And It Was Good Part 1
Notes
Transcript
Genesis 1
Genesis 1
M.I: God’s creation was meant for good.
This will be the last series I get to do with you.
It makes me sad to think that after 5 years it comes to this.
And I have always wanted to do a series on creation here in High School, but I had a hard time finding the right time or even the right angle to do a creation series.
So what I have come up with is a simple series called It was Good.
It is those three words that speak of perfection that God created on Earth, but more than that it shows the intension of creation that it was good.
That all creation was suppose to be this way for eternity.
That it was good would have been the height of the very best.
It was good was meant to mean something— and that was a reminder of God and his goodness.
It was Good is a way to look back on creation and see what was meant to be and reflect on how far from it was good we have come.
We will cover the fall in a couple of weeks.
But for the next two weeks we are going to look at creation and humankind.
Tonight our focus is on what God did with nothing.
He took nothing and made it good.
If you have your bible go ahead and open up to Genesis 1.
This is where our story begins.
This is like all books, plays, tv shows or movies, you must start at the beginning in order to understand what is ahead.
But I don’t want to undersell the importance of the creation account as this is not just some story or just some book.
That this is how our world came into existence.
As Moses wrote about all that God told Him in the wilderness on his way to the promise land we must trust that this is accurate.
This is history.
This is how God created the world.
I know school and a ton of science pushes the big band theory and evolution and it does not seem to carry the weight that the creation account does.
So as we begin this series my intention is not to prove creation right.
I believe that creation is right, and I am going to teach you like this is in fact what happened on earth day 1.
It is so vital that we start here.
Because if we don’t we miss out on why the world is the way it is.
Let me ask you this, have you ever had that friend who walks in on a movie halfway through and they don’t want you to start the movie over, but they proceed to ask a million questions that by the time you pause and explain and pause and explain, it would have just been easier to start the movie over?
Anybody have those friends?
If you don’t have those friends, that is because you are that friend.
I’m kidding, kinda.
You probably are.
Asking me halfway though the message.
So confession time, that is me.
And Brittni hates it.
She was watching The Crown, you know the show on Netflix.
It was about Queen Elizabeth II and her life.
And I knew that she was watching it but I had no interesting in watching it.
But I remember coming downstairs to ask her a questions about something and the episode she was watching was Aberfan.
And if you know anything about this, then you know that in this moment in history the Aberfan disaster was pretty much a landslide that wiped out this little town called Aberfan.
116 children where killed as it smashed into a school.
It would leave 144 dead after it was all said and done.
And I was sucked into this show.
I stood for the next 40 mins just watching this show and asking so many questions.
But Brittni wasn’t about to start the season over no, because this happened in season 3!
I was three seasons behind trying to catch up.
We all understand what is it like to not have the full story, we know what it is like to be missing pieces.
And we want to make sure that we get all the information.
And we also know what it is like to have the information and trying to fill others in.
It can be a lot.
But I stand by the simple fact that this is not something that we can just throw our hands up and say oh well.
We have to know how everything started.
And God has made a way for this to be a reality.
So as we open up to the beginning let us walk through this piece of history that shows us what the world was suppose to look like.
God: God’s creation was intended to be good.
As we open to Genesis 1 the first 2 verses alone could be a three week series.
But let read this.
In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.
We open up to the first page of the Bible not to explanation on who is God, but rather a statement that says God was present before the beginning.
There is no debate about this, it is just a fact that Moses brings to light.
Before the foundations of the world, God was present.
How long before this was God present?
I Don’t Know— but I also think that questions is irrelevant.
God was not just an idea— but He was and still is an Eternal being, who we know and experience personally.
That is who God is.
And what is interesting is that God has a beginning for the earth, but this also means that he has an end at some point— in the future.
So in the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
And that word Earth we know refers to our planet.
And it might be hard for us to comprehend what the earth would look like without form, but that is how Moses is describing this world.
It is without form, it is void and it is full of darkness.
And we see this idea of the plurality of God.
As the Spirit is hovering over the waters.
We see the Trinity together.
As we look at John 1:1-3
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.
So we have God— and the three persons of God are the father, the son and the holy spirit.
All are present in the beginning.
And from this moment forward we are going to be seeing God speak creation into existence.
We see what happened on the first day picking up in verse 3.
And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. And God saw that the light was good. And God 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.
As we will read over and over again— God spoke and whatever he said happened.
He said let there be light, and light come into existence.
And God saw that this light was good and God took the darkness and he brought into it light.
And this is a battle that we will see all throughout the history of the world.
This battle of light and darkness.
I do not think that this is a coincidence that light is what God first spoke into the darkness.
And God named the light day and the darkness he called night.
God is superior over anything in the world and that includes the things that he speaks into existence.
And then there was evening and morning the first day.
And I did say that right.
I think it is a bit odd that evening came first and then morning.
And God said, “Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.” And God made the expanse and separated the waters that were under the expanse from the waters that were above the expanse. And it was so. And God called the expanse Heaven. And there was evening and there was morning, the second day.
And then on day two God created the space between water or land and the sky.
God is making divisions and distinction.
There is a separating of water that is present in the atmosphere and what is present on the ground level.
That was day two.
And as day three rolls around— we get land and seas.
And God said, “Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear.” And it was so. God called the dry land Earth, and the waters that were gathered together he called Seas. And God saw that it was good.
And God said, “Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind, on the earth.” And it was so. The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed according to their own kinds, and trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening and there was morning, the third day.
God made dry land appear and then vegetation came into the picture.
And I love that we serve a God of order and not of chaos.
If you ever feel like your life is in chaos— it is not God it is 100% you!
Because God gives order to all things.
He sets up plants and fruit trees to all produce product that is only what they can produce.
A strawberry bush is not going to grow bananas.
And a tomato vine is not going to magically produce carrots.
No We serve a God of order.
And now after day three we see that God begins to call his creation good.
And then we get to day 4.
And God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night. And let them be for signs and for seasons, and for days and years, and let them be lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light upon the earth.” And it was so. And God made the two great lights—the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night—and the stars. And God set them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth, to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening and there was morning, the fourth day.
And as we read this, I am hit with the notion that God created plants and fruit trees that need the sun to grow— he created all of those things before the sun was created.
He created the seas before the moon was created.
Meaning that there was light that was not from the sun.
What gave the light I don’t know, but to be truthful I believe that it was God’s glory that gave off the light that was needed.
Oh and God also created the zillions of stars.
Not a small feat but in this text it almost seems like it is a passing thought.
And God made the two great lights—the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night—and the stars.
And God saw that this was good and the 4th day ended.
Then God gets to days 5 and 6 where God created life.
He created birds and water creatures but what is interesting is that God blesses these creatures and gives them a purpose.
Look at verse 20
And God said, “Let the waters swarm with swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the heavens.” So God created the great sea creatures and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarm, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. And God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.” And there was evening and there was morning, the fifth day.
So God creates birds and sea creatures.
and by the end of the of the day these creatures are given a purpose.
They are to be fruitful and multiply and fill up the earth.
Keep that in mind as we get to the next day.
Day 6— the last day God works.
And God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures according to their kinds—livestock and creeping things and beasts of the earth according to their kinds.” And it was so. And God made the beasts of the earth according to their kinds and the livestock according to their kinds, and everything that creeps on the ground according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.
Then 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 birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”
So God created man in his own image,
in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them.
And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” And God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food. And to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the heavens and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so. And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.
God creates beast of the land, livestock and creeping creatures.
And Also humans.
We did not evolve like some pokemon— God created mankind.
This day has the most details of any of the days.
But humans took a bit more time.
Humans took more of an effort if you will.
God said said to Himself let us create man in our image.
We are image bearing of God.
This is critical for us to understand.
We must remember that all people we come in contact with our an image bearer of God.
And if we are all image bearers of God how do you think we should treat one another?
God waiting till the end of creation to create humans is very significant as this is his crowning achievement.
You matter to God.
So much so that God blesses the humans he created by saying something very similar to the them that he said to the bird and sea creatures
And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”
Be fruitful and multiply— fill up the earth.
and you humans also have dominion over everything on earth.
And not only that but God says to the humans that you all the vegetation I created on day 3, yeah it’s all yours.
And then God give animals that were created on day 6 the same instruction for food— eat the green leafy stuff.
We were designed to consume plants, and fruit.
There was not a survival of the fittest.
There was no death from one animal killing another.
Rather everyone and all creatures ate plants and fruits.
This was the original design.
And at the very end God steps back and saw that is everything was very good.
And in everything was perfect and it was set up for the humans to fruitful and multiply and to rule the earth.
This was creation.
And we covered those 6 days very quickly.
And of you do not know God rested on the 7th day, for everything was very good and perfect.
Here is why we are covering creation, because I want to show you how good everything was in the eyes of God.
I mean God spoke and it was done.
He created and he spoke, and he saw that everything was done and it was good.
It is imperative that we look at creation and we see our world today.
Because as we look at our world today— the word good is not how I describe our world today.
I describe our world as broken, fallen, Godless, bad, or evil.
While I may take in a pretty sunrise or sunset— or maybe I get blown away by some natural image like the grand canyon I don’t call our world good very often.
And as God is going through this creation story we keep coming back to a couple of things that are said often.
God
God is used over 31 times in this passage.
Creation does not exist without Him.
It is not possible without God.
We cannot live a life separate from God.
As we are image bearers of Him.
2. And It was so.
Durning each day we hear that phrase— and it was so.
As in what God says goes.
It was so.
Nothing was out of God’s control or capability.
God knew what he was doing and in doing so he created this perfect wonderful earth.
and lastly-
3. It was good.
Do not let this get lost on you.
It was a big deal that God declared everything good and that he declared humans as very good.
Because as we dive into chapter 2 we see two relationships form.
One betwen God and man
and between Man and woman.
Up to this point everything was good.
God’s creation was not lacking anything and everything was dependent on God.
This is what makes the account of Gen 1 is vital for us to understand that the world was not created broken.
It was created good.
And I think our world needs reminding of this often.
God’s creation was good— it was perfect— it was holy— and it was dependent upon God.
How does your life look?
I mean we can assume our lives are not good, nor perfect, for sure not holy— maybe the only real question we can ask is, am I dependent upon God?
Do I see God’s goodness?
Do I understand that this life was not intended to be this way— that God’s purpose was not not how things played out.
As we dive into Genesis 2 next week we will see how relationships with God were also good.
So if you want something to read this week, read the first accounts of Genesis 1-6.
I think that would be super helpful!
I am going to invite the team up as we close tonight.
If I could leave you with a challenge this evening, it would be what do you believe about creation and why?
I think that would be a good break out discussion for everyone to answer.
Okay- join me in prayer.
Pray