CCC Livestream - In The Beginning - Genesis 1:1-2:3

Live Worship Gathering: 10.4.2026

Preaching: Jason Purdy

I invite you to turn with me to Genesis 1.

Today, we begin a sermon series walking through the book of Genesis.

We will focus on Genesis 1:1-2:3 today.

If you are interested, we have Genesis Scripture Journals over on the table.

When I was in high school, I went with a friend to see a movie called The Village.

And throughout most the movie, I was thinking it seemed pretty hokey.

But, it was one of those movies that did not reveal the its origins until the very end.

Like, you didn’t really get the full picture until the very end, and once I saw the full picture, I have loved that movie ever since.

Because understanding the beginning of someone’s story helps clarify so much of the rest of the story.

That is just as true in God’s word as it is any other story.

The reality that we see in the first three chapters of Genesis provide great clarity to all the rest of the Bible.

I can tell you that every single week in my sermon preparation, it doesn’t matter what text I am in, I am prompted in my mind and heart to point back to a truth we see in Genesis chapters 1-3 in order to bring clarity to what God’s word is saying.

Sometimes I choose to do it, and sometimes I don’t because you all don’t want to sit here all day, but it is so foundational to everything else.

Not only that, the reality that we see in the first three chapters of Genesis also brings great clarity to your individual story.

When I was younger growing up in church, I used to imagine that maybe Adam, the first man, was the writer of Genesis 1, since he was the only man that existed by the end of chapter 1, but that is not the case.

The book of Genesis actually wasn’t written until after God had redeemed his people out of Egypt, and they were wandering in the desert for forty years for being unwilling to believe the promise that God was going to give his people the promised land.

So, it was during the wilderness wanderings that God inspired Moses to write the Torah, which is the first five books of the Bible, the first being Genesis.

So, that context helps us understand that the book of Genesis was first written to be read by God’s people who were wandering in the wilderness because they needed a clearer view of God.

So, God graciously inspired Moses to write to give the people that clear view of God, starting at the beginning with the origin story, which will then clarify everything else.

Whether we talk about it or not, we all wrestle with fundamental questions like: Who am I? How did I get here? What has gone wrong? What can make it right?

The first three chapters of Genesis tell us the origin story of all those questions.

And if you believe in faith the origin story God tells you, it will radically reshape and alter your life.

Would you follow along with me as I read God’s word aloud?

Genesis 1:1–25 ESV

1 In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. 2 The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.

3 And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. 4 And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.

6 And God said, “Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.” 7 And God made the expanse and separated the waters that were under the expanse from the waters that were above the expanse. And it was so. 8 And God called the expanse Heaven. And there was evening and there was morning, the second day.

9 And God said, “Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear.” And it was so. 10 God called the dry land Earth, and the waters that were gathered together he called Seas. And God saw that it was good.

11 And God said, “Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind, on the earth.” And it was so. 12 The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed according to their own kinds, and trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 13 And there was evening and there was morning, the third day.

14 And God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night. And let them be for signs and for seasons, and for days and years, 15 and let them be lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light upon the earth.” And it was so. 16 And God made the two great lights—the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night—and the stars. 17 And God set them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth, 18 to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. 19 And there was evening and there was morning, the fourth day.

20 And God said, “Let the waters swarm with swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the heavens.” 21 So God created the great sea creatures and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarm, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 22 And God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.” 23 And there was evening and there was morning, the fifth day.

24 And God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures according to their kinds—livestock and creeping things and beasts of the earth according to their kinds.” And it was so. 25 And God made the beasts of the earth according to their kinds and the livestock according to their kinds, and everything that creeps on the ground according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.

1. God Is Sovereign In The Creation Of All Things

The very first verse of the Bible is so simple, yet so important: In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.

As you can imagine, in the ancient world, there were many accounts of origin stories, how mankind and everything else came to be.

The greatest contrast between those stories and the biblical story comes down to the fact that there is one God, and He is the maker of all things, the heavens and the earth, a phrase meaning the entire universe.

Ever since sin entered the world, humanity has always imagined multiple gods reigning and ruling over certain territories or certain realms of life,

So, God’s word corrects us on this most fundamental truth: There is one God who has sovereignly created all things.

It is the foundation for why we should have no others gods before Him, and as Romans one says: sinful mankind has exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshipped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.

If all things came from one God, then the one God deserves all the glory, all the praise, all the adoration, for anything else that ever gives us a glimpse of goodness and glory came from the Creator God, and any glimpse of glory we see in any created thing is like a big arrow pointing us right back to the one true God who is ultimately good and glorious.

Remember the name Copernicus?

He was the guy who first argued that our galaxy does not revolve around the earth, but it actually revolves around the sun.

People called it the Copernican revolution.

In the same way, when you come to place your faith in God, you experience a copernican revolution of the soul.

You used to believe that life revolved around you, but you come to see that your life and everything else revolves around the one eternal and Creator God.

Verse 2: The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.

Now, the Bible is a very big book, which tempts many to believe that they will never truly understand God’s message to us, there is just too much content and too many details.

But one of the most helpful things I have learned about the Bible is that it is all centered around God and His glory, it is all about His great salvation through judgment, it all fits together, it is all one story, and it establishes themes and patterns that show up over and over again that keep us connected to the main point all the way through.

Verse 2 tells us that at the beginning of God’s creation, the earth was without form and void, and darkness covered the face of the deep.

Have you ever wondered why this verse is there? I mean, why mention that God made a formless void of earth with only water before creating everything else?

And why take six days to create everything? He is God, he could have just gone from nothing to everything in one moment.

But always remember this, God’s word is never just presenting facts for facts sake, or history for history’s sake, God’s word is always revealing to mankind who God is and how we can know him rightly.

The words “without form and void” are words we will run into many times throughout the rest of the Bible.

And always in a context of desert lands that were uninhabitable by humanity.

Darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.

So, God began creation with a chaotic uninhabitable void, darkness, and waters.

Waters throughout the Scripture will also be used as a place of danger, chaos, and God’s wrath.

So, even before there was order, before there was light, before there was the possibility of human life, the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.

Do you know where else in the Scripture we see the Spirit of God hovering?

When he comes to the virgin Mary and overshadows her during a time of great chaos for God’s people, he causes her to conceive our Lord Jesus, beginning a new creation order and a new people.

One more, when Jesus is baptized, he goes right in the middle of the water symbolizing God’s wrath, and he is plunged into that water but raised up again all while the Spirit of God hovers over him in the form of a dove.

All this to say, God’s pattern has always been to bring order from chaos, to bring light from darkness, and to bring life from the dead.

And He has sovereignly hovered over every moment of history to bring about these ends.

Verse 3: And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.

The rest of the creation account will make plain that God has created all things by His word, and it is by His word that we and all things exist.

Now, while there is one God who has made all things, he has always been a trinity, one God in three persons, and our minds do not comprehend that trinity because God has dimensions that we do not have.

We have already pointed out the presence of God, who will come to be known in his personhood as God the Father, and we have seen God the spirit hovering sovereignly over the universe.

Then, the New Testament makes plain to us that God the Son is also fully active in the work of Creation.

John begins his gospel with these words:

John 1:1 ESV

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

Colossians 1:16 ESV

16 For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him.

So, we now understand that from the very beginning, we have a Christ centered Word of God in a Christ created universe.

God first called light into existance through His word and called it good.

Christ would come beginning a new creation as the true light of the world.

Verse 5: He called the light day and the darkness he called night, and there was evening and there was morning, the first day.

I must point out another biblical pattern here, because of the Scriptures, the ancient Jews considered the day to begin at sunset, and go from sunset to sunset because that’s how the days are presented in Genesis 1.

The reason I love that is that God is establishing yet another pattern we see throughout Scripture, culminating in the gospel.

We first rest in what God has done before we are empowered to do any kind of work for God.

On the second day, God created the space between the waters on earth and the sky of heaven.

On the third day, God separated the waters and brought up dry ground: so now there is land and seas.

And God brings forth all the kinds of plants and seeds and vegetation.

So, in the first three days, God creates the framework for the world, so it is no longer formless.

Think about this: sinful mankind have always been tempted to worship the sun, the moon, the stars, and images of man, birds, animals and creeping things Romans says,

So, God creates light days before He creates the sun, moon, and stars,

And God creates land and vegetation days before animals and mankind to make the point that the world was framed by God before it was then filled by God.

Do not be tempted to worship the things that fill the world, worship the source of all glory and life, God alone.

On day four, he creates the sun, moon, and stars to fill the sky.

On day five, he creates the birds of the air and the fish of the seas to fill the earth and water.

Mankind has always been fascinated with the things of the sky and with the animals and sea life.

We spend we learn about NASA and space, we visit the zoo and the aquarium, we watch animal planet.

God’s creation is filled with his magnificent creativity, artistry, design, purpose, and wisdom, and as new creatures we worship God as we point all glory to Him when we are awed by His creation.

Verse 22: God blessed the birds and the sea creatures, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.”

As we come to day six, God creates all the animals outside of birds and sea creatures according to their kind and the crowning of creation is the creating of mankind in the image of God.

God has filled his creation. It is no longer void.

Let’s now dive deeper in the creation of man.

Genesis 1:26–31 ESV

26 Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”

27 So God created man in his own image,

in the image of God he created him;

male and female he created them.

28 And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” 29 And God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food. 30 And to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the heavens and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so. 31 And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.

2. God Created Mankind In His Own Image

In many ways, Moses makes it plain that the creation of mankind is the crown jewel of God’s creation.

For one, he saves it to the end of creation.

For another, whereas in every case so far, God says, “Let there be this or let there be that,”

When it comes to the creation of mankind, He says, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.”

For the first time, God speaks personally, “Let us make man.”

Now, I don’t believe Moses and the people in the wilderness had as much clarity on the three persons in the one God as we do,

But Moses does seem to understand a plurality in the Godhead as He speaks of God, the Spirit of God, and let us make man in our image.

The implications of mankind being made in the image of God are so far reaching and central that Satan and sin have as their singular aim to tear out the image of God in man.

What does it mean that God created mankind in his own image?

Well, it does not mean that we are deity like God.

There is only one God, and we are not him.

But, it does mean that we are begotten of God. God is our Father. We are made for relationship with God.

And so we represent God in many ways, just as the children of a father and mother represent and image the father and mother in many ways.

I love seeing how your children image you in some ways: he has your eyes, he has dad’s smile.

Now, this would have been a shocking statement in ancient times, because in the ancient culture, only the king was considered to bear God’s image and likeness.

But, God is revealing that every single person created of God is a royal image bearer and also a servant king.

So, part of what it means to be made in the image of God is having the capacity we have to relate with God and to represent God on the earth.

That is who we are in the image of God. The other part is what we are called to do.

Look at verse 26 again: And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”

As God’s representatives, we are to exercise a proper dominion over God’s creation.

As representatives of God, we steward resources and the opportunities we are given to care for one another and to build and create.

Notice verse 27: So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.

Why the repetition in this verse and the previous verse?

Here’s why: until Moses wrote this down in the wilderness, the most important truths were delivered from person to person orally, and so repetition was a memory device to remember the most important truths.

God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.

If you don’t see and understand that, you will miss the whole reason you exist at all.

Your existence, your purpose, your value, your worth, your hope, and your eternity all hinge on the fact that you were created by the one God who knows you and loves you and has a plan and purpose for you.

If that’s not true, there’s nothing to live for, there’s nothing to die for, we are no different than animals, there is no true morality or right and wrong.

No wonder Genesis 1 gets attacked so often by rebellious humanity.

Remember how God formed the world and then filled it?

We are to image him by forming the world through dominion then filling it through being fruitful and multiplying.

Verse 28.

From the very beginning, God created us male and female by his good design.

We do not choose our gender, God created us with gender, and your body that God made clearly communicates to you what gender you are.

A sinful culture that rebels against God’s good design is saying you can choose your gender, but the all wise God has already in his wisdom made you who you are,

And if you struggle with wanting to be someone else besides who God made you to be, let’s talk.

Because maybe a sinful culture has convinced you of lies about what it means to be made in the image of God either male or female.

The two gender creation is God’s good and wise design and it is necessary for what God calls mankind to do:

Be fruitful and multiply.

Theologians call this the creation mandate.

It informed the people of God in the wilderness, and it continues to inform us today.

We are to highly honor men and women.

We are to highly honor marriage between a man and a woman.

We are to highly honor the having and raising of children.

We are to do this because they are all fundamental to God’s good creation.

Now, when we read in the Old Testament of a couple not being able to bear children, it is very devastating just like it is today,

But they had the added burden of not being able to fulfill the creation mandate,

Yet, now, under the New Covenant in Christ, singleness is also held up as honorable in order to be fully committed to the new covenant task of making disciples, or in other words, having spiritual children, which is a grace in itself.

I don’t mean that an unmet desire to be married or have children is not extremely difficult. It certainly is.

But, I do mean that we now live under the New Creation mandate to go and make disciples of all nations, and we can pursue the new birth of spiritual children no matter our marital and parental status.

It seems like every generation has a particular truth from Scripture that is attacked publicly more than any other.

In our generation, it is no doubt he doctrine of mankind.

Who is man and woman?

Why do we exist?

Why is human life sacred?

Are we ultimately defined by social class, status, ethnicity, ability, a person truth that I make up myself?

Or are we ultimately defined by God, who created us in his image, male and female he created us.

With love, dignity, worth, and purpose no matter what you make, what you can or can’t do, what skin color you are, whether you are in a mother’s womb or in the nursing home.

God created mankind in his own image.

God saw all that he had made and it was very good.

Genesis 2:1–3 ESV

1 Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. 2 And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. 3 So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation.

3. God Completed His Creation Work

Why did God choose to rest on the seventh day?

Was it because He was tired from all that creating?

No, not at all.

Isaiah 40:28 ESV

28 Have you not known? Have you not heard?

The Lord is the everlasting God,

the Creator of the ends of the earth.

He does not faint or grow weary;

his understanding is unsearchable.

God does not get tired.

Instead, in ancient cultures, it was known that when a king had completed the work of building His dwelling place, he would take a day and rest in that dwelling place as a picture of the King’s sovereignty to rule and to show the peace of his kingdom.

You see, the account of creation in Genesis 1-2 leads the reader to understand that God created the universe as his cosmic temple.

And God put his own image and likeness into that cosmic temple to represent himself and to point all glory and praise back to God.

And God called his image bearers to be fruitful and multiply and fill the cosmic temple with worshipers.

Habakkuk 2:14 ESV

14 For the earth will be filled

with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord

as the waters cover the sea.

The rest of God is a sign of complete freedom.

Think about it: when the people were slaves in Egypt, they had no freedom to take a day off and rest.

Yet, once God freed his people, he commanded them to rest on the Sabbath as a sign of their freedom and trust in God.

Now, it is important for us to see in verses 1-3 how it is repeated over and over again that God finished his work of creation and it is done.

He is not out there still creating new universes, he is focused on sovereignly overseeing and leading the creation he completed to his perfect ends.

Of course, we realize things did not stay perfect in God’s very good creation, and we will get there soon.

Our sin has broken the image of God in us, though it still remains.

So God, in great love, sent His son, who was active in creation, to become the man Jesus Christ.

And Jesus Christ was the image of the invisible God.

And Jesus came to begin a new creation in the hearts of all who would place their faith in him.

And Jesus took on the storm of God’s wrath on the cross, then He cried out, “It is finished!”

Signifying that just as He once finished the work for creation, he had now finished the work for a new creation to begin in the hearts of all who would believe in him.

And three days later, God the Father rose his son from the grave defeating our sin, hell, and death for all who will believe.

And Jesus has secured for us salvation and the hope of final rest when we will rest for eternity in the very presence of God in the cosmic temple of a new heavens and a new earth.

In order to be completely assured that you have that eternal hope, let me ask you:

Have you experienced that Copernican revolution of the soul where life have changed for you in the center to God in the center?

Have you confessed your sin and trusted your life and eternity to Jesus Christ your Creator and Redeemer?

If so, are you finding all your needs met and desires satisfied in the Creator God who has made you in his image, and is forming you more and more into the image of his Son?

So you walk in the dignity and honor of being a image bearer of the Creator of the universe and do you honor others the same?

God created you for a purpose. He loves you. And He desires to bring you all the way home to full rest in His presence for eternity.

Let’s pray.

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