Genesis 1:1-2:3

¹ In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. ² The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. 

³ And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. ⁴ And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness. ⁵ God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day. 

⁶ And God said, “Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.” ⁷ And God made the expanse and separated the waters that were under the expanse from the waters that were above the expanse. And it was so. ⁸ And God called the expanse Heaven. And there was evening and there was morning, the second day. 

⁹ And God said, “Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear.” And it was so. ¹⁰ God called the dry land Earth, and the waters that were gathered together he called Seas. And God saw that it was good.

¹¹ And God said, “Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind, on the earth.” And it was so. ¹² The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed according to their own kinds, and trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. ¹³ And there was evening and there was morning, the third day. 

¹⁴ And God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night. And let them be for signs and for seasons, and for days and years, ¹⁵ and let them be lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light upon the earth.” And it was so. ¹⁶ And God made the two great lights—the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night—and the stars. ¹⁷ And God set them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth, ¹⁸ to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. ¹⁹ And there was evening and there was morning, the fourth day. 

²⁰ And God said, “Let the waters swarm with swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the heavens.” ²¹ So God created the great sea creatures and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarm, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. ²² And God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.” ²³ And there was evening and there was morning, the fifth day. 

²⁴ And God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures according to their kinds—livestock and creeping things and beasts of the earth according to their kinds.” And it was so. ²⁵ And God made the beasts of the earth according to their kinds and the livestock according to their kinds, and everything that creeps on the ground according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 

²⁶ Then God 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 heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” 

²⁷ So God created man in his own image, 
in the image of God he created him; 
male and female he created them. 

²⁸ And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” ²⁹ And God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food. ³⁰ And to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the heavens and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so. ³¹ And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day. 

¹ Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. ² And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. ³ So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation.

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

An overture is a medley that opens an opera, suite, or play, and it introduces the different songs you will hear through the whole work. Movies used to do this often. Most of you are probably familiar with The Sound of Music. The movie begins with scenes of the mountains and fields surrounding Salzburg, Austria, and after Julie Andrews frolics through the grass singing “The Hills Are Alive,” the overture begins. The overture continues several more measures of “The Hills Are Alive,” but then transitions into “Do-Re-Mi,” followed by, “A Few of My Favorite Things,” which morphs into “Something Good,” and closes with a brief hint to “Climb Every Mountain.” There aren’t any lyrics in the overture, so you don’t know that part of the song, but you get to hear the melody so it sticks in your mind and you are able to recognize it when the actual song enters the movie. Not every song gets into the overture, but it gives you an idea of the significant events that are coming up in the film.

Well, the text we just heard is the overture of all of Scripture. So much of what the Bible teaches is introduced in these verses, but too often we miss them because we’re so familiar with the account of creation. So, we’re going to do our best to open our ears to hear the themes that are introduced in this text. We will catch some of the melodies presented to us, so that when the rest of Scripture gives us the lyrics, we can recognize the music behind the song. Just so you know, because there is so much packed into these verses, we aren’t going to be able to hit everything. Sorry.

Right off the bat, we are introduced to one of the great, mysterious theological truths of Scripture – we serve a triune God. In Hebrew, the third and fourth words are ‘God’ and ‘created.’ The interesting thing is that the word for ‘God’ is Elohim, which is a plural word, but the verb for ‘created’ is singular. This would sound really weird to a Hebrew-speaker reading it. Imagine if you read, “The painters (pl.) cleans (sg.) their brushes.” It’s a little jarring.

On top of that, in v. 2-3, you are introduced to each of the three Persons of the Trinity (especially if you know the rest of your Bible). You see the Spirit of God hovering over the waters. (The Holy Spirit’s connection to water is a whole theme of Scripture by itself, but we’re not going to dive into that today.) The Holy Spirit is over the water. God the Father speaks. And the Word that is spoken is Jesus who was in the beginning with God through whom all things were made (Jn. 1:3).

We see a return to this theme of the Trinity in v. 26 where God says, “Let us make man in our (pl.) image (sg.) after our (pl.) likeness (sg.).” Then, v. 27 says with poetic beauty, “So God (pl.) created (sg.) man (sg.) in His (sg.) own image, in the image of God (pl.) He created (sg.) him (sg.); male and female He created (sg.) them (pl.).” Just briefly, as a sidenote, part of us being created in the image of God is that we share with God a plurality. Our one God has a plurality of three, one mankind has a plurality of two. This is why I would encourage you to not use someone’s “preferred pronouns” – especially if those pronouns are the plural, they/them. That is a demonic attempt to twist and mangle God’s creation and to make an individual more than he or she actually is. Moving on.

The second part of the overture I’ll point out today is that God is a God of order (1 Cor. 14:33). And we see this in the details of what is created each day. In v. 2, we are told that the earth is without form and void. In days 1-3, God creates defined spaces that give form and order, and in days 4-6, God fills those spaces. You can think of it as God creating a shelf on days 1-3 and God filling those shelves days 4-6. Day one, God creates light and time; then on day four, God fills it with sun, moon, and stars. Day two, God creates the atmosphere and waters; then on day five, God fills those spaces with birds and fish. Day three, God creates land and plants; then on day six, God fills the space with animals and mankind. 

This is so beautiful. God doesn’t just build the house of creation. He also fills and decorates it. Because God creates with this order, we can say that wherever and whenever we see disorder, there are evil forces working against God. Satan brought that disordering when he tempted Adam to fall into sin, and we see that continued work of the devil and demons wherever there are attempts to bring anarchy, chaos, and confusion. After the Fall in Gen. 3, the rest of the Bible is about God bringing order back into a sin-sick, chaotic creation.

The third movement of this overture we will highlight is the movement from darkness to light. Verse 2tells us that before God spoke over the formlessness and void, there was darkness over the face of the deep. Before God creates, there is darkness, but then God speaks, “Let there be light,” and there was light. And notice how each of the first six days end with the refrain, “and there was evening and there was morning the ___ day.” So, each day of the creation account begins with darkness and moves toward light.

In our culture today, we mark the beginning of a day at midnight, and this is totally fine. We’re just using the way the Roman empire counted time. The Hebrew culture considers the start of the next day to be right around sunset, which would be about 6 PM because they are closer to the equator than we are. So, they have kept that theme of a day moving from darkness to light. And in the Church, we do this as well. Christmas begins in the “eve.” When it is dark, we celebrate the birth of Christ, and the day moves toward the light.

The interesting thing is that when we get to the seventh day, the pattern “there was evening and morning” that we have heard six times, is broken. There is only mention of the fact that there is a seventh day. So, this entire account moves from chaos and darkness to order and eternal, never-ending light. The book of Revelation shows the conclusion and culmination of this beautiful movement from darkness to light. Rev. 21:23-25 tells us that the eternal city of God will have no sun or moon for the glory of God gives it light and there will be no night there.

Since we’re talking about this seventh day with no darkness, we’ll move to the next beautiful piece of this overture – the eternal day of rest. The seventh day is totally unique in three ways. First, God doesn’t speak a single word on the seventh day. God is silent because the heavens and the earth were finished, completed. God has said all that needed to be said, and His creative Word continues to work to this day as it echoes through His creation. All of creation continues to run and exist because of the Word of God.

The second way the seventh day is unique is that it is blessed. On day five, God blessed the sea creatures and birds to be fruitful and multiply, filling the waters and the air. On day six, God blesses mankind to be fruitful and multiply filling, subduing, and having dominion over the earth. it. (Many people today are calling for population control. They say there are too many people on the planet. Dear saints, this is a demonic thought. God created the world to be filled with people, and He blesses us for the purpose of filling the world.) But then, God finishes creation by blessing a day. It is God’s intention to use the blessed seventh day to bless His people – both physically with rest from work, and spiritually with His holiness being conveyed from God to people.

The third way the seventh day is unique is that it doesn’t have an end in the text. The text makes the seventh day eternal and open. Even though we have fallen into sin, God has given us access to the seventh day of eternal rest until Jesus comes again in glory on the Last Day. Hebrews 3-4 encourages us to listen to God’s Word and enter God’s rest. Hebrews 4:9–10 says, “So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, for whoever has entered God’s rest has also rested from his works as God did from His.”

Dear saints, there are so many wonderful themes here in the account of creation, but the one that tops them all is the power of the Word of God. Through His Word, God created all things in six days, and since sin entered the world, God has used His Word to bring the sin-induced chaotic creation back into order and rest. So, God sent His Son, Jesus, the Word made flesh, into the world. Colossians 1:19-20 says, “In [Christ Jesus] all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through Him to reconcile to Himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of His cross.”

The God who says, “Let there be ____,” and that which does not exist obeys, He now says to you, “Your sins are removed from you as far as the east is from the west” (Ps. 103:12), and they are. He says to you, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die” (Jn. 11:25-26), and it is true. He says to you, “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will rest you” (Mt. 11:28), and you find peace.

Dear saints, this is very good indeed. God has created, redeemed, and sanctified you. Trust in what Christ has done, and you will find your eternal rest with God and will all His saints. Amen.

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.