Genesis 1:1-5 – Day One of Creation

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. And the earth was formless and empty. And darkness was upon the surface of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the water. And God said, Let there be light! And there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good. And God divided between the light and the darkness. And God called the light day and He called the darkness night. And there was evening and there was morning, Day One.

And the earth was formless and empty.

The universe, and particularly the earth, is pictured here as it appeared in the process of creation.

The plain meaning of the text is that the wilderness and barrenness described is simply the original state of the earth as created by God. It is not a state of desolation into which the earth fell; it is merely how the earth appeared before God finished His creative work.

And darkness was upon the surface of the deep.

According to Scripture, God’s creation began in total darkness. Not only was the earth barren and uninhabited; it was also engulfed in total, absolute darkness. God had not yet created light.

The idea that God, being Light, could not create a world in darkness is not true. God Himself said in Isaiah 45:6-7 I am the Lord, there is no other. I form the light and create darkness…

The text says darkness was upon the surface of the deep. The word deep in the Hebrew (tehōm) is an expression used for the sea and is a parallel to what goes next.

The Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the water.

The Hebrew text indicates that the earth’s surface was water. It was a vast body of water that covered the entire planet. And it was engulfed in the blackness of a universal darkness.

Peter, by inspiration of the Spirit supports the account in Genesis 1:2 when he says …the earth was formed out of water and in water (2 Peter 3:5).

The text says The Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the water. The word “Spirit” in the Hebrew is “ruach,” which is also the word for “wind” and “breath.” It is used here to describe God’s spirit breathing life into (energizing and activating) that which He has created.

If the universe is to be energized there must be an Energizer. Energy cannot create itself. If it is to be set in motion, there must be a Prime Mover.

And God said, Let there be light! And there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good.

God shattered the darkness by a mere act of speaking the words: Let there be light! God spoke and light came forth immediately and instantaneously out of nothing (ex-nihilo). By mere verbal command, the light was called to break into the formless, empty and dark world.

The command in the Hebrew is a jussive form which gives express emphasis to the action. By using it, the speaker imposes his will upon another party. It is an imperative that demands immediate obedience. 

The New Testament speaks of the reflective light of God in the new heavens and new earth: And there will no longer be any night; and they will not have need of the light of a lamp nor the light of the sun, because the Lord God will illumine them and they shall reign forever and ever (Revelation 22:5).

The One who is uncreated light brought created light into existence and said it was good (it was good because God created it and it showed forth His glory). The One who dwells in unapproachable light illumined His creation with a brilliant object lesson about His glory. And instantly it separated day from night.

And God divided between the light and the darkness. And God called the light day and He called the darkness night. And there was evening and there was morning, Day One.

It should be noted that in the Hebrew “yōm – meaning day” never means “a period of time.” It means either a day (in the twenty-four-hour sense), or the daylight portion of the twenty-four hours (“day” as distinct from “night”).

And there was evening and there was morning, Day One is a literal translation of the Hebrew word order. It doesn’t describe a billion-year-long process; it describes a 24 hour day—one cycle of light and dark—evening and morning.

Nothing in Scripture itself permits the view that the days of creation were anything other than literal twenty-four-hour days.

Moses himself by inspiration of the Holy Spirit made it clear that the days of creation were literal 24 hour days when he said in Exodus 20:8-11

8 Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your animals, nor the alien within your gates. 11 For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but He rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

The Bible stresses the sudden and immediate ex nihilo creation of everything in the universe. It was all created in a very short time, fully mature and functional, despite its incredible vastness and complexity.