Genesis 1 - Setting The Stage

Please stand as we read our newest memory Scripture together …

Isaiah 9:6

“For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government shall be upon His shoulder. And His name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The Mighty God, The Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.”

And our memory refresher verses for today are …

John 15:5-8

“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in Me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from Me you can do nothing.

“If you do not remain in Me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned.

“If you remain in Me and My words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. This is to My Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be My disciples.”

Please open your Bibles to Genesis 1

Many of the translations of the Bible use the word “man” for all of humanity.

Some of the newer translations use mankind in order to be more acceptable to the unchurched person who may not understand why the word “man” is used in this way.

One example would be where the NKJV says in Titus 2:11, “For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men …” Really? Just to men?

For instance we see in the 1984 translation of the NIV that it says in Genesis 1:27, “So God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.”

And in the 2011 revision of the NIV it says, “So God created mankind in His own image, in the image of God He created them; male and female He created them.”

When we see that “God created man in His own image” we know that He is talking about humanity as a whole. Both men and women are created in the image of God.

This is something that a totally unchurched person might find confusing.

With that in mind, let’s go ahead and read Genesis 1.

Please keep your Bibles open as we look again at certain verses in this chapter …

Genesis 1:1 NIV

“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”

Genesis 1:1 AMPC

“In the beginning God (prepared, formed, fashioned, and) created the heavens and the earth.”

Exactly how this happened we do not know exactly but what we do know is that this is a critically important statement introducing the rest of the creation account.

Do you realize that the entire rest of the Bible hinges on whether this is a true statement or a lie?

Did God really create the heavens and the earth or not? We must know!

If all of this existed on its own and formed without any supernatural intervention then the rest of the Bible would be nonsense. Why? Because the very first sentence in the Bible would be a complete fabrication, a lie.

This is a gigantic claim. This is a foundational claim.

Truth cannot come from a lie. A lie hides the truth.

We must all settle this in our hearts.

Did God create the heavens and the earth in the beginning or did He not?

Which way will you answer that question?

The answer you choose will determine how you treat the rest of the Bible.

(Illustration??)

What else do we see in this chapter?

Genesis 1:3 NIV, “And God said ….”

Did you know that “God said” is repeated 10 times in this chapter and when He said it things sprang into existence at the very command of God.

God said …

Let there be light

Let there by sky

Let there be land and seas

Let there be vegetation

Let there be a sun and moon

Let there be water creatures and flying creatures

Let them reproduce and fill the earth

Let there be wild and domesticated animals

“Let us make mankind in our image”

- There are only two verses in the Bible where the Lord refers to Himself in the plural. Genesis 1: 26 and Genesis 3:22a where He says, “The man has now become like one of us knowing good and evil.”

- This is the first place in the Bible where we see that God is a community of One.

Finally, in the last “God said” statement He gives us some assignments

- We are to procreate and fill the earth with offspring

- We are to, “Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”

- He gives us a menu …

- “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food.”