The Links between Genesis 1 and John 1

There has been much debate on how to understand the message of Genesis chapter 1.  An important feature of the bible is that other passages can be helpful in understanding what God wants us to learn from his Word.

John chapter 1 deliberately echoes Genesis chapter 1 to show that the same God who spoke the world into being has now stepped into it in the person of Jesus Christ - creation and re-creation, both accomplished by the Word. John opens his gospel by intentionally quoting the first words of the Hebrew Bible.

In the Gospel of John, the creation narrative of Genesis 1 is not interpreted as a historically, but rather as a framework designed to present the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ as the beginning of a ‘New Creation’. John systematically echoes, and fulfils the Genesis creation account.

‍ ‍

"In the beginning”

John opens with the exact phrase that opens Genesis, signalling this isn't a new story but the deeper meaning of the old one.

"In the beginning": John 1:1

The Word

In Genesis, God creates by speaking: 

"Let there be . . .”

John identifies that creative speech-act as a person: the Logos (which is Greek for ‘word’),  Everything was formed as a result of the ‘word’ of God

The Creator

Genesis teaches that this world was created by God.  John tells us that Jesus 

“. . . was with God and was God”   John 1:1

John then adds that Jesus is our creator through whom: 

“. . . all things were made.” John 1:3

Light 

The beginning of the universes creation was the coming of light.

“And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness.”    Genesis 1:3–4

God creates light, separates it from darkness. 

In John the beginning of the new creation is the coming of Jesus, the ‘light of the world’

“In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” John 1:4-5

This directly mirrors the first day of creation when God separated light from darkness.  Jesus himself teaches us that he is the embodiment of the light of God.

“Jesus stated: ‘I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.’” John 8:12 

He later repeated a similar claim in saying, 

"I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness." John 12:46

In these verses, light represents the presence of God bringing eternal life, truth and  spiritual guidance, while darkness represents sin, ignorance and the absence of God and all the benefits he gives us.

Darkness

John frequently talks about it being night or dark, where God is not present

Here the Word is ‘the light of men,’ shining in ‘the darkness’, which does not overcome it.  God’s light will always overcome spiritual darkness.

Image-bearing

In Genesis humanity is made in God's image. 

“Then God said, ‘Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness,” Genesis 1:26

As similar, yet reverse, idea is taught by John.  God enters his world in human form:

“The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” John 1:14

“No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known.” John 1:18

Jesus is the fullest, embodied image of God.

A new beginning‍ ‍

Genesis 1 is the start of the old creation; John 1 signals the start of something new — a re-creation accomplished not by speech alone but by the Word taking on flesh.

The Seven-Day New Creation Week

John structures the opening narrative of his gospel to mirror the seven-day timeline of the original creation week:

Day 1: John the Baptist gives his initial testimony about Jesus (John 1:19-28).

Day 2: "The next day” - John identifies Jesus as the Lamb of God (John 1:29).

Day 3: "The next day” - Jesus calls his first disciples (John 1:35).

Day 4: "The next day” - Jesus calls Philip and Nathanael (John 1:43).

Days 5, 6, & 7: Chapter 2 opens with 

"On the third day there was a wedding in Cana..." John 2:1). 

Adding three days to the prior four equals Day 7. Jesus performs his first miracle on the "Sabbath" day of this new week, bringing joy, abundance, and ultimate restoration (rest) to humanity.

The Culmination

John intentionally bookends his gospel by bringing the creation imagery to its ultimate fulfilment during Jesus's death and resurrection: “It is finished” is copied.

On the cross, Jesus cries out the exact Greek equivalent of God looking over His completed creation in Genesis 

“When he had received the drink, Jesus said, “It is finished.” With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.” John 19:30

"Thus the heavens and the earth were finished" Genesis 2:1

The Garden and Gardener

Jesus is buried and resurrected in a garden (John 19:41). Mary Magdalene initially mistakes the resurrected Jesus for the gardener (John 20:15). This intentionally casts Jesus as the ‘New Adam,’ tasked with tending and cultivating God's resurrected, restored world.

The Divine Breath:

In John 20:22, Jesus breathes on his disciples and says, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit.’ This mimics Genesis 2:7, where God breathes the breath of life into Adam’s nostrils, signalling that the disciples are the first citizens of this newly birthed spiritual creation just as Adam and Eve were the first people to be in a relationship with God.

Seven miracles

John then describes just seven of the miracles Jesus performed.   He used this number to reflect the seven days of creation and the seven days of God’s week.  This is another way he stresses this new creation that is available in Jesus.

Thus John helps us understand how we should teach the message of Genesis 1.  The story of the first creation foretells the essential message of the new creation that is available in the Lord Jesus.  There is no life without the light of the world.

BVP