tells of the one true God who created everything and loves all His creation. We can worship God and receive His divine love today as much as the ancient Hebrews did.

God rested on the seventh day as an example for us. Reserving a day for rest and worship, the Sabbath, became one of the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:8-11). There is more to life than just work. We should also reserve time for rest and worship.