Podcast

Sermon Notes

Answer the Question Today: How did the world begin? 
Genesis – one most significant books ever written = 3500 yr old
Written By Moses, to Israel, 1400-1500 BC
Covers roughly 2000 years of human history, perhaps more than rest of Bible 

In the Beginning, God Created 
In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. ²The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.
Genesis 1:1 -2 

In The  Beginning… 
1. Big Bang accepts a beginning
2. 2^nd law of thermodynamics assumes an end (has to be a beginning) 
-Kalam Argument from Time – the existence of time necessitates a beginning reference point 
-Cosmological Argument from First Cause – for every effect there is a cause beyond itself 

…God 
• Nothing makes sense unless beginning w/God (we start w/us in the age of selfie) 
• Elohim (general name) vs Yahweh (personal name) 
Everything/Everyone 1. Created by 2. Dependent upon 3 Sustained by 4. Ruled by 5. Belongs to 

Trinity (first look – progressive revelation) 
1.    Father 1:1 
2.    Spirit 1:2 – brought Creation & Revelation (Scripture) – goes before Adam & Eve to prepare 
3.    Son – God’s Word Created- Jn 1:1–3,14 In the beginning was the Word, & the Word was with God, the Word was God.He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, & without him was not any thing made that was made….the Word became flesh 

… Created 
• Bara – create from nothing    (ONLY GOD) 
• Asah – prepare something that exists  (GOD & US) 
• Ex nihilo Latin “out of nothing” -EVERYTHING CREATED 1:1 then PREPARED 

Heb. 11:3 By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible. 

• Teleological Argument from Design – body/planet require Designer
• FINE TUNING (e.g. gravity, gravitational force, distance from sun, carbon dioxide levels, etc.) 

Physicist Freeman Dyson Inst. for Adv. Study & prof of physics @ Princeton from 1953 w/ Einstein until his death @ 96. Did not believe in resurrection or personal God. 
“The more I examine the universe, and the details of its architecture, the more evidence I find that the Universe in some sense must have known we were coming.” 

 The Heavens & Earth 
• Merism – literary device speaking of whole (stem/stern, top/bottom, lock/stock/barrel) 
•  Earth/Land/Eretz – Often “Promised Land” NOT planet  -1600 yrs til Babel (Gen. 11) everyone lived here only.
• Without form (tohu) and void (bohu), and darkness was over the face of the deep 
• Darkness options
1. No light yet
 2. At night 

Are the Days of Creation Literal 24-Hour Days? 

Each day is numbered and referred to as “evening and morning”
(Gen. 1:5, 1:8, 1:13, 1:19,  1:23, 1:31). 

Exodus 20:11 “For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day.” 

What are the Various Christian Views of Creation? 

Multi-lane highway vs One lane road (Open Handed) 

#1(Matt’s View) – Historic Old Earth Young Humanity Creationism – bara then asah, 6 literal days, Augustine 
• earth old 4.5 billion yrs radiometric dating              
• civilized human life young would require plant or animal death before 1^st humans Adam & Eve 

#2 – Young-Earth Young Humanity Creationism 
• bara & asah in 6 literal days 

• 17^th century Archbishop James Ussher 6,000 yrs old (geneol. Gen. 5 & 10-11) 
– Science is wrong 
– Flood Gen. 6-9 changed the topography 
-Made mature like Adam 

#3 – Old Earth Creation or Intelligent Design 
• 4.5 billion yrs old, people created by God not evolved, not 6 literal days 

#4 – Literary Framework View 
• poetry/metaphor, old earth, old humanity, not 6 literal days 

#5 – Evolutionary Creation  
• God worked through the evolutionary process & humanity has evolved from lower life forms  over long periods of time , not literal 6 days 

7 days of Creation (1-6 this week) 

Day 1: Sunday 

Genesis 1:³And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. ⁴And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness. ⁵God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day. 

Separated Day & Night 

• Asah begins at daybreak which is also when Jesus rose 

Sun Options 

#1 – God was the light until sun/moon made Wednesday like Jesus in Revelation 

#2 – God announcing rising not making (1:1) of sun 

God does not “make” every day, but “speaks” every day PREACHER/POET 

1. Announcement: “And God said.” 

2. Commandment: “Let there be.” 

3. Separation: God separated the day and night, water and land, animals and plants. 

4. Report: “And it was so.” 

5. Evaluation: “And God saw that it was good.” 

Every day, God is speaking life 

When God’s Word is obeyed things are “good” 

EVERY day something is called good except for on MONDAY!!! (nothing made for man) 

Day 2: Monday 

Genesis 1:⁶And God said, “Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.” ⁷And God made the expanse and separated the waters that were under the expanse from the waters that were above the expanse. And it was so. ⁸And God called the expanse Heaven. And there was evening and there was morning, the second day. 

Separated water above (in clouds) & water below (on land) 

• Expanse = sky between water on land and clouds above 
• cloudy day 
• God did not make this day, just separated 

Day 3: Tuesday 

Genesis 1:⁹And God said, “Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear.” And it was so. ¹⁰God called the dry land Earth, and the waters that were gathered together he called Seas. And God saw that it was good. ¹¹And God said, “Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind, on the earth.” And it was so. ¹²The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed according to their own kinds, and trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. ¹³And there was evening and there was morning, the third day. 

Land prepared for human life 

• God refers to clearing & preparing the land for people to live 
• Land 400 + times in Genesis often “Promised Land” 
• Land here cannot be the whole earth because the word refers to dry land and there was water! 
• Seas here are big and small pooled bodies of water 
• Berries and fruit trees for human food whereas other plants & vegetation already existed 
• No one will eat meat until 1600 years later, at this point all vegetarians (glad I live today!) 
• God does not create food, but allows the land to produce food for human life 
• “According to kind” – negates macro-evolution 

Day 4: Wednesday 

Genesis 1:¹⁴And God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night. And let them be for signs and for seasons, and for days and years, ¹⁵and let them be lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light upon the earth.” And it was so. ¹⁶And God made the two great lights—the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night—and the stars. ¹⁷And God set them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth, ¹⁸to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. ¹⁹And there was evening and there was morning, the fourth day. 

Separated moon/stars for night & sun for day 

            Either: 1. God made these lights on this day, 2. made in 1:1 & declares it today 

How could sun/moon get created here when we already had light and plants need light? 

• Not let there be? Could be statement of purpose in prep for mankind (announcing) 

Day 5: Thursday 

Genesis 1:²⁰And God said, “Let the waters swarm with swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the heavens.” ²¹So God created the great sea creatures and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarm, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. ²²And God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.” ²³And there was evening and there was morning, the fifth day. 

Birds & fish 

Land 400 + times in Genesis??? Which land here??? 

Option #1 – animals made here, land is whole earth 

Option #2 – animals made in 1:1, here brought to Promised Land (Gen. 2 boundaries) 

= Blessing 1^st of 80+ times here in Genesis more than any other book of the Bible (some call Genesis the book of blessing!) 

Day 6: Friday 

Genesis 1:²⁴And God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures according to their kinds—livestock and creeping things and beasts of the earth according to their kinds.” And it was so. ²⁵And God made the beasts of the earth according to their kinds and the livestock according to their kinds, and everything that creeps on the ground according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 

Wild & domestic animals 

• wild – care for self               
• domestic – needs care 

• the land, not God produced animals, mankind distinct and superior 
• livestock work/food (milk) 
• livestock eat plants, plants did die = plant death ???? animal or human death 

STAGE NOW SET FOR MAN AND WOMAN TO ENTER (next week) 

OUR GOD IS 

1. Only God 

2. Creator 

3. Eternal 

4. Living 

5. Independent 

6. Transcendent 

7. Immanent 

8. Personal 

9. Powerful 

10. Beautiful 

11. Holy 

12. Prophet 

13. Gracious 

14. Sovereign King! 

WHO IS THIS GOD? 

Revelation 1:8 “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.” 

1. God did miracles through the speaking of His Word 

2. God made creation and makes us new Creations 

3. God prepared a perfect home for us and is doing it again right now 

4. The Spirit hovered over the waters, and today hovers over us 

Revelation 4:11  “You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being.” …we worship Him who made the heavens and earth…”