This past Sunday, we studied Genesis 1:3–31 and the six days of creation. In these six days of creation, we saw that God is the one who created the world in six ordinary days with order, according to his plan. He created all things by the power of his word in his gracious sovereignty. We saw how our God is the God who names, blesses, gives, and commands. He created everything very good.
To help us continue to meditate on this chapter of Scripture, here are three more observations.
First, after God created light, he declares that it is good.
The light was good. This should encourage us and remind us that God is the source of all that is good and life-giving. Light is good, but God never calls the darkness good. God does not delight in darkness. He delights in the light.
Throughout Scripture, light is a powerful image for how God works in the lives of his people. He speaks light into the darkness of his people as he rescues, saves, comforts, and even convicts.
When Jesus came into the world, he is called the Light, the Light of the world. Notice how Jesus is described in the following verses in John.
“In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” (John 1:4-5 ESV)
“Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, ‘I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.’” (John 8:12 ESV)
When we follow Jesus, we know we have light in the darkness. We know that our God is light and “in him is no darkness at all,” (1 John 1:5). When God created the world, he spoke light into existence, and he declared that the light is good. He continues to give us light today, most fully and clearly through his son, Jesus Christ, who is the light of the world.
Second, God creates the great sea creatures (Genesis 1:21).
We can speculate about what the text is talking about, maybe dinosaurs, whales, or sharks, but if we look at the word elsewhere in the Old Testament, we see that it sometimes referred to as a “sea dragon.” In Ancient Near Eastern cultures, the great sea creatures or sea dragons became a mythic and feared reality in the sea.
Even in the prophets, the sea monster is sometimes used as a symbol of evil and the enemy. In Isaiah 27:1, the prophet declares,
“In that day the Lord with his hard and great and strong sword will punish Leviathan the fleeing serpent, Leviathan the twisting serpent, and he will slay the dragon that is in the sea.”
The word “dragon” in Isaiah 27:1 is the same word used in Genesis 1:21 to refer to the great sea creatures. In Isaiah, the point is that God defeats his enemies, and the prophet uses a cultural image to depict that.
But in Genesis 1, there is none of that. The great sea creatures are just another magnificent creation of God, and God’s people don’t need to fear them as some mythic monster. God is sovereign over what we fear. God is sovereign over what we dread. God created even the great sea creatures. We can look at what our culture might view as fearful and know that God is sovereign over all of it. Even in a fallen world, he is sovereign, and we can trust Him.
Finally, God is a God who speaks to his people.
God created the world through the power of his Word. He is a God who speaks. In Genesis 1:28, we see that he is also the God who speaks to the people he has made.
God speaks to humanity. He gives us his Word. We don’t have to try to go to all these different places to try to figure out what God is saying. God has revealed himself to us. God has spoken to us. We don’t just have to piece things together to try to figure out who God is. He’s a God who speaks and who has told us who he is and how we are to live. God has spoken to his people
The preeminent example of how God has spoken to us is through the Word who became flesh, Jesus Christ. Jesus is the Word through whom God created the world, and He is the Word through whom God has revealed Himself to us.
We can know God’s blessing. We can know his love. We can know how he calls us to live. God has not left us on our own to try to feel things out and figure out what he wants from us. He has spoken to us. God is a God who speaks to us through his Son. We should listen to His Word so we can know our Creator and our God.
We know and worship the God, the Creator of all things, who is light, who is the source of all that is good. He is sovereign over the dragons of the sea. He is the God who speaks to us through his son, Jesus Christ. So may we find light in him, trust him in the darkness, and listen to all that he has spoken to us.
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Full Sermon from Sunday, August 24, 2025:
