Today’s passage: Genesis 1:1-13
Helpful thoughts:
- This universe and everything in it exists because God created it.
- He created everything from nothing (John 1:3, Isaiah 45:7-18, Romans 11:36, Colossians 1:16-17).
- God spoke the word and creation perfectly “obeyed.”
- God had and has the authority to “call” creation whatever He wills. He is our maker and therefore our authority.
- Concerning the phrase, “without form and void,” Richard Hess writes, “This expression describes the world before the creation of life, before there was even a background or context in which life could flourish. In days 1-3, God creates the structure of that background, while in days 4-6, he fills this world with living creatures.” (NIV Zondervan Study Bible)
- Everything God makes is “good” because God himself is “good.”
Questions to consider:
- What do we learn about God from these verses? What attributes are on display? What has He done that none of us could ever do and why?
- The children of Israel had seen other nations praying to various false gods in the hopes of seeing a greater harvest. What did Israel learn about who brings the harvest when they first read (or heard) Genesis 1? What day did God bring the “first” harvest? What day was man created? Whom should we trust for our provisions?
- What parallels do we find in Genesis 1 and John 1:1-18? What is the Word of God? What does the Word accomplish? Who gives light? What does the Light of the world do?