Narrate the first creation story in Genesis and explain how God established His sovereignty over His creation.

Answer Details

The first creation story (Genesis 1:1 to 2:3)

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep, while the Spirit of God moved over the face of the waters. God then created in an orderly sequence of six days, each work being pronounced good.

• Day one: God said, "Let there be light," and there was light. He separated the light from the darkness, calling the light Day and the darkness Night.
• Day two: God made the firmament (the sky) to separate the waters above from the waters below.
• Day three: God gathered the waters together so that dry land appeared; He called the dry land Earth and the waters Seas. He then made the earth bring forth vegetation, plants and fruit trees.
• Day four: God made the lights in the firmament, the sun to rule the day and the moon and stars to rule the night, to mark seasons, days and years.
• Day five: God created the creatures of the sea and the birds of the air, and blessed them to be fruitful and multiply.
• Day six: God made the land animals, and finally created man, male and female, in His own image, blessing them and giving them dominion over all creatures. He gave them plants for food.

On the seventh day God finished His work and rested, and He blessed the seventh day and hallowed it, because on it He rested from all His work of creation.

How God established His sovereignty over creation

1. He created everything out of nothing by His word alone ("God said... and it was so"), showing that all things owe their existence to Him.
2. He created in perfect order and purpose, arranging light, sky, land, luminaries and living things in a deliberate sequence, showing He is a God of order, not confusion.
3. He pronounced His judgement over creation, calling each work "good" and the whole "very good", showing His authority to evaluate what He made.
4. He named and assigned functions - Day, Night, Earth, Seas - and set the sun and moon to rule, demonstrating His lordship over time and the heavenly bodies which pagans worshipped.
5. He blessed and commanded the creatures to be fruitful and multiply, and gave man dominion as His representative, showing that man rules only under God's supreme authority.
6. He rested and sanctified the seventh day, showing that He is Lord over creation and over time itself, and setting a pattern of rest and worship for humanity.