GENESIS
A PORTRAIT OF GOD
TEXT: Genesis 1:1-5
In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. Quickly, God was faced with a class action suit for failure to file an environmental impact statement. God was granted a temporary permit for the project, but was stymied with the “cease and desist” order for the earthly part. Then God said, "Let there be light!"
Immediately, the officials demanded to know how the light would be made. Would there be strip mining? What about thermal pollution? God explained that the light would come from a large ball of fire. God was granted provisional permission to make light, assuming that no smoke would result from the ball of fire, and that he would obtain a building permit and to conserve energy, He would have the light out half the time. God agreed and offered to call the light "Day" and the darkness "Night". The officials replied that they were not interested in semantics. God said, "Let the earth put forth vegetation, plant yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit." The EPA agreed, so long as only native seed was used. Then God said, "Let the waters bring forth swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth." The officials pointed out that this would require approval from the Department of Game coordinated with the Heavenly Wildlife Federation and the Audubon Society. Everything was okay until God said the project would be completed in six days. The officials said it would take at least two hundred days to review the applications and the impact statement. After that there would be a public hearing. Then there would be ten to twelve months before...At this point, God created Hell.
Aren’t you glad creation didn’t happen that way?
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth wasformless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.
Genesis is called the Book of Beginnings. It sets forth the beginnings of the world, of life, of domestic relationships, of institutions, of the moral order, of sin and its consequences, God plan of redemption, of nations, and God’s choosing of His people, Israel. Genesis spans a greater range of time than any other book in the Bible. It extends from the beginning of the world to the death on Joseph in Egypt. There are three distinct periods of time: Time before the Great Flood, From the Flood to the call of Abraham, and the rise of the Patriarchs or Fathers of the nation of Israel.
1. GOD EXISTS – In the beginning, God…
The first verse of the Bible simply presents us with God. The Bible makes no attempt to explain God. The Bible say anyone who denies God exists is a fool. The rest of the Bible is an expansion on the theme of who God is, what He is like, and what He is doing. God has no beginning—He is eternal; He is without beginning and without ending.
In our supposedly sophisticated culture, many believe in God, but He is fashioned out of their own image – The humanist sees God as man deified, the Secularist sees God in his money and greed, the hedonist sees God in his pleasures.
Levels of Faith
Level 1. Atheism, which is a combination of two greek words - "a" meaning "not" and "theism" meaning "God"- which when you put them together yields "not God", in other words ... God does not exist.
Level 2 is Agnosticism, again from two greek words - "a" meaning "not" and "gnosticism" meaning "knowledge" - which together gives "not knowledge", in other words ... "God" exists, but is unknowable.
In practical terms, an agnostic person looks almost identical to an atheist. But philosophically, they’re different because they’re not willing to rule out the possibility of God’s existence.
Level 3 is Theism, which removes the objections of both atheism and agnosticism and says that "God does exist and can be known."
Now, what theism in its most basic sense doesn’t say is who that God is. In other words, you can be a Muslim who believes in Allah or a Jew who believes in Jehovah or a Christian who believes in Jesus or a New Ager who believes in the Great Spirit and be a theist.
Level 4 is Christianity, which claims that God exists and is knowable because he has been revealed in the person of Jesus Christ.
The existence of God can never be proven or refuted. The reality of God is in experience. What kind of experience do you have with God?
A cynic asked a believer, “Is your God big or small?” The believer replied, “My God is big enough to create the entire universe, but small enough to live in my heart.” YOU ASK ME HOW I KNOW HE LIVES, HE LIVE WITHIN MY HEART.
2. GOD IS ONE
The word for God is Elohim, which is plural but means majesty. God is not two, three, or a million. He is ONE. He is supreme. The Shema or Hebrew declaration is “Hear, Israel, the Lord our God is ONE.
Modern Cults are attempting to make God an impersonal force. Starwars, the New Age Movement – all try to describe God as an impersonal force. This is called Pantheism or the worship of many gods.
The New Genesis is John 1 which say, In the Beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God. I don’t want to be absorbed into God, I want a personal relationship with God, my Creator who is One Supreme Being.
3. GOD IS CREATOR
Scientists and computer experts were determined to discover the mystery of creation by the aid of a complex super computer. Research was done. Information was fed into the giant processor. The magic moment arrived when all would be revealed. As the computer readout emerged on it was written one simple sentence, “See Genesis 1”. The Bible does not attempt to tell us how and when God created the heavens and the earth. That is really not the issue. The issue is that the bible tells us why.
Have you heard of the “big bang” theory of creation? Or, as Bill Hybels puts it: "if there was a big-bang, who pulled the trigger?"
Evolution attempts to substitute God in the process. Some religious groups like the Roman Catholic Church have Christianized evolution and accepted it as fact.
Too many unanswered questions with evolution. Why did God create “poison ivy”? The reason God created poison ivy was to remind us that there are certain things we should keep our cotton-pickin hands off.
Best explanation for God’s work is creative progressionism. God the Father had a blueprint for creation, which was the Son desire. The Holy Spirit was charged with bringing that blueprint for creation into reality.
4. GOD IS SOVEREIGN
God created certain laws – physical and moral. He is not governed by those laws but is sovereign over them. God is not in the sun or the moon, but He is the upholder of all laws that allow the universe to function.
Legend tells of Nimrod seeking to kill Abraham when he was born. Abraham was concealed in a cave. He saw the sun come up but then go down. It was not God. He saw the moon and the stars but again the sun came up and therefore they could not be gods because they obey some law. “I,” said Abraham, “will worship the one who imposed the law.”
5. GOD CARES
God watches over all His creation. Someone scribbled on a wall, “God is not dead, He just doesn’t want to be involved.” That is definitely false.
God is vitally concerned about all His creation and especially you and me. He’s concerned about war, famine, disease and suffering. HE IS IN CONTROL OF THE AFFAIRS OF MAN.
Why doesn’t God intervene? At times He does but in accordance to His will not ours. He does not intervene in many cases because He wants us to have the ability to choose. We forfeit that right if God does everything for us.
6. GOD IS GREAT
God is the great God whose light outshines all others.
GENESIS
A PORTRAIT OF GOD
TEXT: Genesis 1:1-5
In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. Quickly, God was faced with a class action suit for failure to file an environmental impact statement. God was granted a temporary permit for the project, but was stymied with the “cease and desist” order for the earthly part. Then God said, "Let there be light!"
Immediately, the officials demanded to know how the light would be made. Would there be strip mining? What about thermal pollution? God explained that the light would come from a large ball of fire. God was granted provisional permission to make light, assuming that no smoke would result from the ball of fire, and that he would obtain a building permit and to conserve energy, He would have the light out half the time. God agreed and offered to call the light "Day" and the darkness "Night". The officials replied that they were not interested in semantics. God said, "Let the earth put forth vegetation, plant yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit." The EPA agreed, so long as only native seed was used. Then God said, "Let the waters bring forth swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth." The officials pointed out that this would require approval from the Department of Game coordinated with the Heavenly Wildlife Federation and the Audubon Society. Everything was okay until God said the project would be completed in six days. The officials said it would take at least two hundred days to review the applications and the impact statement. After that there would be a public hearing. Then there would be ten to twelve months before...At this point, God created Hell.
Aren’t you glad creation didn’t happen that way?
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth wasformless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.
Genesis is called the Book of Beginnings. It sets forth the beginnings of the world, of life, of domestic relationships, of institutions, of the moral order, of sin and its consequences, God plan of redemption, of nations, and God’s choosing of His people, Israel. Genesis spans a greater range of time than any other book in the Bible. It extends from the beginning of the world to the death on Joseph in Egypt. There are three distinct periods of time: Time before the Great Flood, From the Flood to the call of Abraham, and the rise of the Patriarchs or Fathers of the nation of Israel.
1. GOD EXISTS – In the beginning, God…
The first verse of the Bible simply presents us with God. The Bible makes no attempt to explain God. The Bible say anyone who denies God exists is a fool. The rest of the Bible is an expansion on the theme of who God is, what He is like, and what He is doing. God has no beginning—He is eternal; He is without beginning and without ending.
In our supposedly sophisticated culture, many believe in God, but He is fashioned out of their own image – The humanist sees God as man deified, the Secularist sees God in his money and greed, the hedonist sees God in his pleasures.
Levels of Faith
Level 1. Atheism, which is a combination of two greek words - "a" meaning "not" and "theism" meaning "God"- which when you put them together yields "not God", in other words ... God does not exist.
Level 2 is Agnosticism, again from two greek words - "a" meaning "not" and "gnosticism" meaning "knowledge" - which together gives "not knowledge", in other words ... "God" exists, but is unknowable.
In practical terms, an agnostic person looks almost identical to an atheist. But philosophically, they’re different because they’re not willing to rule out the possibility of God’s existence.
Level 3 is Theism, which removes the objections of both atheism and agnosticism and says that "God does exist and can be known."
Now, what theism in its most basic sense doesn’t say is who that God is. In other words, you can be a Muslim who believes in Allah or a Jew who believes in Jehovah or a Christian who believes in Jesus or a New Ager who believes in the Great Spirit and be a theist.
Level 4 is Christianity, which claims that God exists and is knowable because he has been revealed in the person of Jesus Christ.
The existence of God can never be proven or refuted. The reality of God is in experience. What kind of experience do you have with God?
A cynic asked a believer, “Is your God big or small?” The believer replied, “My God is big enough to create the entire universe, but small enough to live in my heart.” YOU ASK ME HOW I KNOW HE LIVES, HE LIVE WITHIN MY HEART.
2. GOD IS ONE
The word for God is Elohim, which is plural but means majesty. God is not two, three, or a million. He is ONE. He is supreme. The Shema or Hebrew declaration is “Hear, Israel, the Lord our God is ONE.
Modern Cults are attempting to make God an impersonal force. Starwars, the New Age Movement – all try to describe God as an impersonal force. This is called Pantheism or the worship of many gods.
The New Genesis is John 1 which say, In the Beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God. I don’t want to be absorbed into God, I want a personal relationship with God, my Creator who is One Supreme Being.
3. GOD IS CREATOR
Scientists and computer experts were determined to discover the mystery of creation by the aid of a complex super computer. Research was done. Information was fed into the giant processor. The magic moment arrived when all would be revealed. As the computer readout emerged on it was written one simple sentence, “See Genesis 1”. The Bible does not attempt to tell us how and when God created the heavens and the earth. That is really not the issue. The issue is that the bible tells us why.
Have you heard of the “big bang” theory of creation? Or, as Bill Hybels puts it: "if there was a big-bang, who pulled the trigger?"
Evolution attempts to substitute God in the process. Some religious groups like the Roman Catholic Church have Christianized evolution and accepted it as fact.
Too many unanswered questions with evolution. Why did God create “poison ivy”? The reason God created poison ivy was to remind us that there are certain things we should keep our cotton-pickin hands off.
Best explanation for God’s work is creative progressionism. God the Father had a blueprint for creation, which was the Son desire. The Holy Spirit was charged with bringing that blueprint for creation into reality.
4. GOD IS SOVEREIGN
God created certain laws – physical and moral. He is not governed by those laws but is sovereign over them. God is not in the sun or the moon, but He is the upholder of all laws that allow the universe to function.
Legend tells of Nimrod seeking to kill Abraham when he was born. Abraham was concealed in a cave. He saw the sun come up but then go down. It was not God. He saw the moon and the stars but again the sun came up and therefore they could not be gods because they obey some law. “I,” said Abraham, “will worship the one who imposed the law.”
5. GOD CARES
God watches over all His creation. Someone scribbled on a wall, “God is not dead, He just doesn’t want to be involved.” That is definitely false.
God is vitally concerned about all His creation and especially you and me. He’s concerned about war, famine, disease and suffering. HE IS IN CONTROL OF THE AFFAIRS OF MAN.
Why doesn’t God intervene? At times He does but in accordance to His will not ours. He does not intervene in many cases because He wants us to have the ability to choose. We forfeit that right if God does everything for us.
6. GOD IS GREAT
God is the great God whose light outshines all others.
The funeral of King Louis XIV was held in the great cathedral of Paris, France. The cathedral was dark except for one candle placed on top of the golden casket containing Louis’ remains. At the appointed time, Massillon, the court preacher addressed the assembly of mourners. He arose, walked to the candle and snuffed it out. Then in the darkness he declared, ONLY God IS GREAT!
What is God like? Do you have an adequate portrait of God? His best portrait is the Cross.
What is God like? Do you have an adequate portrait of God? His best portrait is the Cross.
