The One Year Chronological Study Bible - Flipbook - Page 15
Understand the Story
God Tells Us about Himself
“In the beginning God”: The opening words of the Bible announce God’s desire to make
Himself known. The Bible is a book about God, His ways, and His people. Without His selfrevelation, we could not know Him, discern His ways, or understand ourselves. Amazingly,
God gave us this Book precisely because He wanted to be known and loved and to make His
love known.
The truth of God’s existence is obvious: Even though we cannot see God, we can see His
handiwork, through which He demonstrates His eternal power and divine nature. The earth
and the sky reveal His invisible attributes (Romans 1:19-20). All of creation proclaims His
existence. This general revelation testifies to all humanity that God is powerful, orderly, and
purposeful. God has also revealed Himself throughout history through His miracles, through
His Word, and through Jesus— special revelation — so that humans would know His goodness, love, and truth.
Moses records the detailed account of the creation of the universe. During their fourhundred-year stay in Egypt, the Hebrews (God’s chosen people) learned the Egyptian narrative that gods and goddesses governed the natural and supernatural worlds. God gave
Moses this record of creation to dismantle the false Egyptian narrative and replace it with
truth.
Truth starts with God Himself. From the beginning, He reveals that He exists. He demonstrates His power by simply speaking— when He speaks, things happen! Nothing becomes
something.
God establishes Himself as the judge of good and evil; He evaluates what He makes and
deems it good. And He immediately introduces boundaries, separating light from darkness,
sky from earth, land from water, day from night, and aquatic life from aerial life. He also
sets boundaries in reproduction—all animals and plants reproduce offspring of the same
kind. God makes humanity in His image— morally, spiritually, and intellectually—and gives
humans the ability to reproduce more image bearers, along with the right to reign over His
creation. He blesses His image bearers and anticipates all of humanity’s needs before they
even have needs.
God makes orderly, integrated systems within the boundaries He created, testifying
further to His own creativity and design. The heavenly lights rule the times and seasons, the
reproductive process provides ongoing life, and the rule of humans provides order and care
for God’s creation. As He concludes this creation event—and before He elaborates more on
the crown of His creation, humanity— God evaluates everything He has created as “very
good” (Genesis 1:31).
The creation event also reveals God’s goodness. His design of the universe displays His
desire for the flourishing of His image bearers and ensures their safety and provision. He
places Adam in a beautiful garden loaded with resources. He fashions Adam to appreciate beauty and enjoy bounty. He gives Adam a complementary companion to share in
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