God of Wonders
The Author of Life
Genesis 1:31
Introduction:
“Top Ten Ways to Know You Need to Study Genesis”:
10. The kids are asking you too many questions about your unusual
bedtime Bible story: “Noah the Shepherd Boy and His Ark of Many
Colors.”
9. You keep falling for it every time your pastor says, “Please turn to the book of Melchizedek, ch. 14.”
8. You think the Tower of Babel is in Paris, France.
7. You catch your kids looking at pictures in their Bibles of the garden of
Eden and you demand, “Who gave you this trash?”
6. You become frustrated because Charlton Heston isn’t listed in your Bible’s concordance.
5. A small family of woodchucks has taken up residence in the Book.
4. Your favorite Old Testament patriarch is Hercules.
3. You open to Genesis and a WWII War Bond falls out.
2. You think Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob had a few hits during the sixties.
1. Your pastor announces a new sermon series from Genesis and you check the Table of Contents to see if it’s in your Bible.
*Space is so vast that astronomers “…had to devise special units to keep their figures manageable. Their basic unit of distance is the light-year—the distance light travels in 1 year, is about 6 trillion miles (6 followed by 12 zeroes).” *Our nearest star, Alpha Centauri, is so far away that if one traveled at 30,000 miles per hour, it would take 100,000 years to reach it.
*According to astronomers, “…there are more than 100 billion stars in our own galaxy…” That’s just in our galaxy alone. Each one of those stars has different characteristics; they are all unique in some way.
*“On its annual journey around the sun, the earth travels at about 67,000 m.p.h.” If you’ve ever wondered why your head sometimes seems to spin, maybe that’s the reason.
God created the earth, the universe, and everything that exists. This fact is certain. Several years ago a scientist wrote an article entitled, Seven Reasons
Why I Believe in God. He argued his case as follows:
1. Consider the rotation of the earth. Our globe spins on its axis at the rate of one thousand miles an hour. If it were just a hundred miles an hour, our days and nights would be ten times as long. The vegetation would freeze in the long night or it would burn in the long day; and there could be no life.
2. Consider the heat of the sun. Twelve thousand degrees at surface temperature, and we’re just far enough away to be blessed by that terrific heat. If the sun gave off half its radiation, we would freeze to death. If it gave off one half more, we would all be crispy critters.
3. Consider the twenty-three degree slant of the earth. If it were different than that, the vapors from the oceans would ice over the continents. There could be no life.
4. Consider the moon. If the moon were fifty thousand miles away rather than its present distance, twice each day giant tides would inundate every bit of land mass on this earth.
5. Consider the crust of the earth. Just a little bit thicker and there could be no life because there would be no oxygen.
6. Consider the thinness of the atmosphere. If our atmosphere was just a little thinner, the millions of meteors now burning themselves out in space would plummet this earth into oblivion.
7. Finally, the fact that man is capable of grasping the idea of the existence of God is in itself sufficient evidence.
He concluded by saying, “These are reasons why I believe in God.”
3 Fold Nature of The Universe:
God Father, Son, Holy Spirit
Nature of Reality Matter, Space, Time
Physical Universe Mass, Energy, Motion
Matter (Atoms) Proton, Electron, Neutron
Space Length, Height and Breadth
Time Past, Present, Future
Mankind Body, Soul, Spirit
For many people today - to say that you believe the Bible. to say that Scripture is revealing the truth is laughable in some circles. Much of the reason for scoffing at the Word of God comes in the first ten words uttered in the book of Genesis: "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth."
For a growing number of people in our world - that assertion makes the rest of the Bible unbelievable. To say that God created is to be a moron, a simpleton, a backwards backwoods country bumpkin not to be taken seriously. The Bible - and Genesis in particular - is viewed as a myth born out of ignorant man’s superstitious need to make sense of the universe around him.
But we know better. Everything we see around us was created in a large and complex way that can never be explained except that it happened by God,
I believe that it takes more faith to believe the theory of evolution than it does the truth of a creator.
In fact, a prominent evolutionist named William Provine of Cornell University, was blunt in spelling out the implications of Darwinism. If Darwinism is true, he said, then there are five inescapable conclusions:
If Evolution is True Than . . .
1. There’s no evidence for God.
2. There’s no life after death.
3. There’s no absolute foundation for right and wrong.
4. There’s no ultimate meaning for life.
5. People don’t really have free will.
1. The Structure of God’s Creation. (Genesis 1:1-25)
(Genesis 1:1-25) "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. {2} And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. {3} And 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} And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day. {6} And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters. {7} And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so. {8} And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day. {9} And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so. {10} And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good. {11} And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so. {12} And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good. {13} And the evening and the morning were the third day. {14} And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years: {15} And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so. {16} And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also. {17} And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth, {18} And to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that it was good. {19} And the evening and the morning were the fourth day. {20} And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven. {21} And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good. {22} And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth. {23} And the evening and the morning were the fifth day. {24} And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so. {25} And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good."
Explanation:
Day 1: The heavens, the earth, light and darkness.
Day 2: Heaven.
Day 3: Dry land, the seas, and vegetation.
Day 4: The sun, the moon and the stars.
Day 5: Living creatures in the water, birds in the air.
Day 6: Land animals and people.
Day 7: God "rested."
Illustration: A recent Gallop poll found that 47% of Americans do, in fact they hold a strict creationist view, that God created man pretty much in his present form within the last 10,000 years. Some 30% believe in some combination of evolution and creationism, where God was involved. Only 9% of Americans believe in strict evolution. And yet, in our colleges, universities, most public schools & state parks evolution is not taught as theory but as fact.
Application: Our task is to hold to the truth!
2. The Summit of God’s Creation. (Genesis 1:26-28)
(Genesis 1:26-28) "And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. {27} So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. {28} And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth."
Explanation:
- Let Us Make Man.
- In Our Image.
- After Our Likeness.
- Let Them Have Dominion.
Illustration: Someone Put Mans Existence Like This!
God created the donkey and told him: you will work tireless from sun up to sun down, carrying heavy bags on your back, you’ll eat grass, you will not have intelligence and you will live 50 years. You will be a DONKEY!
The donkey answered: I’ll be a donkey, but living 50 years is too much, give me only 20 years. And God gave him 20 years.
God created the dog and told him: You will look after the man’s house, you will be his best friend, you will eat whatever they give you and you will live 25 years. You will be a DOG!
The dog answered: God, living 25 years is too much, give only 15. God gave him 15 years.
God created the monkey and told him: You will jump from branch to branch, you will do silly things, you will be amusing and you will live 20
The monkey answered: God, living 20 years is too much, give me only 10 years. And God agreed.
Finally, God created man, and told him: You will be Man, the only rational being on this earth, you will use your intelligence to control other animals, you will dominate the world and you will live for 20 years.
The man answered: God, I’ll be man, but living 20 years is not enough, why don’t you give me the 30 years that the donkey refused, the 20 years that the dog did not want and the 10 years that the monkey refused.
That was what God did, and since then, Men live 20 years like a man, then he enters adulthood and spends 30 years like a donkey, working and carrying the load on his back, then when his children leave home, spends 15 years like a dog, looking after the house and eating whatever is given to him, then he gets into retirement, and spends 10 years like a monkey, jumping from house to house or from children to children, doing silly things to amuse the grandchildren.
Application: Though that is not quite accurate. Sometime we think about life in those kind of terms.
The Pinnacle of God’s Creation Was Mankind. The reason for all that God created was Mankind.
3. The Significance of God’s Creation. (Genesis 1:29-30)
(Genesis 1:29-30) "And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat. {30} And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so."
Explanation:
- Unity - Agreement - Peace
Illustration:
- Early America Poet Ralph Waldo Emerson Wrote: “All I have seen teaches me to trust the Creator for all I have not seen.”
Emerson also observed that if the constellations appeared only once in a thousand years, imagine what an exciting event that would be. But because they are there every night, we barely give them a look.
Application: Before the fall - God intended for man to be vegetarians and that animals co-exist. Don’t get nervous.
The significance of Creation is that God created it in perfect agreement.
4. The Superiority of God’s Creation. (Genesis 1:31)
(Genesis 1:31) "And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day."
Explanation: Adam Clarke in His commentary said this about Genesis 1:31 - “The plan wise, the work well executed, the different parts properly arranged; their nature, limits, mode of existence, manner of propagation, habits, mode of sustenance. Each properly and permanently established and secured; for every thing was formed to the utmost perfection of its nature.”
- Very: Extremely
Conveys a passion expression or intensity of emotion or conviction;
- Good: The Best
God had just completed the very best that he could create – It was perfection.
Illustration: “Earth is crammed with heaven, and every bush aflame with God, but only those who see take off their shoes.”
- Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Victorian Era Poet
Application: God Made It All and It Was Very Good!
Conclusion: As we conclude there is some wonderful truth in the last verse of the first chapter of Genesis.
(Genesis 1:31) "And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day."
God / Saw / That He Had Made / Very Good
Here are some opening lines to books or poems. See if you recognize them.
"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times" -A Tale of Two Cities- Charles Dickens
"Call me Ishmael" -Moby Dick – Herman Melville
"Tell me, O Muse, of the man of many devices, who wandered full many ways after he had sacked the sacred citadel of Troy." - The Odyssey – Homer
"Two households, both alike in dignity" - Romeo & Juliet – Shakespeare
"I hope I will be able to confide everything in you, as I have never been able to confide in anyone, and I hope you will be a great source of comfort and support." - The Diary of Ann Frank –
Journalists know the importance of opening lines: They hook the reader, They make first impressions and once their made, they can’t be undone.
Opening line sets the tone for the whole book
“In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.
