Great order, a mutual dependence of beings, an exact harmony of motions, and an admirable chain and connection of causes. It is not a lump of dead and inactive matter, but there is virtue, more or less, in every creature: the earth itself has a magnetic power. To those that, with the help of microscopes, narrowly look into the works of nature, they appear far more fine than any of the works of art.
How transcendent then must the beauty of the Creator be! Great exactness and accuracy. The azure sky and verdant earth are charming to the eye of the curious spectator, much more the ornaments of both. Lord, how manifold are thy works, and all good! Great beauty. In the visible world it is easy to observe, Great variety, several sorts of beings vastly differing in their nature and constitution from each other. But as the earth has not only its surface adorned with grass and flowers, but also its bowels enriched with metals and precious stones (which partake more of its solid nature and more valuable, though the creation of them is not mentioned here), so the heavens are not only beautified to our eyes with glorious lamps which garnish its outside, of whose creation we here read, but they are within replenished with glorious beings, out of our sight, more celestial, and more surpassing them in worth and excellency than the gold or sapphires surpass the lilies of the field. It is the visible part of the creation that Moses here designs to account for therefore he mentions not the creation of angels. The world is a great house, consisting of upper and lower stories, the structure stately and magnificent, uniform and convenient, and every room well and wisely furnished. (1.) The effect produced- the heaven and the earth, that is, the world, including the whole frame and furniture of the universe, the world and all things therein, Acts 17 24. 1, where we find, to our comfort, the first article of our creed, that God the Father Almighty is the Maker of heaven and earth, and as such we believe in him. In these verses we have the work of creation in its epitome and in its embryo. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. 2 And the earth was without form, and void and darkness was upon the face of the deep. The Creation (4004 B.C.)ġ In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. The review and approbation of the whole work, ver 31. The creation of the light the first day, ver 3-5 of the firmament the second day, ver 6-8 of the sea, the earth, and its fruits, the third day, ver 9-13 of the lights of heaven the fourth day, ver 14-19 of the fish and fowl the fifth day, ver 20-23 of the beasts, ver 24, 25 of man, ver 26-28 and of food for both the sixth day, ver 29, 30. A particular account of the several days' work, registered, as in a journal, distinctly and in order. A general idea given us of the work of creation ver 1, 2. The lively faith of humble Christians understands this matter better than the elevated fancy of the greatest wits, Heb 11 3.
The first verse of the Bible gives us a surer and better, a more satisfying and useful, knowledge of the origin of the universe, than all the volumes of the philosophers. The entrance into God's word gives this light, Ps 119 130. The holy scripture therefore, designing by revealed religion to maintain and improve natural religion, to repair the decays of it and supply the defects of it, since the fall, for the reviving of the precepts of the law of nature, lays down, at first, this principle of the unclouded light of nature, That this world was, in the beginning of time, created by a Being of infinite wisdom and power, who was himself before all time and all worlds. Concerning this the pagan philosophers wretchedly blundered, and became vain in their imaginations, some asserting the world's eternity and self-existence, others ascribing it to a fortuitous concourse of atoms: thus "the world by wisdom knew not God," but took a great deal of pains to lose him.
#Genesis 1 bible study full
The foundation of all religion being laid in our relation to God as our Creator, it was fit that the book of divine revelations which was intended to be the guide, support, and rule, of religion in the world, should begin, as it does, with a plain and full account of the creation of the world-in answer to that first enquiry of a good conscience, "Where is God my Maker?" ( Job 35 10).
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