by Bob Prichard<\/p>\n
With just a few words, the first verse of Genesis, which is literally “the book of beginning,” introduces the idea of creation: “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth<\/em>” (Genesis 1:1). This tells us clearly that the Creator is God. Scientists recognize five components, which make up our world, all found in the first verse of Genesis:<\/p>\n Verse two says, “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<\/em>” (Genesis 1:2). This indicates that the earth was shapeless and void, and in need of a Creator to set it in order. The creation then begins with the words, “God said, Let there be light: and there was light<\/em>” (Genesis 1:3).<\/p>\n Through the successive revelation of the six days of creation, each day begins with those exact words, “And God said<\/em>” (Genesis 1:6; 9; 14; 20; 24). God simply spoke things into existence. He is such a powerful Creator that all that is necessary is for Him to say, “Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind<\/em>” (Genesis 1:24), and it happens. No long and arduous process of trial and error was necessary. All that was necessary was for Him to speak, and things were so.<\/p>\n Scientifically, we would like more information about how God did this, but there is no better or fuller explanation than what is contained in Genesis. Since we cannot go back to the beginning to replicate the original conditions, there is very little we can know about the origin of all things. Alternate theories, such as evolution, offer no answer to how everything came to be or how the universe was created from nothing. Either the universe has always existed, or it had a beginning with a creator. It is unreasonable to assume that the universe has always existed, because there is so much evidence that the universe is running down and wearing out. The “Big Bang” theory, which claims that the entire universe came from an original “cosmic egg” of compressed matter, does not explain where the “cosmic egg” came from or where the energy that caused the “Big Bang” came from. A Creator is needed!<\/p>\n The book of Hebrews tells us that the pre-incarnate Christ was the Creator. “God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds<\/em>” (Hebrews 1:1). John 1 refers to Christ as “the Word<\/em>,” and says that “He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not<\/em>” (John 1:10).<\/p>\n The power of God, the Word, continues to be expressed through the written word of God, the scriptures. “For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart<\/em>” (Hebrews 4:12).<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" by Bob Prichard With just a few words, the first verse of Genesis, which is literally “the book of beginning,” introduces the idea of creation: “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth” (Genesis 1:1). This tells us clearly that the Creator is God. Scientists recognize five components, which make up our world,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[302],"class_list":["post-92538","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-creation"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":3744,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/did-god-create-the-earth-without-a-shape-and-then-later-give-its-current-shape\/","url_meta":{"origin":92538,"position":0},"title":"Did God create the earth without a shape and then later give its current shape?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 19, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Does\u00a0Genesis 1:1-2\u00a0mean God created the earth without a shape and later gave it the current shape? Answer: \"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":28307,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/does-genesis-11-say-there-was-nothing-except-god-before-the-beginning\/","url_meta":{"origin":92538,"position":1},"title":"Does Genesis 1:1 say there was nothing except God before the beginning?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 3, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Here's another question and it may seem silly but all I want is you to answer it in the best way you can. Genesis 1:1 \"in the beginning there was nothing except God.\" or \"in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth\" (different versions of the Bible)\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1835,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/was-there-a-world-before-genesis\/","url_meta":{"origin":92538,"position":2},"title":"Was there a world before Genesis?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 28, 2004","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Was there a world before Genesis? Answer: \"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth\" (Genesis 1:1). Approximately 4,000 years after this event, Jesus stated, \"And He answered and said to them, \"Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning 'made them male\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":15768,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/did-god-create-the-earth-in-one-literal-week\/","url_meta":{"origin":92538,"position":3},"title":"Did God Create the Earth in One Literal Week?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 18, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"by David Dann via The Gospel Anchor, May 17, 2000 On the first page of the Bible, we read, \"In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/11\/seven-300x300.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":46215,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/did-god-create-the-matter-we-see\/","url_meta":{"origin":92538,"position":4},"title":"Did God create the matter we see?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 1, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hebrews 11:3 says \"Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.\" Is this verse an argument that God did not create the matter we see but rather formed it\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1937,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/could-there-have-been-a-gap-between-genesis-11-and-12\/","url_meta":{"origin":92538,"position":5},"title":"Could there have been a gap between Genesis 1:1 and 1:2?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 21, 2004","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Are you familiar with the \"Gap Theory?\" Since the Bible isn't exhaustive, could something have taken place between\u00a0Genesis 1:1\u00a0and\u00a01:2? Answer: Ever since evolution was espoused in the late 1800s, people have struggled with making the Bible conform to the current popular scientific theories. Of course, it is a never-ending\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92538","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=92538"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92538\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=92538"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=92538"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=92538"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n