Genesis 1:1-2

1. Locate the passage

Genesis 1:1-2 record the first words of Scripture. They are page one. This section is the first of the Divisions.^[1]Genesis is comprised of 10 divisions. All subsequent divisions are marked by the occurrence of the Hebrew word, תּוֹלֵדוֹת (tol^edoth). The word means, “generations.” They are divisions within the book along generational lines. The reason this word does not occur in Gen.1:1 is that there were no generations, as mankind had not yet been created. The first tol^edoth occurs in Gen.2:4. This pericope is the first of Scripture and reveals Who is before anything was.

2. Genre

This passage is narrative. The passage is the first cause. God is the subject and the actor. The simplicity of the structure masks the complexity of His creation.

3. Determine the structure of the passage

4. Exegete the passage

The passage records the beginning of history. So, there is no prior context. Note, that before creation, God existed; in creation, God acted; and upon creation, God moved.

The presence of God the Father and God the Spirit highlight the verses. He is the first subject of Scripture.

• God created – literally, in beginning. This is not the beginning of God; this is God in the beginning.
• Created –The Hebrew word, “bara,” is only used of Divine activity. Mankind, like God, can form, but only God can create. It conveys the idea of establishing out of nothing—from nothing came something. Matter is not co-eternal with God. Note the intentional use in the creation account of the verbs “create,” “make,” and “form.”
  • Heb. 11:3 reveals that creation took place merely by the Word of God, not from substance that previously existed (cf. Gen. 1:3; Ps. 33:6; 148:5; John 1:3; and Col. 1:16).
  • When the verb, “bara” is used in Scripture, only the outcome (product) is expressed, not the material used to create it.
• The Heavens and the Earth – these represent the totality of the universe. The establishment of the Heavens and the Earth become the basis for God’s subsequent creative activity. Most commentators see verse 1 as a general overview of creation rather than verse 2 being circumstantial to verse 1, making the phrase “and the earth” in verse 2 disjunctive rather than conjunctive.
• Formless and void – these terms need not denote chaos, but simply conveys the idea of uninhabited and empty.
• Darkness – light had not yet been created
• Spirit of God – The person of the Spirit of God; the 3^rd person of the Trinity
• Moving – God was presiding over and moving upon His creation

5. Let the structure of the text drive the sermon

Because there was a beginning, history tells us that there will be an end. The God who began human history, is the One who will complete it.

• It All Began with Him
  • In the beginning there was God, and from God came all that is
    • The preexistent God
    • The creative God
    • God the Spirit
  • God created the something from that which did not exist
  • It’s His universe and His rules
  • See Ps. 90:2; Prov. 8:22-31
• It Only Makes Sense in Him
  Exp. Science has no answer to the question of first cause; only the Bible reveals this   truth
• It’s All Sustained by Him
  • He holds it together
  • Nothing moved until He moved on it

Application:

• Your life began through Him
• Your life only makes sense with Him
• Your life is sustained by Him