Now we come to the first verse of the first chapter: "In [the] beginning..." In the Bible this phrase, "in the beginning," is used in two ways, the first time in Genesis 1:1 and the second time in John 1:1. The beginning mentioned in John 1:1 was earlier than the beginning mentioned in Genesis. The beginning mentioned by John was the beginning in eternity, a beginning without any beginning. The beginning revealed in Genesis 1 was the beginning of time, which started with God's creation. John refers to eternity, while Genesis refers to time.
In this beginning God created. It is quite interesting to notice that in this sentence the subject "God" is plural and the predicate "created" is singular. Does this mean that there are several Gods? Surely this is a little seed of the Trinity. God is one, but He is triune. In the same chapter (v. 26) He calls Himself "us": God said, "Let us make man." God is one, but the pronoun for Him is "us." We cannot explain. God is one, yet triune. The Triune God came to create.
In Genesis 1 and 2, three different verbs are used concerning God's creation and re-creation: created, made, and formed. To create means to bring something into existence out of nothing. Only God can create. We cannot create. We can only make. To make means to take something which exists already and then use it to produce something else. On the first day, God did not create the light nor on the third day did He create the earth, because the light was there already and the earth was buried under the deep waters. On the first day God did not create but He commanded. God said, "Let there be light," and light was there. On the third day, God commanded the buried land to come out of the death waters. That was not an act of creating, but of making. Then, God made man a physical body. That was formation. God formed man with the dust.
God's creation is in verse 1 and God's re-creation begins with verse 3. It doesn't say that God made the heavens, nor that God formed the earth. It says that God created the heavens and the earth.
Creation declares the glory of God, proving that there is a God. The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament, the expanse, showeth His handiwork (Psa. 19:1-2). Although God's divine power and Godhead are invisible things, man can understand them by the things that were made. Man can understand and is without excuse (Rom. 1:20). Look at creation: how can we say there is no God!