Genesis 1: Why is this important?

The modern world will have people believe that what we know about the universe is demonstrably true, while in fact the Biblical truth about creation is observably true and any alleged demonstrated proofs that conflict are, at best, mere theory, assumption, or outright lie.

While this one segment could not possibly undo years of carefully conditioned rhetoric, it will serve as the first step toward enlightening the mind of the reader to understand that God’s Word about His creation is literally and comprehensively true.

But first it’s important to know why it’s important. 

Matthew 7:24–27:
“Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock. And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.”

Foundations are important; they’re important to God and eminently important in life generally. In the Bible we have 66 books. The first book is Genesis, which is the Greek word γένεσις named in the Septuagint translation for “beginning,” which was used as a correlation to the Hebrew translation, “bereshith,”( בְּרֵאשִׁית ) or, “In the beginning.” The Genesis account itself is a foundation; the foundation of creation. It comes first in the Bible because it lays the foundation for knowing who God the Creator is.

In knowing who the Creator is, it immediately establishes Him as the sole Authority in all matters. The words He inspired to be used, therefore, are of singular importance in establishing this first fact of the character of God.

In this first foundational book, we have a first chapter which focuses on these topics I’ve mentioned specifically. While the entirety of the Book of Genesis describes everything from creation and all things relative to that creation to the establishment of God’s ordained people, that laying the foundation of the Christian faith, the creation narrative presented at the beginning of the book is the foundation of foundations. And if your foundation is not built upon rock, then it is built upon sand; and if built upon sand, how great the fall will be.

In order to have any faith at all, one must confess that the Scriptures are the inerrant Word of God, inspired by the Holy Spirit and sufficient for knowing all matters concerning one’s own salvation. If someone does not believe even this much, then they have not the faith of a grain of sand.

In acknowledging the former truth, that the Bible is of God and completely true, then we must accept what it says as truth. Notwithstanding obvious instances of allegory, hyperbole, simile/metaphor, figurative language and other poetical genres of writing, the Primeval History, or the first 11 chapters of the Book of Genesis, are widely known to be a literal, prose genre narrative of history. In understanding this, we are once again faced with the fact that the creation narrative is a literal truth. Chapter 1 describing the creation of the world is therefore either true or false. Being said that it is true, we are forced then to acknowledge that the scientific (falsely so called) narrative of our world is what’s flawed and not the Bible. To say otherwise is to deny the Word of God as true.

Some will say that it is allegorical, to which I once again respond by stating the obvious interpretation of countless reputed scholars throughout the last 2,000 years and also I would add that in order for the 7-day creation period to be allegorical, it would have to be written from a phenomenological perspective, which is to say “from Man’s perspective.” However since Man was not created until day 6, then the only possible perspective to be had is one that is noumenological or “from God’s perspective.” And that which is from God’s perspective can be nothing other than plain truth. To the Calvinist or any other who subscribes to any Doctrine of Accommodation, I would say that such a theory is scripturally unsupported and, as a general rule, both a threat and an insult to the sovereignty of the Word of God.

Therefore, it has been established that the importance of believing the Biblical account of creation is necessary for the purpose of having a substantive, solid foundation upon which to build one’s faith and also to then be able to stand firm in the teachings of Scripture without compromise with the world but in relying upon and having full confidence in the truthfulness of what it reports. In allowing for Concordist principles to mingle with Scripture, we allow the very foundations of our faith to be attacked! “Yea hath God said……” (Gen 3:1)