Discover From the Bible

03. Creation

1 – The World and Humanity

1. The World

Stars - alexander-andrews-unsplash

What does the bible say about:
(1)  the nature of time?
(2) the relation between God and time?

Genesis 1:1

In the beginning God

(3)  (a) the origin of the universe?
(b) the origin of what we perceive as space – which is dependent for its existence on time and matter
(c) the relation between God and space

Genesis 1:1

. . . God created the heavens and the earth.

(4)  the method or mechanics of its formation?

Genesis 1:3, 6, 9
Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light.
Then God said, “Let there be a firmament . . .”
Then God said, “Let the waters . . .”
Colossians 1:16-17

(Jesus Christ) . . . For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist.

(5)  the nature of everything when it was first formed (including the stars and space, plant life, bird life, sea life, and animals)?

Genesis 1:10, 12, 18, 21, 25

And God saw that it was good. (repeated in each verse)

And God saw that it was good.

And God saw that it was good.

Genesis 1:31

The God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good.

And God saw that it was good.

And God saw that it was good.

More info . . .

I would like to have a pop-up form which allows you to fill in your personal answers here, and to return and revise them.  But until the site is fully developed, I hope the download of a fillable pdf file will suffice.

6.

What is the main purpose of Genesis ch. 1?  Is it intended to:
(a) satisfy our curiousity about the mechanics of How the universe was formed?, or
(b) tell us of Who formed the universe?

Genesis 1:1-25

1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
2 The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.
3 Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light.
4 And God saw the light, that it was good; and God divided the light from the darkness.
5 God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night. So the evening and the morning were the first day.

6 Then God said, “Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.”
7 Thus God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament; and it was so.
8 And God called the firmament Heaven. So the evening and the morning were the second day.

9 Then God said, “Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear”; and it was so.
10 And God called the dry land Earth, and the gathering together of the waters He called Seas. And God saw that it was good.
11 Then God said, “Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb that yields seed, and the fruit tree that yields fruit according to its kind, whose seed is in itself, on the earth”; and it was so.
12 And the earth brought forth grass, the herb that yields seed according to its kind, and the tree that yields fruit, whose seed is in itself according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.
13 So the evening and the morning were the third day.

14 Then God said, “Let there be lights in the firmament of the heavens to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs and seasons, and for days and years;
15 and let them be for lights in the firmament of the heavens to give light on the earth”; and it was so.
16 Then God made two great lights: the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night. He made the stars also.
17 God set them in the firmament of the heavens to give light on the earth,
18 and to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good.
19 So the evening and the morning were the fourth day.

20 Then God said, “Let the waters abound with an abundance of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the face of the firmament of the heavens.”
21 So God created great sea creatures and every living thing that moves, with which the waters abounded, according to their kind, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.
22 And God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.”
23 So the evening and the morning were the fifth day.

24 Then God said, “Let the earth bring forth the living creature according to its kind: cattle and creeping thing and beast of the earth, each according to its kind”; and it was so.
25 And God made the beast of the earth according to its kind, cattle according to its kind, and everything that creeps on the earth according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.

7.

What do you think of style of these verses?  Are they scientifically sound, or are they like a painterly illustration that gives the essential shapes but leaves out the details that are beyond human understanding?  

8.

What are the essential truths conveyed about creation in Genesis 1?  What are the dangers of treating it as poetry?

2. Creation of Mankind

What does the bible say?
(9) About the origin of mankind?

Genesis 1:26-27

26 Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”
27 So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.

Genesis 2:7

And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.

(10) About God’s provision for mankind, and their role in the world and its creatures?

Genesis 1:28-30

28 Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”

29 And God said, “See, I have given you every herb that yields seed which is on the face of all the earth, and every tree whose fruit yields seed; to you it shall be for food.
30 Also, to every beast of the earth, to every bird of the air, and to everything that creeps on the earth, in which there is life, I have given every green herb for food”; and it was so.

(11) What does “created in the image of God” mean?

Genesis 1:27

27 So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.

Ephesians 4:24

and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.

Colossians 3:10

and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him,

(12) What impact does the statement “male and female He created them” have on:
(a) general statements about “man” in the preceding verses?
(b) the image of God?

Genesis 1:27

27 So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.

(13) What does the outline of man’s origin in Genesis say about the ancestry of all people?

Acts 17:26

And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth,

What Next?

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