"Creation, Something From Nothing!" Series

"Something From Nothing!"

"In The Beginning" series part 1 of 7

Text: Genesis 1 & Selected

Cross Creek Community Church

Pastor Dave Martin - August 19, 2001

www.crosscreekcc.org

God’s Word is Powerful, Relevant, and Life Changing!

Genesis 1:1 "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth."

KEY TRUTH:

God is our Creator, He makes the RULES!

General Introduction to Genesis, the Book of Beginnings:

* The beginning of the universe, man, sin, redemption, languages

* The 1st song, 1st flood, 1st drunk, 1st marriage, 1st murder, 1st to die, and the 1st not to die!

Creation is the work of God bringing all things into existence. Something out of nothing!

* Genesis is constantly under attack.

* From the academia to the skeptics. Creation is the opposite of modern society teachings.

* Rightly understood, it has never been disproved!

* The New Testament refers to Genesis over 200 times, & over 100 times to the first 11 chapters of Genesis alone!

* Moses is the most commonly accepted author. 2Chron. 23:18; 30:16; 35:12

* Understanding Genesis is critical to being a grounded Christian.

Created - Hebrew word "Bara" - Instantaneous, something out of nothing.

Gen. 1:1 refutes the following FALSE teachings of:

1. ATHESIAN - Doctrine of no God (Madeline Murray O’Hare)

2. PANTHESISM - Doctrine of everything is God. (Green Peace)

3. POLYTHEISM - Doctrine of many God’s. (American Indians)

4. DUALISM - Doctrine of two eternal Gods. (Star Wars)

5. EVOLUTISM - Doctrine of forces of nature. (Intellectuals)

God’s Pre-Creation Activities:

1. Having fellowship with His Son, Jesus. John 17:5 And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began.

2. Creating angels. Job 38:4 "Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation? Tell me, if you understand.

3. Planning for the Church. Ephes. 3:9 and to make plain to everyone the administration of this mystery (Church), which for ages past was kept hidden in God, who created all things.

4. Choosing the elect. Ephes. 1:4 For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love

5. Planning for the future Kingdom. Matthew 25:34 "Then the King will say to those on his right, ’Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.

6. Planning for the Savior of the world. 1 Peter 1:18-20 For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, 19but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. 20He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake.

There are various theories concerning the formation of the universe.

* Atheistic or materialistic - One group says the universe has no beginning or end. They believe there is a continuous creation of "new" matter by way of hydrogen atoms. The big problem is there is no example of anything now being created! Another group espouses the "Big Bang" theory - "Ylem", the cosmic glob that exploded which happened 15 billion years ago. As an expanding universe, which reaches it’s limit then it starts to contract for another "Big Bang". This is a false theory.

* Atheistic evolution - The mentality of leaving a jar of mud on a shelf long enough, it will eventually become a man. They believe through chance and accidental happenings is how our perfectly ordered universe came into existence. This is false.

* Theistic evolution - says God was in creation, He just took millions and millions of years to evolve everything to it’s present state. This is sometimes referred to as the day/age theory. This is also false.

The three laws of thermodynamics says:

1. Energy can change forms but cannot be either created or destroyed.

2. Everything is winding down, not progressing upward.

3. Life produces similar life. Dogs give birth to puppies not elephants.

But Special Creation - believes God created the heavens and earth. We believe a literal interpretation of the Bible, God’s Word. This is also backed by much unrefutable scientific evidence which we will be seeing over the next few weeks.

The Six days of Creation:

Day, "Yom" - literal 24 hour period, NOT a long indefinite period of time where "olam" would be used.

God Created on the...

First Day MATTER, ENERGY, WATER, LIGHT Genesis 1:1-5

Heavens and the earth:

1. First heaven - air we breath and the birds fly. Gen. 1:7-8

2. Second heaven - Moon, sun, stars, outer space. Ps. 19:1

3. Third heaven - The very abode of God. 2Co. 12:2-4