Creation

Genesis 1:1–2 starts by introducing us to God and to the Spirit of God, who we also refer to as the Holy Spirit. Before there is land, light, people, Egypt, Pharaoh, or even Israel, God is already there.

Then God begins creating.

He creates light and darkness, the sky, land, oceans, plants, the sun, moon, and stars, animals, and finally people. And again and again, God looks at what He has made and says that it is good.

Then, after creating people, God looks at everything together and says it is “very good.”

Notice that it does not say “perfect.” It says “very good.”

God is showing His people what He intended the world to look like. It was meant to be a place of beauty, order, relationship, purpose, and life with Him.

And then, on the seventh day, God rests.

Not because He is tired, but because the work is complete. Creation is ordered the way He intended it to be, and humanity is invited into life with Him.

Now think about how different this story would have sounded to the Israelites.

Their experience had been slavery in Egypt. Their lives were controlled by Pharaoh. They worked constantly. They were beaten. Their children were threatened. Their worth was connected to how much they could produce.

And now God is telling them:

That is not what I created you for.

Egypt is not the picture of the world God intended.

Slavery is not the picture.

Oppression is not the picture.

Pharaoh is not the picture.

Genesis shows them that before sin, slavery, and brokenness entered the story, God created something very good. He created people to live with Him, to care for His creation, and to enjoy the life He had given them.

So when God tells Israel the creation story, He is not just explaining where the world came from.

He is showing them what the world was supposed to be.

What they experienced in Egypt is not what he had in mind