Genesis 1:1,3,5,6,9,11,14,20,24,26-30 "In the beginning..." [Part 1]
Once upon a time...
Call me Ishmael...
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times...
It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen...
All children, except one, grow up...
All great books start with memorable lines that pass down through the ages. And so it is with the Bible.
Genesis 1:1
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
As opening lines go, it's a pretty good one. Sets the position in time, introduces the main character and show them achieving a great feat.
Genesis, as you probably know, means beginning and it's the first book of the Bible; The story of creation.
The high points for the rest of the chapter, in my opinion, are:
Genesis 1:3,6,9,11,14,20,24,26-30
And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was lightAnd God said, “Let there be a vault between the waters to separate water from water.And God said, “Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear.” And it was so. Then God said, “Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds.” And it was so. And God said, “Let there be lights in the vault of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark sacred times, and days and yearsAnd God said, “Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the vault of the sky.”And God said, “Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds:the livestock, the creatures that move along the ground, and the wild animals, each according to its kind.” And it was so. Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”
So God created mankind in his own image,
in the image of God he created them;
male and female he created them.
God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number;fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”
Then God said, “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds in the sky and all the creatures that move along the ground—everything that has the breath of life in it—I give every green plant for food.” And it was so.
Quite a few to chew on there.
As we see, it is the beginning of all life, light, land and everything we take for granted around us. But there's one more thing that I think started in Genesis without being specifically described: Time.
Here's where I think time began:
Genesis 1:5
This post is a long winded way of me trying to put forward the notion that when God created the heavens and the earth, He also started time ticking in order for life to be able to survive.
Call me Ishmael...
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times...
It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen...
All children, except one, grow up...
All great books start with memorable lines that pass down through the ages. And so it is with the Bible.
Genesis 1:1
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
Genesis, as you probably know, means beginning and it's the first book of the Bible; The story of creation.
The high points for the rest of the chapter, in my opinion, are:
Genesis 1:3,6,9,11,14,20,24,26-30
And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was lightAnd God said, “Let there be a vault between the waters to separate water from water.And God said, “Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear.” And it was so. Then God said, “Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds.” And it was so. And God said, “Let there be lights in the vault of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark sacred times, and days and yearsAnd God said, “Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the vault of the sky.”And God said, “Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds:the livestock, the creatures that move along the ground, and the wild animals, each according to its kind.” And it was so. Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”
So God created mankind in his own image,
in the image of God he created them;
male and female he created them.
God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number;fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”
Then God said, “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds in the sky and all the creatures that move along the ground—everything that has the breath of life in it—I give every green plant for food.” And it was so.
Quite a few to chew on there.
As we see, it is the beginning of all life, light, land and everything we take for granted around us. But there's one more thing that I think started in Genesis without being specifically described: Time.
Here's where I think time began:
Genesis 1:5
God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called
“night.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.
The first day! Before this there had been no days or nights, no evenings, afternoons. In fact, as God is able to view all of eternity before him (Feel free to debate it with me), He has no need for time to pass.
We are spiritual beings, but we live in human bodies. Human bodies require time to pass in order for basic functions to work; Blood to flow, thoughts to process and any number of bodily bits and pieces to happen.
This post is a long winded way of me trying to put forward the notion that when God created the heavens and the earth, He also started time ticking in order for life to be able to survive.
So, in amongst all the creation of light, trees, animals, seas, land and countless other wonders, God started the clock of the ages ticking because He knew it was needed in order for life to flourish and, ultimately, for Man to live, love and worship Him.
Next time your staring at the clock wishing it to go just a little faster, or slower, remember the one who gave it the time to tick away and thank Him for the gift He gave before He even created us.
Next week I'll take another look at "In the beginning..." and see how things compare between the two.
Let me know what you think. Do you agree, or have I completely missed the boat on this one?
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