Genesis Factor
Genesis chapter 1:1-31
Would you turn to Genesis Chapter One
We are going to look at the wonder working power of God!
We are going to look at the God that creates.
We are going to look at God’s Word so that we might know the God that loves us.
Prayer-
The world wants you to believe that God is a God that you cannot know because He is so far away, that God does not want to be found- that is a lie from the pit of Hell.
If God did not want to found He would not be found.
After all until he created (us) man, He was around but we did not know it.
When He breathed breath into Adam, it was mankind’s beginning not God’s. (Repeat)
Verse 1 chapter one “In the beginning God created…”
Three important things that God tells us in these words
God exists
God Himself is not created
God creates, He is the creator.
God does not explain Himself and tell us all of how He began- In the beginning as we know it God Was. He does not have to prove how He came to be, He explains in great detail how we came to be- because of Him!
The six days of creation recorded in the Bible answer a lot of questions that people have yet most don’t look to Him or recognize them.
God who always was! Eternal, Everlasting, Alpha and Omega- Beginning and End.
The Bible opens “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”
The word Genesis means beginning!
The earth was void and empty. Experts say that between verse one and verse two was many years, possibly millions of years. The canvas is a void earth and God begins to make it something because the Spirit of God begins to hover over the earth.
In eternity past, God took a void and unproductive earth that He had previously created and began to give it life. The Spirit of the living God began hovering over it and life began to be formed and life began to take on new meaning.
The first line of the Apostles Creed is “I believe in God the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth.”
Today many Jews and many Christians believe that God created by what they call “intelligent design”. This world and all that is in it was designed by God not by chance, but by a God that was smarter than we are. That makes sense to me who has never created a world, a galaxy, or a universe.
The “Gap Theory’ wants us to believe that things happened by chance- that all these things just aligned with no help from a creator God!
That this void earth that God talks about in verse one of the first book of the Bible that He ordained and He anointed and He protected came to be by a big bang theory and all the pieces of the universe aligned and we enjoy them by a freak chance of atomic disturbance.
That is the craziest thing I have ever heard and I believe it takes more faith to believe that than believe that Almighty God created this world and He did not need our help.
He tells Job- “Where were you when I created the foundations of the earth”?
Proverbs 30:4- “Who has gone up to heaven and come down? Who has gathered up the winds in the hollow of his hands? Who has wrapped up the waters in his cloak? Who has established all the ends of the earth? What is his name, and the name of his son? Tell me if you know?”
God Almighty tells us in his book of beginnings how He did it. Not because He would have too, but because He choose too. Because He loves us!
Day one – Let there be light! He called the light day and the darkness he called night. Light and darkness did not have a name until God created and give it a name.
Day two- water covers the earth, God separates the water and calls the upper water Sky and the lower water seas.
Day three- God made the lower water that was separated from the sky, he made ground come up out and called it “land”. The remaining water, he called seas, and the dry ground he called land. And what God saw was good! God then said let the land produce vegetation. Plants, trees, and seed bearing fruit.
Day Four- Then God said let there be light that would separate the day from the night. Two great lights, the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. Then He made the stars. Everyone named and placed and remembered. Sun, moon and stars!
Day Five- God takes the sky and the seas and he creates living creatures in numerous varieties and sizes. Be fruitful and multiply and increase in numbers. The birds and fish are created by a creating God.
Day six- God created live stock and creatures that move along the ground. Each step of the way, God looked at His work and saw that it was good. After the animals, God said… Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule everything that I have created.
All of these things were created on purpose by a creating God.
Man was not an afterthought- He was made in the image of God- meaning that He would have a soul and would be eternal like God.
He was given a choice wither He would keep that perfect relationship with God the creator and by the third chapter of Genesis we see that man has fallen to temptation and God would have to have a plan of redemption because we could not save ourselves.
Why do we have such a hard time believing in a creative God that wants to be in a relationship with those He has created?
I googled that question…WHY DO WE HAVE SUCH A HARD TIME BELIEVING IN A CREATIVE GOD? and I expected a bunch of preachers and theologians giving their reasons- what I found shocked me.
Many people responded that to believe that there was a God that created but was not created was ignorant and naïve.
Was primitive thinking- not much different than the ancients who saw lightning in the sky and assumed it MUST be the wrath of the gods since they couldn't fathom how it happened.
That believing that was easy to believe but didn’t make it true-
Lord help us! Psalms 14:1 “The fool says in his heart, there is no God.”
Until you understand creation and a God that purposely wants and desires a relationship with us, you cannot possibly understand that that same God (1) loves you and was willing to die for you.(2) Wants to redeem you and have a relationship with you (3) Empowers you with His Holy Spirit to live the life He calls us too.
Remember when I opened the conversation- I said a God who has wonder working power,
The wonder working power of God
The wonder working power of God to create. (We see that at creation)
The power of God to redeem. We see the fall of man and a savior that came to redeem man.
The power of God to restore. A God who rights our wrong by being our sacrifice for sin.
We need every part of the wonder working power of God.
Illustration-
Perhaps you’ve heard the story about a homeless man begging on a street corner during the Great Depression. A wealthy man walked by and had compassion on the beggar. He pulled out his wallet and wrote the homeless man a check for $1,000. “Here you are,” he said, “there’s plenty of money in my account at the bank, and this will help you get some food and a place to stay.”
The next day, the wealthy man was walking by the same street corner and was shocked to see the man still begging for handouts from passersby. “Why didn’t you use the money I gave you yesterday to better your circumstances?” he asked incredulously.
“Oh, I knew the bank would never cash such a large check from someone like me,” the homeless man explained. “So I tore up your check and went back to asking people for their spare change.”
Friend, through the promises of His Word and the gift of the Holy Spirit, God has given you a limitless “check,” but it’s your responsibility to appropriate His power and “cash the check.”
Don’t be content to live on spiritual crumbs when He calls you to a life of abundance and victory. Believe His Word, and receive His power!
We can miss God’s power (Mark 6:1-6).
A. Because of Familiarity (vv. 1, 3) The synagogue was Jesus’ “home church” (Luke 4:16). As a boy, He had listened to the rabbi, had sung the chants and worshiped His Father. Surrounding Him were His disciples and His family. Mary may have felt pride as her Son spoke. Conversely, His brothers might have been embarrassed. Their jealousy cost them the blessing of belief.
The people allowed familiarity to blind their faith. Similarly, we can get so accustomed to the things of God, we can miss God.
B. Because of Confusion (v. 2) The people were confused about the source of Jesus’ power. They were astonished at His wisdom. Where had He received such spiritual insights? They also were amazed at His works. They thought of Him as the carpenter and a son of a carpenter. They knew the craftsman, not the Creator; the handyman, not the Healer. They knew the son of their neighbor, Mary, not the Son of God. Because they knew His brothers, they thought they knew Him-but they didn’t.
When we adopt the world’s way of thinking, we, too, can become confused about Jesus and miss His power. We disbelieve anything we cannot prove in a test tube or explain with a mathematical formula.
C. Because of Self-centeredness (vv. 3b-6) Instead of congratulating Jesus as a hometown boy who made good, the people were offended by Him. Self-centered people tend to judge others by the effect on themselves.
Jesus marveled at their unbelief, yet He chose not to overpower their doubt with miracles. Because of their persistent disbelief, they missed God’s power. While He healed a few sick people, Jesus did not do many wondrous works among them. Instead, He moved on to more receptive places.
Whenever we choose doubt over faith, we miss God’s power. On the other hand, we can manifest God’s power by following the example of Jesus’ disciples.
II. We can manifest God’s power (Mark 6:7-13).
A. Through Obedience (v. 7) Jesus called the 12 to Him and then sent them out in pairs. The disciples’ success in going was predicated on their coming. Only by coming to Him did they receive the power to go. They obeyed Him without hesitation. As a result, they experienced God’s power as they preached and healed in His name. Obedience is one proof of faith. We will obey only if we believe the One Who commands us.
B. Through Dependence (vv. 8-9) As the disciples traveled, they were totally dependent on God’s provision. They carried no money, food or extra
clothing. They stayed in whatever home welcomed them.
If we trust God, we can experience His power not only in the results of ministry, but in witnessing His provision for that ministry. A friend has preached
to millions of people on over 200 mission trips over the past 25 years. Following George Meuller’s plan of trusting God through prayer alone, my friend has seen God’s hand provide the means to go and the results of going in Christ’s name.
C. Through Faithfulness (vv. 10-13) God blessed the disciples’ faithfulness with His anointed power. They preached, and people repented. They commanded, and devils were cast out. They anointed, and people were healed. Their joy upon returning to Jesus lay not in themselves, but in the expression of God’s power.
Faithfulness resides not only in beginning a task, but accomplishing it. Godly faithfulness produces glory to God and good for mankind. When we commit ourselves to trusting the Lord completely, obeying the Lord wholeheartedly, depending on the Lord totally, and following the Lord devotedly, then we can experience the wonder-working power of God.
Close- We serve an awesome God! Amen! Don’t forget that church. Don’t forget that it is okay to seek out the Lord and He encourages us to do that but if we do not get all our questions answered at the time we think that He should answer them does not change the fact that He is God and we are not!
Don’t miss God’s power working in your life because you don’t understand it all!
Get caught in familiarity- take advantage of God and forget who He is.
We can bring God’s power working in our lives-
Obedience
Dependence
Faithfulness
