Genesis 1 Explained: The Six Days of Creation

In this blog post, we will look at the six days of creation in Genesis chapter 1. We will go through it verse by verse and explain what is happening.

‌Genesis 1:1 NKJV
1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
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The word ‘heavens’ here simply means the sky. It encompasses everything you see when you look up. Later on in the Bible the word 'heaven’ is also used for God’s dwelling place, but initially, it simply refers to the sky.
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So this opening statement asserts that God created the universe. In the verses that follow, we will be given an account of how this creation happened...
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Genesis 1:2 NKJV
2 The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.
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At the beginning of creation, the earth is described as being without form. In other words, it hadn’t yet been prepared. It was also void. In other words, it was empty. It hadn’t yet been filled with the wonderful things that God would soon place in His creation. Furthermore, the earth was covered in water. There was no sky, it was just water, and everything was dark. But God is about to do something about this, because His Spirit is hovering over the face of the waters, about to enact whatever God will command. So the next verse tells us...
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Genesis 1:3–5 NKJV
3 Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. 4 And God saw the light, that it was good; and God divided the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night. So the evening and the morning were the first day.
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So, God creates light. The sun is not created until day four, so this light seems to refer to illumination in general. But notice how God created the light. He created it merely by speaking. Our English translation has four words - “let there be light”. But in Hebrew, it is only two words = “light be”. This portrays God as an all-powerful king - He speaks and it is done. This is why we pray to Him. It is because we know that He is all-powerful. In other words, He has power to do anything that He wants to do.
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At the end of verse 5 it says, "So the evening and the morning were the first day". Notice that evening comes before morning. There’s a very simple reason for this. This book was originally written to ancient Jews, and the Jewish day begins at the evening. For example, the Sabbath begins on Friday evening and ends on Saturday evening. That’s also how the first day happened. It began in darkness. And only after the darkness did God create light. So there was evening followed by morning - the first day.
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Our passage continues...
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Genesis 1:6 NKJV
6 Then God said, “Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.”
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Now remember, at this point the earth is still covered with water. So God creates something called a “firmament”, and places it in the midst of the water to divide the waters. But what is this firmament? We will see in the verses that follow...
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Genesis 1:7–8 NKJV
7 Thus God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament; and it was so. 8 And God called the firmament Heaven. So the evening and the morning were the second day.
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God calls this firmament “heaven”. As we have noted, in this chapter, “heaven” is simply a reference to the sky.  It refers to everything we see when we look up.  So in other words, the firmament is the sky.
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Notice that God creates the sky in the midst of the waters that covered the earth. So the sky separated these waters, so that you have water beneath the sky and water above it. We know what the water beneath the sky is. We call it the sea. But what is the water above the sky? In order to make sense of this, we need to put ourselves in the shoes of the original people to whom this book was written. In fact, that’s what we must do with the whole Bible. We have to ask, how would the original readers of this text to whom it was addressed have understood it? Now, the ancients believed the sky to be a solid dome. That’s why its called the “firmament” - it was considered to be firm - solid. They considered the sky’s blue appearance to be caused by an ocean of water above it.  And because the sky was considered to be solid, it held back this great ocean of water above it. But when God wanted to bless the nation’s crops, it was understood that He would open the "windows of heaven" and so these cosmic waters above the sky would be able to fall to earth in the form of rain. It is important to understand that when God speaks to people, He speaks to them within the context of their own limited understanding of the universe. In other words, He comes down to their level by accommodating their understanding of the world so that He can teach them about Himself. So in theses verses, God is in effect saying to the ancient Jews, “That thing which you perceive to be a dome holding back an ocean of water - I made that..  and I’m the one who created the weather system that enables your crops to grow”. So God is coming down to their level, to help them understand that He is the creator and the source of their blessings.
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We should not be uncomfortable with the idea of God accommodating the ancient worldview of his people. We will see that the same thing happens later in this passage where the moon is referred to as a “light”. We know today that the moon is not a light. But the ancient Jews thought it was, and so God accommodated their understanding so that he could speak to them at a level they could understand.
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I’m glad that God meets us where we are so that no matter what level of understanding we have of the universe, we can enjoy a relationship with Him. The purpose of the Bible is not a science lesson. The purpose of Scriptures is to reveal the Creator to us and to teach us how to walk with Him.
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Now let’s move on to the next day...
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Genesis 1:9–13 NKJV
9 Then God said, “Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear”; and it was so. 
10 And God called the dry land Earth, and the gathering together of the waters He called Seas. And God saw that it was good. 
11 Then God said, “Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb that yields seed, and the fruit tree that yields fruit according to its kind, whose seed is in itself, on the earth”; and it was so. 
12 And the earth brought forth grass, the herb that yields seed according to its kind, and the tree that yields fruit, whose seed is in itself according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 
13 So the evening and the morning were the third day.
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‌So, on the third day, God causes the dry land to appear, calls the water Seas, and also creates vegetation. God is basically continuing to get the planet ready for creatures to live on it. Without first creating the sky, and causing dry land to appear, the only type of creature that would be able to occupy the planet would be fish!  And without the vegetation, we would have nothing to eat.
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But there’s one more thing that God wants to do before he makes creatures... 
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Genesis 1:14–19 NKJV
14 Then God said, “Let there be lights in the firmament of the heavens to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs and seasons, and for days and years; 
15 and let them be for lights in the firmament of the heavens to give light on the earth”; and it was so. 
16 Then God made two great lights: the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night. He made the stars also. 
17 God set them in the firmament of the heavens to give light on the earth, 
18 and to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. 
19 So the evening and the morning were the fourth day.
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So on the fourth day God creates lights in the sky, which we know as the stars, the sun and the moon.  They are to give light on the earth, and their varying appearance will help humans to know when days and years begin, and also when it is time for particular religious festivals.  This is brought out clearly in the NIV’s rendering of verse 14 - “Let there be lights in the vault of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark sacred times, and days and years" (NIV). This would have had particular relevance for the Jews who were the original recipients of this book because they had religious, or “sacred” times, that they observed throughout the year. God delayed creating humans until he had first created the means by which they would be able to know when those sacred times were. This shows us that as humans, we do not exist to merely survive on this planet. If that were the case, the ability to know when it was time to observe special festivals would not need to be put in place before our creation. However, the fact that it was put in place first shows us that it was important to God that we were able to worship him in the manner that he prescribes. In other words, already in the fourth day of creation, we see that God is setting things in place so that he can have some form a relationship with us.  He is not merely creating us to eat and sleep, but to also have fellowship with Him.
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With that done, God is now ready to begin filling his creation with creatures...
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Genesis 1:20–23 NKJV
20 Then God said, “Let the waters abound with an abundance of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the face of the firmament of the heavens.” 
21 So God created great sea creatures and every living thing that moves, with which the waters abounded, according to their kind, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 
22 And God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.” 
23 So the evening and the morning were the fifth day.
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So on day five God creates the fish and the birds. But why does God create the fish first, and then the birds? It is because God is very orderly. God created the water before He created the sky. Therefore, He first filled the water with fish and then creates the birds for the sky. After He created the sky, He caused dry land to appear, and so on day six, He is going to populate the land...
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Genesis 1:24–25 NKJV
24 Then God said, “Let the earth bring forth the living creature according to its kind: cattle and creeping thing and beast of the earth, each according to its kind”; and it was so. 
25 And God made the beast of the earth according to its kind, cattle according to its kind, and everything that creeps on the earth according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.
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So God creates land animals to populate the land. Now, without any disrespect to our wonderful animal friends, God saved His best creation till last...
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Genesis 1:26–31 NKJV
26 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.” 
27 So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. 
28 Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” 
29 And God said, “See, I have given you every herb that yields seed which is on the face of all the earth, and every tree whose fruit yields seed; to you it shall be for food. 
30 Also, to every beast of the earth, to every bird of the air, and to everything that creeps on the earth, in which there is life, I have given every green herb for food”; and it was so. 
31 Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good. So the evening and the morning were the sixth day.
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So God prescribed to all birds and land creatures a vegetarian diet. Originally, we were not supposed to be eating each other! It was not until after the Flood that God sanctioned meat as food.
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In verse 26, God said, "Let Us make man in Our image". Notice that humans are distinguished from all other creatures, in that they are said to have been created in God’s image. The image of God likely refers to God’s characteristics that He has reproduced in human beings. In the ancient world, kings were said to be in the image of their deity. Interestingly, because human beings bear God’s image, they are given the responsibility to rule God’s creation.
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But, whilst humans are in God’s image, they are not on God’s level. Notice that God refers to Himself as “us” and “our” in this verse - “let Us make man in Our image”. Whilst I believe that this ultimately hints at God’s conversation with His Son Jesus, the ancient Jew reading this would not have been aware of such a thing,  as that is not revealed until the New Testament. So how would ancient Jews have understood this? I believe they would likely have understood God’s use of “Us” and “Our” to be the plural of majesty. In other words, God is so majestic, that He is not merely “Me”; the vastness of His majesty is such that He can also refer to Himself as “Us”. So, whilst God creates humans in God’s image, we must never dare to think of ourselves as being on God’s level. He alone is the Majestic One, and remains infinitely superior to anything that He has created, including those He created in His own image. If we truly believe that, then we will bow before Him, and worship Him with humble and awe-filled adoration.
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Summary
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• God as all-powerful. He can do anything He wants. He speaks and it is done.
• ‌God meets us where are. He wants everyone to know Him, no matter how limited our understanding of the world is.
• ‌The purpose of the Bible is not a science lesson. The purpose of Scripture is to reveal the Creator and to show us how we can walk with Him.
• As humans, we do not exist to merely survive on this planet. God wants to have a relationship with us.
• ‌Whilst we humans are created in God’s image; we are not on God’s level - He alone is the Majestic One.