Coach Kenny · Bible Study · Key points
What God started in Genesis, Jesus brings back, and Revelation finishes.
Genesis 1 and 2 is the first page of the Bible. Revelation is the last page. Read them side by side. The same things come back: light, water, the Word, and rest.
Seven things that come back
Read each row left to righttop to bottom. Where it starts in Genesis. How it comes back. How Revelation finishes it.
GenesisGod starts it
Jesusbrings it back
RevelationGod finishes it
1Light
God starts itGenesis 1:3God speaks light into being on day one, before there is any sun.
Jesus brings it backJohn 1:4-9Jesus is "the true Light," and His life is "the light of men."
God finishes itRevelation 21:23The city needs no sun, because God's glory lights it and "the Lamb is the light thereof."
2Night
God starts itGenesis 1:5God divides the light from the dark and names them Day and Night.
Jesus brings it backJohn 8:12The verse says whoever follows Him "shall not walk in darkness."
3Water
God starts itGenesis 1:6-10, 1:20God divides the waters, gathers the seas, and tells the waters to bring forth life.
Jesus brings it backJohn 3:5, 7:38The verse says a man must be "born of water and of the Spirit," and promises "rivers of living water."
God finishes itRevelation 4:6, 22:1A sea of glass lies before the throne, and "a pure river of water of life" flows out of it.
4The Word
God starts itGenesis 1:3Again and again "God said," and it was so.
Jesus brings it backJohn 1:1-3"The Word was God," and "all things were made by him."
God finishes itRevelation 19:13The verse says "his name is called The Word of God."
5"Us"
God starts itGenesis 1:26God says, "Let us make man in our image."
Jesus brings it backMatthew 28:19The verse says to go "in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost."
God finishes itRevelation 22:1, 22:17God and the Lamb share one throne, and "the Spirit and the bride say, Come."
6After his kind: one Designer
God starts itGenesis 1:11-25Every plant and animal is made "after his kind," by one Maker.
Jesus brings it backColossians 1:16"All things were created by him, and for him."
God finishes itRevelation 4:11Heaven praises God because He has "created all things."
7Rest and peace
God starts itGenesis 2:1-3, 1:29-30God finishes and rests, in a world where no creature ate another.
Jesus brings it backMatthew 11:28The verse says, "Come unto me," and "I will give you rest."
God finishes itRevelation 21:4, Isaiah 11:6-9God wipes away all tears and ends death. The verse says the wolf also shall dwell with the lamb.
All verses are KJV. Below, the key points from the study are grouped under the same seven rows.
Text says what the verse itself says. One way to understand this. Weigh it yourself. Just a theory an idea offered as a guess, not a teaching.
1Light
Genesis Genesis 1:3 → Jesus John 1:4-9 → Revelation Revelation 21:23
One wayLight came before the sun, and the light is God
Genesis 1:3-5, John 1:4-9, Revelation 21:23, 22:5
The sun does not show up until day four. So the light of day one is not sunlight. John 1 says the life was the light of men. At the end there is no need of the sun. God is the light.
One wayGod never calls the darkness good, or says He created it
In simple terms: God called the light good. He never says He created the darkness, and He never calls it good. Genesis 1:2–4 At the end there is no night. Revelation 22:5
Genesis 1:2-5
Light is the first thing God makes, and He calls it good. The darkness is already there. God separates it out. That fits the way the Bible ends, with no night at all.
One wayThe day 4 lights are different from the day 1 light
Genesis 1:14-19
A firmament is the wide open space in the sky. On day four God sets lights there to divide the day from the night, for signs and seasons and days and years. Day one already had day and night. So that first light is not the sun. Now the sun, moon, and stars do the job.
Text saysSigns, seasons, and no date-setting
In simple terms: The lights are for signs, seasons, days, and years. Genesis 1:14 People can read the sky and still miss “the signs of the times.” Matthew 16:2–3 It is not for us to know the times or the seasons. Do not set a date. Acts 1:7
Genesis 1:14, Matthew 16:2-3, Acts 1:7
Watch the seasons God gives. Our calendars drift. His timing does not.
“And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power.”Acts 1:7 (KJV)
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2Night
Genesis Genesis 1:5 → Jesus John 8:12 → Revelation Revelation 21:25, 22:5
Text saysDay and Night match the end of the Bible
Genesis 1:5, Revelation 21:25, 22:5
The first page and the last pages use the same words. God is the light. In His city there is no night.
One wayEvening and morning: real days
Genesis 1:5, 1:8
The text itself says how God counts a day. That is why the sun and moon are not needed to keep the clock in the first days.
One wayPlants before the sun is no problem for God
Genesis 1:11-19
Plants are made on day three. The sun is made on day four. God was not stuck with the order people expect. He made the plants, and He held them.
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3Water
Genesis Genesis 1:6-10, 1:20 → Jesus John 3:5, 7:38 → Revelation Revelation 4:6, 22:1
One wayThe firmament: a vault of space
In simple terms: God puts a firmament in the middle of the waters and calls it Heaven. Genesis 1:6–8 A firmament is something beaten out, like a thin sheet stretched wide. It is mostly open space. The sun, moon, and stars are set in it. Genesis 1:14–17 Genesis 1:8
Genesis 1:6-8, 1:14-17
Waters sit above it, and waters sit below it. A vault is mostly empty room under a thin firm roof. That one picture makes the word easier to see.
One wayThe waters above are the sea of glass
In simple terms: One way to understand this: the waters above the firmament are the sea of glass at the floor of heaven. Genesis 1:7 Before the throne there is “a sea of glass like unto crystal.” Revelation 4:6 Revelation 4:6
Genesis 1:7-10, Revelation 4:6
The waters below became the seas. Revelation 4:6 is the match for the waters above.
One wayMore than one heaven
In simple terms: Verse 1 says God created “the heaven.” Genesis 1:1 Verse 8 calls the firmament Heaven. A firmament is the wide open space. Genesis 1:8 The verse says a man was “caught up to the third heaven.” 2 Corinthians 12:2 The sun, moon, and stars are set in that space. Genesis 1:17
Genesis 1:1, 1:8, 2 Corinthians 12:2
Here are three heavens. The first is the sky where birds fly. The verse says “fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven.” Genesis 1:20 The second is outer space, inside the firmament. The third is where God’s throne is. The verse says a man was “caught up to the third heaven.” 2 Corinthians 12
Text saysThe waters gather so the land can appear
In simple terms: The dry land was under the waters. It appeared when they gathered. Genesis 1:9–10 Those waters became today’s seas. Genesis 1:10
Genesis 1:9-10
God says, let the waters gather “unto one place,” and “let the dry land appear.” The land was already there, under the water. Then it comes up.
One wayLife from the water, and born of water
In simple terms: One way to understand this: life from the water pictures the first birth, and the verse adds a second birth, of the Spirit. Genesis 1:20 John 3:3–6 “Born of water” is not a bath. A person must be born again. John 3:6
Genesis 1:20-23, John 3:3-6
On day five the waters bring forth creatures that have life. The verse says a man must be born of water and of the Spirit. John 3 One way to understand this: born of water is the birth of a baby. Born of the Spirit is the new birth.
One wayAbundant water, rivers of living water
In simple terms: The waters bring forth life “abundantly.” Genesis 1:20 One way to understand this: that pictures “rivers of living water,” which is the Spirit. John 7:38–39 John 7:39
Genesis 1:20, John 7:37-39
John 7:38 says rivers of living water will flow from the believer. The next verse says that is the Holy Spirit. One way to understand this: God was already thinking of what the Spirit would do.
One wayTwo meanings of "earth"
In simple terms: In verse 1 the earth is the whole world. Genesis 1:1 In verse 10, Earth is the dry land. Genesis 1:10 One verse says God “hangeth the earth upon nothing.” Job 26:7 Another says “the pillars of the earth are the LORD’s.” 1 Samuel 2:8 Ask which earth, and the verses fit. Genesis 1:10
Genesis 1:1, 1:10, Job 26:7, 1 Samuel 2:8
The same first page uses both meanings. They do not fight.
“He stretcheth out the north over the empty place, and hangeth the earth upon nothing.”Job 26:7 (KJV)
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Just a theoryFour lifeless days, then life (a theory)
In simple terms: This is only a theory. The verse says one day is with the Lord as a thousand years. 2 Peter 3:8 Four days with no creature, then life, may picture the years before the Son came “when the fulness of the time was come.” Galatians 4:4 Everlasting life is through Him. John 3:16
2 Peter 3:8, Galatians 4:4, John 3:16
The creation days are still real days, marked evening and morning. This picture is a guess, not a teaching.
“…one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.”2 Peter 3:8 (KJV)
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4The Word
Genesis Genesis 1:3 → Jesus John 1:1-3 → Revelation Revelation 19:13
One wayThe first thing the Bible says is God
In simple terms: “In the beginning God.” God is set right next to the beginning. Genesis 1:1
Genesis 1:1
The first word after “In the beginning” is “God.” Nothing comes before Him. That is how the whole Bible opens.
One wayThe Word that spoke creation is the Word of John 1
In simple terms: God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. Genesis 1:3 The Word made all things. John 1:1–3 The verse says the heavens were made “by the breath of his mouth.” Psalm 33:6
Genesis 1:3, John 1:1-3
John 1:1-3 says who the Word is. All things were made by Him. So when God speaks in Genesis 1, the Word is at work. Creation is made by speaking.
One way"Kind" is God's plain word
In simple terms: “Kind” is God’s plain word. Genesis 1:11–25 Stay with His wording. Do not trade it for “science falsely so called.” 1 Timothy 6:20
Genesis 1:11-25
A child can tell a horse from a cat. Nobody needs a lab book to follow the story. Keep God’s word as He wrote it.
Text saysGod numbers and names every star
In simple terms: “He made the stars also.” Genesis 1:16 God “telleth the number of the stars; he calleth them all by their names.” Psalm 147:4 His understanding is infinite. Psalm 147:5
Genesis 1:16, Psalm 147:4
Psalm 147:4 says God counts the stars and calls every one by name. He already knows each star. He is far greater than people who struggle to count them.
Just a theoryAdam named the animals in under a day (a theory)
In simple terms: This is only a theory. On one day: the animals, then Adam, then he names them, then the woman is made. Genesis 2:19–23 That would show the mind God gave mankind. Genesis 2:19
Genesis 1:27, 2:19-23
It all fits inside day six, if this theory is right. It is a guess, not a fact. The day is still a normal day.
Text saysGreat whales, and Jonah
Genesis 1:21, Jonah 1:17, Matthew 12:40
God names His creatures in plain words. The verse made that story the sign of death and rising again.
“For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.”Matthew 12:40 (KJV)
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5"Us"
Genesis Genesis 1:26 → Jesus Matthew 28:19 → Revelation Revelation 22:1, 22:17
One wayThe Spirit moves, then God speaks
In simple terms: The Spirit of God moved on the waters. Then God spoke. Genesis 1:2–3 Spirit also means breath, the life that returns to God. Ecclesiastes 12:7
Genesis 1:2-3
The Spirit moves first. Then the voice of God. Then creation answers.
One way"Let us make man": the Trinity on page one
In simple terms: God says, “Let us make man in our image,” and then man is made “in his own image.” One God, more than one Person. Genesis 1:26–27 It cannot be angels. Only God creates. Genesis 1:27
Genesis 1:26-27
Triune means three in one. This is a first look at that, in the first chapter. Angels do not make anyone.
One wayMan rules the earth, not the heavens
In simple terms: Dominion means rule. It is over the earth, not over the heavens. Genesis 1:26 A tower was planned whose top may reach unto heaven. Genesis 11:3–4 Another verse says, “I will ascend into heaven.” Isaiah 14:12–14
Genesis 1:26, Genesis 11:3-4, Isaiah 14:12-14
One way to understand this: man’s job is the earth. The heavens stay God’s. Isaiah 14 says, “I will ascend into heaven.”
One wayLucifer ruled the earth before man
In simple terms: One way to understand this: the one who wanted to ascend ruled under the stars, had been in Eden, and fell before the six days. Isaiah 14:12–14 Ezekiel 28:13–15 That is why the serpent is already there, and hostile. Genesis 3:1
Genesis 1:28, Isaiah 14:12-14, Ezekiel 28:13-15, Genesis 3:1
The six days are “very good,” so the fall does not fit inside them. The serpent is already in the garden in Genesis 3. One way to understand this: the fall comes before the six days.
“…I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God…”Isaiah 14:13 (KJV)
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6After his kind: one Designer
Genesis Genesis 1:11-25 → Jesus Colossians 1:16 → Revelation Revelation 4:11
One wayFive building blocks in one verse
In simple terms: One short verse holds time (“beginning”), the act of making (“created”), space (“heaven”), and matter (“earth”). Genesis 1:1
Genesis 1:1
Use it as a memory picture. A lot is packed into the first line.
One wayOne verse answers the big worldviews
In simple terms: Verse 1 says God made the heaven and the earth. Genesis 1:1 The verse says he “formed it to be inhabited.” It is not an accident, and it did not always exist. Isaiah 45:18
Genesis 1:1
One line answers a lot. God is one, not many gods. God is real. The world was made. It did not make itself. It had a start.
Text saysPlants and seed in themselves
In simple terms: Each plant has “seed in itself” and grows up after its kind. Genesis 1:11–12
Genesis 1:11-13
God says, let the earth bring forth grass, herbs, and fruit trees. The seed is built in from the start. Gardeners still use that seed to grow the same fruit.
One way"After his kind" is the key phrase
Genesis 1:11-12, 21, 24-25
Plants make plants. Birds make birds. Cattle make cattle. A dog can have different kinds of dogs. A dog does not have a cat. God says it so many times that it is hard to miss.
One wayA common designer, not a common ancestor
In simple terms: Living things can look alike because one Designer made them, not because one kind gave birth to another. Genesis 1:21–25 The things that are made show His work, so people are “without excuse.” Romans 1:20
Genesis 1:11-12, 21-25
Artists leave their style in their work. The same style does not mean one painting gave birth to the next.
Text saysInsects and animals made the same day
In simple terms: Insects, cattle, and beasts were made on the same day. Genesis 1:24–25 They are not separated by long ages. Genesis 1:25
Genesis 1:24-25
On day six the earth brings forth cattle, creeping things, and beasts, each “after his kind.” Bugs, farm animals, and wild animals show up together.
One wayBe fruitful: plants, animals and man share the same words
Genesis 1:11, 22, 28
Plants yield seed and fruit. Fish and birds are told to be fruitful and multiply. Then people hear the same blessing. The link is the Maker, not one creature giving birth to a different kind.
One wayMale and female had to fit from the start
In simple terms: “Male and female created he them.” The two have to fit from the start. Genesis 1:27 That points to a mind behind creation. Genesis 1:27
Genesis 1:27
One way to understand this: life often comes in two kinds that fit together. Both parts have to work on day one. That looks like a mind put it together on purpose.
One wayFill, then replenish
Genesis 1:22, 1:28, 9:1, Exodus 1:7
Replenish has two senses in the old dictionary. One is “To fill; to stock with numbers or abundance.” The other is “To recover former fullness.” One way to understand this: replenish can mean to fill again. That is a hint of an earlier world.
“And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth.”Genesis 9:1 (KJV)
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7Rest and peace
Genesis Genesis 2:1-3, 1:29-30 → Jesus Matthew 11:28 → Revelation Revelation 21:4, Isaiah 11:6-9
Text saysThe first diet was plants, for everyone
In simple terms: At the start, people and animals were given plants for food. Genesis 1:29–30 A later verse says the wolf will dwell with the lamb, and the lion will eat straw. That peace comes back. Isaiah 11:6–7
Genesis 1:29-30, Isaiah 11:6-7
In Genesis 1:29-30, “meat” means food, and the food is herbs and fruit. Every beast and bird gets “every green herb.” Nobody ate anybody. Isaiah 11 says that peace returns.
One way"Very good", even in a fallen world
In simple terms: Everything God made was “very good.” Genesis 1:31 Even after the fall and the flood, the beauty is still His work. Genesis 13:10
Genesis 1:31
Day six ends with God looking at everything He made. It was very good. Look around. Beautiful places are still here. That is His handiwork.
One wayThe seventh day: blessed, holy and a pattern
Genesis 2:1-3, Leviticus (Jubilee, ch. 25†), 1 Thessalonians 5
God did not have to add a seventh day. He could have started over at day one. He blessed this day and made it holy. The Bible keeps coming back to seven. That is not an accident.
One way"Rest" means to cease, not to get tired
In simple terms: God “rested from all his work.” Rested means He stopped. He was not tired. Genesis 2:2 He is omnipotent, all-powerful. He made man with a breath. Genesis 2:7
Genesis 2:1-3, Genesis 2:7
In Genesis 2:2, rest means to cease, to stop. In Genesis 2:7, God breathed, and man became a living soul. Resting means the work was finished.
One way"All the host of them"
In simple terms: One way to understand this: “host” means the stars and also the angels, so the verse may sum up all creation. Genesis 2:1 The morning stars and the sons of God are named together. Job 38:7
Genesis 2:1, Nehemiah 9:6, Job 38:7
Genesis 2:1 may sum up everything from Genesis 1:1, not only the six days. Host means both the stars and the angels.
“…thou hast made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host…”Nehemiah 9:6 (KJV)
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Scripture quotations on these pages are from the King James Version (KJV), which is in the public domain in the United States. This is a study summary in plain words. It is a study help, not a replacement for reading the passage for yourself. The heart study (the dark heart, evening then morning, dust, the tongue, and the word “but”) is on the Genesis 1 and Genesis 2 pages. One way to understand Genesis 1:1–2 is on the Gap Theory page.