Bible Power Commentary

GENESIS

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GEN1:01 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

Note on Genesis verse 1 to Genesis verse 2.

In eternity, before the earth was created, God had conceived His plan of salvation (1 Pet 1:19-20)

(Job 38) tells us that as part of His plan, He created the angels, called the sons of God in (Gen 6) and Lucifer (In Latin his name means light-bringer), the Anointed Cherub., who, because of pride and a desire to be god, became a fallen angel called satan (the Hebrew word satan, means "an adversary, or one who resists). Then we are told that God created the stars, and the solar system.

"Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Tell me, if you know so much. Who determined its dimensions and stretched out the surveying line? What supports its foundations, and who laid its cornerstone as the morning stars sang together and all the angels shouted for joy? (Job 38:4-7).

The angels became the Sons of God by Creation. Mankind becomes a Son of God by Regeneration. (Joh. 1:12).

Both angels and mankind, have a free will, but the angels, led by Lucifer rebelled against God and he was cast to the earth with a third of the angels and Lucifer became satan.

And his (the Dragon's, or Satan's) tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth (Rev. 12:4). 

(Rev. 12:7) tells us that these stars were literal angels who, together with satan made the wrong choice!

When Lucifer was cast to the earth, there was chaos on earth and the earth became void and a wasteland, until God moves on the earth in (Gen 1:2).

God did not come out of the beginning, the beginning came out of God. Before the earth was formed, God the Father is in eternity, He is eternal, before, after and forever. God the Father has three personalities in one Father, (1.) God the Father, (2.)  God the Word and (3.)  God the Holy Spirit. God the Word at the beginning of God creating heaven and earth, is the faithful witness that this word is true 'The faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God', (Rev 3:14). See commentary at (John 1:1). 

For You have created all things (Rev 4:11, Rev 10:6, Rev 14:7, Rev 21:6, Rev 22:13).

'In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth' and in our beginning God recreates our human spirit in salvation, when we are 'born again' (John 3:3).

The burden of the word of the LORD against Israel. Thus says the LORD, who stretches out the heavens, lays the foundation of the earth, and forms the spirit of man within him (Zech 12:1).

Find out more about salvation. 

God, as creator of time, is outside of time, in eternity. Since therefore He has no beginning in time, He has always existed.

He has no beginning and no ending, He is eternal, timeless and immortal (Rev 4:8, 1 Tim 1:17, 6:16).

Time is meaningless as far as God is concerned and did not exist until He created the world", then time began.

GEN1:02 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.

Without form, and void, means that the earth is not yet finished and is uninhabited by trees, plants or creatures (Isa. 45:18-19, Jer. 4:23). 

There was darkness, darkness is an absence of light, it has no form and is void of light, for God had not yet spoken, light. Light has form and substance, it can be measured, darkness cannot. God is light and in Him there is no darkness.

And this is the message, the message of promise, which we have heard from Him (Christ) and now are reporting to you. God is Light, and there is no darkness in Him at all [no, not in any way] (1 John 1:5).

Edit all this that follows and take out gap theory

This verse describes the condition of the earth as a wasteland in chaos, at some point after the creation (Gen 1:1). When God creates, everything is always very good, as the following verses testify. So for God to create a world completely in darkness without any substance and order are completely against His character. 

The words without form and void are translations of the Hebrew words (tohu and bohu). Tohu and bohu are often paired together in the Old Testament and portray a place of chaos, formlessness, emptiness, a wasteland.

(Deu 32:4) tells us that God’s work is perfect. In (1 Cor 14:33) Paul tells us that God is not the author of confusion. In (1 John 1:5) John tells us that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all.

Therefore God is defined as Perfect and complete, without confusion or darkness, for God is not the author of confusion.

For God is not the author of confusion but of peace, as in all the churches of the saints (1 Cor 14:33).

This is the opposite of the hebrew words 'without form and void, tohu and bohu which we find in this verse. In fact, Isaiah tells us that God did not create it [the earth] in vain [tohu], but formed it to be inhabited (Isa 45:18).

Genesis 1:1 and 1:2 represent two different periods. So initially, the heavens and the earth were created by God (Gen 1:1) and at some period later, the earth became 'without form and void'.

So what was the cause of this change in the state of the earth? Though Genesis 1 doesn’t describe it specifically, evidence from other parts of the Bible indicates that this was when the former archangel Lucifer led one-third of the angels in a war of rebellion against the government of God (Isa 14:12-14, Eze 28:14-17, Luk 10:18, Rev 12:4). 

The first occupants on earth were Lucifer and the Angels. 

You (Lucifer) were the model of perfection, full of wisdom and exquisite in beauty. You were in Eden, the garden of God. I ordained and anointed you as the mighty angelic guardian. You had access to the holy mountain of God and walked among the stones of fire. "You were blameless in all you did from the day you were created until the day evil was found in you. (Eze. 28:13-15)  

Lucifer's sin was If I cannot be higher than God, I will at least be equal! (Isa 14:14,15). 

This was when Lucifer was cast down to earth and became Satan the devil and a third of the angels of heaven chose to go with him and became demons (Rev. 12:4). The war that ensued between these spirit beings left the earth without form and void.

The Earth Is now a desolate wasteland and uninhabited. Lucifer is changed from the Anointed Cherub (Eze. 28:14) to 

your adversary the devil, as a roaring Lion that waiketh about seeking whom he may devour. (1 Pet. 5:8).

Satan's sin brings God's judgment (Isa 14:12-16, Eze 28:11-19) Lucifer now becomes the first to sin, proving there was sin before Adam sinned!

The Lake of Fire was "prepared for the Devil and his angels. (Matt. 25:41) The Fallen Angels, including Satan, are now disembodied spirits.

To find out more about how Lucifer became satan and the earth became a wasteland, go to Appendix 3 - Where did satan come from?  

Now God moves to reform the earth And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters, The Holy Spirit was hovering over the waters, waiting for God to speak the word and for the Holy Spirit power to activate God's word.

GEN1:03 And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.

The moment God speaks, His word is activated by the Holy Spirit, Let there be light and immediately there was light, it did not come from the sun, which was not yet called forth, it was the light of God.

The Holy Spirit took God's spiritual substance (word) and brought into existence physical substance, by the word of God. Each time God speaks the Holy Spirit manifests His word as material substance, He (the Holy spirit) is taking the spiritual and manifesting it into the natural, in the image of God's word.

And God said: God effortlessly spoke light into existence (Psa 33:6, 148:5). This dispelled the darkness of verse 2.

This separation of light dispelling darkness is a type or picture of the physical light and darkness a ‘type’ of the two spiritual states of mankind that will exist throughout history, ‘light’ in Christ (Salvation) and ‘darkness’ (lost state) apart or outside of Christ.

But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that you should show forth the praises of him who has called you out of darkness into his marvellous light. (1 Pet. 2:9).

(1 John 1:5) tells us that ‘God is Light,’ and that in Him there is ‘no darkness at all.’ Through God all things are made manifest (i.e. ‘brought to light’). According to Scripture these things are physical, intellectual, and spiritual in nature. As we shall soon see, God Himself is physical light by His very nature. This is even revealed in the Old Testament by some who have stood in the Presence of His Glory.

Among those affected by standing in the Presence of God is Moses. (Exo 33:11) explains that Moses spoke face to face with the Lord, and afterward his face ‘shone’ (it glowed with the light of God, (Exo 34:29-33)). This made the people afraid and Moses had to put a veil over his face while speaking to them.

And till Moses had done speaking with them, he put a vail on his face. (Exo. 34:33).

This ‘light’ as well ‘reveals’ all things such that nothing is hidden from God. We learn this from such passages as:

Red-icon  (Psa 19:) It penetrates as the ‘heat’ (of the Sun).

Red-icon  (Isa 42:6) It brings understanding to the lost of the world.

Red-icon  (Joh 3:18-21) The ‘deeds’ of mankind individually are revealed.

God as the Word, is later manifest as Jesus Christ. (John 1:1-3, John 1:13).

In (John 1) John reveals that the Creator God of (Gen 1) is Christ Jesus Himself (John 1:1-3). He is named as the Source of all things, through God, by the Holy Spirit and through God, He is the Creator of all things.  He [the Word, manifest as Jesus Christ] has created all things for His pleasure and His purpose according to God the Fathers own will.

Colossians tells us that in Him, all things were created and even now, He holds all things together in proper form and order (Col. 1:16-17).

For by him were all things created… all things were created by him, and for him: And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.  (Col 1:16-17).

Also through Jesus Christ, the word, all things were created from the beginning, then God the Word came in the flesh to dwell among mankind (Isa 9:6), Mat. 1:23, Joh 1:13), and that He even now acts to hold all things in their present form demonstrates that He is a very personal Lord and God. 

It is His desire to bring His ‘light’ into a world darkened by sin and lacking knowledge of Him (Isa 49:6, Acts 13:47, 26:23).

Jesus is Life and Light.

In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not., (Joh 1:4-5).

In (Joh 1:4-5) The ‘light’ in Jesus is the life of God the Father’. Just as with Him there is ‘light’ and ‘life’, without Him neither can exist. This is true of the ‘light’ of our physical life as well as the ‘light’ of ‘eternal life’ through salvation in Christ Jesus by grace through faith.

Light = Eternal Life = Jesus Christ, God the Word (Joh 3:16-21).

‘Light’ also ‘reveals’ all things, both physical and spiritual. Those who choose to reject Christ, live in ‘darkness’ and hide from Him, the light, so that their deeds may also be hidden. 

However, those who love the Lord and who have been drawn ‘out of darkness’ in to ‘His marvellous light’ (1 Pet. 2:9), seek His light that their deeds may shine and bring glory to God.

The Lamb is the Light of the New Jerusalem.

And the city has no need of the sun nor of the moon to give light to it, for the splendour and radiance (glory) of God illuminate it, and the Lamb is its lamp. [Isa. 24:23, 60:1, 19.]

As we see at Creation, both spiritually and in the natura, so it shall be throughout Eternity. This is made clear by the phrase no need of the sun. Througfh the Lamb (Christ Jesus) who is Lord and Creator, through God, is the source of all ‘light.’ His physical presence both at Creation and in the New Jerusalem makes any other light source unnecessary; for, in both instances it is the Glory of God that illuminates.

(Gen 1:3, Rev 21:23) are the beginning and the end, the alpha and Omega, the two book ends of light’, by which the Scriptures are bound.

God literally spoke His word and said 'let there be' and by the Holy Spirit, there was.

By faith we understand that the worlds, during the successive ages were framed, fashioned, put in order, and equipped for their intended purpose, by the word of God, so that what we see was not made out of things which are visible (Heb 11:3).

The worlds were not created by science, conjecture, the thoughts of mankind, or any other means, but by the Word of God.

It is I who made the earth. Then I created (made out of nothing, except God's own power, it is only God who can create) the people on it. It was I who, with my own hands, hung up the skies like a curtain. I put all the stars in their places (Isa 45:12).

GEN1:04 And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.

God sees the light, which symbolises wisdom, goodness, and knowledge and He proclaims that it was good. He did not call the darkness good, for darkness has no defense against light, since darkness does not really exist, in and of itself, it is simply the absence of light. 

Darkness is not the creation of satan, for he cannot create, he can only copy what God is saying and twist it. Buit he hides in darkness, because it cannot be seen.

In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God (2 Cor 4:4).

To open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me (Act 26:18).

He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son (Col 1:13).’

The Word of God, was with God in eternity, He embodies the Glory of God for He is the Great I AM (Joh 8:58), the same One who spoke with Moses from the burning bush (Exo 3:14). 

When God spoke the words Let there be light in (Gen 1:3), it was the voice of the Word (Jesus Christ) that was heard by the new Creation. When the light shone forth at His command it was the light of the Lamb of God, who had been ‘slain before the foundation of the world’ (Rev 13:8) that poured out, In Christ’s Love.

The Light was always there 

In the LIGHT of your (God's) countenance." God is light Himself  (Psa 5:30, 89:15, 90:8).  

His light, is not limited to Himself, internally, but, flows internally and externally, lighting up everything that exists. Only when He restrains His own light from illuminating does darkness occur.

That is why there was darkness on the face of the deep." But now there is light and God saw that it was good,

GEN1:05 And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.

There is a spiritual law, called 'the law of first mention', when there is a first mention of a law it continues throughout the word of God. This Law is one of the most important laws as it operates and pertains to all that we do in life.

While the earth remains, Seed time and harvest, Cold and heat, Winter and summer, And day and night Shall not cease. (Gen 8:22).

Whatever we do in life, we are sowing, by word and action, we sow and in sowing we reap what we sow.

Do not be deceived, God is not mocked, He will not allow Himself to be ridiculed, nor treated with contempt nor allow His precepts to be scornfully set aside, for whatever a man sows, this and this only is what he will reap. For he who sows to his own flesh (lower nature, sensuality) will from the flesh reap decay and ruin and destruction, but he who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.(Gal 6:7-8).

See commentary at (Mar 4:13) 

The 'first day' is from sunset to sunset (Gen 8, 13, 19, 23, 31). The word day with numerical adjectives in Hebrew always refers to a 24-hour period, so God created the world in six literal days 

For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea and everything that is in them, and He rested (ceased) on the seventh day. That is why the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy [that is, set it apart for His purposes]. (Exo 20:11).

GEN1:06 And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.

Firmament or expanse is the portion of God’s creation named heavens,, this is not God's abode, but is the first heaven, the atmosphere where the birds fly, that which a person sees when they look up, e.g. the atmosphere (Mt 6:26, Gen 1:8, Gen 7:11, Gen 8:2).

The second heaven is the stars and the planets, the stellar heaven or the expanse of the sky which stretches into outer space (Gen 1:17, Gen 15:5).

The third heaven is the abode of God (2 Cor 12:2-4, 1 Kin 8:27, Psa 2:4).

The word firmament or expanse, comes from the Hebrew noun word (raqia or raqiya), which  refers to an expanse that separated a gaseous body of airborne humidified air or humidified vapour from water in a liquid state. (source Henry Morris. The Genesis Record. Baker Book House. 1988. pp. 194[). 

(Gen 1:6-8) simply refers to a body of uncondensed humidified air that surrounded a body of liquefied water since the land did not appear until later in (Gen 1:9-11). 

That is, the expanse is not a physical barrier such as glass, metal or plastic. Instead it is a physical law that God implemented that separated liquified water from vapor.

(Psa 148) tells us that the expanse extends above the clouds into space.

Praise him, skies above! Praise him, vapors high above the clouds! (Psa 148:4 nlt).

[You are the One] who covers Yourself with light as with a garment, Who stretches out the heavens like a tent curtain (Psa 104:2).

He made the earth by His power. (1. The gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation (Rom 1:16)), His word is His Power ) He established the world by His wisdom (2. But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God (1 Cor 1:30)) And stretched out the heavens by His  (3. The Holy Spirit. The Spirit of the LORD will rest on him-- the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding (Isa 11:2)). understanding (Jer 51:15).

God literally spoke His word and said 'let there be' and by the Holy Spirit, there was.

By faith we understand that the worlds, during the successive ages were framed, fashioned, put in order, and equipped for their intended purpose, by the word of God, so that what we see was not made out of things which are visible (Heb 11:3).

GEN1:07 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.

In the previous verse God spoke the firmament (expanse of the sky, stretching to outer space) now this verse tells us that He 'made' this expanse, the word 'made' from the Hebrew word 'asah', meaning to construct from existing materials (Gen 3:1, Gen 1:7,16,25, Neh 9:6, Job 9:9, Pro 8:26, 2Chro 2:11, Psa 95:5)

GEN1:08 And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day.

And God called the firmament heaven, This includes the starry and airy heavens, it has its name from its height in the Arabic language, it being above the earth, and reaching to the third heaven; though others take the word shamaim to be a compound of two words, sham and maim, that is, there are waters (vapours), namely, in the clouds of heaven.

GEN1:09 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.

God literally spoke His word and said 'let there be' and by the Holy Spirit, there was.

By faith we understand that the worlds, during the successive ages were framed, fashioned, put in order, and equipped for their intended purpose, by the word of God, so that what we see was not made out of things which are visible (Heb 11:3).

GEN1:10 And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good.

This the third day of creation, following the pattern of the previous two days. God speaks something into existence,then the Holy Spirit transforms God's spiritual spoken word into natural existence, then God names it, and then observes that it is good. This is then followed by a numbering of the day. According to Hebrew thinking, the act of naming something implies the namer's responsibility for and rule over that thing. To name something is to have power over it. In this case, God names the dry ground land or Earth, and He names the waters seas.

God again declares that what He has made is good. An important statement, which is the ultimate standard of everything, which is God Himself. As we get to know Him in the Bible, we see that He measures goodness in absolutes. To be good, in this sense, means that there is no bad in a thing. All that God made during His creation week was utterly and truly good.

GEN1:11 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.

The seed was still in the ground from the Original Creation.

God literally spoke His word and said 'let there be' and by the Holy Spirit, there was.

By faith we understand that the worlds, during the successive ages were framed, fashioned, put in order, and equipped for their intended purpose, by the word of God, so that what we see was not made out of things which are visible (Heb 11:3).

GEN1:12 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.

This is very important, all that God made is 'after it's kind', this is what we observe in nature, a blade of grass can only adapt to another variety but it will always be grass, likewise a deer can have large variety of deer, but essentially it is always a deer, it cannot 'evolve' into another kind. This is best seen in dogs, when we see the incredible variety that have been bred, from a wolf to a Chihuahua, but they are all dogs, bred after their kind.

In addition grass and herb and trees all yield seed whch gives increase, from one apple tree can come multiple seed, each seed can produce another apple tree after it's kind. Everything in God brings increase, when it is filled with God's life, everything in man, after sin entered brings decay, returning as dust to the earth. 

It is interesting that and apple is alive on a tree, drawing it's life from the sap, just as we draw spiritual life as a branch drawing from the true vine (Christ, John 15.) However, when the apple is separated from the tree, its life sap is severed and it begins to decay, back to the earth.

All that mankind can do is to lengthen the time before the decay, when the life source, the sap is cut, it dies. This is why blood is so important to God, the life force is in the blood as with the sap, when blood source is severed, the body dies, but by the blood of Jesus Christ we live into newness of life.

GEN1:13 And the evening and the morning were the third day.

And here was the third day. The number three, in Hebrew is (šə-lî-šî, which means harmony, new life, and completeness). 

GEN1:14 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:

Sun, Moon, Stars Brought Back, As Before the original Creation In (Job 38:3-7).

hese existed during the original Creation. The Sun, Moon, Planets, and Stars were still there but due to the darkness upon the face of the deep, these exerted no influence upon, and were not visible from the darkened Earth.

God literally spoke His word and said 'let there be' and by the Holy Spirit, there was.

By faith we understand that the worlds, during the successive ages were framed, fashioned, put in order, and equipped for their intended purpose, by the word of God, so that what we see was not made out of things which are visible (Heb 11:3).

GEN1:15 And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so.

And let them be lights in the expanse of the sky to give light upon the earth. And it was so.

GEN1:16 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 made the two great lights, the greater light (the sun) to rule the day and the lesser light (the moon) to rule the night. He also made the stars.

GEN1:17 And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth,

And God set them in the expanse of the heavens to give light upon the earth.

GEN1:18 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.

 To rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good (fitting, pleasant) and He approved it.

GEN1:19 And the evening and the morning were the fourth day.

And there was evening and there was morning, a fourth day.

On this day, God brought into existence the sun, the moon, and all the stars. Their purpose was not only to give off light, but also to divide the day from the night on earth, thus becoming a basic demarcation of time. They were also made to be a type of signal that would mark off the days, years and seasons.

The Hebrew word for 'seasons' is moed, which literally translated is appointed times (divine appointments) in reference to God's feast days. This is the earliest known allusion to what would later be called the Holy (or Feast) days (periods) of worship, which are seven in number.

The 4th of the Ten Commandments is to remember and keep God's holy Sabbath day (Exo 20:9 - 11). The Sabbath day is tied directly to the creation week. God himself made the period between Friday sunset and Saturday sunset extra special when he rested on it after bringing everything into existence the previous six days (Gen 2:1 - 3, Exo 20:11).

GEN1:20 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.

God literally spoke His word and said 'let there be' and by the Holy Spirit, there was.

By faith we understand that the worlds, during the successive ages were framed, fashioned, put in order, and equipped for their intended purpose, by the word of God, so that what we see was not made out of things which are visible (Heb 11:3).

GEN1:21 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.

This verse does not contradict the previous verse (Gen 1:20). but is a restatement  of Verse 20 with added detail. God created all these for the waters to bring forth, after their kind. 

Create is from the Hebrew word bare and means to create something where nothing existed before.   

GEN1:22 And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth.

Blessed (empowered to prosper), this is the first occurrence of the word bless in Scripture. God’s admonition to be fruitful and multiply was the substance of the blessing.

GEN1:23 And the evening and the morning were the fifth day.

The number five symbolizes God's grace (who is Jesus Christ, Joh 1:14-15), goodness and favour toward humans and is mentioned 318 times in Scripture. Five is the number of grace, and multiplied by itself, which is 25, is 'grace upon grace' (John 1:16). The Ten Commandments contains two sets of 5 commandments. The first five commandments are related to our treatment and relationship with God, and the last five concern our relationship with others humans.

GEN1:24 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.

God literally spoke His word and said 'let there be' and by the Holy Spirit, there was.

By faith we understand that the worlds, during the successive ages were framed, fashioned, put in order, and equipped for their intended purpose, by the word of God, so that what we see was not made out of things which are visible (Heb 11:3).

GEN1:25 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.

Cattle, Beasts, and Every Creeping Thing Is Made (Gen 1:24, 25). These were also on the Original Creation.

GEN1:26 And 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 fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.

God literally spoke His word and said 'let there be' and by the Holy Spirit, there was.

By faith we understand that the worlds, during the successive ages were framed, fashioned, put in order, and equipped for their intended purpose, by the word of God, so that what we see was not made out of things which are visible (Heb 11:3).

GEN1:27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.

Adam and Eve Were Created.  God created man in his own image. In the Image of God created he him; male and female created be them., (Psa 115:16).

God gave us the ability to choose and He honours our choosing. One of the greatest proofs of God’s existence is the gift He gave us to make choices. Atheists tate that all of our actions can be attributed to random interactions of the chemicals, atoms, and molecules that make up our physical bodies. However, they are unable to explain how such random interactions lead to our ability to make all kinds of decisions in life.

God knew from before the beginning of the world that man would choose to disobey His instruction to not eat of the tree of knowledge, He had placed that tree in the garden to give Adam and Eve the ability to choose. God does not want automatons who blindly follow instructions, The whole of His grace is for us to be joined in Him and that our greatest desire would be to live in and be with Him out of a choice, a choice which we ourselves make above everything else.

This is why, when God created man in His image, He placed Adam and Eve in a position where they, like God who chose to become flesh in the form of Jesus Christ, had the ability to choose. Adam and Eve, made a poor choice in eating the forbidden fruit, which gave them the ability to disbelieve God. He is a Father so full of love (God is love 1 Joh 4:8, 1 Joh 4:16) that He gave Himself to die for us, so that through His blood we could be made right and dwell in Him forever.

We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in his love. God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them (1 Joh 4:16).

GEN1:28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: 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.

This is God's original blessing (blessing is empowerment to prosper), given to mankind.

The blessing of God to all mankind is fulfilled through Abraham.

Now the Lord said to Abram, Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed. (Gen 12:1-3).

And has been passed to us who are in the New Covenant.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places,  just as he chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless before him in love" (Eph 1:3-4). 

This is the first gift given to man, to 'have dominion (authority)' over all the earth (but not other people).

GEN1:29 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.

This is the second gift given to mankind, seed. With dominion and seed and observing God's commandments, health, prosperity, success and salvation is assured).

This Book of the Law shall not depart out of your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, that you may observe and do according to all that is written in it. For then you shall make your way prosperous, and then you shall deal wisely and have good success (Jos 1:8).

GEN1:30 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.

This tells us that all animals were not originally created as meat eaters, but were then vegetarian, which means that all were harmless. 

GEN1:31 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.

God declares that everything He has made is good, there was no sin and creation, earth and all in it was perfectly balanced and complete, with mankind asit's crown and glory.

The word 'evening' means that the new day began at sunset, instead of 12 midnight as it presently does, according to mankind's later division of time. 

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GEN2:01 Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them.

God had declared in (Gen 1:4-31) all He had made was very good. He accomplished exactly what He set out to do, and He was satisfied with the results. In this moment, nothing existed in creation which was bad, or corrupt, or out of sync with the plan and purpose of God. The heavens and earth were vast, teeming with life, and they were exactly as God intended them to be.

What will change this ideal state is the entrance of sin and human acceptance of that sin, as described in chapter 3.

GEN2:02 And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made.

This is the first mention of the rest of God. God's rest will be made available in Christ and is available now, HIs rest is the faith of Christ.

Hebrews 4 explains the nature of this faith. The kind of faith that enables us to enter into God’s rest is a faith that first demands that we rest from relying on our own works (Heb 4:10–13). (Heb 4:11) tells us to strive to enter His rest, we strive by receiving the revelation that our old self is crucified with Christ and I then enter the rest of God and abide in the faith of Christ.

See commentary at (Gal 2:20-21) 

How is this accomplished?

Though we discontinue relying on our own self-efforts to earn salvation, we strive to crucify the old man, which is to make every effort to enter that rest by choosing to depend solely on God.

To begin to trust Him implicitly, to yield totally to the Holy Spirit and to be fully persuaded that He will bring the promises of God through the free grace (grace is a person, Christ (john 1:14) of His salvation. 

The Israelites in the wilderness are our greatest example of disbelieving God (Heb 4:11). We either trust ourselves to save ourselves, or we trust God to do that for us through the sacrifice of Christ on the cross. 

By failing to trust God fully in His promises, we become disobedient and fail to enter the rest that is eternal life, just as the children of Israel became disobedient when they failed to enter the Promised Land.

GEN2:03 And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.

So how do we stop trusting ourselves? How do we place our full trust in God and His promises? We enter into God’s rest by first understanding our total inability to enter God’s rest on our own. Next, we enter God’s rest by entering into Christs total faith in His sacrifice and complete obedience to God, when He said 'nevertheless not my will but yours' (Luk 22:42). We must give up our total will and declare, nevertheless I live in Christ and Christ lives in me.

And to whom did God swear that they would never enter his rest if not to those who disobeyed? So we see that they were not able to enter, because of their unbelief (Heb 3:18–19). Unlike the Israelites whose unbelief prevented them from entering the Promised Land, we are to enter God’s rest by the faith of Him, faith which is a gift from Him by grace (Eph 2:8–9).

GEN2:04 These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens,

The word generations means the history of creation of the heavens and the earth referred to in (Gen 1:1 to Gen 2:4), it detailed how God made everything.

(Gen 2:5-25) onward, gives more detail about how God made mankind and about the garden He made for them to live in.

GEN2:05 And every plant of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew: for the LORD God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was not a man to till the ground.

This verse states that every plant and every herb was on the earth and it grew. there is no contradiction between (Gen 2:5) and (Gen 1), because this verse is speaking of entirely different types of plants. It is only these particular plants, plants designed for mankind, that will spring up after man.

In addition, this verse is not referring to the entire globe but only with the Garden of Eden. 

GEN2:06 But there went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground.

At this point, there is no one to work the ground and no rain. This verse tells us how the garden got its water with no rain, there were mists or streams which came up from the ground. Signifying that there were underground streams, similar to a fresh water ocean, which would saturate the land.. In the following verses, we see that the rivers water the Garden of Eden and the region around it. 

As recorded in (Gen 1), God had prepared a world in which humans could grow and gather food before He even made man. Likewise, He had made a world in which humans were needed to care for all He had made and help to bring order to it.

GEN2:07 And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.

Time now begins with man and ends with man.

(Gen 1:27) mentioned that God created man 'God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them (Gen 1:27). 

Genesis 1 gives the account of God's creation in six days including man and woman 'male and female created he them'. Then (Gen 2:4) gives us a more detailed account, or generations of creation.

Thus there is no contradiction between (Gen 1:27) and (Gen 2:7), rather this verse gives detail regarding the creation of Adam and Eve. This is further confirmed, by the account that animals were nor mentioned until after the creation of Adam, because their purpose was to be designated by Adam. They didn't need to be mentioned until after Adam was created.

In addition, This verse tells us that Adam was the first man and was created by God, in His image and likeness, directly from the dust of the ground. God breathed into Adam’s nostrils the breath of life, and he became a living soul (Gen 1:26–27; 2:7). Therefore, Adam was not the product of a type of evolution, but was created by God, by His word and empowered into being by the Holy Spirit, in the same way that the earth was created and filled (Gen 1).

It is interesting to note that man was created by God but the formed from the dust of the ground, (a state that the body returns to after death).

While Adam was made in the image of God, Christ is ‘the image of the invisible God’ (Colossians 1:15). Jesus Christ, was the One through whom God created all things (Joh 1:1–3, Col 1:15–20, Heb 1:2). Jesus was pre-existent, before the earth, as the Word, with God the Father and God the Holy Spirit before Adam lived (Joh 8:58, Mic 5:2).

Adam had a miraculous beginning, when God breathed into him and he became a living soul. In His humanity, Jesus had a miraculous beginning when He was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary (Mat 1:20–23, Luk 1:26–35).

Adam was created a perfect man, complete in all his human faculties, and with a God-consciousness which enabled him to have spiritual communion with God. He was initially innocent, sinless, and holy and was was in a right (righteous) relationship to God, to woman, to himself, and to the natural world around him.

So God did not create him a flawed and a sinful person, but perfect and complete.

The last Adam, Jesus, was also perfectly man, one with God (Joh 10:30, Joh 17:21–22), innocent, sinless, and holy (Heb 7:26). Jesus did not come manifested on earth as the ‘second Adam’, but as the 'second man’ (1 Cor 15:47). There have been many men since Adam, but Jesus Christ was only the second man to ever be completely without sin.

Unlike the first Adam, the Lord Jesus was, in addition, divine, having the attributes, offices, prerogatives, and names of deity. Being fully God, He is worthy of worship (e.g. Rev 5:11–14).

We are all descended from Adam (the natural and legal head of the human race) and we all inherited his sin nature.

When satan deceives Adam and Eve, God pronounces judgement on him, however satans judgement was pronounced before, when satan as Lucifer, was cast to earth because of pride, for he wanted to be like the Most High God.

When Adam and Eve received satans lie,they entered into satans judgement and were destined to die physically and spiritually. 

However, all who receive Jesus Christ, the second Adam, through repentance and faith in His redeeming work, are forgiven, have ‘received the free gift of being made right (made righteous in Christ)’, and so ‘have passed from death to life’ (Col 1:14; Rom 5:17; 1 Joh 3:14).

So when Adam and Eve fell into satans trap, their spirit died to God and they could no longer communicate directly with God as they had done before, this is evidenced when God said to Adam who was hiding from Him, 'Who told you, you were naked? (Gen 3:11)', God had said this to Adam in response to Adam saying 'I heard Your voice in the garden, he replied, and I was afraid'.

Adam could no longer communicate with God, spiritually, but he was now only aware of God's presence by hearing Him with his natural senses.

So now Adam and Eve were no longer able to communicate spritually with God who is Spirit (Joh 4:24), this is why Jesus said to Nicodemus in John 3, 'you were born once naturally through your mother, but to communicate with God and have relationship with Him, your human spirit must be born again, 'born again spiritually, so that you can communicate spirit to Spirit with God the Father. See commentary in John 3 

GEN2:08 And the LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed.

The garden that God planted was a place made to be a perfect habitation for Adam (and later, Eve). The word Eden means pleasantness.

(Ezekial 31) Tells us God's comment on the man whom He had formed

The cedars in the garden of God could not hide him: the fir trees were not like his boughs, and the chesnut trees were not like his branches; nor any tree in the garden of God was like unto him in his beauty. I have made him fair by the multitude of his branches: so that all the trees of Eden, that were in the garden of God, envied him. (Eze 31:8-9).

GEN2:09 And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

Here we have the first mention of the two trees in the garden the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil these were amongst many other trees planted in the garden and 'good for food'.

Why did God place these two trees the tree of life and the tree of knowledge knowing that the tree of knowledge would bring death if eaten from (Gen 3:3)? because God honours choice He wants mankind to willingly choose Him and in choosing Him choose life how can we choose if there is but one tree and no choice. God is always reaching out to us to teach and train into His abundant life.

This is why God was so concerned if the man should eat from the tree of life after having eaten from the tree of knowledge of good and evil he would have lived eternally in his fallen state.

If we look closely at this verse it tells us that the choice is to know good (the tree of life) why do we need to know evil God knew that the man would disobey His instruction in (Gen 3:3) and eat from the tree of knowledge the answer is that God wants us through Him to gain mastery over it.

 If you do well [believing Me and doing what is acceptable and pleasing to Me], will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well [but ignore My instruction], sin crouches at your door; its desire is for you [to overpower you], but you must master it." (Gen 4:7).

If Adam was not the one to eat from the tree of knowledge it would have been any one of the generation after Adam and Eve that would have eaten.

For when we are born and grow to reach the age of awereness of the choice between what is good and what is evil we all have the choice of choosing between the two. God's plan is for each one of us to choose Him.

Even as [in His love] He chose us [actually picked us out for Himself as His own] in Christ before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy (consecrated and set apart for Him) and blameless in His sight, even above reproach, before Him in love (Eph 1:4).

We are to achive this by mastery of sin but in (Ephesians 1:4) we cannot do this by ourselves it can only be achieved in Christ for in Him we are made holy (consecrated and set apart for Him) and blameless in His sight, even above reproach, before Him in love.

But it is from Him that you have your life in Christ Jesus, Whom God made our Wisdom from God, [revealed to us a knowledge of the divine plan of salvation previously hidden, manifesting itself as] our Righteousness [thus making us upright and putting us in right standing with God], and our Consecration [making us pure and holy], and our Redemption [providing our ransom from eternal penalty for sin] (1 Cor 1:30 ampc).

In (Luk 18:19) Jesus declared, No one is good—except God alone and (1 Joh 1:5) states that God is light in Him there is no darkness at all. Referiing to God's character He always acts in accordance to what is right, true, and good. Goodness is part of God’s nature, and He cannot contradict His nature. Holiness and righteousness are part of God’s nature; He cannot do anything that is unholy or unrighteous. God is the standard of all that is good.

This refers to the truth that God is good which means that He has no evil in Him, His intentions and motivations are always good, He always does what is right, and the outcome of His plan is always good (Gen 50:20). There is nothing unpleasant, evil, or dark in Him. The Bible teaches that God’s goodness extends from His nature to everything that He does  (Psa 119:68).

The LORD is good and His love endures forever; His faithfulness continues through all generations (Psa 100:5). 

In Gen 1 we see that everything that God made was originally good.

God saw all that He had made, and it was very good (Gen 1:31 1 Tim 4:4). 

God’s goodness is displayed the Law  given to Moses for the people Israel.

The Law is holy, righteous, and good (Rom 7:12). Every good and perfect gift is from above (Jam 1:17).

 God can create only what is good, because He is fully good so God did not create evil (Hab 1:13 1 Joh 1:5). Rather, evil is the absence of goodness; it is whatever God is not. Because of His goodness God hates sin because it is an absence of Him in our lives He will therefore judge it some day (Rom 2:5). It is never the will of our good God for us to sin: God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone (Jam 1:13).

GEN2:10 And a river went out of Eden to water the garden; and from thence it was parted, and became into four heads.

There is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacles of the most High (Psa 46:4).

In this verse is the first mention of the river which is described in the New Jerusalem where eden is re established in (Rev 22) This river of life is symbolic of the Holy Spirit the Spirit of Life (Joh 6:63, Joh 3:3).  

Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. 

No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him. They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. 

There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign for ever and ever (Rev 22:1-5).

So God knows the end from the beginning (Isa 46:10) and our eternal destination in Him (Joh 6:40) and it will be marvellous in our eyes (Psa 118:23). In Him is mastery of sin dealt with at the cross through His blood) outside of Him sin masters us, this determines our eternal destination.

The four heads refers to four rivers listed in (Gen 2:11- Gen 2:14) Pishon (Pison), Gihon, Tigris, and Euphrates this gives an approximate location for the earthly garden of eden however only the Tigiris and Euphrates rivers are known today the other two would have disappeared during the flood (Gen 6-Gen 9).

GEN2:11 The name of the first is Pison: that is it which compasseth the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold;

The location of the Pishon River is uknown today. This is the first mention of the precious metal gold which is mentioned as the surface of the main street in the New Jerusalem (Rev 21:21).

GEN2:12 And the gold of that land is good: there is bdellium and the onyx stone.

GEN2:13 And the name of the second river is Gihon: the same is it that compasseth the whole land of Ethiopia.

The location of the Gihon River is uknown today

GEN2:14 And the name of the third river is Hiddekel: that is it which goeth toward the east of Assyria. And the fourth river is Euphrates.

GEN2:15 And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.

This is the first mention of work in the text God placed the man in the garden to work the garden with a purpose God's intention is that we should work in His kingdom initially spreading the Gospel of salvation.

For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. (Eph 2:10).

GEN2:16 And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat:

God gives Adam a commandment, 'Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat'. THis is God's commandment, but it is Adams choice whether to obey and follow the commandment.

Peter states in (Act 4:12), Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.

Salvation is an individual choice,everything that mankind does, involves choice (and the consequece of choice), if mankind chooses God and His word, the outcome will be good, if we ignore God, the outcome will be a choice without God.

I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live (Deu 30:19).

God gives us choice between, 'life and death, blessing and cursing' and then gives us a hint, choose life, eternal life in Him (through Christ and His shed blood at the cross) and to walk in His blessing.

God Honors Our Choice (Isaiah 53:6)

We have all wondered away like sheep, each of us has gone his own way. (Isa 53:6).

When people ask 'How could a loving God send people to hell?', the question is based on two misconceptions. 

1. God does not send people to hell. He simply honors their choice. Hell is the ultimate expression of God’s high regard for the dignity of man. He has and never will force us to choose Him, even when that means that we can choose eternal damnation.

2. The word people is neutral, implying innocence. Nowhere do the scriptures teach us that innocent people are condemned. People do not go to hell. Sinners do. The rebellious do. The self-centered do. So how could a loving God send people to hell? He doesn’t! 

Hell was intended for the devil and his fallen angels, not mankind, but God honours a persons choice to disbelieve Him. When we choose to disbelieve Him, we do not remain in a nuetral state, we automatically choose to follow satan into hell.

Then He will say to those at His left hand, Begone from Me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the