Genesis 1-3 Devotional (Daily Bible Reading for January 1 (Day 1) – Read the Bible in One Year)
Genesis 1-3 Reading in the English Standard Version or the New International Version.
Summary
Creation
God created the heavens and the earth
God created the heavens and the earth in the beginning when on the first day He spoke light into existence, from earth which was formless and voidless, and covered by darkness and water, which His Spirit was hovering over the face of (Genesis 1:1-3). He then saw that the light was good and separated it from the darkness, thus, ending up with Day and Night respectively (Genesis 1:4-5).
The Lord God then spoke an expanse (canopy) in the midst of the waters into existence and called it Heaven on the second day (Genesis 1:6-8). He followed this up by speaking the Seas and Dry Land (Earth), and vegetation into existence, and saw that they were good, on the third day (Genesis 1:9-13).
God created the Sun, Moon, and Stars
After that, God spoke the Sun, Moon, and Stars into existence, to act as signs and seasons, to provide light to the Earth during the day and night, and to separate light from darkness (Genesis 1:14-18a). He saw that they were good on His fourth day of creation (Genesis 1:18b-19).
God created the creatures
Finally, God spoke sea creatures and birds into existence, and He saw that they were good (Genesis 1:20-21). He then blessed them to be “fruitful and multiply and fill the seas and the earth” on the fifth day (Genesis 1:22-23).
The Creator then spoke the creatures of the earth into existence and He saw that they were good (Genesis 1:24-25). He also made man in His image to have dominion over all the other creatures, and He blessed them to be “fruitful and multiply and fill and subdue the earth, and have dominion over the other creatures” (Genesis 1:26-28). And He gave them seed-yielding plants and fruit-yielding trees for food and gave the other creatures green plants for food and saw that everything He’d made was good on the sixth day (Genesis 1:29-31).
God rested after finishing creating the heavens and the earth and the host of them
Consequently, God finished creating the heavens and the earth, and the host of them, and rested on the seventh day (Genesis 2:2). He blessed the day and made it holy (Genesis 2:3).
Fall
The Garden in Eden
When God created the generations of the heavens and the earth, there was no bush or plant because God had not caused it to rain and there was no man to work the ground (Genesis 2:4-6). God, therefore, formed man and planted a garden in Eden, where He put man, and made trees that were pleasant to the sight and good for food to spring up from the ground, among which the trees of life and the knowledge of good and evil were in the midst of the garden (Genesis 2:7-9). And there was a river that flowed out of Eden to water the garden (Genesis 2:10-14).
God’s command and search for the Man’s Helper
God then commanded the man to work and keep the garden and to not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, lest he died when he did so (Genesis 2:15-17). He also reckoned that “it wasn’t good for the man to be alone, thus, resolving to make a helper fit for him” (Genesis 2:18). And He took the beasts and the birds He had formed to the man to name, but no suitable helper was found for him (Genesis 2:19-20).
The Creation of the Woman
So, God made the man fall into a deep sleep and took one of his ribs, and made a woman, and took her to the man (Genesis 2:21-22). The man declared that the woman was “bone of his bones, and flesh of his flesh, and called her ‘Woman’ because she had been taken out of Man” (Genesis 2:23). No wonder, a man should leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and they become one flesh (Genesis 2:24). And they were naked, but not ashamed (Genesis 2:25).
The Fall of Man
Because the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that God had made, he asked the woman if God had actually commanded them not to eat of any tree in the garden (Genesis 3:1). And the woman answered him as God had commanded them (Genesis 3:2-3).
Therefore, the serpent told her that they surely wouldn’t die because God knew that their eyes would be opened and they would be like Him, knowing good and evil (Genesis 3:4-5). And the woman, seeing that the tree was good for food, and a delight to the eyes, and it was to be desired to make one wise, took its fruit, ate it, and gave some to her husband with her, who ate it (Genesis 3:6).
The Impact of the Fall of Man
Consequently, the eyes were opened and they knew they were naked (Genesis 3:7a). So, they sewed fig trees together and made themselves loincloth (Genesis 3:7b).
When they heard God walking in the garden, they hid themselves from Him among the trees (Genesis 3:8). So, He called the man who told Him that when he heard Him walking in the garden, he became afraid, because he was naked, and hid (Genesis 3:9-10).
He then asked him who had told him that he was naked, or if he had eaten of the tree he had forbidden him about (Genesis 3:11). And he told God that the woman had given him the fruit of the tree and he had eaten (Genesis 3:12).
God, therefore, turned to the woman and asked her about what she had done (Genesis 3:13a). And she answered that the serpent had deceived her into eating the fruit (Genesis 3:13b).
God’s judgment
Therefore, The Lord God turned to the serpent, cursed him, and put enmity between him and the woman and their offspring (Genesis 3:14-15). He then turned to the woman and multiplied her pain and made her desire to be for her husband who would rule over her (Genesis 3:16). And He, finally, turned to Adam and cursed the ground so that he would eat of it in pain as it brought forth thorns and thistles, and eat bread by the sweat of his face till he returned to it (Genesis 3:17-19).
Adam named the woman Eve
Adam named his wife Eve and God made garments of skins and clothed them with the same (Genesis 3:20-21). God then drove man out of the garden of Eden to work the ground and placed a cherubim and a flaming sword to guard the way to the Tree of Life because if man could eat of the Tree of Life, he could live forever (Genesis 3:22-24).
Key/Memory Verse(s) from Genesis 1-3 Reading
- Genesis 1:1 (ESV) In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.
- Genesis 1:26 (ESV) Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”
- Genesis 2:15 (ESV) The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it.
- Genesis 2:18 (ESV) Then the Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.”
- Genesis 2:24 (ESV) Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.
- Genesis 3:15 (ESV) I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.”
Commentary on Genesis 1-3 Reading
The word God
The word ‘God’ denotes a “self-existing one” or “self-sufficient one” since it describes a being that needed nothing or no one to exist. Consequently, the term ‘God’ is the description of character.
Additionally, the beginning of Genesis 1-3 Reading reveals that God is Spirit (Genesis 1:2). And this introduces the concept of the Godhead, with Genesis 1:26 revealing that God is a multiperson being.
God the Creator of Everything
Importantly, God, through His act of creating everything (in an orderly manner), initiated the concept of ‘ruler or king’ and ‘rulership or kingship’. That is, God’s act of creating everything made Him the Governor of the same.
Therefore, when God created man, He created him out of love [1 John 4:8, 16] to share His kingdom rulership [Matthew 25:34]. He created man in a special way, since He made him as opposed to speaking him into existence, to co-rule with Him.
Furthermore, God, through colonization, extended His kingdom, rulership, and influence, to the earth. His intention was to achieve this through man, whom He had also desired to have a personal relationship with.
But man, through rebellion, courtesy of Satan’s deception, declared independence from God, thus, losing his ambassadorial position, and severing his relationship with God. Because in God’s kingdom, His will is supreme, and disobedience is punishable – no wonder He cursed (punished or judged) the serpent, Eve, and Adam.
Fortunately, God set off a plan to restore man to fellowship with Him, and the kingdom to him. Therefore, the Bible, as revealed by Genesis 1-3 Reading, is a record of how God established His kingdom on earth through Creation, gave it to man to co-rule with Him, how man lost the kingdom and the rulership of it through rebellion, and how God announced a plan to redeem man and His kingdom.
God’s kingdom
God’s kingdom is, therefore, defined by His rule, reign, and sovereign control. It is the realm in which or where He reigns supreme, and He is, consequently, obeyed by His creation, particularly man.
Prayer
Lord God, I worship You because You are Alpha and Omega. I thank You because You created me out of Love, to co-rule with You.
You also created work for me to engage in in Your kingdom. But the first Adam rebelled against You, thus, making me a rebel too.
Nevertheless, You provided a plan for redemption at his point of rebellion. And You made it manifest in the death and resurrection of Christ.
I, therefore, receive Your redemptive plan and pray that You’ll restore me into fellowship with You and into the co-rulership that You created me for. And I pray this in Jesus’ Name, Amen.
Daily Bible Verse
Psalm 28:7 (see How to Read the Bible in One Year or How to Read the Bible (for Beginners))
