1 In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. 2 The earth was formless and empty. Darkness was on the surface of the deep and God’s Spirit was hovering over the surface of the waters.
3 God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. 4 God saw the light, and saw that it was good. God divided the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light “day”, and the darkness he called “night”. There was evening and there was morning, one day.
6 God said, “Let there be an expanse in the middle of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.” 7 God made the expanse, and divided the waters which were under the expanse from the waters which were above the expanse; and it was so. 8 God called the expanse “sky”. There was evening and there was morning, a second day.
9 God said, “Let the waters under the sky be gathered together to one place, and let the dry land appear;” and it was so. 10 God called the dry land “earth”, and the gathering together of the waters he called “seas”. God saw that it was good.
11 God said, “Let the earth yield grass, herbs yielding seeds, and fruit trees bearing fruit after their kind, with their seeds in it, on the earth;” and it was so. 12 The earth yielded grass, herbs yielding seed after their kind, and trees bearing fruit, with their seeds in it, after their kind; and God saw that it was good. 13 There was evening and there was morning, a third day.
14 God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days and years; 15 and let them be for lights in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth;” and it was so. 16 God made the two great lights: the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night. He also made the stars. 17 God set them in the expanse of the sky to give light to the earth, 18 and to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness. God saw that it was good. 19 There was evening and there was morning, a fourth day.
20 God said, “Let the waters abound with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth in the open expanse of the sky.” 21 God created the large sea creatures and every living creature that moves, with which the waters abounded, after their kind, and every winged bird after its kind. God saw that it was good. 22 God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.” 23 There was evening and there was morning, a fifth day.
24 God said, “Let the earth produce living creatures after their kind: livestock, creeping things, and animals of the earth after their kind;” and it was so. 25 God made the animals of the earth after their kind, and the livestock after their kind, and everything that creeps on the ground after its kind. God saw that it was good.
26 God said, “Let’s make man in our image, after our likeness. Let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the sky, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”
27 God created man in his own image. In God’s image he created him; male and female he created them. 28 God blessed them. God said to them, “Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, and subdue it. Have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the sky, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”
29 God said, “Behold, I have given you every herb yielding seed, which is on the surface of all the earth, and every tree, which bears fruit yielding seed. It will be your food. 30 To every animal of the earth, and to every bird of the sky, 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.
31 God saw everything that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. There was evening and there was morning, a sixth day.
Commentary
Overview
Genesis 1 affirms that we live in a personal universe. Creation is not the result of impersonal forces, blind chance, or eternal matter, but the deliberate work of a personal God who acts with intention and purpose. From the opening verse, the text presents God not as part of the universe but as the One who brings the universe into existence. Humanity is portrayed as distinct from the rest of creation, not merely more complex matter, but beings intentionally formed and endowed with meaning, responsibility, and identity.
The chapter offers no hint that created objects such as the sun, moon, or stars are divine. Unlike many ancient worldviews that worshiped celestial bodies as gods, Genesis deliberately demythologizes them. They are created things, placed within the sky to serve functions rather than receive worship. In doing so, Genesis strips the cosmos of divinity and reserves ultimate authority and personality for God alone.
Equally absent is the idea that everything emerged from a meaningless, impersonal process. There is no suggestion that all matter originated from a single dimensionless point by chance, nor that life emerged from nonlife without intention in a universe governed only by survival and necessity. Instead, Genesis presents a world that is spoken into existence by will, ordered by design, and declared good by its Creator. Humanity is not an accident of nature but the result of divine purpose.
The text does not attempt to explain how God came to be. Scripture offers no origin story for God because God is not presented as a being within the universe who requires one. He simply is. The opening phrase “in the beginning” does not describe the beginning of God, but the beginning of everything that is not God. Genesis assumes that God exists prior to time, matter, and space, and that these realities begin only when He acts.
This stands in contrast to many ancient cosmologies, particularly those of the Greeks, who often viewed the universe as eternal and cyclical. Some believed the cosmos was repeatedly born in fire, cooled into order, and then destroyed again, endlessly repeating the same pattern across vast cycles of time. In those systems, history had no ultimate direction, only repetition. Genesis offers a radically different vision. God is not trapped within cycles of nature or time. He stands outside of them as their Creator.
Time itself, as Genesis presents it, begins with creation. In our physical world, time is measured by matter in motion. Without matter, what does time act upon? If nothing exists and nothing changes, the concept of time becomes meaningless. Likewise, if matter existed but never changed, never moved, and never interacted, time would have no observable effect. Time becomes relevant only when creation begins and change occurs.
Modern scientific models suggest that the universe is approximately 13 billion years old, based on measurements of cosmic expansion and the movement of matter through space. Yet even these models raise profound philosophical questions. If time is defined by physical processes, what does it mean to speak of time before the universe existed? Would time itself be a construct if nothing was happening? Genesis does not attempt to answer these questions in scientific terms, but it does offer a theological foundation: time, matter, and space exist because God brought them into being.
Genesis 1 ultimately reveals a personal God who is sovereign over creation. The universe is not self existing, humanity is not meaningless, and history is not accidental. All things begin with God’s will, unfold according to His purpose, and remain under His authority.
Key Themes
Notable Verses
Reflection