The famous musical, The Sound of Music, includes this song which Maria teaches the Von Trapp children. "Let’s start at the very beginning, a very good place to start. When you read you begin with A-B-C, when you sing you begin with do-re-me." When we read the Bible, however, most people start three-fourths of the way through the book, in John or one of the other three gospels. I certainly understand why people begin reading in the New Testament, but there are some big disadvantages of skipping the first part of the book. My Bible, and yours, begins with Genesis, a book whose title in Greek means "beginning." During the next seven weeks, our plan is to explore the first eleven chapters of this book. We are going to start at the very beginning and see some important, foundational truths, as God reveals who He is, who we are, and what the rest of the Bible is about.
Now, some folks, including a few who call themselves Christians, think it is a waste of time to study the first chapters of Genesis. After all, they say, these early chapters contain myths and legends and are really just religious fairy tales. They say there are some spiritual lessons to be learned, but claim there is no historical information in this part of the Bible. I disagree. I believe Genesis 1-11 contains historically accurate accounts. The truthfulness of what is written here is important for two reasons. #1–Jesus taught that the events recorded in these chapters really happened. He treated them as real history. If these are mere myths and legends, then the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ is put into question. #2–The truth of these chapters is important because it is here that God addresses the most basic questions we can ask. "Where are we from?" and "Why are we here?" As human beings, we have a natural curiosity about the ancient past, about our roots. A few years ago, PBS did a series with Carl Sagan entitled "Cosmos." It was extremely popular because people are interested in the origin of the human race and how this planet and the entire universe came to be. Friends, if we cannot believe what the Bible says about these topics, why should we believe its teaching on other subjects? If what these first chapters teach is not true, it seems strange to base our whole lives on the rest of the book.
But I am confident that the first 11 chapters of Genesis are true and that they are God’s words for us. So today we start with a very good place to start, the very beginning. As we look at Genesis 1, let’s pray God would show us the significance of these words for our lives today.
The very beginning, Genesis 1:1 "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters." This is a very simple, but powerful statement. At the beginning of time, God brings the universe, everything in the physical realm, into being. The remainder of the chapter uses a six-day framework to describe God’s creative activity in more detail, culminating with the creation of human beings. This chapter has been the subject of much discussion throughout the history of the church, and I think there is value in outlining the major interpretations of this chapter that have been proposed. Now, keep in mind, each of these views is held by Christians who believe the Bible is God’s inerrant word and that what we read in Genesis 1 is true. Let’s look at four different Christian understandings of Genesis 1.
#1) The most popular idea is that Genesis 1 describes the creation of the universe in a one-week time period. Henry Morris and the Institute for Creation Research are the most prominent advocates for this view called "Scientific Creationism." During the 1800’s, Bishop Usher, an Anglican, calculated that the events in Genesis 1 occurred in September of 4004 B.C. Advocates of this position say Usher was slightly off, but that he was close. They maintain the earth and the universe are probably 10-30,000 years old. They claim there is much scientific evidence to support their view, and that evidence for an older earth is due to the fact that God created a mature universe. For example, the Lord had the light from stars a million light years away reaching the earth as soon as he made those stars. Scientific creationists also claim that Noah’s flood distorted the geological and fossil records so that our planet appears to be older than it actually is.
#2) A second interpretation is what could be called "The Long Day View." Some argue that the Hebrew word for "day" (yom) could mean a much longer period than 24 hours. They point to 2 Peter 3:8 which says that to the Lord "one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day." They also claim that the events of the sixth day of creation appear to occur over a longer period of time. In Genesis 1:27 we learn God made man and woman, Adam and Eve, on the sixth day. In Genesis 2, a more detailed account, we learn God created Adam, in verse 7, placed him in the garden to care for it, then brought all the different kinds of animals and birds to Adam and had him name them in verse 20, and then in verse 22 God created Eve to be Adam’s companion. These folks argue this was an awful lot for Adam to do in one 24-hour day. Their conclusion is that the six days of creation may have been millions of years each, and thus Genesis 1 is consistent with the claim
most scientists make that the earth is over a billion years old. Now, I see some big problems with this interpretation, but it is one which some sincere Christians hold.
#3) This view, made popular by the Scofield Reference Bible and C.S. Lewis is "The Gap Theory." This interpretation says that in Genesis 1:1 God created the heavens and the earth. This may have happened billions of years ago. But Genesis 1:2 describes the condition of the planet at a much later time. According to this theory, the earth reached this desolate state as a result of a cosmic battle between God’s angels and the forces of Satan. So Genesis 1:2ff describes the rebuilding or recreation of the earth just 10-20,000 years ago. Advocates of this theory claim the dinosaurs and cavemen existed in this gap of time between Genesis 1:1 and 1:2.
#4) This view which was held by some Bible scholars in the Middle Ages and has recently been made popular by this book, Genesis Unbound, says that Genesis 1:1 describes the creation of the universe at an unspecified time, maybe billions of years ago. Genesis 1:2ff describes not the creation of the earth, but the preparation of the land for God’s people. The Hebrew word translated earth in this chapter, is translated land in the rest of the Pentateuch , the first five books of the Bible. Thus what happens in Genesis 1:2ff is a local creation, where God takes a barren place of real estate and turns it into "the land"–the promised land of Israel. The six days describe God, not bringing the world into being, but making them have a purpose, until the sixth when He creates human beings for the land which He has prepared.
We could spend the next two months talking about the strengths and weaknesses of these views. Some of you are going to be disappointed because I am not going to tell you which view is the right one. The reason for that is because I’m not sure. I have always pretty much agreed with the first view, that God created the world in six 24-hour days, but advocates of the fourth view, which claims Genesis 1 is describing the preparation of the land, make a very strong case, which I am not able to refute. I am not sure how it exactly happened when the Lord made the heavens and the earth. I was not there. But there are some things we do know once we have read this chapter.
#1–We know that God is the creator of the universe. Carl Sagan and anyone else is wrong when they say the universe is all there is, has ever been, or ever will be. It is God, not energy, not matter, but the Creator God, who is eternal.
#2–We know that life on this planet did not evolve by chance. A process of natural selection is not how we got here. Some have claimed that because our planet is billions of years old it is inevitable that life would develop. Michael Behe’s book, "Darwin’s Black Box," which rocked the scientific world, shows that idea to be totally foolish. He argues the existence of life, even at the level of the smallest cell, could not have happened by accident. The only logical conclusion is there must be an intelligent designer who is responsible for life coming into being. Christians know this intelligent designer’s name is the Lord God.
#3–We know that though Genesis 1 may not tell us the age of the earth, it is clear that human beings have not existed on this earth for millions of years. All attempts to reconcile the theory of evolution with the Scriptures have failed. Adam & Eve were not descendants of ape-like missing links. They were special creatures, made from the dust of the ground and in the image of God. Some of you may be thinking, "Pastor Dan, you seem like an intelligent fellow. How can you possibly believe human beings did not evolve from lower life forms?" Well, as I mentioned, more and more scientists are concluding that Darwin’s theory of natural selection is built on lots of assumptions. Believing in evolution requires not logic, but a leap of faith. We are not going to focus on the creation/evolution debate today, but we need to keep this in mind. The scientific evidence is incomplete and inconclusive. Neither side can prove their position. The only One who was present at the dawn of time to tell us what happened was God.
God does answer some of our questions in this chapter, but the focus on Genesis 1 is not how God created, but rather upon the awesome God who is the Creator of all that exists. Reading Genesis 1 and focusing upon the length of days is like going to a baseball game and talking about what color uniforms the teams are wearing. It is not totally irrelevant, but it misses the essence of what is going on. If you leave this room wondering what day the sun was created, then you have missed God’s message for us in this chapter. The main purpose of this text is to teach us two very important things about God. These are the most important things to remember:
#1) God is great! He is so great that He can create the entire universe. By simply speaking a word, God produces life. Six times in this chapter God says, "Let there be..." and the explicit result is always "It was so." We sometimes talk about an artist’s creation. A painter can take brushes and paints and turn them into a portrait. But that does not begin to match what God did when He created the universe. On Monday we visited Mt. Rushmore and Crazy Horse Monument outside of Rapid City, South Dakota. Those are very impressive. Yes, a sculpture can take stone and turn it into a statue, but God took nothing and turned it into a universe. The Bible tells us that because God is the Creator, it is He, and not anyone or anything else who is to be worshiped. Listen to Psalm 148:5 "Let them praise the name of the Lord, for he commanded and they were created." As we reflect on God the Creator, on His greatness, it should cause us to be in awe. In Revelation 4 we see the four living creatures and the 24 elders worshiping before the throne of God. We read in Revelation 4:10-11 "...the twenty-four elders fall down before him who sits on the throne, and worship him who lives for ever and ever. They lay their crowns before the throne and say: ‘You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being.’" Now there are many different reasons why these beings, probably angels, could have given Him praise. Think of all the magnificent things He has done throughout history. But here He is being worshiped because of what happened at the beginning of time. God is the great Creator.
When I see a print of the Mona Lisa, I cannot help but think of what a fantastic painter Leonardo da Vinci was. When we look out and see the stars, the trees, the streams, the birds and animals and every insect God has made, it should cause us to sing, not just with our lips but with our hearts, "Thou art worthy, for Thou has created all things." If it does not, we need to open our eyes and be filled with awe. That happened to me last weekend when we were in Colorado. As I saw the sun shining on the snow capped mountains towering above the valley, I thought, "Wow! What a magnificent Creator God is." In a way, it was a religious experience. I felt closer to God, not because I was 12,000 feet above sea level, but because I could see so clearly that the God who made the mountains has creative and artistic abilities far beyond what I could possibly imagine. He is the great Creator.
#2) The second most important thing we can learn from this chapter is that God is good. The phrase "it was good" is repeated seven times as our text describes the results of God’s work. It is summed up in verse 1:31 "God saw all that he had made, and it was very good." What God has created is good because it is flawless. It is good because it is the work of a perfect Creator, and it is good because it meets our needs as human beings. As we look at this passage, it becomes clear that God is preparing an earth or a land that his people can inhabit. For example, we read in verse 1:14 "And God said, ‘Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark seasons and days and years.’" In other words, the lights are set in the sky to mark a calendar for us–to help us keep days, months and years straight. The water is here for us to drink. The vegetables, the birds, the fish, and the animals are here to provide food for us. This planet is custom designed to meet the needs of human beings. The earth is placed in exactly the right distance from the sun so that the temperature is neither too hot or too cold to support human life. The atmosphere which exists on this planet is just right for us to breathe. If we were able to travel from galaxy to galaxy, scientists estimate that just one out of a billion planets would have an atmosphere capable of supporting humans. Genesis 1 is a description of God lovingly building a home for the apex of His creation, human beings made in His own image. Friends, if we read Genesis 1 and do not begin to see God as the loving Father, to see God’s goodness, then we have missed the message that He desires us to hear.
Another way we know that God cares a great deal about His people is because even before He created the world, even before the beginning of time, God had a plan. Ephesians 1:4 says "For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight." Revelation 13:8 describes Jesus as "the lamb slain before the foundation of the world." God’s plan of redemption, for my salvation and for the salvation of all who really believe in Jesus Christ, was in place right from the very beginning. In the beginning, when God created the heavens and the earth, He had you and me in mind. God is good!
Friends, as we close, I want to give you a little assignment. It’s kind of a math assignment–one very similar to an assignment the Lord gave Abraham about 4,000 years ago. On one of the next clear nights we have, I want you to go out to where you can see the stars, maybe your back porch, or maybe you will have to drive a couple of miles into the country, but take time to look at those lights God has hung in the sky. Then here’s your assignment. Try to count them. Try to count all the stars we can see with just our naked eye, and as you do, think about the God who created each and every one of them. Think about how some of those stars are a thousand times bigger than our own sun, but how God brought them into being out of nothing, by simply willing it to be so. As you try to count, let your mind and heart become full with a realization of how great God is. Maybe you will start singing "How Great Thou Art." That is fine, but let yourself stand in awe of the great God who in the beginning created the heavens and the earth.
And then, as you do so, remind yourself that the God who made all those stars also knows the number of hairs on your head. This great Creator cares about the most minute details of your life. If you really believe in Jesus Christ, this awesome God is also your Father, your Dad. He loves you. He loves you enough that God the Son, Jesus Christ, died an extremely cruel death on the cross in your place; and when we combine His greatness and His goodness, we realize that God is able and willing to give us everything we need for our ultimate and eternal good. Friends, as you try to count those stars, let them remind you that our God is great, and He is good. Yes, we should thank Him for our food, but more importantly, we should worship, trust and obey Him, every day of our lives.
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