HelpFinder Bible - Flipbook - Page 374
G EN ES IS 1
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living. Newness will always be exciting, and ultimately satisfying, if we stay within the
guidelines for living that are laid down by God in this book and in the rest of the Bible.
You will then find your beginnings as fresh and bright as the dawn of creation. But new
beginnings without God—outside his guidelines for living—will be as dark and devastating as the expulsion from Eden, which led to a new world of pain, work, sweat, and sin.
Read the book of Genesis to gain a new perspective on what appear to be the same
old things. Let the tyranny of the ordinary become fresh and vital. When you do chart a
new beginning in your life, use the guidelines for new beginnings presented in Genesis.
Then you will have renewed hope and zest with each new morning by running with
God, not from him.
Key verses in Genesis
1:1 In the beginning God created
the heavens and the earth.
1:27 So God created human
beings in his own image . . . male
and female he created them.
9:12-17 Then God said, “I am
giving you a sign of my covenant
with you and with all living
creatures, for all generations to
come. I have placed my rainbow in
the clouds. . . . Never again will the
floodwaters destroy all life. . . .
Yes, this rainbow is the sign of the
covenant I am confirming with all
the creatures on earth.”
him as righteous because of
his faith.
15:6 And Abram believed the
Lord, and the Lord counted
50:20 “You intended to harm me,
but God intended it all for good.”
The Account of Creation
In the beginning God created the heavens
and the earth.* 2 The earth was formless and
empty, and darkness covered the deep waters.
And the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters.
1
3 Then
God said, “Let there be light,” and there
was light. 4 And God saw that the light was
good. Then he separated the light from the
darkness. 5 God called the light “day” and
the darkness “night.”
And evening passed and morning came,
marking the first day.
6 Then
God said, “Let there be a space between
the waters, to separate the waters of the
heavens from the waters of the earth.” 7 And
that is what happened. God made this space
to separate the waters of the earth from
the waters of the heavens. 8 God called the
space “sky.”
And evening passed and morning came,
marking the second day.
9 Then
God said, “Let the waters beneath the sky
flow together into one place, so dry ground
may appear.” And that is what happened.
10 God called the dry ground “land” and
the waters “seas.” And God saw that it was
good. 11 Then God said, “Let the land sprout
with vegetation—every sort of seed-bearing
plant, and trees that grow seed-bearing fruit.
18:14 “Is anything too hard for
the Lord?”
26:24 “Do not be afraid, for I am
with you and will bless you.”
These seeds will then produce the kinds of
plants and trees from which they came.” And
that is what happened. 12 The land produced
vegetation—all sorts of seed-bearing plants,
and trees with seed-bearing fruit. Their seeds
produced plants and trees of the same kind.
And God saw that it was good.
13 And evening passed and morning came,
marking the third day.
14 Then
God said, “Let lights appear in the sky to
separate the day from the night. Let them be
signs to mark the seasons, days, and years.
15 Let these lights in the sky shine down
on the earth.” And that is what happened.
16 God made two great lights—the larger one
to govern the day, and the smaller one to
govern the night. He also made the stars.
17 God set these lights in the sky to light the
earth, 18 to govern the day and night, and to
separate the light from the darkness. And
God saw that it was good.
19 And evening passed and morning came,
marking the fourth day.
20 Then
God said, “Let the waters swarm with
fish and other life. Let the skies be filled
with birds of every kind.” 21 So God created
great sea creatures and every living thing
that scurries and swarms in the water, and
1:1 Or In the beginning when God created the heavens and
the earth, . . . Or When God began to create the heavens and
the earth, . . .