Jon Courson’s Application Commentary

Genesis 1

1:1

In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

Lots of people get hung up on verse 1 of chapter 1. And this presents a problem, for if one doesn't

agree with the opening statement of the first sentence, it will be difficult for him to accept what

follows.

"You don't really believe that God created heaven and earth in six days, do you?" scoffs the

cynic. "That might be a nice legend, even a practical parable—but you can't really take this

seriously. It's just not scientific!"

Gang, the book in your hand doesn't claim to be a book of science. Yet whenever it touches on

issues of science, it is absolutely infallible. There is no proven scientific fact that contradicts a

single statement written in the pages of this book.

Have ye not known? have ye not heard? hath it not been told you from the beginning? have ye

not understood from the foundations of the earth? It is he that sitteth upon the circle of the

earth... Isaiah 40:21, 22

Every culture, every nation, every people throughout world history believed the earth to be flat

as a pancake—until Christopher Columbus proved the validity of Isaiah's words.

He stretcheth out the north over the empty place, and hangeth the earth upon nothing. Job 26:7

God hangs the earth on nothing?

Learned scholars in India would have said, "We all know the world is held up on the backs of

giant elephants." The Greeks maintained that the earth was held in place by the bulging biceps

and massive shoulders of Atlas. South Sea islanders believed the earth was supported on the

backs of giant tortoises.

Sure enough, the more we learn, the more we find the Bible is right all along. I like that!

"Wait a minute," some say. "Genesis 1:1 may address spirituality and theology, but it can't be

taken literally—not in this day, when the theory of evolution has been accepted so completely."

Keep in mind that evolution at best is a theory—and a bankrupt one at that. Many men of science

who are neither believers in Jesus Christ nor students of the Bible have turned away from the

evolutionary hypothesis because it violates the most foundational, fundamental principles and

laws of known science. For example, one of the most important laws of science is the Second

Law of Thermodynamics. It's not a theory, not a hypothesis, but a basic principle which says

everything goes from order to disorder.

If I create the outline of a horse by arranging marbles on a sheet of plywood, place my finished

work in the backseat of my VW, drive around town for half an hour, when I stop the car, will the

horse be more intricate? Will the horse become even finer in detail, more elaborate artistically?

Or will there be a bunch of marbles on the floor?

One of the principles upon which science is predicated is the fact that everything goes from order

to disorder. The theory of evolution completely violates this understanding, maintaining as it

does, that things go from disorder to greater order, from simplicity to complexity.

"But the great minds embrace the theory of evolution," some insist. Do they?

The man Discover Magazine rated as the greatest scientific thinker in history is Sir Isaac

Newton. Newton was mocked because his contemporaries couldn't understand why he believed

there really was a God who created the world in six days. One day, Sir Isaac made an elaborate

model of the solar system, which took up the entire front room of his house. Impressed by its

details, his colleagues asked him where he got the model.

"I didn't get it," Newton said.

"Oh. You made it?"

"No, I didn't buy it. I didn't make it. No one put it here. It just appeared."

And suddenly they got his point.

The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork. Day unto day

uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge. There is no speech nor language,

where their voice is not heard. Psalm 19:1-3

The grandeur of the universe undeniably points to the existence of a Creator. But men suppress

this truth, not wanting to be accountable to this Creator (Romans 1). That is why you can defend

the Genesis account on the basis of science until you're blue in the face—and still fail to

convince the skeptic.

You can engage people intellectually, banter with people philosophically, appeal to people

rationally only to have them oppose you adamantly. The bottom line isn't biology or philosophy,

academics or genetics, Darwin or doctrine. The bottom line is the same as it is for every

controversy or concern, debate or dilemma.

The bottom line is Jesus.

"I and My Father are one," He said. And the people listening to Him that day clearly understood

the implication. So incensed were they by His claim to deity that they picked up rocks to stone

Him on the spot (John 10:30, 31).

"Show us a sign," they said, "to verify You are who You claim to be."

"One sign only will I give you," He said. "Destroy this body and in three days, I will rise again"

(John 2:18-21).

Thus, the entire burden of proof for Jesus' claim to deity lies in His empty tomb. And the door of

faith to believe everything He ever said swings on the hinge of the Resurrection. His

Resurrection, documented by over five-hundred eyewitnesses proves Jesus is God.

As God, Jesus speaks with absolute authority. As God, Jesus fashioned the Garden of Eden

creatively (John 1:3). As God, Jesus referred to Adam and Eve specifically (Mark 10:6).

Therefore, when talking to a skeptic, take the argument away from all of the scientific debate,

and back to the single issue that matters: Who is Jesus Christ? That's the key.

1:2a

And the earth was without form, and void...

The Hebrew phrase here is tohuw va bohuw. Suddenly, the earth was 'tohuw va bohuw.' We see this

phrase again in Isaiah 45:18, where we read that God created the heaven and earth not in vain—not

"tohuw va bohuw."

Now, if Isaiah says God did not create the earth without form and void, but Genesis 1 says the

earth was without form and void, what's going on?

Along with many Bible scholars, I believe an event took place between Genesis 1:1 and 1:2

described in Isaiah 14 and Ezekiel 28, wherein an archangel named Lucifer launched a rebellion

against God and was kicked out of heaven. Along with one-third of the angels who followed him

in his rebellion, he came to earth, where he would become "the god of this world" (2 Corinthians

4:4). So great was the impact when, in a sense, hell hit earth, that our planet suddenly became

"without form and void."

1:2b

...and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved...

God is always coming in on something which has been messed up by the enemy. Here, the world is a

mess, without form and void, wiped-out, wasted. And God begins to move.

1:2c

...upon the face of the waters.

Throughout Scripture, water is a symbol of the Word.

Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you. John 15:3

Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; That he

might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word. Ephesians 5:25, 26

How does the Spirit of God move?

Upon the face of the water—upon the Word.

Suddenly you hear a Bible study, listen to a radio program, watch a crusade on TV, or talk to a

buddy and as the water of the Word is shared, the Spirit of God moves.

1:3

And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.

The Hebrew literally reads: "Light be! And light was." Here we see the recreation of planet earth.

1:4

And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.

In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth; the earth became wiped out; the Spirit moved

on the face of the water; and God said "Let there be light."

That's your story. You were created in God's image, but sin wiped you out. The Spirit of God

moved in through the Word. You saw the light—and you were born again. Then God separated

the darkness from the light, and good things began to happen—not only in creation physically,

but in your life personally because of God's sovereign grace and mercy.

1:5

And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.

Notice the phraseology. "The evening and the morning were the first day." That's still the way the

Jewish people reckon their days. They begin in the evening and end in the morning. They go from

darkness to light. I like that!

1:6-

8

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.

Scripturally, "heaven" refers not only to the stars above us, and the destiny awaiting us, but to the

atmosphere around us. This passage makes it clear that when God recreated earth, there was water

above the firmament, or atmosphere—which means that, with a water canopy surrounding its

atmosphere, earth would have been a great big greenhouse. It means nothing would get wiped out by

ultraviolet rays. It means the whole planet would have shared the same climate. It explains why

fossils of tropical vegetation are found in the Arctic Circle. It explains why man could live nine

hundred years.

To cause the Flood in Noah's day, God collapsed the protective canopy, which deluged the earth

with water. And as a result, cataclysmic changes took place. The climate was altered radically.

And man had to wear SPF40 sunscreen just to live to seventy.

1:9-

13

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. And God said, Let the

earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind,

whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so. And the earth brought forth grass, and

herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after

his kind: and God saw that it was good. And the evening and the morning were the third day.

On the first day, light was created. On the second day, the atmosphere was created. On the third day,

life is created. Why does life appear on the third day? Because Jesus—the Way, the Truth, the Life—

rose on the third day.

1:14-19

And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from

the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years: And let

them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was

so. And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light

to rule the night: he made the stars also. And God set them in the firmament of the heaven

to give light upon the earth, And to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the

light from the darkness: and God saw that it was good. And the evening and the morning

were the fourth day.

On the fourth day, God made the sun and the moon.

Jesus is the Light of the world (John 8:12). He said we are also to be lights (Matthew 5:14). He is

the greater light—the sun. We are the lesser light—the moon—reflecting His light to our dark

world.

I recently watched the moon appear smaller and smaller in an eclipse, and was reminded that to

whatever extent the world gets between the sun and the moon is the extent to which the light of

the sun upon the moon is diminished. The same thing is true with me and you. Jesus is the sun;

we're the moon; and to whatever degree we allow the world to come between us, His light in our

lives will fade proportionately. If you were to chart your own life tonight, would you be a full

moon, a three-quarter moon, half moon, quarter moon, or eclipsed moon? It all depends on how

much of the world you allow to creep in between you and the Son.

1:20-25

And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life,

and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven. And God created

great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth

abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it

was good. And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in

the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth. And the evening and the morning were the

fifth day. And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle,

and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so. And God made the

beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth

upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good.

This passage deals a deathblow to theistic evolution—the idea that God started the process and then

let the species evolve one into another. The language in the Hebrew is emphatic: "after their kind,"

"after his kind," "after its kind." In other words, there could be changes within a species but not

changes from one species to another. Scientists have been able to breed fruitflies into millions of

generations. And guess what. They're still fruitflies. Not one has become a honeybee.

1:26a

And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness...

The Hebrew word translated "God" is Elohim. El is the singular form. "Elohim" refers to three or

more. Thus, the very word "God" in Hebrew speaks of the Trinity.

We, too, are triune beings. We are body, soul, and spirit. The body refers to our physical being.

The soul refers to our mind and our emotions, and relates to people. The spirit refers to our

eternal being, and relates to God. Animals have bodies and souls. But they do not have spirits

because they're not made in God's image. Only man is a spiritual being.

1:26b-

28a

...and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and

over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon

the earth. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him;

male and female created he them. And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it...

Before things go haywire due to the Fall, God gives an assignment to man: Subdue the earth.

Subdue it from what?

From Satan.

From the very beginning, God said, "This little rock called earth is the place where there is to be

a cosmic showdown between Me and Satan. So I'm going to use you, mankind, to partner with

Me as part of the process to drive out the enemy."

How?

By being fruitful and multiplying.

How are you to subdue your earth, your world, your family which seems to be in the grasp and

grip of the enemy?

By being fruitful.

Because the fruit of the Spirit is love (Galatians 5:22), and because love covers a multitude of

sins (1 Peter 4:8), you'll be fruitful if you don't criticize, gossip, or find fault with things, people,

or situations. You'll be fruitful if you speak words of love and peace, patience and gentleness, for

such is the fruit of the Spirit.

James talks about the tongue being an instrument of fire (James 3:6). If you find fault with your

neighbor, your job, your school, your church, your family—you will hand your world over to the

hellish flames of the enemy. But if you speak words of affirmation and encouragement, of faith

and joy—you will replace the fires of hell with the fruit of heaven.

I talked to a mom and dad who had opinions about the church and the country, the politicians

and the government. All their kids ever heard was Mom and Dad putting something down. And

now Mom and Dad can't figure out why their kids don't want to go to church.

"Could it be that you've poisoned your own well?" I asked.

"But we only complained to our own family," they said.

Ah, but their own family was the very world in which they were to be fruitful, in which they

were to multiply.

How do we multiply?

Acts 6 tells us the Word of God increased, and the number of disciples multiplied when the

Word was shared.

If you talk to your kids, your classmates, your coworkers about the Word, you will see

multiplication of life and love. And suddenly the world in which you live will be subdued, won

back from the enemy.

We now know that every solid object retains the imprint of a sound wave. The very principle

which allows a CD to be pressed or a tape to be made affects this chair, this microphone, my

tennis shoe. Jesus could have been hinting at this when He said, "If I tell My disciples to be

quiet, the rocks would cry out" (see Luke 19:40). Thus, I challenge you to live tomorrow as

though everything you say to your husband or wife, family or friends is being recorded to be

replayed to the whole church. Such is the way to live, for every word you say produces life or

death, fruit or fire. Kids who grow up hearing Mom and Dad talk about the Word and how good

God is, how much they appreciate fellowship and prayer and praise, plug in and worship God,

and walk with Him all of their days.

Subdue your world, gang, by speaking love and by sharing the Word—by being fruitful and

multiplying.

1:28b-

31

...and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over

every living thing that moveth upon the earth. And God said, Behold, I have given you

every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the

which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat. And to every beast

of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the

earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so. And

God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.

Our God is awesome. He could have said, "For nourishment, take a pill." Instead He said, "For food,

here's a thrill—the colors and textures and tastes of bananas and mangoes and guavas and avocadoes

and tomatoes and celery are all yours to enjoy."

"He satisfies our mouth with good things," David declares (Psalm 103:5).

"Every good and perfect gift comes from above," James echoes (1:17).

"He has given us richly all things to enjoy," Paul affirms (1 Timothy 6:17).

"If you being evil know how to give good gifts to your kids, how much more will the

Heavenly Father give good things to them that ask Him?" Jesus says (see Matthew 7:11).

"Then why haven't I received what I've been asking for?" you wonder.

The answer is, "Because it's not a good gift." If it was good, God would give it to you, for He

withholds no good thing from them that walk uprightly (Psalm 84:11).

Jon Courson, Jon Courson's Application Commentary – Jon Courson's Application Commentary

Old Testament Volume 1, (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2005), WORDsearch CROSS e-book,

1-6.