Genesis 1:3-31: ‘And God said…’

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Genesis 1 tells us that God did not create the earth and the heavens above for His own comfort, He created it for ours.  The primary purpose of creation was for the use of mankind — His Image upon the Earth. God said it was good and He took pleasure in His creation, particularly its culmination in creating mankind with His own hands. God will fulfill His pleasure and it will be complete.

Gen 1:3 says in English, “Then God said, ‘Let there be light’; and there was light.”  The word for light is ’owr or ’or (Strong’s H215). The more literal meaning of this word is “shine” or “to be luminous.” We know that God is light and when Yeshua says that He is the light of the world and that He is coming back, He brings this true light with Him. 

When you are a light to someone, you don’t want to flame them or burn them but to glow and shine on them so they can see for themselves their condition before God. 

In Genesis 1, the text use the phrase “God said…” appears 11 times. The Hebrew word that is translated as said is ’amar (H559). 

The first four chapters of Genesis not only tell us the beginning of things but also how things will end and be recreated. 

Gen 1:4 says in the English, “God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness.” the word that is translated as “the light was good” is not the most literal translation. A more literal translation of this verse is that God saw the light because it was good. 

The word translated as “good” is ke-tov.  

 Gen. 1:5 tell us that he called the light “day” and the dark “night.” This first day and night were joined together as yom ’echad (Strong’s H3117 and H258). This is the first time the word ’echad is used in the Bible. 

Gen. 1:6-7 tells us that he separated the water and that he made, not created, the expanse and this is how the heavens came into being. 

Gen. 1:9-13 goes back from making to creating on the third day. He creates the earth with its water and land separated. He creates the vegetation, including trees, fruits and seeds. 

 Gen. 1:14-19 tells us that God created the “firmament.” In this firmament are the sun, moon, stars, galaxies. These were made them “to be for signs, and seasons, and for days and years.” This is the first mention of the Hebrew word moedim (Strong’s H4150). They were made to bring light to the Earth. The earth was not made for the sake of the sun, moon, stars and galaxies but those things were made for the sake of the Earth.

As God says in Gen. 1:17, “God placed them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth, and to govern the day and the night, and to separate the light from the darkness; and God saw that it was good.” 

The moon has no light of itself, it only has what the sun gives it. During those times of the month when there is no sunlight to reflect on the moon, the stars rule the night, instead of the moon. Even though the stars are further away, they still give light. 

The sun is supposed to represent the Creator, the moon, which reflects the sun is the Messiah. The stars, who are there when the Messiah is not there, are like the prophets. The prophets are more difficult to understand than the words of God or the words of the Messiah. The words of the prophets are so distant they are tough to understand. Some of very bright and some are not. Some are easy to understand and some are not. 

God is still showing us what He wants us to see, even His deep things. We can see the deep things of God only with His spirit. 

Now, let’s go to Gen. 1:24-31 to wrap this up. We see God, in a sense, talking to Himself as He prepares to make mankind. There are a couple of theories about who God is speaking with here. Some say it’s the Trinity: Father, Son and Holy Ghost. Some say He was speaking with the angelic host. 

God tells mankind to fill the earth and to multiply to subdue it. Some believe that man is called to “replenish” the earth, but that word is not in the Hebrew. Mankind care called up to multiply but not just for the sake of reproduction. The command from God to man and woman are called to subdue the earth and have dominion over it, including the animals, fish, and birds. He gave the Earth to mankind, not mankind to the Earth. 

Yeshua said, “The first shall be last and the last shall be first.” Do you see that in Genesis 1? What was the first thing in Genesis? Light. What was the last thing in Genesis? Man. What is God completing here? He is creating an image of Himself.

David asked, “Who are you that you would be mindful of me?” The reason that God created the heavens and earth was for us. We were not created for the heavens and earth. The idea that mankind are just animals and have the same status as other animals is not in the Bible. God does not need a bunch of birds or fruit trees to be God. God doesn’t need food and water to drink but we do in the flesh. This is why God created these things. 

The primary purpose of creation was for the use of mankind — His Image upon the Earth. He said it was good and He took pleasure in man. He will fulfill His pleasure and it will be complete. 

God has to be pleased with you for you to be there with Him for eternity and you have to be pleased with Him to be there. 

God wants us to be like Him, we can only be like Him if we receive His spirit and follow His Messiah to the end of our lives. 

Speaker: Richard Agee. Summary: Tammy.