Genesis 1:2 – The Earth

‘Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.’

http://www.yorkblog.com/teentakeover/2010/08/night-at-the-beach.html

Verse 2 is a continuation of Verse 1, and describes what the earth was like at first. It was formless and empty – there was no life in it, nothing to fill it. There wasn’t land or life or even light ('Darkness was over the surface of the deep'). Matthew Henry draws a parallel here between the newly formed earth and the soul of a Non-Christian. Quote: ‘in a graceless soul, one that is not born again, there is disorder, confusion, and every evil work: it is empty of all good, for it is without God; it is dark, it is darkness itself: this is our condition by nature, till Almighty grace works a change in us.’ Unless God changes us, we remain full of darkness and sin, and are not saved, we do not grow.' God alone saves – Turn to him, Repent and Believe (Mark 1:15) or else you will remind 'Formless', 'Empty' and 'Dark' for all eternity in hell. We need God or else we are destined to hell, because we are sinful by nature, from birth. (Psalm 51:5)

We also learn here that at first the world was covered in water (here described as ‘the deep’).

‘The Spirit of God’: This is our first specific reference to the Holy Spirit, who is part of the trinity. God is three persons, the Father the Son and the Holy Spirit – described as Elohim (See verse 1). All three persons of God are equal, but they have different roles - God the father is King, ruler of everything and he is in control of everything. God the son came to earth and humbled himself to death so that we can live and be forgiven. God the Holy Spirit lives in us (Christians) and helps us, teaching us, rebuking us and helping us understand and apply the bible.

Genesis 1:1 - The Beginning

   'In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.' 

http://essex1.com/pages/paul/beginprolog.html

 ‘In the Beginning’ refers to the start of time. God is eternal; meaning that he always has and always will exist. Genesis 1:1 tells us of his first act of creation. Note that God created from nothing and without anyone else’s help. He is truly almighty and awesome, worthy of all praise. The word used for God here is ‘Elohim’. Elohim can be singular or plural, and is usually used in Hebrew to refer to ‘The God’ – the one and only true God, who created all things and reigns eternally. It is used to refer to all three persons that God is – Father, Son and Holy Spirit. This is the God which we (Christians) believe in. Elohim can also be used to describe pagan ‘gods’. We see here that God Created. This is in complete opposition to the theories of evolution and of the Big Bang, which are some of man’s many feeble attempts to deny God’s existence so that we can live our own way without guilt. The question I have for Atheists is: how can nothing suddenly decide to become everything for no reason? What did God create? He created ‘the heavens and the earth’. Heavens can refer to three things in the bible: the first heaven referred to the sky or the atmosphere. The Second heaven refers to space and the Third heaven refers to where God lives. In context, I’m pretty sure this is referring to space. He also created the earth, the planet on which we live. We also can learn from this verse that God is organised and ordered. He didn’t create water and then the world, or people and then a place to put them, but he created everything in the right order – he knows everything, he knows our needs and he made everything in the right way for it all to work. God created us and has the right to rule our lives. 




 Parallel Verse:

John 1:1-5

'In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.'