God’s authority in heaven and on earth (Genesis 1:14-31)

Genesis 1 is a revelation of God. God’s decrees give form and function to a world that would otherwise be vacuous and void. God decreed life.

Now God sets up signs in the heavens that earth is under heaven’s authority:

Genesis 1:14-19 (NIV)
¹⁴ And God said, “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, ¹⁵ and let them be lights in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth.” And it was so.
¹⁶ God made two great lights—the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars. ¹⁷ God set them in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth, ¹⁸ to govern the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that it was good. ¹⁹ And there was evening, and there was morning—the fourth day.

In the dome of the heavens, the sun and the moon serve as signs that govern life on earth. Heaven directs our workdays and Sabbath, as God worked six days and rested on the seventh. Heaven marks the months and seasons of our year, the sacred times that were the festivals of Israel’s calendar (Leviticus 23; Deuteronomy 16).

God set up creation with lights in the sky to signify that earth is governed by heaven. It’s a word used of governing a kingdom (e.g. Jeremiah 34:1; 51:28; Daniel 11:5; Micah 4:8). The lights in the heavens remind us that we live under God’s reign, that earth is a kingdom of heaven. That was Israel’s uniqueness in Old Testament times. That’s what Jesus came to restore for the whole world. The one who sits on the throne restores creation because he is faithful and true (Revelation 21:5).

Having established the kingdom, God now puts the living creatures in place:

Genesis 1:20-25 (NIV)
²⁰ And God said, “Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the vault of the sky.” ²¹ So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living thing with which the water teems and that moves about in it, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. ²² God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the water in the seas, and let the birds increase on the earth.” ²³ And there was evening, and there was morning—the fifth day.
²⁴ And God said, “Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: the livestock, the creatures that move along the ground, and the wild animals, each according to its kind.” And it was so. ²⁵ God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.

The emphasis is on each creature being in its right place, its assigned domain:

• the waters, teeming with living things and huge sea creatures
• the heavens, where birds fly across the dome of the sky
• the land, where domestic livestock, crawling creatures, and wild animals live.

With everything in place, God prepares a creature to manage the earth on his behalf:

Genesis 1:26-31 (NIV)
²⁶ Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”
²⁷ So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.
²⁸ God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”
²⁹ Then God said, “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. ³⁰ And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds in the sky and all the creatures that move along the ground—everything that has the breath of life in it—I give every green plant for food.” And it was so.
³¹ God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day.

God wants to share his dominion, so he creates the human with authority to represent God to creation. It was common in the ancient world for a ruler to set up an image in the kingdom so people knew who their ruler was. But the Life-giver’s image cannot be made of stone: only a living image can represent the living God!

The male and female humans image God. Equally and jointly, they are given authority to exercise God’s dominion in his earthly realm. They are commissioned to manage all God’s creatures in the domains where God put them: the fish in the sea, and the birds in the sky, and the land creatures on the land (verse 28).

But what are we not given authority over? God gave us dominion over the other creatures, but not over each other. The kingdom of God established in Genesis 1 has God ruling over humans, and humans ruling over the other creatures on his behalf. God is very pleased with this arrangement. What God made each day was good, but this is very good (verse 31).

So what?

We’ll discuss the seven days of creation as we reach the seventh day in Chapter 2, but how does this understanding of Genesis sit with you?

Scripture reveals God and defines our relationship with him. How does the opening chapter of the Bible address questions like these?

1. Who is God (in relation to creation)? Hint.
2. Who are we (in relation to God and creation)? Hint.
3. What do you make of Israel’s claim that their God rules everyone and everything (Genesis 1–11)? Would that have been controversial? Is it controversial still?
4. Theology often starts with “original sin,” but Genesis begins with original “good.” What difference would it make if we started with original good? Hint.

Related posts

• How to approach Genesis 1
• “And God said …” (Genesis 1:1-13)
• Who are we? (Gen 1:20-31)
• When the word comes to life (John 1)