Genesis - In The Beginning

GENESIS #1: IN THE BEGINNING

OPENING TEXT:

“In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” (Genesis 1:1).

• We are going to begin a chapter by chapter study of the Book of Genesis today.

THE IMPORTANCE OF GENESIS:

“In a very real sense, the book of Genesis is the most important book in the world; for it is the foundation upon which all the other sixty-five books of God’s written Word have been based… The greatest doctrine of all – the special creation of all things by the eternal, self-existent God – is revealed in the very first chapter of Genesis, the foundation of all foundations…

It is hardly surprising, therefore, that the greatest attacks on the Bible have been directed against the integrity and authority of Genesis. Since the only alternative to creation is evolution, these attacks are ultimately based on evolutionism, the assumption that this complex universe can somehow be explained apart from the infinite creative power of God.” 1 (Henry Morris).

• Why is it important to study the OT Book of Genesis? Because what we believe about our origins will affect our lives today and our destiny tomorrow.

• If we believe in the theory of evolution, that life began billions of years ago by accident:

o We are merely complex animals with no ultimate purpose or meaning in life.

o Our final destiny is to become worm-food, rotting in the grave.

• If we believe in the Biblical account of creation:

o We are a special and unique creation of God and life has great purpose.

o Our final destiny is to live forever with God in the paradise of Heaven.

INTRO TO THE BOOK OF GENESIS:

Author: Moses

Title:

Genesis – Greek geneseos, which means birth, genealogy, or origin.

Date:

Written around 1440 BC, sometime after the Exodus from Egypt.

Section:

Genesis is the first of the five books that make up the Pentateuch.

Also called the Books of Law, or the Torah.

Purpose:

“Genesis reveals that humans were divinely created, that they suffered a fall, and that God proceeded to provide redemption… The account then focuses upon the origin and growth of the nation of Israel which God chose to fulfill a key role in implementing His plan of redemption.” 2

Overview: Of the 50 Chapters of Genesis:

1. 1:1-2:3 The Creation of the heavens, the earth, and life on the earth

2. 2:4-25 The Creation of Mankind

3. 3:1-24 The Fall of Mankind

4. 4:1-5:32 The Pre-flood World

5. 6:1-10:32 Noah and the Flood

6. 11:1-9 Tower of Babel – confusion of languages

7. 11:10-32 Genealogy of Abraham

8. 12:1-23:20 The Story of Abraham

9. 24:1-26:35 The Story of Isaac

10. 27:1-35:29 The Story of Jacob

11. 36:1-43 The Story of Esau

12. 37:1-50:26 The Story of Joseph

DAY ONE OF CREATION:

“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” (Genesis 1:1).

• In the beginning, GOD. God has always existed. Here we see the beginning of time.

• Elohim = A plural word that points to the Tri-unity of God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

• Historic Christian Creeds declare: We believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of Heaven and Earth. This is a powerful statement of what we believe about who God is.

“2 The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. 3 Then God said, "Let there be light"; and there was light. 4 And God saw the light, that it was good; and God divided the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night. So the evening and the morning were the first day.” (Genesis 1:1-5).

• The Spirit of God was hovering – rachaph [raw-KHAF] – as a mother bird over her young; brooding, fluttering, moving. “The Spirit’s presence indicated an expectancy of life, and gave assurance that the darkness would not last.” 3

• Then God said – here we see the Spirit and the Word working powerfully together!

• “Let there be light!” “light… the energizing of the vast cosmos through the marvelous electromagnetic force system which maintains all structures and processes in matter. “Light,” the most basic form of energy is mentioned specifically, but its existence necessarily implies the activation fo all forms of electromagnetic energies.” 4

A CLOSER LOOK AT LIGHT:

Light waves are… complicated, and they do not need a medium to travel through. They can travel through a vacuum. A light wave consists of energy in the form of electric and magnetic fields… Because light has both electric and magnetic fields, it is also referred to as electromagnetic radiation.

Light waves also come in many frequencies. The frequency is the number of waves that pass a point in space during any time interval, usually one second. It is measured in units of cycles (waves) per second, or Hertz (Hz). The frequency of visible light is referred to as color. The full range of frequencies extends beyond the visible spectrum.