No matter which version of the Bible you open, you will see very similar wording, in GENESIS 1:1.
‘In the beginning, God created ….’
If you believe these first five words, you have the basics of belief that will enable you to believe in the entire Bible, and to use it in your daily life.
We are told as we grow up, that God was ‘always’. God was here ‘forever ago’. As humans, we measure our time in minutes, hours, or even lifetimes. We have a hard time trying to comprehend the term ‘forever’.
And, just as we can’t comprehend the ‘forever’ at the beginning, we have just as hard a time trying to understand the ‘forever’ at the end of time. We are like a blind person who has never seen. He knows there is a car, and he understand the overall concept, but since he has never experienced the look of a car, he cannot truly comprehend all there is to know about a car.
And, since we have never experienced anything that has to do with ‘forever’, we have a hard time with the concept of anything lasting for eternity – much less with us in it!
And, since we do not fully comprehend the ‘foreverness’ of God, then why do we think we were put here? The answer to that is quite simple. We were put here to work for God. We know that if we work for Him, through His Son Jesus, we will enter into that Godly realm of eternity when we pass from this earth. So, since we do not fully understand all this, how what are we supposed to do?
If you ask most people that question, you will get answers like,
· ’Be a good person and really enjoy ourselves!’
· ’Get everything you can. You only live once!’
· ’Be a good person and love everyone and everything.’
These answers, as realistic as they might sound, are all wrong. The correct answer is that we are supposed to work for God while we are here on this earth. You might ask how we do that, since we don’t fully understand His kingdom.
BY FAITH! Faith is a belief in something that cannot be seen.
I would say that everyone in this church has heard of the GOLDEN RULE: ‘Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.’ It is NOT ‘Do unto others before they get a chance to do unto you’, as some people think!
As we begin a new year, I thought it would be appropriate to begin our journey through the Bible. And where better to begin than in the Book of Beginnings - the book of GENESIS.
Many people are afraid of the Old Testament. They think it is filled with big ancient words that they will not be able to understand. However, the book of GENESIS has some of the most exciting stories in the Old Testament. I think the key to understanding this wonderful book is getting acquainted with the people and the places talked about in it, and that is what we will do, starting today.
Now keep in mind that this will not be a verse-by-verse study of the entire Bible. It is a casual walk-through to get you familiar with God’s word, including the history of civilization. Most people have never read the Bible all the way through, and most of those who have, have forgotten much of what ties the Old Testament to the New Testament, and what ties all of it to us today.
You will soon be able to tell the difference between a Hittite and a parasite, and you will be able to recognize the characters and events that took place, including the establishing of the Israelite nation.
You might want to take notes as we go along, so you can refer back to them later. I think we’re ready now, so turn with me to GENESIS 1.1.
Read GENESIS 1:1-31.
Going back to verse 1, the first thing we will notice is …
CHAPTER 1 – The Overall Creation
These are the five most-important words known to man. “In the beginning, God created …”
This first sentence is important for several reasons. First of all, it is a definitive statement that God exists. It does not try to debate the fact or argue the point. It flatly states that God does exist.
Many people, throughout history have denied that fact. I am reminded of a man who went to get a haircut one day. As usual, he and the barber began talking about many things, and finally the topic came to God.
The barber said he did not believe in a God. To justify his reasoning, he told his customer than if there were a God, there would not be so many people who were hurting and suffering. No matter what the man tried to say, the barber would always come back to that one point.
After he received his haircut and was on his way to his car, he spotted a man in the parking lot that was obviously homeless. His hair and beard were both long and dirty. His clothes were dirty and worn, and he looked as if he had suffered much in his lifetime.
The man went back to the barbershop and loudly proclaimed that he no longer believed there was any such thing as barbers. Well, the barber told him he was crazy. Said the barber to the man, “You just left after I – a barber – cut your hair.” But the man went on and said that if barbers really existed, people wouldn’t look like the man in the parking lot does, and with that, he pointed through the window to the man.
The barber scoffed and said the reason the man looked like that is that he has never come to the barber to get a haircut. And the barber said that unless the man came to him, there was nothing he could do to help the man.
And the customer said, “Exactly! And until people decide to go to God, He cannot help them with their problems either.”
The statement says, “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” Let us realize that we had a beginning. In fact, everything has a beginning. Our church service had a beginning this morning; your birth was your beginning as a human; and even this world had a beginning. It began when God created it.
The only thing that did NOT have a beginning was God. God always was and always will be. But it isn’t just the Father we are talking about. The original text used in verse one for ‘God’ was ‘Elohim’. That translates to “Gods.” You will notice the plural.
Verse 1 tells us that these Gods created the heavens and earth. But it was dark and without form. In other words, everything was kind of mixed together and not separated apart yet.
Verse 2 tells us that the Spirit of God hovered over the waters.
Let’s turn to JOHN 1:1-2.
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning.”
Okay, who was the Word? In JOHN 1:14, it tells us.
“The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.”
The Word was our Savior; Jesus Christ. And like this passage says, He was with God in the beginning. So now we see that the plural for God that was used in GENESIS 1:1 was comprised of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.
As we read a moment ago, GENESIS 1:3, through 1:25, tells how God separated the light from the dark, and made everything from the seas to the plants and animals.
What else do these verses tell us? They tell us that God created these things by His spoken word. He didn’t send a team of builders down here to get things ready. He called everything into existence with His spoken word. Throughout the Bible, we will see how powerful God’s Word is. A quick example is found in JOHN 11, where Jesus called Lazarus to come forth, and he was raised from the dead.
In verse 26, we start reading about the creation of man. In verse 27, it says God created them both male and female. The first thing He said to them was to multiply. Then, God rested and called that seventh day holy.
Some people believe there were two creations. Some believe that between verse 1, and verse 2, something terrible happened that caused the first creation to become without form. They believe this might have been the fall of Satan as described in EZEKIEL 28:12-19, where it describes how wonderful God made Satan and what happened to make God throw Him down to earth.
I don’t want to get into a deep study, but I will point out that those who believe this will point out that the word “was” used in verse 2 could be translated from the original text of “hâyĕthâ” which means “had eventually become.”
Now, whether they are right or not, has no bearing on the fact that there is a God, and it was that God that made everything that exists. Going back once more to the book of JOHN 1:3, it tells us,
‘Through Him all things were made; without Him – nothing was made …..’
So, God does exist and is the Creator of all. To deny that would make as much sense as to deny that one plus one equals two. We could do it, but it would make no sense.
Now, let’s see what else GENESIS tells us.
CHAPTER 2 – The Creation of Man
In Chapter 1, we read where God spoke things into existence. That is the power of His mighty word. He spoke and it happened. He did this with everything except for man.
In verse 7, it tells how God formed man from the dust of the ground and then, instead of speaking life into us; he gently breathed life into us. I heard a preacher once say that God thought so much of man, that He got down in the mud Himself and fashioned us by getting his hands muddy, and then He breathed life into us by gently kissing His loved creation.
God planted a beautiful garden, called Eden, and He put Adam into this garden. He then saw that Adam needed a companion so He caused Adam to fall into a deep sleep and God took one of Adam’s ribs and formed the woman from that rib.
Olen recounted the story this way: God told Adam He was going to make Adam a woman, a partner in life, and that mate would be beautiful beyond compare and that she would love him and care for him and do everything just the way Adam wanted. But God said it would cost Adam an arm and a leg. Adam thought it over for a few minutes and said, “Instead of that, God, what can I get for just a rib?”
I heard another story once where Adam asked God why he made Eve so beautiful and tender. God said He made her that way so Adam would love her. Adam then asked God why He made Eve so illogical and emotional. God said He made her that way so she could love Adam.
So in Chapter 2, we learn about the Garden of Eden and we learn in more detail how God created man and woman. And in the creation of woman, we are taught a very important truth that society has turned their backs on today.
In verse 24, we are told that a man should leave his parents and be united with his wife and they would become one flesh. The only examples so far in the Bible for man and wife are Adam and Eve. That tells us plainly that God created Adam and Eve to be united as one, not Adam and Steve. This is just one more area in which society would do well to get back in line with God’s design for us.
This brings to mind a point I want to make. God is different than we are. When somebody goes out of their way to hurt us without caring how badly we feel, we tend to hold grudges against them, don’t we? But even when we disobey God, and live in a way that we shouldn’t, God still loves us.
CHAPTER 3 – The Sin and The Fall of Man
Satan appeared to Eve and deceived her into taking the forbidden fruit. When she had done so, she handed it to Adam, and like all normal husbands, Adam did what his wife told him to do, right? But Adam didn’t just blindly follow an innocent Eve into sin. Both knew full well that they should not be eating from that tree, but they did anyway. Why? Because Satan appealed to their vanity. He told them that if they ate from that tree, they would become as smart as God. And we still carry that sinful pride and vanity today.
Anyway, later, when God came down to visit with them, they hid because they were ashamed at their nakedness. When God asked Adam what happened, Adam copped out and tried to pass the blame over to Eve. Then, Eve tried passing the blame over to the serpent. God knew better. He had to punish them, and that punishment was kicking them out of the perfect Garden of Eden. But, even though He had to punish them, what did God do?
In GENESIS 3:21, we see where God made animal skins to cover them and dress them. See, He still loved them. Just as a child does something wrong and you see the need to punish that child; you still love that child with all your heart, don’t you?
By reading through the rest of Chapters 3 through 11, we see where Adam and Eve, and their family, had faith in God. They had faith that God would not lead them wrong, that God would take care of them and protect them – even furnish all their needs. Don’t we have the same kind of faith today? Sometimes, I fear not. Sometimes, I think that we have put our faith in ourselves.
After all, we have covered all our needs, haven’t we? We have established pharmacies that are open 24 hours a day to go and get our medications whenever we feel it convenient. There are supermarkets that are open 24 hours a day, so we go to them to get our daily bread, again at our convenience. The list goes on and on. But one thing we notice is that almost everything we do is at our convenience, not God’s convenience.
Back in GENESIS 3:21, the Bible says that God made animal skins for Adam and Eve. Where did He get the skins? He had to kill an animal for them, didn’t He? That, ladies and gentlemen, is the first blood sacrifice, and it was not made just to cover their skin – it was also made to cover their sin.
CHAPTER 4 – The First Murder
Cain killed Abel. That was led up to by offering God sacrifices. God wanted a certain kind of sacrifice given to Him. Abel complied and gave a sacrifice of some of the first born of the flocks he tended. That pleased the Lord.
Cain was a farmer, so he brought some things he grew as his sacrifice. We are not told exactly why this displeased God, though. There are several theories that abound. One is that Cain’s sacrifice was not from among the first fruits of his crops. (We are to give God the first fruits of what we have.) Another theory is that Cain’s heart was not where it should have been when he made his sacrifice. And another theory is that God requires a blood sacrifice, and Cain ignored that and brought crops instead.
No matter the exact reason, we do know that God was displeased with Cain. But in verse 7, we see where God still told Cain that if he did what was right, God would fully accept him.
Cain was angry. He was probably jealous, hurt and everything else negative that we feel today when things don’t go our way. So, Cain took Abel out in the fields and killed him. That was the first murder in history. When God asked Cain where Abel was, Cain lied to God and said he didn’t know! But God is smarter than we are. He knew better. He told Cain that Abel’s blood cried out to God from the ground on which he was slain.
God cursed Cain. He sent him out to never again return to his family and land. But, now it is very important to see this; God still loved him enough to protect him so he did not get killed by someone else!
CONCLUSION
If God loved Adam and Eve, even after they disobeyed Him and then lied to Him: If God loved Cain even after he disobeyed Him and even killed his brother out of hatred, don’t you think God will still love us, even after all the wrong we have done in our lives?
Scripture tells us that God is slow to anger, but His love lasts a lifetime. No matter what you may have done in your life, no matter where you may have been, all you have to do is ask Jesus to come into your life and forgive you of past wrongs. Ask Him to be with you from now on, and He will gladly accept your offer.
We always want to give others the chance to get closer to God. One thing that prohibits that is most people do not like to be in front of a crowd. And, the thought of walking up here tends to scare people half to death. But, think for a moment. If someone else got up and walked up here to publicly acknowledge God, you would not feel anything but respect and good thoughts about them, right? Well, that is what they will be thinking if you come up here.
May I have the praise team come back up for the closing of service?
There are two types of people who need to come forward during our invitation. The first type, of course, is the person who has never asked Jesus into their heart to be their Savior. These people know when the Lord is talking to them, and they just need to simply heed that call.
The second type of person that needs to come forward is the person who has received Jesus in the past, but has gotten unfocused and has ended up walking away from Jesus. These people need to get back into the will of God.
I do not like long or emotional invitations, so if God is talking to you this morning, I urge you to come forward this morning and receive Jesus in your life.
INVITATION
