The first verb in the entire Bible is the Hebrew word בָּרָא (bārā') which means to shape, form, fashion or create. This is a word used exclusively in the Old Testament with God as its subject.

In fact, the first thing we’re ever told about God is that He is a creative force: ‘In the beginning God created…’ (Gen. 1:1)

Before we know anything else about God, we discover that he is a maker of matter. At the heart of the universe there is an aesthetic entity, a Being whose very nature is extravagantly imaginative, unnecessarily beautiful, lavishly innovative.