The God Of Genesis 1-3

The events told in the first three chapters of the book of Genesis are well known. For centuries, they have provided material for many lessons and studies. I, myself, cannot count the number of times that I have used all or a portion of this passage in sermons that I have delivered.

The amazing thing about the Word of God is that just when you think you have exhausted a passage of all its potential lessons, you suddenly find spiritual insights that you had never seen and gleaned before. In fact, often you wonder why you had never seen those truths in previous studies. Verily, the Scriptures are a bottomless well from which we can always draw fresh lessons to satisfy our desire for greater spiritual knowledge and understanding.

In this lesson, I want to focus our attention on the Person behind all the events that are told in this passage. I want us to see how this passage provides us with a wealth of information about the nature and character of God. I dare say that the rest of the Bible reveals little about God’s nature and character that isn’t revealed right here in the very first three chapters of the book of Genesis.

1. THE ETERNAL GOD.

The first truth we learn about God is found in the first four verses of the Bible - "In the beginning, God". In these few words we learn that our God is eternal in nature. Before time and anything else, there was God.

I like how Moses expressed it in Psalm 90:2, "Before the mountains were born, or Thou didst give birth to the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, Thou art God."

God has always existed and He always will exist.

The Mormons believe that the God of the Bible is the offspring of a man and woman god. They believe that faithful Mormon couples will, themselves, become gods like Jehovah and will give birth to other gods.

God refutes this in Isaiah 43:10, "Before Me there was no God formed, and there will be none after Me." 44:6, "I am the first and I am the last, and there is no God besides Me."

It is difficult for our finite minds to comprehend the eternal nature of God. Until we ourselves are ushered into eternity, we must be content in accepting God’s explanation of Himself given to Moses, in Exodus 3:14, "I am Who I am."

2. GOD’S OMNISCIENCE AND OMNIPOTENCE.

The next truths we learn of God’s nature is found in the word "created". The great significance of this term is lost in the English translation. The Hebrew word translated "created" is ’bara’ and it means to create something from nothing.

Everything that we create is made-up of materials that already exist. And most inventions are based upon arrangements or systems that already exist, whether it be in nature or made-made.

But, in the beginning, God created this entire Universe from nothing but the thought in His mind and the power of His command. He thought it up and spoke it into existence.

When one considers the complexity of the Universe, one is overwhelmed to think of the Intellect required to invent it. Through the scientific method, we are just beginning to discover the particle components of the atom and how those components interact. We are just beginning to uncode the blueprint of life in DNA. We are just beginning to understand how cells function and what makes them good or bad. We are just beginning to understand the basic circuitry of the brain. Only recently, we have come to realize the complexity and fragility of ecosystems on this earth. To contemplate that a Being thought-up and designed the Universe is marvelous. Consider the knowledge and wisdom required. Proverbs 3:19, "The Lord by wisdom founded the earth; and by understanding He established the heavens."

Then, consider the power it took to create what we know to exist in this Universe. It is beyond comprehension.

Let’s just take our Sun, for example. Our Sun, like all stars, is basically a huge hydrogen bomb. Some of us are old enough to remember the powerful and horrifying Hydrogen bombs that were exploded in the late 1950s and early 1960s. The Sun’s power is derived from the same process as those H-bombs - nuclear fusion. However, the Sun’s explosive power produces in one second the equivalent of 90 billion of our man-made H-Bombs.

Let me give you another comparison. One day’s worth of the Sun’s energy output - if it could be harnessed - would meet the world’s total energy consumption for 27 years. Each second, the Sun’s energy output is 400 billion billion megawatts. That is to say, each second the Sun emits enough energy to light-up 400,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 (26 zeros) 100 watt light bulbs.