Blessings TurleHuger:
Your problem with Genesis 1:1 is a good one that requires VERY DEEP STUDY to see the answer. I am currently working on a book that will cover Genesis from Verse 1 to the flood.
What you have to do to understand Genesis 1:1 is to be aware of figures of speech used in the Bible scriptures. E.W. Bullinger has a VERY large volume on them. I will present here enough to get you on the right track.
Genesis 1:1 In the beginning God created = Elohim, The Creator created.
The heaven and the earth
It does not say Earth, the proper noun, it is earth, a land, an area on the Earth, a particular area, etc. If you do not have the Esword Electronic Bible, I highly suggest to get it free on the inter-net. However, I donated some money for the brothers extensive work writing the software. That way you can bring up the Strong's concordance and many other tools to help you.
Returning to verse 1:1. There is no beginning or end with God, so by rewriting the verse one can get a different view as follows: At the start of this creating, Elohim created the heavens and the land. Again, heavens is a figure of speech. Taking a look at the following verse will really help you to understand this better.
John_8:12 Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying,
I am the light of the world: he that follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.
John_9:5 As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.
John_12:46 I am come a light into the world, that whosoever believes on me should not abide in darkness.
It is very clearly seen that the light is a spiritual light and not the Sun as is often taught. Why would the Sun be of any importance to the spiritual creation of Genesis? Yes, Genesis is about the spiritual creation, not the physical things. It contains enormous amounts of figures of speech.
Consider the clue that is given when Jesus said this: Have you not read that in the beginning God made them male and female? This shows that the writing were for the Ones who were to become Israel, the Hebrews. In the seed line given in Jesus as being the son of Adam; thus, the son of Man. I do not desire to enter into the deep things here. I will only give you clues as to how to read the scriptures in English.
Hence: At the start of this creating, Elohim created the heavens and the land. Have you read about the seed line of the Moses being as the stars?
Rewriting verse 1 we have the following: At the onset of creating this creation, Elohim created the heavens and the land. Remember the kingdom of heaven? God said; Let there be light and there was light. Here is the One who is to become Jesus Christ given as a figure of speech.
Joh_8:12 Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.
Joh_9:5 As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.
John_12:46 I am come a light into the world, that whosoever believes on Me should not abide in darkness.
Mat_4:16 The people which sat in darkness saw great light; and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death light is sprung up.
Mat_6:23 But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness.
If therefore the light that is in you be darkness, how great is that darkness!
To completely understand all of the firs 6 chapters of Genesis is a MAJOR WORK!
I hope this gets you started on the correct path and not the normal path of darkness in the woods.
Andy Centek
https://www.christianforums.com/threads/theological-questions-for-day-age-creationists.8002924/:L