Bible School · Old Testament survey · Class 1 of 68
In the beginning: creation, the image of God and the first garden
Genesis 1–2 · about 22 minutes · Creation and the image of God
By the end of this class you should be able to
- Outline Genesis 1 as a pattern of forming (days 1 to 3) and filling (days 4 to 6) that ends in the Sabbath.
- Explain what 'the image of God' meant to the first hearers and how Christian readings of it differ.
- Distinguish the accounts in Genesis 1 and 2 by viewpoint and purpose.
- Trace how the New Testament connects these chapters to Christ in John 1, Colossians 1, 1 Corinthians 15 and Hebrews 4.
Read the passage
1In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2Now the earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters. 3And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. 4And God saw that the light was good, and He separated the light from the darkness. 5God called the light “day,” and the darkness He called “night.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day. 6And God said, “Let there be an expanse between the waters, to separate the waters from the waters.” 7So God made the expanse and separated the waters beneath it from the waters above. And it was so. 8God called the expanse “sky.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the second day. 9And God said, “Let the waters under the sky be gathered into one place, so that the dry land may appear.” And it was so. 10God called the dry land “earth,” and the gathering of waters He called “seas.” And God saw that it was good. 11Then God said, “Let the earth bring forth vegetation: seed-bearing plants and fruit trees, each bearing fruit with seed according to its kind.” And it was so. 12The earth produced vegetation: seed-bearing plants according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. 13And there was evening, and there was morning—the third day. 14And God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to distinguish between the day and the night, and let them be signs to mark the seasons and days and years. 15And let them serve as lights in the expanse of the sky to shine upon the earth.” And it was so. 16God made two great lights: the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night. And He made the stars as well. 17God set these lights in the expanse of the sky to shine upon the earth, 18to preside over the day and the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. 19And there was evening, and there was morning—the fourth day. 20And God said, “Let the waters teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth in the open expanse of the sky.” 21So God created the great sea creatures and every living thing that moves, with which the waters teemed according to their kinds, and every bird of flight after its kind. And God saw that it was good. 22Then God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters of the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.” 23And there was evening, and there was morning—the fifth day. 24And God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures according to their kinds: livestock, land crawlers, and beasts of the earth according to their kinds.” And it was so. 25God made the beasts of the earth according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and everything that crawls upon the earth according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 26Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, after Our likeness, to rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, and over all the earth itself and every creature that crawls upon it.” 27So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. 28God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and every creature that crawls upon the earth.” 29Then God said, “Behold, I have given you every seed-bearing plant on the face of all the earth, and every tree whose fruit contains seed. They will be yours for food. 30And to every beast of the earth and every bird of the air and every creature that crawls upon the earth—everything that has the breath of life in it—I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so. 31And God looked upon all that He had made, and indeed, it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day.
Open Genesis 1 in the reader (BSB)2Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array. 2And by the seventh day God had finished the work He had been doing; so on that day He rested from all His work. 3Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because on that day He rested from all the work of creation that He had accomplished. 4This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made them. 5Now no shrub of the field had yet appeared on the earth, nor had any plant of the field sprouted; for the LORD God had not yet sent rain upon the earth, and there was no man to cultivate the ground. 6But springs welled up from the earth and watered the whole surface of the ground. 7Then the LORD God formed man from the dust of the ground and breathed the breath of life into his nostrils, and the man became a living being. 8And the LORD God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, where He placed the man He had formed. 9Out of the ground the LORD God gave growth to every tree that is pleasing to the eye and good for food. And in the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. 10Now a river flowed out of Eden to water the garden, and from there it branched into four headwaters: 11The name of the first river is Pishon; it winds through the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold. 12And the gold of that land is pure, and bdellium and onyx are found there. 13The name of the second river is Gihon; it winds through the whole land of Cush. 14The name of the third river is Hiddekel; it runs along the east side of Assyria. And the fourth river is the Euphrates. 15Then the LORD God took the man and placed him in the Garden of Eden to cultivate and keep it. 16And the LORD God commanded him, “You may eat freely from every tree of the garden, 17but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil; for in the day that you eat of it, you will surely die.” 18The LORD God also said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make for him a suitable helper.” 19And out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the air, and He brought them to the man to see what he would name each one. And whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name. 20The man gave names to all the livestock, to the birds of the air, and to every beast of the field. But for Adam no suitable helper was found. 21So the LORD God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep, and while he slept, He took one of the man’s ribs and closed up the area with flesh. 22And from the rib that the LORD God had taken from the man, He made a woman and brought her to him. 23And the man said: “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called ‘woman,’ for out of man she was taken.” 24For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh. 25And the man and his wife were both naked, and they were not ashamed.
Open Genesis 2 in the reader (BSB)01Background
Genesis is the first of the five books of Moses, called the Torah (Hebrew for 'instruction') or the Pentateuch (Greek for 'five scrolls'). The book does not name its author. Jewish and Christian tradition has long ascribed the Torah to Moses, and the New Testament speaks of Moses as the giver of the law (). Critical scholarship since the nineteenth century has more often argued that Genesis was assembled from several streams of tradition (often labelled J, E and P) and reached its final form in the monarchy or the exile; in that scheme belongs to the priestly stream. Many conservative scholars hold Mosaic authorship with later editorial updating. This class reads the final text as it stands, whichever view is held.
If Moses is the author, the first audience was Israel at Sinai, freed from Egypt and about to enter a land of many gods. If the final form is exilic, it was a people in Babylon, surrounded by the gods of an empire. Either way, creation stories were everywhere. The Babylonian poem Enuma Elish told of gods who fought, and of humans made from the blood of a slain god. Egypt and Mesopotamia worshipped the sun, moon and stars. answers with one God who creates by his word alone, with no rival to defeat; the sun and moon are not even named but called the greater and lesser lights ().
The chapters are therefore neither a modern scientific report nor a myth in the sense of an unreal story. They are a carefully shaped account of where the world came from, what it is for and who human beings are. The tradition note below names the main positions on the days.
02Outline
- The beginning: God creates; the earth is formless and empty
- Days 1 to 3: light, sky and sea, land and plants
- Days 4 and 5 and the land animals
- Humanity in God's image; the verdict 'very good'
- Day 7: God rests and makes the day holy
- The man formed from dust; the garden and its command
- The woman made; the first marriage
03How to read it
is Hebrew prose with a poetic shape, built on repeated phrases: 'And God said', 'and it was so', 'God saw that it was good', 'evening and morning'. Days 1 to 3 sit beside days 4 to 6 as parallel panels. First God forms the realms: light, then sky and sea, then land. Then he fills them: lights in the sky, birds and fish, land animals and humans. A writer who arranges material this way is making a point, which is a clue to genre. The rule is to ask what the first hearers were meant to learn: that God is the one Lord of all, that the world is ordered and good, and that humanity has a special place in it.
is narrative, a close-up of one man, one garden and one woman. The phrase 'These are the generations of' in is the first of a series of headings that structure Genesis; it introduces what grows out of the heavens and the earth. The two accounts are best read as complementary. gives the wide view, with God as Elohim, the majestic Creator. gives the human view, with God as the LORD God (Yahweh Elohim), who forms, plants and speaks personally. Some critical scholars see two sources set side by side; many other readers see one purpose, with a focused retelling about humanity.
Two rules follow. Let Scripture interpret itself: later texts (; and 104; to 45) use these chapters as teaching about God. And do not read the text as answering questions it never asks. It does not describe how God made things in physical detail. It says who made them, and why they matter.
04What the text says
Chapter 1:1–2
'In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.' The verb 'created' (bara) has only God as its subject in the Old Testament. 'The heavens and the earth' is the Hebrew way to say everything. Most translations take as a complete statement, as does this class; some Jewish interpreters, including Rashi, read 'When God began to create', joining it to . Both agree that God alone is Creator. describes an earth formless and empty (tohu wabohu), a waste not yet a home. 'The deep' is not a rival god, as in neighbouring stories, but raw material. The Spirit 'hovering' pictures a bird over its nest (compare ).
Chapter 1:3–13
God speaks, and it happens. He separates light from darkness and names them; naming in Hebrew thought sets a thing in its place. Day 2 makes an expanse, the sky. Day 3 gathers the waters so dry land appears and bears plants. Each work is 'good', fitting its purpose.
Chapter 1:14–25
The lights of day 4 have jobs: to separate day from night, to mark seasons, to give light. They are servants, not gods. On day 5 God blesses the sea creatures and birds, the first blessing in the Bible: be fruitful and multiply. Land animals come on day 6, each according to its kind.
Chapter 1:26–28
The pace slows: 'Let Us make man in Our image.' The plural has been read as God addressing his heavenly court (a common Jewish reading), as a plural of majesty or deliberation, and, from the early church on, as a hint of the Trinity that later revelation makes clear. The word 'image' (tselem) was used of a statue that stood for a god or king and represented his rule. Here the image is living men and women, male and female, carrying God's representation on the earth. 'Rule' (radah) and 'subdue' (kabash) are strong verbs, but they describe stewardship of a good world, with God's own care for creatures as the model.
Chapter 1:29–31
God gives plants for food, surveys all he has made and calls it very good. Matter, bodies, work and marriage stand approved.
Chapter 2:1–3
The seventh day alone has no 'evening and morning'. God finishes, rests, blesses the day and makes it holy. The rest is not tiredness but the Creator taking his seat in his completed world, in the pattern of a temple being dedicated. Israel's Sabbath rests on it ().
Chapter 2:4–7
A play on sound: the man (adam) is formed from the ground (adamah). God breathes into him and he becomes a living being. He is dust and breath together.
Chapter 2:8–17
God plants a garden in Eden with rivers flowing out. Two trees are named: the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The man is placed there to work it and keep it. These two verbs (abad and shamar) appear together later of the priests serving and guarding the tabernacle (), so Eden is drawn as a sanctuary. The command is generous: eat freely of every tree but one, on penalty of death.
Chapter 2:18–25
The first thing called 'not good' is that the man is alone. No animal is a fitting partner, so God builds the woman from his side, and the man answers in the Bible's first poem. She is called a 'helper' ('ezer), a word used elsewhere of God as Israel's helper, so it speaks of strength, not inferiority. gives the principle of marriage: a man leaves his parents and clings to his wife, and they become one flesh. They are naked and unashamed, an openness will break.
05Key terms
- created bara
- A verb used in the Old Testament only of God's activity, for bringing something new into being.
- formless and empty tohu wabohu
- Unformed and unfilled. The six days answer each lack in turn: forming, then filling.
- image tselem
- A likeness or statue. A king set up his image to mark his rule; Genesis says every human is God's representative.
- good tov
- Fitting, sound, doing what it was made to do. Used seven times in , the last time with 'very'.
- rest, Sabbath shabbat
- From a verb meaning to stop. God's rest marks completion and grounds Israel's Sabbath.
06In the whole Bible
lays the foundation for most major doctrines. God is the one Creator, distinct from creation, which depends on him. The church has expressed this as creation from nothing (creatio ex nihilo), stated plainly in later texts (; ) and taken as the sense of . The material world is good, against any view that matter or the body is evil.
Every human being, male and female, bears God's image (; ), so worth does not depend on strength or status. Christians read the image in three main ways: what humans are (reason, will, moral sense; a medieval and Catholic emphasis), what they do (representing God's rule, the reading the ancient background suggests), and how they relate (made as male and female for fellowship with God, stressed by Karl Barth). This class takes the representative reading as best fitting the context, without excluding the others, since representatives need the capacities and relationships to do the task.
The Bible's story is framed here. It begins with a garden-sanctuary, two trees, a man and woman and a command, and ends with a garden-city, the tree of life and a marriage ( to 22). The Sabbath points to a rest still ahead (). Jesus teaches marriage from (). Work belongs to the good order before sin. The Psalms answer with praise, and uses creation to assure exiles that the Maker of the heavens can restore his people.
07Where Christ is
The clearest link is fulfillment. opens with the words of and says that all things were made through the Word, who is God and became flesh. calls Christ 'the image of the invisible God' and says all things were created through him, and says God made the world through the Son. The repeated 'God said' of is read in this light as the Word at work. In Paul draws on the first day: the God who said that light should shine out of darkness has shone in our hearts 'in the face of Jesus Christ'. Creation is the pattern of new creation.
A second link is type. Paul quotes and names Jesus 'the last Adam' () and 'the second man' (). calls Adam a 'type' of the one to come. Adam was made in God's image to represent him; Christ is that image perfectly (), and in him humans are renewed in it ().
A third is the Sabbath rest. quotes and argues that God's rest remains open to those who trust Christ. Jesus says the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath (). A fourth is marriage: Paul quotes and calls it a mystery that refers to Christ and the church (). Many fathers heard in the woman taken from the sleeping man's side an echo of the church from Christ's pierced side (). The New Testament does not say so, so this is a tentative echo.
08How traditions read it
Christians differ on the 'days' of . Some, such as young-earth creationists, take them as ordinary days a few thousand years ago. Day-age readers take each as a long period. The framework view, associated with Meredith Kline, takes the six days as a literary frame. John Walton reads the chapter as God setting up the cosmos as his temple. Augustine was unsure the days were like ours. The church has not made one reading a test of faith. All affirm that God made everything, that humans bear his image and that the world is good, and this class depends on those points, not on the length of the days.
09Review questions
- What do the parallel panels of days 1 to 3 and days 4 to 6 teach about the order and purpose of creation?
- What did 'image' (tselem) mean in the ancient world, and how does Genesis apply it to all humans?
- How do and differ in viewpoint and in the way they name God, and why might they be read as complementary?
- Which two verbs describe the man's work in Eden (), and where else do they appear together?
- How do , and connect these chapters with Christ?
Prepared with AI assistance. A scholar's review is still to come; if you spot anything to correct, please tell us.
Your notes
Only you can see your notes.