In The Beginning

In the beginning

Genesis 1:1

If God is the creator he is over everything

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In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

The Beginning of Creation is Revealed

The account of Creation is the logical starting point for Genesis, and it may seem redundant or unnecessary if you are going to tell when creation began to use the phrase, “in the beginning.”

But the passage is a theological treatise as well, for it lays a foundation for the rest of the Pentateuch and for a proper understanding of the ONE who has called them out as a people and to whom they are to follow. 

There would be all kinds of idea swirling about regarding the beginning of things.  But God wants His people to know that the God they serve is the unique God, the creator of heaven and earth.

IN THE BEGINNING DOESN’T MEAN THE BEGINNING OF EVERYTHING

This is significant for a couple of reasons:

      1.  God is eternal

      2.  God is transcendent

      3.  Jesus was not one who had a beginning

There is another period of time called, “The beginning.”

John 1

      In the beginning was (continually) the Word

      The word was with God

      The word was God

And, if you note vs 3 - Jesus is involved with the “beginning” that we are talking about in Genesis.

Genesis is talking about the beginning of creation

In the beginning - at that time

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God - the focus is on God

I would venture to guess that all of us at one time or another mentally think of God in this text as God the Father.

We have already noted in John’s gospel that Jesus is involved in creation.

Note the end of verse 2 - and the Spirit was hovering on the face of the deep.

The Triune God is at work here - this is the unique God.  This god is different than the gods formed by the imagination of men

I want to leave our discussion of God here and come back to it in a minute,

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Created - Creating is what God does

The word created comes from the Hebrew word bara.  While the scriptures teach that God created out of nothing this is inherent in this word.

The idea behind this word is the creation of something new - fresh - good

GOD IS ALWAYS THE SUBJECT OF THIS VERB     

Now the Bible does say that God made this world out of nothing.

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By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible.

“I have made you the father of many nations”—in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist

SlideThus says God, the Lord,

who created the heavens and stretched them out,

who spread out the earth and what comes from it,

                    who gives breath to the people on it

and spirit to those who walk in it

Isa 40   26          Lift up your eyes on high and see:

who created these?

                        He who brings out their host by number,

calling them all by name,

                        by the greatness of his might,

and because he is strong in power

not one is missing.

            28          Have you not known? Have you not heard?

                        The Lord is the everlasting God,

the Creator of the ends of the earth.

                        He does not faint or grow weary;

his understanding is unsearchable.

I like the simple story of the time Satan went before the Lord and challenged his ability to make things.

Finally, when the Lord had enough he said to Satan, “OK, Go and make me a beach.”

Satan said, “No problem, give me the sane,”

And the Lord said, “Make your own sand.”

The Heavens and the Earth - The Universe is what God made

A way of saying - OUR WORLD

I want to conclude this morning by talking about God

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God Created

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Other Creation account - this contrast radically with the stories of creation known in the Near East at this time

This world was filled with people who gods were identified with the sun, the moon, animal, rivers, i.e., the created world

Your God made these.

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False idea and philosophies

            Polytheism - for one God created all things

            Materialism - matter had a beginning

            Dualism - God was alone wen he created

            Humanism - man is not at the center of the universe - God is the ultimate reality

     Evolutionist - God created all things

     Pantheism - God is separate from what he created

     Atheism - the universe was created by God

At the outset of the Scriptures, in the foundational verse of the Bible we learn several things about God.

     He is living

     He is good

     He is gracious

     He is sovereign

Romans 1:18-25

If God is the creator he is over everything