Four Things to Know about God from Genesis 1
In a seminary class, I received one of the most helpful tips for reading comprehension that I’ve ever gotten. If you really want to comprehend a chapter, read the first and last paragraphs before you read the rest of the text. If you do this, (and if the author is worth his stuff) you should read some sort of “theme” or “propositional statement” in the first paragraph, and some kind of “conclusion” in the last. This way, when you are reading through the rest of the body of the text, you can follow the reasoning and thought process of the writer. Well, the Bible is not a book written by a single human author, but it is a book inspired and given by a Divine Author. And while it is difficult to systematize the Scriptures, they certainly are a body of teaching, a body of revelation that show us something about their Author, that is God!
Genesis 1, then, is the introductory portion. Really Genesis chapters 1-11 serve this purpose, but Genesis 1 is the “first of the firsts” in biblical literature. Genesis, after all, simply means “beginning.” So when we read the “beginning” we get themes, propositions, patterns, ideas, and motifs that will flow throughout the rest of Genesis, and even the rest of scripture. Genesis 1 shows us the beginning of existence as we know it, and shows us how God, in His wisdom and strength, took a vast swath of “nothingness” and filled it, ordered it, and gave life and meaning in existence. And even beyond all this work, Genesis 1 is our introduction to God in the truest sense. So, while there is a lot to learn from Genesis 1, here are four things to know about God from this chapter in the Bible.
God Exists
We don’t think much about existing, sort of like we don’t think much about breathing. Breathing is just sort of assumed, instinctive. That is good – if we had to use our thought capacity to remind ourselves to breath, some of us would either run out of room for thoughts, or run out of breath. But we just breath. In a larger sense, existence is assumed. We don’t spend a ton of time thinking about existence vs. non-existence. We don’t really have a true category for non-existence. We can imagine empty space, but even empty space is existence because, in our limited minds, space is always relative to objects within that space. Nothingness is hard to comprehend.
Genesis 1:1 begins with “in the beginning, God…” That scripture is as close to nothingness as we can get. But, even in the “formless and empty” existence that preceded creation, there was existence, because God existed. Simply, God was. It is interesting that God describes Himself with, and gives Himself a name that points to existence. What did God tell Moses to say to Pharaoh? “Tell him I AM sent you.” I AM – in finite human language, that is existence wrapped up in two words. For the rest of us, for the rest of the animals, for the rest of the plants and trees and mountains and waters, we have to say “I came into being.” But for God, there is no coming into being. Everything in the world, everything in the universe is in some sort of cause and effect relationship, but God is the uncaused-cause. He is the unmoved mover, the first, great, and eternal Being. God Exists.
God Acts
God’s preexistence is an incomprehensible notion, one that is assumed in Scripture as much as it is taught explicitly. If God simply existed, though, in the same way that the blank slate of nothingness existed, then none of us would be here. Existence in itself does not guarantee anything will materialize. No, there had to be action, there had to be some sort of initiative. Of course, we think of this in human terms, where our actions and efforts coupled with materials equal a result, or product – but when God acts, the only material He worked with was the material that He materialized. While God existed eternally in perfect love and harmony in the Godhead, perfect love and unity in Father, Son, and Spirit, God’s first great recorded action is that of creation.
This is where God’s ultimate existence comes to bear on our conditional existence. What do I mean by conditional existence? Well, quite simply, had God not acted in creation, there would be nothing that we see and experience. Had God not acted in creation, things simply wouldn’t have formed into any meaningful existence. “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” That is, literally, the above and the below. The sky and the land. That general statement includes the idea of space. Again, space, in our thinking, is relative to objects within the space. God’s action in creation sparked existence as we know it. God Acts.
God Speaks
God’s existence and His actions are truly unique – and not just unique as in ”special,” but unique as in the only of their kind. And within God’s unique existence and actions, He chose to communicate. Genesis 1:3, 6, 9, 11, 14, 20, 24, and 26 all begin with Vayomar Elohim, “And God Said…”. All of those introductions are followed by commands for things to come into being, for things to be ordered and arranged, for things to take life and meaning – and all the “things” obeyed. Matter materialized, objects changed shape, waters and lands shifted, gravity began its work, plants and vegetables sprouted for the first time, stars and planets formed seamlessly, fish and birds came out of nowhere, and all with the ability to survive and reproduce. All because “God said…”
God speaks, and things happen. Another instance of God speaking is found in an inter-Godhead conversation in Genesis 1:28 – “let us make man in our image…” It is interesting in that design and communication, God created man who, in a lesser but true sense, can wield design and communication. This is one way of many that men and women together “image” the true God. The fact that God speaks, as the first speaker, is reflected in the way that we speak. God could have done all this silently, but there is something in His very nature to communicate, to speak. And what a privilege it is to exist in an existence where our Creator is not silent. God speaks.
God Interacts
If existing, and acting, and speaking are not enough (and they are, any place where God would have drawn the line as “enough” would have been His own sovereign and wise choice), God also exists, acts, and speaks within His creation. That is, He interacts. If I make something from wood, and then speak to it, it is ultimately meaningless. I can admire a work of my hands, I can use it, I can give it as a gift, I can get some kind of enjoyment from it – but I cannot truly interact with it. I cannot communicate to it, I cannot give it tasks, I cannot give it life and meaning and value in the truest sense. But that is exactly what God does in His creation.
When God formed Adam, he “breathed into his nostrils the breath of life.” This is something different than oxygen. Animals and plants require oxygen to survive. No, this is “nephesh.” A soul. (Genesis 2:7). There is a uniqueness in this ensoulment, this “breath of life” in which God designed mankind to interact with Him. In Genesis 1:28, it tells us that God blessed (man and woman) and said to them “be fruitful…multiply…fill…subdue…have dominion…have them for food…you shall have them…” So while God is ruler and Sovereign over His creation, there is also a Creation Mandate that God specifically charges human beings to take. God does everything on purpose, and one of mankind’s chief purposes is to reflect God’s image, to fill, subdue, work, till, be creative in, and possess the earth. God does not grant this sort of Divine interaction with animals or plants. God speaks to his creation, God exists above, but also in His creation. And ultimately, God even condescended in the person of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, to dwell among His creation. Now, for those who are re-created by the life and Spirit of God, we are indwelt with God’s Holy Spirit. God interacts.
Yes, I know, I went a little beyond Genesis 1 there – but every good author is going somewhere with His work – and that is where God is going with His work. From creation to new creation. Sin and evil entered the world God created, and the rest of the story unveils God’s providence, sovereignty, love, wrath, care, and wisdom in redeeming people back to the way we were meant to be. We experience this new creation in a “down payment” sort of way here, but ultimately the new creation will be full and final. And then, all these things – God’s existence, His actions, His words, and His interactions – will be known to us in a way we can hardly imagine.
