Planted

There Is a Garden Named Delight

In the Beginning, a Garden

A guided reading of Genesis 1:1–2:3.

Session
Session 1 · after the introduction
Primary passage
Genesis 1:1–2:3
Framework
S.O.A.P.

Welcome

Last session review

  • What stood out to you from last session?
  • Any questions from your homework reading?

Scripture

Key passage

Genesis 1:1–2:3

Read Genesis 1:1–2:3 slowly.

Read Genesis 1:1–2:3 (CSB)

Explore

Observation What does the text say?

Read Genesis 1:1–2:3 slowly. As a group, capture what you notice.

  • Repetition: What phrases or patterns keep showing up?
  • Structure: What is God doing on each “day,” and how does the pattern shift on day seven?
  • Emphasis: Where does the narrative slow down? What feels like the “climax”?

Notes

  • Creation begins with a world described as tohu wa-bohu (“formless and void”)—not a neutral blank canvas, but a picture of disorder.
  • God brings order and fullness through speech: “Then God said…”
  • The rhythm builds toward the seventh day, where God rests, blesses the day, and calls it holy.

Teaching

Dive deeper What does it mean?

This session zooms out before we zoom in. Genesis 1 introduces a worldview: reality is not random, and creation is not divine—it is made.

1. “In the beginning, God…”

Genesis does not start with us. It starts with God.

  • God is eternal and not contained by time.
  • The universe has a beginning—history is story-shaped.
  • The foundation for everything else is not an idea but a Person.

Discuss

  • Why does it matter that Scripture begins with God rather than humanity’s needs?
  • What changes when God is the starting point of your worldview?

2. Creator–creature distinction God is “Other”

Genesis 1 draws a bright line: there is God, and there is everything else.

  • God has no rivals, peers, or competitors.
  • Creation is good, but it is not God.
  • This is the holiness of the Creator: transcendent and set apart.

Discuss

  • Where do you see modern culture blur the line between Creator and creation (self, nature, technology, success, relationships)?
  • How does this distinction protect us from idolatry?

3. Order over chaos Water as motif

Genesis 1 uses “waters” not only materially but symbolically.

  • Materially: God created everything, including water.
  • Theologically: “waters” can symbolize chaos, danger, and disorder.
  • The Spirit hovering over the waters pictures God’s authority over chaos.

Discuss

  • What “chaos” do you feel in your life right now?
  • What does it look like to trust that God brings order without denying the reality of disorder?

4. Two lenses on one Creator Elohim / Yahweh Elohim

Genesis 1 emphasizes God as Cosmic Creator (Elohim).

Genesis 2 will emphasize God as Personal Caretaker (Yahweh Elohim).

Different perspectives can reveal the same reality—like a city seen from 30,000 feet versus street level.

Discuss

  • Which lens do you default to—God as powerful Creator or personal Caretaker?
  • What might you be missing if you only keep one lens?

5. Sabbath as the climax

The “seventh day” is not an afterthought—it is the peak of the story.

  • God’s rest is not exhaustion; it is enthronement and delight.
  • God rests in a world that is complete and “very good.”
  • The story slows down and invites us to see what creation is for: God’s presence.

Discuss

  • What do you think it means that God “rests”?
  • How does Sabbath reframe your view of work, productivity, and worth?

6. Humanity as the crown Identity and vocation

Humanity is not made “according to their kinds,” but in God’s image.

  • Image-bearing is a gift (dignity) and a calling (vocation).
  • “Rule” is not exploitation; it is loving stewardship—cultivation.
  • The world is “very good,” yet still full of potential that must be drawn out.

Discuss

  • How is your sense of identity shaped by what you achieve?
  • What changes if your worth is given before anything you accomplish?

Locate the story

Storyline How does this connect to the whole Bible?

Genesis 1 is the opening movement of the Bible’s big story:

  1. Creation: God speaks order, beauty, and life into being.
  2. Calling: Humanity is placed in the world as God’s image—representing God’s rule by loving stewardship.
  3. Presence: The goal is not merely a functional world, but a world filled with God’s glory.
  4. Hope: If God brings order from chaos at the beginning, God can bring new creation out of ruin.

Bridge forward

Genesis 2 zooms in: from cosmos to soil, from the heavens to human hands. The question shifts from Who is God? to What were humans made to do?

Debrief

Reflection How should we respond?

Take a few minutes in silence, then share (as you’re comfortable):

  1. Where do you need to start again with “In the beginning, God…”?
  2. What “created thing” is tempting to become ultimate for you right now?
  3. Where is God inviting you to practice trust in the midst of chaos?
  4. What is one concrete way you can practice image-bearing stewardship this week (home, work, relationships, body, time)?

Respond

Worship & prayer

Song suggestion: So Will I (100 Billion X) — Hillsong Worship

Prayer prompts

  • Praise God as Creator and King.
  • Confess where you’ve blurred the Creator–creature line.
  • Bring present chaos honestly before God.
  • Ask for a renewed imagination for what it means to be human in God’s world.

Carry it forward

Homework

  1. Read Genesis 2 slowly. Note every detail about:
    • Place (where?)
    • People (who?)
    • Purpose (why?)
  2. Read Psalm 139:1–18.
  3. Optional journaling: write 1–2 paragraphs beginning with, “Because God created the world, I can…”