Genesis 1—The Days of Creation I. Genesis one tells us some things about God. A. God is a God of order. 1. Day one laid the foundation for day four. 2. Day two laid the foundation for day five. 3. Day three laid the foundation for day six. 4. Finally, God made a schedule for rest on day seven.

B. God is a God of perfection or excellence. Genesis one is stamped with the number seven. 1. There are seven days of creation and restoration. 2. The word “good” appears seven times (vs. 4, 10, 12, 18, 21, 25, 31). 3. The word “create” appears seven times (Gen. 1:1, 21, 27; 2:3, 4).

4. The word “heaven” appears seven times (vs. 1, 8, 9, 14, 15, 17, 20). 5. The phrase “and there was” occurs seven times. 6. The word “God” is referred to thirty-five times which is seven times five (five being the number of grace). Thus the seal of perfection and the spirit of excellence are on all that God did and does (Deut. 32:3-4).

C. God is a God of blessing C. God is a God of blessing. There are three blessings imparted to creation by God. 1. God blessed the water creatures and the birds on the fifth day (vs. 22). 2. God blessed man on the sixth day (vs. 28). 3. God blessed the seventh day itself (Gen. 2:3).

II. Genesis one has other interesting features. A. Genesis one gives us the ten commandments of creation (Ps. 33:8-9). Ten times the Lord issues the command “let there be” (or some variation of it) in this chapter (vs. 3, 6, 9, 11, 14, 15, 20, 24, 26). This clearly demonstrates the power of the “Word of God” in creation (Heb. 11:3; John 1:3).

B. Genesis one indicates that there is light apart from the sun, the moon and the stars (vs. 3-5). The term that has been applied to this phenomenon is “cosmic radiance.”

C. Genesis one sets day two in a category by itself (vs. 6-8). 1. Two is the number of division and on day two God divided the water above from the waters beneath creating the firmament or the sky.

2. After God created the firmament by the separation of waters He did not declare that it was “good.” a. Job declared that the heavens are not pure in God’s sight (Job 15:15). b. The heavens are not pure because they are the present realm of Satan (Eph. 2:2; 6:12).

D. Genesis one sets certain limits on the natural process of reproduction (vs. 9-13). 1. Plants would reproduce after their kind (vs. 12). 2. Animals would also reproduce after their kind (vs. 24-25). E. Genesis one indicates that life began relative to earth on the fifth day (vs. 20-23).

F. Genesis one indicates that all of this creation was really man for man to enjoy. 1. Man was the height of creation. 2. Man was to be made in the image of God.

a. This image involves man as a three-fold being (I Th. 5:23). i. Man has a spirit (Zech. 12:1; Job 32:8; I Cor. 2:11). This is the God conscience part of man. ii. Man has a soul (Ezek. 18:4; Ps. 16:10; 19:7). This is the self-conscience part of man and includes the mind, the will and the emotions. iii. Man has a body (Rom. 12:1; Phil. 3:21). This is the world-conscious part of man that relates through the five senses.

b. This image involves man as an intelligent being (Col. 3:10) b. This image involves man as an intelligent being (Col. 3:10). As an intelligent being he can think, learn and plan. c. This image involves man as a moral being (Eph. 4:23-24). As a moral being he has a conscience and intuition that bear witness to right and wrong.

3. Man was placed in charge of God’s creation and given dominion. 4. Man was inspected by God and found to be “very good” (vs. 31).