Genesis:The Beginning
Notes
Transcript
Origins
Origins
Author: God. God gives Moses special revelation and the first 5 books of the Bible are attributed to Moses
10 words or less: God creates the world and chooses a special people.
In the beginning God… what do we see here? The Bible explains God, He just is. The Psalmist tells us that “the fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God’ (Ps. 14:1, NIV)
What else? There was a beginning. Yes. There was nothing, or no thing, no matter, or time. Without matter time does not exist… and does not matter. Before there was anything, God was. Exodus 3:14 “God said to Moses, “I am who I am.” And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘I am has sent me to you.’ ”” God is the Only Self-existent One.
*Questions we must face and answer:
Origins: Every worldview must answer some foundational questions: Where did all of this come from? How did this start? Where do we come from?
Meaning: Why are we here? Why is there something rather than nothing? What is the meaning of life, existence, and so on. What is the purpose of this?
Morality: What is right and wrong? What is good and bad? How shall we live? What is the standard by which we differentiate between right and wrong, good and evil?
Destiny: Where is all of this going? Where are we going? Where and how is this going to end?
Every person on the planet has these questions, and we need the answers. Genesis begins to answer these questions very early on.
Where do we come from? How did all of this come to be? In the beginning God...
Why are we here? What is the meaning and purpose of this? God chose to create for His glory and pleasure.
Who gets to decide what is right and wrong. By what standard do we look to differentiate between right and wrong, good and evil? God is the standard. He has the right to command and give orders.
Where are we going? Does life end with death? Genesis 25:8 - Abraham died and was gathered to his people… There was a place/destination where people can go and be together after physical death.
*God: (Elohim) created alone. One God is responsible and receives all the glory.
John 1 - “In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God.
God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (Elohim) is One God, Three Persons (Trinity). God created all by Him and for Him. He alone is eternal, not matter. God was always last; things will not always last.
Question: What about science? What about evolution? Science can only study was is, that is creation/matter. Following the scientific theory is to test, observe, measure, repeat, and evaluate.
God gives us the Creation account. He was the only One there to tell us what happened. We can only study creation.
What about evolution? Is there any room for this theory in Christianity? Let’s differentiate between micro and macro evolution: Micro refers to small changes, such as colors, hair, beaks, small changes within a species. Macro evolution goes beyond that species, where germs become people and large dinosaurs become chickens.
Question: What does Genesis show us? Is there room for a theistic evolution, a theory where God puts everything in motion to be worked out through evolutionary processes/random mutations?
Do Verses 3-26 show us millions or billions of years? Do they show us 6 literal days? Even if it is billions of years, does science or the Darwinian model of evolution, prove that germs can become everything that we see?
There are a least two theories on the creation days: (1) the creation days are twenty-four-hour days, and (2) the creation days referred to in Genesis are long periods of time. It is true that God’s redemptive plan does not “rise or fall” on whether the creation days were twenty-four-hour days or longer periods of time.
“The word ‘day’ has variable meanings. In Ge. 1:5 it is used as a term for Light. In Ge. 1:8, 13 it seems to mean a day of 24 hours. In Ge. 1:14, 16 it seems to bean a twelve-hour day. In Ge. 2:4 it implies the whole creation period. In such passages as 2 Ti. 1:12 it seems to refer to the era beyond the Lord’s Second Coming, and in Ps. 90:4 and 2 Pe. 3:8’one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.’ ”
*Personal view: I believe in a 6 day literal creation period. I believe that this is what God would have us to understand as He then applies this to the Law for His people: Work 6 days and keep the Sabbath, 7th day, holy…just as the Lord rested on the 7th day.
The Hebrew word, “yom,” followed by the description, evening and morning, indicates a literal day…
Hebrews 11:3 “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.”
Psalm 33:6 “By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, and by the breath of his mouth all their host.”
Colossians 1:16 “For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him.”