Bible Gateway Blog

“‘In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.’ When I think there was a day when a human hand first wrote those words, I am filled with awe. This sentence is a masterpiece of compression. It approximates as closely as words allow the instantaneous realization of an intent, the bringing into being of the diversity of things that make up the world of fundamental human experience.”
— Marilynne Robinson

The words that open Genesis — and the Bible — are so well and widely known, it’s easy to overlook their incredible uniqueness and power. As Robinson, a world-renowned novelist and essayist, points out, nothing quite like them exist anywhere else in ancient literature.

The Story of God Commentary series, with 11 volumes from the Old Testament now available with Bible Gateway Plus, is the perfect resource to help understand the full impact of those words (and many more) with fresh eyes and ears.

As you study, you’ll find that the commentary on each passage is broken into three sections:

• “Listen to the Story” presents the Bible passage in the New International Version (NIV).

• “Explain the Story” examines the passage for its essential message and meaning.

• “Live the Story” explores how we can live this text in the world today. It offers insightful reflections, illustrations, and practical suggestions for daily Christian life and practice.

Let’s take a closer look at what “Explain the Story” highlights around Genesis 1:1. Two excerpts in particular reflect on what early pagans believed, how it differed from the account in Genesis, and how foundational these first few words are to our faith.

“The first radical claim here is that all things were created by God. In contrast, the rival creation accounts describe creation as the result of the activity of multiple gods, even though one god takes precedence (Marduk, Baal, Atum, or Ptah).”

“The second significant difference with rival creation accounts in this opening line of Genesis 1 is that there is no preexisting material from which God creates creation. The message is clear: everything that exists, animate and inanimate, comes from God and depends on God.”

We hope that this reinforces your beliefs and drives home how profound and life-altering these 10 opening words really are. To recreate this study with your Bible Gateway Plus membership, follow these steps:

1. Search for Genesis 1 on BibleGateway.com.
2. Click the Resources tab.
3. Filter to Commentaries.
4. Click the Story of God book cover to open the Resource.
5. Scroll to the second article and click to expand.
6. Then, scroll down until you find “EXPLAIN the Story” and continue reading.

As you deepen your study, we are pleased to provide the following volumes from this series to enhance your understanding of the Old Testament.

• Genesis
• Exodus
• Numbers
• Joshua
• Ruth, Esther
• 1-2 Samuel
• 1-2 Kings
• 1-2 Chronicles
• Proverbs
• Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs
• Daniel

Adding over $450 in value, while remaining less than $5/month, Bible Gateway Plus is the best value in Bible study with over $3,100 worth of resources.

Become a member today and learn more about The Story of God.

What is a favorite Bible passage of yours and why?

Choosing your favorite verse is like choosing your favorite child – it’s kind of impossible! A verse I recite to myself often is, “I love the Lord for he heard my voice; he heard my cry for mercy. Because of this, I will call on him all the days of my life.”

I also like, “Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his mercies never fail. They are new every morning. Great is thy faithfulness.”

I just noticed those two verses have a lot in common: mercy! I guess I always feel in need of God’s grace, and grateful to hear that it is unfailingly present.

By Matt Chandler

If you and I are going to be Overcomers and live courageously in this mess, it’d be helpful to understand some of it. After we see ultimate reality in Revelation 4–5, in Revelation 6 we get more help seeing behind all the mess. We get some good news about how we can endure and stand with confidence in light of all this pain—the pain of others and our pain as well.

When it comes to suffering, we see several things in the Scriptures that form a paradox we should hold in tension as finite, created beings seeking to understand an infinite and eternal God. The first is that God is good (Mark 10:18), all the works of His hands are faithful and just (Psalm 111:7), and there is no darkness in Him at all (1 John 1:5). God is love. It’s not something He has or does; it’s who He is. God doesn’t do evil; He does love.

Continue reading →

Do you use Bible Gateway to read the Bible each day? You are not alone!

If you have a free account or are a member of Bible Gateway Plus, you’ll be excited by our newest feature! You can now pin your most frequently used Study Resources to the top of the Resources panel!

To access your Pinned Resources, you’ll find them at the top under “Pinned Resources.”

Here’s how: