Note that the first and second chapters of Genesis contain two
distinct accounts of creation.
Read Genesis 1:1--2:3 (see _Hist. Bib_., I, pp. 231-3 for modern
translation), noting its picture of conditions in the universe
before the actual work of creation began. The creative power is
the spirit or breath of God. The Hebrew word for spirit (_ruah_)
represents the sound of the breath as it emerges from the mouth or
the sound of the wind as it sighs through the trees. It is the
effective symbol of a real and mighty force that cannot be seen or
touched yet produces terrific effects, as when the cyclone rends
the forest or transforms the sea into a mountain of billows and
twists like straws the masts of wood and steel. In the Old
Testament the "spirit of God" or the "spirit of the Holy One" is
God working (1) in the material universe, as in the work of
creation, (2) in human history, as when he directs the life of
nations, or (3) in the lives of men.
Note the method of creation and the distinctive work of each day.
The process is that of separation. It is orderly and progressive.
The first three days of preparation in which (1) light and
darkness, (2) air and water (separated by the firmament) and (3)
land and vegetation are created, correspond to the work of the
second three days in which are created (1) the heavenly bodies, (2)
the birds and fishes (which live in the air and water) and (3) land
animals and man. The underlying conception of the universe is that
held by most early peoples. Compare the diagram in _Hastings'
Dictionary of the Bible_ I, 503 or Kent's _Student's Old
Testament_, Vol. I, p. 52 which illustrates it.
God's benign plan is revealed by the recurring words: "God saw that
it was good." What was the culminating act of creation? "Created
man in his image" can not mean with a body like that of God (for in
this story God is thought of as a spirit), but rather with a
God-like spirit, mind, will, and power to rule.