Gen. 1:26-2:7, Beginning Study of Beginnings (2)

Let’s be a little more specific about the key terms in Gen. 1-2.  The uses of a particular term are listed at the end of the previous post.

1.    “Created” (Gen. 1:1 etc.).  Hebrew “bara.”  This is used only of God.  It is the term that allows us to see God as the One who “called into existence that which had no existence.”  I say “allows” because the term does not require that the work of the Creator be from nothing.  The root idea is that He fashions something, making it shine.  Outside the Bible the term would never mean “ex nihilo” (out of nothing).  No one can do that.  But with this term the Creator is the “initiator” of what is created.  Thus, since He made all that exists (heavens and earth), prior to that action there was nothing that existed.

a.     Rom. 4:17: “God who … calls things that are not as though they were.”

b.    Heb. 11:3: “the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.”

2.    “Made” (Gen. 1:7, etc.).  Hebrew “asah.”  It is also used of man.  It is a basic term that simply means to do or make something.

3.    “Formed” (Gen. 2:7, etc.).  Hebrew “yatsar.”  This is the “potter” term, meaning to shape or form something out of something else. 

Now let us note something about these terms with respect to “man.”  Ge. 1:27 says God “created” (out of nothing) man in His own image.  The image of God does not include a body because God is a spirit, not having flesh and blood (John 4:24; Luke 24:39).  But in Gen. 2:7 God “formed” (out of something) Adam’s body from the dust of the ground.  He then breathed life into the man.  You see that both terms are used accurately. 

What is the application of this study? 

·       Let us worship our Creator: Unlike the wicked who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen (Rom. 1:25).  Therefore let those who suffer according to the will of God commit their souls to Him in doing good, as to a faithful Creator (1 Pt. 4:19).

·       Let us worship our Maker: Oh come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the LORD our Maker (Ps. 95:6).  Our help is in the name of the LORD, who made heaven and earth (Ps. 124:8).  He who oppresses the poor reproaches his Maker, but he who honors Him has mercy on the needy (Pr. 14:31).

·       Let us worship God who formed us: As a father pities his children, so the LORD pities those who fear Him.  For He knows our frame; He remembers that we are dust (Ps. 103:13-14).  Surely you have things turned around! Shall the potter be esteemed as the clay; for shall the thing made say of him who made it, ‘He did not make me’?  Or shall the thing formed say of him who formed it, ‘He has no understanding’? (Isa. 29:16).