Sermon Resources - Dr. Toby Holt
What does Genesis 1 actually teach about creation? Before the universe existed, God spoke — and everything that is came into being. Genesis 1 is not merely a story about how the world was made; it is the Bible's foundational declaration about the nature of God, the dignity of humanity, and the goodness of creation itself. In this sermon, Dr. Toby Holt examines the structure of the six days, what it means that humanity was made in the image of God (the Imago Dei), and why this opening chapter of Scripture is the indispensable foundation on which all correct theology rests.
0:00 — Introduction to the Genesis Explained series
3:30 — "In the beginning" what means for all theology
7:45 — Creation ex nihilo God creates from absolutely nothing at all
12:00 — The six days structure, sequence, and interpretive questions addressed
16:30 — "Let Us make man in Our image" the Imago Dei unpacked and applied
21:00 — Male and female complementarity, dignity, and God's deliberate design
25:15 — "It was very good" what creation's original goodness means and implies
28:30 — Conclusion creation as the opening act of all redemptive history
Questions This Sermon Answers:
1. What does "In the beginning God created" mean?
Genesis 1:1 is the Bible's foundational statement — not a scientific hypothesis but a theological declaration. It asserts that God pre-exists everything, that the universe had a beginning, and that its existence is entirely dependent on a personal Creator. The Hebrew word bara (created) is used exclusively of God's creative activity in the Old Testament — no human being bara anything. Creation is an act that belongs uniquely to God. John 1:1–3 echoes Genesis 1:1 deliberately: "In the beginning was the Word... all things were made through Him."
2. What is creation ex nihilo?
Creation ex nihilo means "creation from nothing" — God did not shape pre-existing matter; He called the universe into being from absolute non-existence by His word. Hebrews 11:3 states: "By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible." This is one of the most distinctive features of Christian theology: unlike Greek philosophy's eternal matter, the biblical creation has a beginning, a Creator, and a purpose. Westminster Confession 4.1 affirms that God created "of nothing."
3. What does it mean to be created in the image of God?
The Imago Dei (image of God) in Genesis 1:26–27 is the theological ground of human dignity, value, and purpose. It means that human beings uniquely represent God in creation — reflecting His rationality, morality, creativity, and relational nature. Westminster Larger Catechism Q. 17 states that God created humanity "in knowledge, righteousness, and holiness, with dominion over the creatures." The Fall distorted but did not destroy the image (Genesis 9:6 still grounds capital punishment on the image); Christ is its perfect restoration (Colossians 3:10).
4. What is the significance of the Sabbath in Genesis 2:1–3?
God rested on the seventh day and sanctified it — not because He was tired but as a pattern for His creatures. The Sabbath establishes the rhythm of creation: six days of work, one of rest and worship. Hebrews 4:9–11 interprets the Sabbath as pointing forward to the eschatological rest that remains for God's people — the "rest" that is not inactivity but the fullness of covenant communion with God. The seven-day pattern embedded in creation is the original expression of what becomes the fourth commandment at Sinai.
5. How does Genesis 1 relate to science?
Genesis 1 is theological literature — it answers the questions "Who made the world?" and "Why?" not the scientific question "How, precisely?" The text does not provide a timeline that science can verify or refute. Reformed theologians have held various positions on the duration of the creation days while agreeing on the theological essentials: God created all things from nothing, by His word, according to His purpose, and pronounced it good. The conflict between Genesis and science often rests on a category error — treating Genesis as a science textbook rather than a covenantal prologue.
6. What does "Let Us make man" reveal about the Trinity?
Genesis 1:26 — "Let Us make man in Our image" — uses a plural that most Reformed commentators understand as an early indication of the plurality within the Godhead, later fully revealed as the Trinity. While no single Old Testament text explicitly teaches the Trinity, the plural here, combined with Genesis 1:2 (the Spirit of God hovering), and John 1:1–3 (the Word through whom all things were created), point to what the New Testament makes explicit: creation is a Trinitarian act. Calvin writes: "We find in this passage the beginning of the proof of the Trinity."
7. What does the repeated phrase "it was good" mean?
God's declaration that creation is "good" (Genesis 1:4, 10, 12, 18, 21, 25) and finally "very good" (1:31) has profound theological implications. It means that matter is not evil — a fundamental rejection of Gnostic dualism. It means that the physical world as God made it is a fitting home for human beings and a fitting theater for God's glory. And it means that the Fall is a corruption of something originally good — that redemption is restoration, not escape. The New Testament's promise of a renewed earth, not a disembodied heaven, is grounded in Genesis 1's declaration of creation's goodness.
8. How does Genesis 1 function as the foundation for Christian theology?
Every major Christian doctrine presupposes Genesis 1: the Creator-creature distinction (God is not creation; creation is not God), human dignity (made in God's image), the reality of the Fall (something that was good became corrupted), redemption (the restoration of what was lost), eschatology (the renewal of what God called "very good"), and ethics (humans bear God's image and must be treated accordingly). To abandon Genesis 1 is not to lose one story among many — it is to lose the foundation on which every other biblical story stands.
Key Theological Points:
1. The Creator-Creature Distinction
Genesis 1's most fundamental theological contribution is the absolute distinction between God and creation. God pre-exists creation, is not part of creation, and is not dependent on creation. Westminster Confession 2.2 states: "God has all life, glory, goodness, blessedness, in and of Himself; and is alone in and unto Himself all-sufficient, not standing in need of any creatures which He hath made." This distinction rules out pantheism (God is everything), panentheism (God includes everything), and naturalism (nature is all there is). Creation exists because God willed it — not because God needed it.
2. The Imago Dei as the Ground of Human Dignity
The image of God in humanity is the theological foundation of every ethical claim about human worth. Genesis 9:6 grounds the prohibition of murder in the image: "Whoever sheds man's blood, by man his blood shall be shed; for in the image of God He made man." James 3:9 grounds the prohibition of cursing people in the image. The entire edifice of human rights, as Francis Schaeffer argued, is borrowed capital from the Christian doctrine of creation. When the Imago Dei is denied or diminished, human dignity follows. Genesis 1:26–27 is the most important verse in the history of ethics.
3. Creation's Goodness and Christian Materialism
The repeated "it was good" of Genesis 1 is the biblical basis for what might be called Christian materialism — the recognition that the physical world is God's good creation, not a prison for the soul. This has profound implications for ethics (bodies matter, sexuality matters, the environment matters), eschatology (the new earth, not escape from earth), and worship (physical sacraments using bread, wine, and water are fitting means of divine grace). R.C. Sproul wrote: "The earth is the LORD's — and He's not embarrassed by it." Genesis 1 is the antidote to every form of spiritual dualism.
4. The Text: Genesis 1:1, 26–27 (NKJV)
"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth... Then God said, 'Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.' So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them."
Continue studying: explore the full Book of Genesis sermon series, or browse the complete Reformed Sermon Archive.
About The Speaker: Dr. Toby Holt serves as the third President of New Geneva Theological Seminary (Colorado Springs, CO), founded 1993. An expository preacher with over 1.9 million sermon downloads on SermonAudio.com, Dr. Holt brings over 17 years of pastoral experience to his verse-by-verse Bible teaching. New Geneva offers fully online, Westminster Confessional theological education — M.Div., Th.M., D.Min., and other degrees.
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