Page 19 - Genesis: Book of Beginnings and Science Behind it

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2. Created – This is the remarkable word bara, always used only for the work of God. Only God can
create – that is, call into existence that which has no existence. (Romans 4:17, Hebrews 11:3). In Latin,
the word is ex nihilo, which literally means "out of nothing." Man can "make" things or "form" things,
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but they cannot create things. God also makes (asah) and forms (yatsar) things, and does it much
better than man could. However, the work of creation is uniquely a work of God. The work of making
and forming consists of organizing already existing material into a more complex system. In contrast, the
act of creation is that of speaking into existence something whose materials had no previous existence,
except in the mind and power of God.

The use of the word bara (created) in Genesis 1:1 lets us know that God spoke the physical universe into
existence. It had no prior existence to this creative act of God. Although it is impossible to fully
understand an eternal transcended God, the only alternative is an eternal self-existing universe. This is
equally incomprehensible. These are our only choices – Eternal God or eternal matter – that's it.

However, the second choice cannot exist within the constraints of the present scientific law of Cause
and effect since random particles of matter could not, by themselves, generate a complex, orderly,
intelligible universe, not to mention living persons capable of applying intelligence to the understanding
of the complex order of the universe. A personal God is the only adequate Cause to produce such
effects.

3. Heaven – This word in Hebrew is shamayim, which is also a plural noun. It can be translated as
"heaven" or "heavens," depending on the context and whether it is used with a singular or plural verb.
It does not mean the stars of heaven, which were created on day 4. The word could be a derivative of
the words' sham (there) and mayim (waters), referring to waters interacting with the upper reaches of
the atmosphere.

However, the essential translation corresponds to our word space, such as when we speak of our
universe of space and time. No Hebrew word is used in this sense in the Bible, whereas the use of
"heaven" is everywhere consistent with this concept. When we understand it this way, it can refer to
space in general, such as outer space, inner space, atmospheric space, etc. In Genesis 1:1, the term
refers to the components of space in the basic space-mass-time universe.

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4. Earth – This word in Hebrew is erets and is often translated as ground or land. In the context of
Genesis 1:1, it will refer to all the components of matter in the universe since there was no other
existence in creation except for the matter that constituted the earth we have today. There were no
stars, planets, etc. The word erets can mean a particular portion of ground (such as “the land of
Canaan” – Genesis 12:5) or the earth material in general (“Let the earth bring forth grass” Genesis 1:11).

5. In the beginning – Not only does Genesis 1:1 speak of the creation of space and matter, but it also
notes the beginning of time. The Hebrew word here is bereshith, which can accurately be translated –
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“the beginning of all things.” In the Greek Septuagint, it is translated in Greek to en arche, which is the
same word we find in John 1:1: “In the beginning was the Word.” Although the universe had a
beginning, the Word (Jesus Christ) was already there and thus transcended the universe. Some scholars
try to ascribe a lighter meaning to the word by saying that it means “when God began creating” or “In
the beginning of God’s creating.” While both are grammatically correct, the most accurate

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