Stories from the Bible - Ep 1 When Everything Was Really Good (Genesis 1)

Episode Date: October 11, 2021

Did you know the different stories of the Bible fit together to make one big, connected story? Here, we start at the very beginning and hear how everything started off really great. The Scriptures quoted are from the NET Bible® http://netbible.com copyright ©1996, 2019 used with permission from Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. All rights reserved

You're listening to Stories from the Bible. Sometimes dark, but never without hope. The stories from the Bible you'll hear in this podcast are told as the Bible tells them, succinct and honest, like chapters in an epic saga. The stories you'll hear in each episode gradually build to tell one great narrative. Before each story, I'll give an introduction to provide context and a recap of where we've come from. Then I'll share the story, which is taken pretty much straight from the text of the Bible. Don't expect to understand

everything. Sit with the journey. Give yourself permission to just listen and take it in. Notice stuff. What you like. What you don't like. How it makes you feel. Notice the characters. Think about something you might want to remember and questions you have. So today's story starts at the very beginning of the Bible. The story starts here. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty. Darkness covered the surface of the watery depths, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters.

Then God said, Let there be light, and there was light. God saw that the light was good, and God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light day, and the darkness he called night. There was an evening and there was a morning, one day. Then God said, let there be an expanse between the waters,

separating water from water. So God made the expanse and separated the water under the expanse from the water above the expanse. And it was so. God called the expanse from the water above the expanse. And it was so. God called the expanse sky. Evening came and then morning, the second day. Then God said, let the water under the sky be gathered into one place and let the dry land appear.

And it was so. God called the dry land, earth, and the gathering of the water he called, seas. And God saw that it was good. Then God said, Let the earth produce vegetation, seed-bearing plants and fruit trees on the earth bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And it was so. The earth produced vegetation, seed-bearing plants all kinds, and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.

Evening came and then morning, and that was the third day. Then God said, let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate the day from the night. They will serve as signs for seasons and for days and years. They will be lights in the expanse of the sky to provide light on the earth. And it was so. God made the two great lights, the greater light to rule over the day and the lesser light to rule over the night, as well as the stars. God placed them in the expanse of the sky to provide light on the earth,

to rule the day and the night and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that it was good. Evening came and then morning, the fourth day. Then God said, let the water swarm with living creatures. Let birds fly above the earth across the water according to their kinds. He also created every wind creature according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. God blessed them.

Be fruitful, multiply, fill the waters of the seas and let the birds multiply on the earth. Evening came and then morning, the fifth day. Then God said, let the earth produce living creatures according to their kinds, livestock, creatures that crawl And it was so. So God made the wildlife of the earth according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that crawl on the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. Then God said, let us make man in our image, according to our likeness.

They will rule the fish of the seas, the birds of the sky, the livestock, the whole earth, and the creatures that crawl on the earth. So God created man in his own image, he created him in the image of God. He created them male and female. God blessed them and God said to them, God also said, Look, I have given you every seed-bearing plant on the surface of the entire earth, and every tree whose fruit contains seed. This will be food for you, for all the wildlife of the earth, for every bird of the sky, and for every creature that crawls on the earth,

everything having the breath of life in it. I have given every green plant for food. And it was so. God saw all that he had made, and it was very good indeed. Evening came, then morning, the sixth day. So the heavens and the earth and everything in them were completed. On the seventh day, God had completed his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done.

God blessed the seventh day and declared it holy, for on it he rested from all his work of creation. The story ends there. Thanks for joining us for today's story. If you'd like to read it for yourself, you can find it in the book of Genesis, chapter 1. Everything seemed pretty great, right? Well, the next story will explain how it all went wrong. Make sure you tune in for that one.

You've been listening to Stories from the Bible. I'm Jen, and I look forward to sharing more stories with you.