Genesis 1 v 1

Mercies- Why this universe was created

GENESIS

Al

7/9/20234 min read

I present Bible studies emphasizing that Jesus in your Heart makes you Valuable – ValuableMe.

Genesis chapter 1:1

I help you see you the way God sees you and see how to change so he sees you with delight

Mercies- Why this universe is designed as it is- and why I am in it

>> Mercies- why this universe was created
  • Ps 136:1 O give thanks to the LORD; for he is good: for his mercy endures for ever. 2 O give thanks to the God of gods: for his mercy endures for ever. 3 O give thanks to the Lord of lords: for his mercy endures for ever. 4 To him who alone does great wonders: for his mercy endures for ever.

This may seem like an odd place to start a commentary on Genesis 1, but it exactly describes why this universe was created. Planet Earth and all the stars and the sun and the moon were created for exactly one reason- so God could display his mercies and end up with more glory.

God wanted the angels who existed before this universe was created to know more about his mercies. The more angels understand God's glory the more they will glorify God. So he created Earth, and us, to show them what His mercies are all about. For this reason this commentary centers around how each act of God in Genesis 1 was designed to set the stage for displaying God's mercies.

For a discussion of God's mercies, see Jesus n Me, available at 7ddd.info.

Genesis 1 was originally written in Hebrew. Every place the word for "day" that is used in Genesis 1 occurs elsewhere in the Hebrew Bible that word means a literal 24 hour time period if it is used with a number, like happens in Genesis 1. No exceptions. Therefore it is by far most sensible to see Genesis 1 referring to literal 24 hour time periods. "Day" in Genesis 1 means a 24 hour time period. God is certainly capable of doing all the things in Genesis 1 in 24 hour time periods. God gives us a big clue he meant a 24 hour time period in Genesis 1 by using a word that always means 24 hours when used with a number, and a number is always attached to the word "day" in Genesis 1. So give God credit for doing what He said He did, and in the time frame He said He did it. To do otherwise is to call God a liar.

And by using 24 hour time periods, we can see God was fair with Satan by giving Satan the same amount of time to do his anti-God scheming.

Gen 1:1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

In the beginning”- this refers to the very start, the start of the start of the start. There was no matter to work from. There was no energy in existence. There was nothing this universe consists of. Nothing at all. This is called creation ex nehilo. Creation out of absolutely nothing. That is what God used to start this creation. Nothing. Just Himself and His awesome abilities. God existed. He has always been. But nothing that this universe exists of existed until God created it.

We create things by rearranging things that already exist. God created and didn't use anything that existed to do it.

We create things with a goal in mind. God created this universe with a goal in mind. His goal was to show angels that existed before this universe did what His mercies are like. They wanted to know- I believe due to their having sinned before this universe was created. So God created an auditorium for them to learn in. We live in that auditorium. We are the main actors on the stage. We can receive God's mercies. And as we do, we are living examples to those angels of what God's mercies are like.

  • Ps 136:5 To him that by wisdom made the heavens: for his mercy endures for ever.

God has the wisdom needed to create this universe. God has the mental capacity to create it so it comes out exactly the way He wants it to and so it fully accomplishes what He wants it to. He created it as a tool to display His mercies. And that is what is happening.

God created the heavens and the earth. No one else was involved. Only God. All of God. God the Father and God the Son (Jesus) and God the Holy Spirit. All 3 of them were involved. All 3 of them played a role in the creation. They made an agreement before the universe was created on what they were going to do, and they did it. As one and as each separately. Each of the 3 of them is the entirety of what God is (however that may be defined) and yet they are 3 personalities- and here we tread on the mystery of the Trinity, which we will not dwell on here. But this infinite God, these 3 personalities of God, were all involved in the creation of this universe.

In the beginning God- not gods- created the heavens and the Earth.

And He created the Earth to display His mercies. Each person of God is doing His part to display God's mercies.

And everything is doing exactly what God intended. His mercies are seen. Perfectly. Joys, pains, evil, generosity- it all does its part to show God's mercies.

the heavens and the Earth”- God created the heavens. He created space. He created distance. He created volume.

He also created something to be in that space. He created Earth. Earth did not fill all that area.

The rest of this chapter deals with the details.

>> How awesome is our God?

Further thoughts:

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Who is God?

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Who is God to me?

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Pastor’s insights

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Further questions

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Who am I?

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Who am I to God?

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ValuableMe- As a bonafide headed-to-Heaven purpose-loaded person God is delighted to see I need to…

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Prayer

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Al

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