The Godhead · Creation & God the Creator
bara · to create · Gen 1:1 · cf. κτίσις, ktisis, creation
in the beginning God created — by His word, from nothing; the world good, man in His image, fallen, and to be made new
One word · to create
בָּרָא (bara) means to create — and in Scripture it is used only with God as its subject. It is the bringing into being of what did not exist. “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (Gen 1:1). He spoke, and it was: “by the word of the LORD the heavens were made” (Ps 33:6), “what is seen was not made out of things visible” (Heb 11:3).
And it was good — “very good” (Gen 1:31), reflecting His glory (“the heavens declare the glory of God,” Ps 19:1). The crown of creation is humanity, made “in the image of God” (Gen 1:27). All things were made through the Son, the eternal Word (John 1:3; Col 1:16). The world is His — owned, good, fallen, and destined to be made new.
The eternal God as Creator; creation by His word, from nothing; the goodness of what He made; humanity in His image; and a creation fallen, groaning, and destined for renewal.
The eternal Maker of all.
בְּרֵאשִׁית בָּרָא אֱלֹהִים אֵת הַשָּׁמַיִם וְאֵת הָאָרֶץ
bereshit bara elohim …
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
Everything begins with God — eternal, uncaused, the source of all that is. “From everlasting to everlasting You are God” (Ps 90:2); “of Him and through Him and to Him are all things” (Rom 11:36). He is not part of the universe but its Maker, who existed before it and brought it to be.
He spoke, and it was.
πίστει νοοῦμεν κατηρτίσθαι τοὺς αἰῶνας ῥήματι θεοῦ
… katērtisthai tous aiōnas rhēmati theou
…the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made from the visible.
God created not from pre-existing matter but ex nihilo — out of nothing — simply by speaking: “He spoke, and it was done” (Ps 33:9). And He made all things through the Son, the eternal Word: “all things were made through Him” (John 1:3; Col 1:16). Creation is the overflow of His power and will.
Purposeful, and declaring His glory.
וַיַּרְא אֱלֹהִים אֶת־כָּל־אֲשֶׁר עָשָׂה וְהִנֵּה־טוֹב מְאֹד
… wehinneh tov me’od — very good
And God saw all that He had made, and indeed it was very good.
Creation is not evil, nor a mistake, nor meaningless. It is good — ordered, purposeful, and a witness to its Maker: “the heavens declare the glory of God” (Ps 19:1), and His “eternal power and divine nature” are clearly seen in what He made (Rom 1:20). The world points beyond itself to Him.
The crown of creation.
וַיִּבְרָא אֱלֹהִים אֶת־הָאָדָם בְּצַלְמוֹ
… et-ha’adam betsalmo — in His image
So God created man in His own image; male and female He created them.
Of all He made, only humanity bears “the image of God” — given dignity, relationship with Him, and dominion under Him; the breath of life breathed in (Gen 2:7). This sets man apart from the animals and is the ground of every human’s worth and sanctity (Gen 9:6; Jas 3:9).
The Creator is also Redeemer.
… ἡ κτίσις … ἐλευθερωθήσεται … πᾶσα ἡ κτίσις συστενάζει
… pasa hē ktisis systenazei — all creation groans
…the creation will be set free … for the whole creation groans together until now.
The fall subjected creation to futility (Gen 3; Rom 8:20). Yet the Maker has not abandoned His work: He will make “a new heaven and a new earth” (Rev 21:1) — “behold, I make all things new” (21:5; 2 Pet 3:13). The story runs from creation, through the fall, to the renewal of all things in Christ.
The truth of creation is rejected two ways. On one side, the Maker is denied — all is reduced to blind chance, with no God, no design, no purpose, and man no more than an animal. On the other, the creation itself is worshiped — nature, the cosmos, or the creature put in the Creator’s place. Both exchange the truth for a lie. The creation is to be received with thanks and stewarded with care, and the Creator alone is to be worshiped.
… τὰ γὰρ ἀόρατα αὐτοῦ … τοῖς ποιήμασιν νοούμενα καθορᾶται … εἰς τὸ εἶναι αὐτοὺς ἀναπολογήτους
… anapologētous — without excuse
…His invisible attributes are clearly seen in what He made, so they are without excuse.
Creation itself testifies to the Creator, so that unbelief is not innocent but a suppressing of known truth (Rom 1:18–21; Ps 14:1). To call the universe an accident is to shut one’s eyes to the evidence written across the sky.
… ἐσεβάσθησαν καὶ ἐλάτρευσαν τῇ κτίσει παρὰ τὸν κτίσαντα
… tē ktisei para ton ktisanta
…they worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator.
The opposite error makes a god of the creation — nature-worship, pantheism, the divinizing of the cosmos or self. But the made thing is not the Maker. Receive creation as a gift and a signpost; bow only to the One who made it.
So lift your eyes and worship. The God who flung the stars into place and breathed His image into you is the Creator to whom you owe your very breath — and He is good. Receive His world with thanks, steward it with care, and refuse both the lie that it is mere chance and the idolatry that bows to it. And take heart: the One who first spoke “let there be light” will speak again, and make all things new.
REVELATION 4:11 · WORTHY IS THE CREATOR
ἄξιος εἶ, κύριε … ὅτι σὺ ἔκτισας τὰ πάντα
You are worthy, O Lord … for You created all things, and by Your will they exist.
The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament shows His handiwork (Ps 19:1). He made it; worship Him.
The heart of this doctrine is clear and shared by nearly all Bible-believing Christians: God created all things freely, by His word, out of nothing; creation is His and is good; humanity uniquely bears His image; the world fell under sin’s curse and will be redeemed. None of that is in dispute among the orthodox — it is the foundation, and it is what this study builds.
On the age of the earth and the how: this ministry leans toward a young earth — a creation on the order of seven thousand years, reading the days of Genesis 1 as ordinary days — while refusing to be so dogmatic as to divide the body where Scripture has not spoken with arithmetic precision. Sincere, Bible-honoring believers read it otherwise (day-age, framework, and other old-earth views). Some also note that the earth first appears shrouded in darkness and water (Gen 1:2) and have proposed a prior world judged and re-made — a “gap,” even a pre-Adamite world — so that the earth we now see would be a re-creation. These are possibilities; but they are reconstructions and theory, without solid footing in the text, and we hold all such timelines very loosely. What we hold tightly is what Scripture states plainly: in the beginning, God created — not blind chance; humanity is His special creation in His image; and His Word is true. Hold the secondary questions with humility and grace.
Of everything God made, only humanity is “in the image of God” (Gen 1:27). This is the ground of human dignity: every person — regardless of age, ability, wealth, or status — bears God’s image and is to be honored (Gen 9:6; Jas 3:9). It sets human beings apart from the animals, gives us capacity for relationship with God and dominion under Him, and is why every human life is sacred from beginning to end. To despise a person is to despise the image of the One who made them.
The God who created is the same God who redeems. Creation began “very good,” was marred by the fall, and now “groans” for liberation (Rom 8:20–22) — but the Maker has not walked away from His work: “behold, I make all things new” (Rev 21:5). The Bible’s whole story runs from creation to new creation, and the same Word who first said “let there be light” will one day speak the renewed heavens and earth into being. The doctrine of creation ends in hope. (See the companion studies on the new creation and the return of Christ.)
| Theme | Key texts |
|---|---|
| In the beginning, God | Gen 1:1; Ps 90:2; Rom 11:36 |
| By His word, from nothing | Ps 33:6, 9; Heb 11:3; John 1:3; Col 1:16 |
| Very good, declaring Him | Gen 1:31; Ps 19:1; Rom 1:20 |
| Man in His image | Gen 1:26–27; 2:7; 9:6; Jas 3:9 |
| Fallen & to be made new | Rom 8:20–22; Rev 21:1–5; 2 Pet 3:13 |