Episode 224 - "In the beginning, God . . . " Genesis 1:1-2

Gen. 1:1 In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. 2 The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.

Here we are at the beginning of a new book. Until now, I’ve only covered books in the New Testament. I thought it was time we looked at a book in the Old Testament or, as my Jewish friend would say, the Hebrew Scriptures. There are different reasons why I consider Genesis to be a good book for us to study. The first reason is that I’m more familiar with it than many other books in the Hebrew Scriptures. Secondly, Genesis is the beginning of a grand story with a crisis and plot that is not fully resolved until the end of the Bible. Yes. You read that correctly. There are many stories in Genesis as well as other Scriptures. But all of them are in some way or another connected within a greater story that extends through the entire canon of the Bible. If we don’t know Genesis, it’s difficult to understand much of the Bible as a whole. Jesus and the New Testament authors often cite, speak of, or allude to Genesis and the early books in the Testament. Their theology is significantly informed by what happens in Genesis. Finally, it’s just a wonderful book to read. Let’s take a quick look at the first few verses.

The Bible begins with three simple words, “In the beginning.” (Gen. 1:1a) Those words help establish our context of time. If there is any ambiguity in the reader’s mind as to the beginning of what, that ambiguity is dissolved with the words that follow, “God created the heavens and the earth.” (Gen. 1:1b) This is talking about the beginning of time as we know it. The time when the universe was created. But let’s not jump ahead too fast. What is vital that we learn from this already? The answer is that God was already there in the beginning. The implication is that God is eternal since there is no suggestion that God had a beginning. I was teaching this passage once to families with young children. I asked why it was so important that God did not have a beginning. A girl, probably around 10 or 11 years of age, promptly raised her hand and replied, “It means that God will not have an end.” If we believe the God of the Bible is good and powerful, it is encouraging to believe that He will always be there.

The term “heavens and the earth” is a literary device called a merism. In our American culture, we might say “from A to Z.” That is a merism. For the purpose of our text, the author of Genesis, (The Bible and tradition hold that Moses is the author of the first five books of the Hebrew Scriptures.) is opening the story by saying God existed at the beginning of time and everything else that exists was made by God.

In good story form, the author now gives us a problem. “The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep.” (Gen. 1:2a) As much as I’ve enjoyed humankind’s adventures into space, going to the moon and sending rockets and robots to Mars, I cannot quite understand the obsession with going to Mars or even creating an outpost on the Moon. These objects are formless and void. There is no life. Even those who’ve gone into outer space speak of the awe they had when they could look back at the Earth with all its life. So, God created the earth. But there was a problem. It did not have life of any form, and it was dark. The dark condition is not just a condition that might make us fearful or otherwise not want to be in the darkness. But it also means there was no hope for life in the absence of light.

We are already on the edge of our seats, wondering, “What’s going to happen to change this?” The tension is fueled by the statement that follows, “And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.” (Gen. 1:2b) In the Hebrew language, the word that we translate as “hovering over” is the term used for a mother bird brooding over its nest, ready to bring forth life. In other words, “the Spirit of God” is about to change the void and darkness that is upon the earth.

In just two short verses, we have the making of an exciting story. We have an eternal God who is the primary character in this story, and this God is about to do something amazing! What is it? Tune in next week, and we’ll find out.

Until then, reflect upon God being eternal, powerful, and creative. How can that be valuable to you this week?