A Study of the Scriptures: The Old Testament - Part 1.

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A Study of the Scriptures: The Old Testament.

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Gen 1:1 "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth (Genesis 1:1).

My Commentary: In the beginning. Our beginning. Man's beginning. For the beginning explains where we come from. It is our origin. God created us. God created the heaven and the earth. This is everything that we see, smell, taste, and touch. God created the heaven, and the earth. The heaven is the sky, and space. We see the beauty of this amazing sky. When we look up into the clouds and see the artistry of a sunset and or uniquely crafted clouds into shapes that our minds try to picture things that we can relate to. At night, we see the vastness of our universe with the countless stars in the sky. These stars twinkle like gems and make us feel small in the vastness of space. God created every one of these stars and He has even named each of them. For God created heaven, and it is indeed beautiful and awe inspiring. God also created the earth, too. A place perfectly fine tuned for life. God made the complexity of the humming bird, the roaring water fall, the brilliant multi-colored rainbow, and the natural smell of nature in the air from beautiful trees and lakes. The sun can warm our skin, and the sound of an evening rain can hypnotize us to sleep. The soul is calmed by soaking in God's nature. God's natural world is created to be good. A place for man to take in it's beauty, wonder, and food. To live. A place that God created. A place called Earth. Man's dwelling place created by God.... in the beginning.

 

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Genesis 1:1 also speaks ahead to the beginning of the gospel of John.

1 "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
2 The same was in the beginning with God.
3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made." (John 1:1-3).

In the beginning was the Word. The Living Word (Logos) is Jesus. This Word (Jesus) is God and He was also with God (God the Father). How can this be? It is the Blessed Trinity (i.e. the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost, and these three are one). For the Lord our God is one God who exists in three persons. All things (Heaven and Earth) were made by Him (Jesus), and without the Lord Jesus Christ (the Word), nothing was made.

Jesus (the Living Word) is our creator. He is the creator of the Heaven, and the Earth in the beginning. Our Savior, is also our Creator at the beginning. Jesus. How beautiful that name is. The creator of many beautiful things we see. The Savior. A beautiful Savior who can turn dark and sick hearts into beautiful hearts. For there is no other name under Heaven whereby we can be saved. There is no other means by which we are here, but by Jesus. He is our creator. Our Savior. Our go between between to God the Father. Our King. Our pearl of great price. Our everything.

 

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Genesis 1:1 also speaks ahead to a time where there will be a new beginning for mankind. God will create a new heaven, and a new earth where there will be no more pain or suffering, or death. A new beginning with Christ forever ruling with mankind for all eternity. A happy eternal ending to a new and beautiful beginning.

 

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Gen 1:2 "And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters."

"And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters."
(Genesis 1:2).

My Commentary:

The earth was without form and void.

This suggests before the creation, the earth may have been either the entire universe as some kind of dark shapeless void like earth (with water), or it could have been an ever changing mass like cloud that was void of any one particular form or shape (with water).

One thing that is interesting is that the water is already here. In the beginning we do not see God creating the water. The water is already present in the beginning. I believe this is the case because the water is symbolic of both the "Living Word" (Jesus) who is eternal, and the "communicated Word of God" (Which would be the audible words of God or the Scriptures) which is also eternal. For "...the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you." (1 Peter 1:25).

God's Word (that is eternal) glorifies the eternal or everlasting gospel.

"And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people," (Revelation 14:6).

For the gospel is about Jesus (the Eternal One).

The gospel is that Jesus Christ died on the cross for men's sins (your sins, and mine) and He had risen three days later so as to give us a new and risen life in Him if we believe in Him as our Savior by faith. Jesus died and was risen to redeem us of our sins and to give us everlasting life. This is by His Word (representative of "water" in the Bible).

The Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.

How fitting. The Holy Ghost had inspired (moved) men to write Scripture (i.e. the everlasting communicated Word of God). It is interesting that it says face of the waters. When we look into the face or surface of water, we see a reflection. The communicated Word of God is described as glass/mirror in James 1.

 

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Gen 1:3 "And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.
Gen 1:4 And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.
Gen 1:5 And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day."

"And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness. And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day." (Genesis 1:3-5).

My Commentary: On the first day of creation God spoke light into existence. This was not light from any sun or stars yet. But this was light before any sun, or stars came into existence yet. This physical light here shined out the darkness that was once there before. This light is a picture (symbolic) of Jesus. For Jesus is the light of the world.

4 "In him was life; and the life was the light of men.
5 And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not."
(John 1:4-5).

9 "That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.
10 He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not."
(John 1:9-10).

For in the new kingdom, Jesus will be our source of physical light.

"And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof." (Revelation 21:23).

On this Earth (within the present):
"...if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin." (1 John 1:7).

God is about relationships. He wants us to walk in His light and know His love, so we can truly love Him, and others.

In the beginning, God declared this light to be good.
This again is symbolic of the light who is Jesus. For Jesus is good. For He is the good shepherd.

"I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep." (John 10:11).

God wanted us to know the difference between light and darkness (night). For God knew the choice that we would make between choosing sin (or our own path) instead of God (who is light). For there is no darkness in God (1 John 1:5). God allowed for a universe to have a night and a day so as to symbolically point to what was to come for mankind and His love towards him.

This light all happened on the first day in the beginning. The Alpha. Yet, Jesus is our Alpha. Jesus is our beginning both of how we came to be in this world physically and He is our Alpha or new beginning when we seek to be born again by Him by seeking forgiveness of our sins by way of prayer towards Him (believing in His death and resurrection for salvation). Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. Jesus provided a way for life by being a light unto this dark and dying world. Jesus loves us and the light of His love even beckons and shines symbolically even within the first page of Genesis.

Jesus.

The light of the world.

 

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Gen 1:6 "And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.
Gen 1:7 And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so.
Gen 1:8 And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day."

"And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters. And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so. And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day." (Genesis 1:6-8).

My Commentary:

The word "firmament" here is space or expanse.
In essence, the "firmament" is the sky.
In verse 6 God was dividing the waters so as to be above and below this pocket of space known as "heaven" or "sky." The waters below would be the ocean at this point on Day 2.
The waters above would be the clouds in the sky (and our atmosphere).

Jesus was in water (when He was being baptized) and He heard the voice of God the Father up in Heaven and saying, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."

 

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Gen 1:9 "And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so.
Gen 1:10 And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good."

"And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so. And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good." (Genesis 1:9-10).

My Commentary:

If you were to remember my previous commentary, the water represents the communicated "Word of God" (i.e. Which today would be the Bible). On day three of creation, we have the appearance of dry land and vegetation. On this day: We see the waters gathering into one place with the dry land appearing (Which is called "Earth"). Land includes Rocks or Rock. Jesus is the Rock of our salvation (See 1 Corinthians 10:4, 1 Peter 2:4-8, and Acts of the Apostles 4:11). Jesus says that the Scriptures testify of Him (See: John 5:39).

So in this particular example:

The Water = Scripture / The Bible.
The Dry Land (Rock) = Jesus.

Scripture tells us about Jesus and His love for us in that He died for our sins and was risen three days later. For faith comes by hearing and hearing the Word of God.

So the Water makes way for the Dry Land to Appear.
The Scriptures make it possible for us to know Jesus.