Limitless Word

Genesis 1

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Quick answer

God creates an ordered, good world in six days and rests on the seventh, making humanity in his image to rule it.

Genesis 1 is structured poetry-prose: days 1–3 form the realms, days 4–6 fill them, and humanity is the climax — male and female in God's image. The refrain "and God saw that it was good" and the seventh-day rest frame creation as a temple where God will dwell with what he has made.

Part of Creation📖 Genesis introduction

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1In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. ✦ 2The earth was formless and empty. Darkness was on the surface of the deep and God’s Spirit was hovering over the surface of the waters. ✦ 3God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. ✦ 4God saw the light, and saw that it was good. God divided the light from the darkness. ✦ 5God called the light “day”, and the darkness he called “night”. There was evening and there was morning, the first day. ✦ 6God said, “Let there be an expanse in the middle of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.” ✦ 7God made the expanse, and divided the waters which were under the expanse from the waters which were above the expanse; and it was so. ✦ 8God called the expanse “sky”. There was evening and there was morning, a second day. ✦ 9God said, “Let the waters under the sky be gathered together to one place, and let the dry land appear”; and it was so. ✦ 10God called the dry land “earth”, and the gathering together of the waters he called “seas”. God saw that it was good. ✦ 11God said, “Let the earth yield grass, herbs yielding seeds, and fruit trees bearing fruit after their kind, with their seeds in it, on the earth”; and it was so. ✦ 12The earth yielded grass, herbs yielding seed after their kind, and trees bearing fruit, with their seeds in it, after their kind; and God saw that it was good. ✦ 13There was evening and there was morning, a third day. 14God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs to mark seasons, days, and years; ✦ 15and let them be for lights in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth”; and it was so. 16God made the two great lights: the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night. He also made the stars. ✦ 17God set them in the expanse of the sky to give light to the earth, ✦ 18and to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness. God saw that it was good. ✦ 19There was evening and there was morning, a fourth day. 20God said, “Let the waters abound with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth in the open expanse of the sky.” ✦ 21God created the large sea creatures and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarmed, after their kind, and every winged bird after its kind. God saw that it was good. ✦ 22God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.” ✦ 23There was evening and there was morning, a fifth day. 24God said, “Let the earth produce living creatures after their kind, livestock, creeping things, and animals of the earth after their kind”; and it was so. ✦ 25God made the animals of the earth after their kind, and the livestock after their kind, and everything that creeps on the ground after its kind. God saw that it was good. ✦ 26God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the sky, and over the livestock, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” ✦ 27God created man in his own image. In God’s image he created him; male and female he created them. ✦ 28God blessed them. God said to them, “Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, and subdue it. Have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the sky, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” ✦ 29God said, “Behold, I have given you every herb yielding seed, which is on the surface of all the earth, and every tree, which bears fruit yielding seed. It will be your food. ✦ 30To every animal of the earth, and to every bird of the sky, and to everything that creeps on the earth, in which there is life, I have given every green herb for food;” and it was so. ✦ 31God saw everything that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. There was evening and there was morning, a sixth day. ✦

Tap any verse for its study page. Underlined terms mark a concept, person, or place; ✦ marks verses with cross-references.

In this chapter

Concept Elohim — GodConcept The Deep (Tehom)Concept The Image of God (Imago Dei)

Where this chapter connects

Gen 1 ·38Ps 104 ·22Job 38 ·12Job 26 ·10Gen 9 ·10Ps 148 ·10Gen 2 ·9Ps 33 ·8

Christ at the center

From the first promise that the seed of the woman would crush the serpent (3:15), through Abraham's blessing to all nations and Judah's coming ruler, Genesis sows every seed that flowers in Christ — the true offspring, the better Adam, the ram caught for Isaac.

How Genesis 1 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Resources, by level

Lay

  • ★ Start hereDocumentaryExpedition BibleJoel Kramer · Free · evangelical

    On-location biblical archaeology from a credentialed archaeologist (M.A., excavated in Israel) — the best free place to start on "did it really happen?"

  • ★ Start hereAudioThrough the WordThrough the Word · ~10 min/chapter · Free · evangelical

    A clear ~10-minute audio teaching for every one of the Bible's 1,189 chapters — the most systematic free way to study chapter by chapter.

  • ★ Start hereVideoOverview: Genesis 1–11BibleProject · 9 min · Free

    The single best free starting point for Genesis 1–11 — clear, visual, and faithful to the literary design.

  • VideoSpoken GospelSpoken Gospel · Free · evangelical

    Short, gospel-centered videos and spoken-word poems showing how each passage points to Jesus — especially strong on the Old Testament.

  • ReferenceBook of Genesis — Visual GuideBibleProject · Free

    A free structured guide to the whole book — outline, themes, and links to each video.

  • DocumentaryIs Genesis History?Del Tackett · Free · evangelical

    A young-earth-creationist case for a literal Genesis, free on YouTube. (YEC is one view held by faithful Christians; others read Genesis differently — see the genre guide on how to read it.)

Pastoral

  • SermonChuck Smith — C2000 SeriesChuck Smith · Free · evangelical

    Free verse-by-verse audio through the entire Bible from the founder of Calvary Chapel.

  • CommentaryCommentary on Genesis 1Matthew Henry · Free

    The beloved devotional-pastoral classic, free and public domain — warm, quotable, verse by verse.

Seminary

  • ★ Start hereCommentaryGenesis (Word Biblical Commentary)Gordon J. Wenham · Paid · evangelical

    For decades the gold-standard commentary on Genesis — technical but rich. (See the ranked list for alternatives like Hamilton, NICOT.)

  • BookThe Pentateuch as NarrativeJohn H. Sailhamer · ~560 pp · Library · evangelical

    A literary-theological reading that makes Genesis's design visible.

Commentaries & study tools

Genesis 2 →