Creation

Genesis 1 begins with an act, not an argument. “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” There is no account of where God came from, no explanation of what existed before, no debate about whether creation is possible. The Bible simply announces that everything that exists came into being because God spoke it into existence. Creation is an act of absolute sovereignty by the one who has always existed.

The creation account establishes several realities that shape the rest of Scripture. God is distinct from his creation: the world is not an extension of God, and God is not part of the world. Creation is good: when God surveys what he has made, he calls it very good. Mankind is made in the image of God, which sets him apart from the rest of creation and gives him both a particular dignity and a particular responsibility. And the Sabbath is built into the fabric of creation from the beginning, pointing toward rest as the goal and completion of God’s purposes.

The fall of Genesis 3 does not undo creation but corrupts it. The world that was very good becomes subject to futility, decay, and death. The rest of Scripture is the story of how Yahweh restores and ultimately transforms his creation. The New Testament closes with a new heavens and a new earth, not the destruction of creation but its renewal. God made creation and called it good, and he does not abandon what he has made. The articles below trace this theme across several key passages.