Gen #1
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Northside Church
Gen #1
Jamey Mills
10/1/23
Good MORNING Northside… My name is Jamey Mills, I’m the lead pastor here at Northside. It’s always good to be with you guys.
Last week we talked about Grit… This last week I was thinking more about that… and wanted to add this…
Grit… is what helps us to do what we know we need to do for our own good, growth, and health even when and especially when we don’t want to do.
It helps us make and keep those commitments that we know are good… even though they are hard or maybe even uncomfortable.
At Northside, we try to create opportunities and environments for that… but when it comes to making healthy and needed commitments… that is something only you can do, that no one can do for you. Grit embraces that.
What are the healthiest commitments you can make…
Get in the word everyday, pray everyday, get involved in the church, don't just attend.
One of the fastest growing trends in the Church is… “I don’t feel connected”... and I think there are a lot of reasons for that… but in all my experience… through all the years, there is only one way to get connected… show up… serve together… worship together… have people over… go out to lunch together… jump in a small group…
To start today’s message… let me ask you some really important questions…
What do you believe about God and why?
What are the things that caused you to develop confidence that God is who He says He is?
There are several things for me…
One is this… (picture of a sunrise or sunset)?
Everytime I slow down enough to actually process what I’m looking at, my first thought is… how could anyone look at this and say there is no God or that God does not exist?
Birth is another one… this human that grows and develops in another… that is completely unique… knowing just when to start breathing… when to start eating… its a series of miracles.
Death to me is another… I’ve been in the room several times as a last breath is breathed and there is something incredibly powerful that happens in that moment where this life collides with what comes after it. It’s hard to explain… but it's tangible.
One morning years ago… I woke up early and watched the sun rise… and was reminded how everyday of my life…
The sun rose and fell without fail… why.
I wake up… my lungs expand… my heart beats… why?
I can tell you that the biggest thing that caused me to place my faith in God was this…
It got to the point where I’d look around and see his fingerprints EVERYWHERE I looked… Even on me. That was a life changing and powerful day.
For me it wasn’t about science or a theology that was found deep inside of some textbook that was 2000 pages long… It was in the unexplainable sophistication and order… of everything I see.
I think the Apostle Paul had a morning just like that… At least I think that's part of what he's sharing in
Romans 1:20 (NLT)
For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God.
20 For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God.
At the most basic level… The evidence of God is overwhelming. Paul is saying stop looking down… look up and look around. You can clearly see the invisible qualities… majesty, sovereignty, all knowing, all present… His eternal power… and His divine nature (he is bigger and above it all).
And Paul says… it is so clear… and so obvious… that we have no excuse for not knowing God. That was exactly how it felt to me that morning.
Today we are starting our new sermon series on the book of Genesis that we are calling… Bringing order from Chaos…
Genesis was written by Moses.
… to jewish slaves that escaped from the heavy hand of Egypt… as they wandered in the wilderness eventually landing in the promised land.
The first 5 books of the OT are often referred to as the Pentateuch… which literally means the 5 scrolls… it's also called the Torah, which means… the law…
Nowhere in the first 5 books does it clearly say Moses wrote them… But several places in the BIble point in that direction… (2 in Ex, numbers, duet, Joshua, 2 kings, even Jesus himself in Luke 24). Several… Very early church fathers clearly supported it.
Genesis is the starting point of God’s written revelation to humanity, and that matters more than we might realize. Without starting in the right place… it's hard to end up in the right place… Meaning… our view on what we read in Genesis impacts the way we see, interpret and understand the rest of scripture… We learn who God is, what God is like, we see His design and plan, we see his covenantal relationship with his chosen people…
One author said it this way… in Genesis, God brings us an important truth that He will unpack in greater detail throughout the Bible.
And all of that… ripples down through history and its part of why and how we find ourselves here today… what was written in Genesis… is part of why we are here.
To me
One of the most powerful aspects of Genesis is its constant foreshadowing of Jesus.
In the Bible, the Gospels (M,M,L,J) share the history of Jesus… His birth, life, ministry, death and resurrection… As I was studying this week, I was reminded all over again that in some ways… Jesus is so present in Genesis it's kinda like the 5th gospel.
Understanding Genesis correctly impacts our view of who Jesus is.
And so our understanding of Genesis is huge…
And it's not surprising that something with so much importance finds itself at the center of controversy and spiritual attack… from inside and outside the Church.
Outside of the Church… humanity has gone to great lengths to try and legitimize and explain our existence outside of God… under the guise of science…
Things like the big band theory… that somehow matter came to be and somehow… at just the right time and in just the right way and in just the right environment… through a huge and random event, a big bang… it arranged itself in just that right way not just so life could happen… but that it could be sustained and multiply…
That ideology often comes from atheists… and to me… both positions require faith… and my faith isn’t great enough for atheism. This idea that everything we see, know, and the order we see coming from chaos and chance and honestly… luck… takes far more faith than believing in intelligent design.
My understanding is… some areas of the scientific community are moving toward the idea of intelligent design… maybe not God… but a designer.
Inside the Church… I think there have been some traditional views that are stanchely held that could… that might be right… but leave no room for interpretations that can be responsibly held scripturally.
And so our job… is to come before the Lord as a student… praying for wisdom and guidance and taking an honest look at what the scripture is teaching…
Realizing that there are some issues that we hold with a closed hand… meaning… This is what the Bible clearly teaches and I’m unwilling to budget on it. Most often, these issues are salvation impacting issues.
And, that there are some issues that we hold with more of an open hand, meaning… This is what I think but I also realize that others may hold a responsible biblical view… that's slightly different… and we are still brothers and sisters in Christ.
There are several in Genesis.
To be completely honest with you… there There are some things in Genesis… that we just don’t know…and I will tell you, there are some things that I just don’t understand.
BUT… I am 100% confident that God told us what we need to know.
Let's look at it.
Genesis 1:1–2 (NLT)
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was formless and empty, and darkness covered the deep waters. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters.
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 The earth was formless and empty, and darkness covered the deep waters. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters.
In the beginning God created… is probably more important that we realize… without it our theology and understanding of God is rough at best…
In the beginning God…
If we don’t start with God it’s hard to make sense of anything else.
…the universe, life, marriage, relationships, family, morality, truth….
And that’s true with everything in life…
One of the major issues today… sometimes even within the Church… we don’t start with God… and that is such an important thing to be honest with yourself about… Do you really… honestly… start with God in the way you see and do life? Are there areas where you don’t? What are they? And what does it look like to submit those things to Him. Starting with God will change the way we see everything else… the way we see and interpret the world around us.
In the beginning God created… two thoughts here…
The word for created is Bara… and it literally means to bring forth from nothing.
God pre-existed…He is eternal…
God has the ability to create from nothing.
It’s a powerful truth in creation… and a powerful truth for you and I. God has been in the business of working with little to nothing from the beginning and can do amazing things through it. It’s not about you and your ability… your faithfulness and grit… in the hands of the creator is far greater than any “ability” you bring to the table.
Has the American church lost the understanding of a powerful God that is strong in our weakness…
We also learn that this all had a beginning… there was a point when it started… which means there was a cause… and part of what Genesis does is explain that very thing…
It says that the earth was formless and empty… in Hebrew those words rhyme… and it's basically saying it was without order and without life… couldn’t support life…
And darkness covered the deep waters… it was a dark and chaotic ocean…
It says that that spirit of God hovered over the surface of the water…
The Hebrew word is Rauch… it literally means the breath or essence of God.
God’s presence in the darkness and chaos… changing things…
And that has major implications for us too. He has the power to bring light… and order… through His presence into the most dark and chaotic points in your life. Genesis tells us… that's part of who God is and what God does. God shapes… molds… moves… and it's often a process of us learning to see Him, depend on Him, and follow Him… I've found that sometimes… He doesn’t change the situation… but He changes me… and my heart.
And one of the other things we see right out of the gate is the Trinity.
The trinity.
That God is three in one…
Gen 1:1-2 says that God… the word is Elohim… which is a more general term for God, often in view of creation…
This is referring to God the Father… Gen 1 says God created… this is what John 1 says…
John 1:1–5 (NLT)
In the beginning the Word already existed.
The Word was with God,
and the Word was God.
He existed in the beginning with God.
God created everything through him,
and nothing was created except through him.
The Word gave life to everything that was created,
and his life brought light to everyone.
The light shines in the darkness,
and the darkness can never extinguish it.
1 In the beginning the Word already existed.
The Word was with God, and the Word was God.
2 He existed in the beginning with God.
3 God created everything through him,
and nothing was created except through him.
4 The Word gave life to everything that was created,
and his life brought light to everyone.
5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it.
Jesus… was there at the very beginning. Everything was and is and will ever be… was created through Him.
And the Spirit… is hovering over the water…
The trinity is an important doctrine within Christianity…
One God… existing in three persons… God the Father, the Son, and Holy Spirit… All present in Genesis 1:1-2… and all framing in how we understand and relate to God. God is the Father… God is the Son… and God is the Holy Spirit.
The rest of Gen 1 sort of explains how God begins to bring order to the chaos… Order that you and I enjoy… over a series of 6 days.
And here is one controversial issue in Genesis…
Did God create in 6 literal days OR…
Was is that somehow figurative… the way that God chose to describe creation in ways we can understand.
This viewpoint often uses 2 Peter 3:8 (NLT)
But you must not forget this one thing, dear friends: A day is like a thousand years to the Lord, and a thousand years is like a day.
8 But you must not forget this one thing, dear friends: A day is like a thousand years to the Lord, and a thousand years is like a day.
This passage is talking about the patience of God in wanting all people to be saved… coming to this place of repentance and turning to Him… my personal view… that not the context…
However… I do believe that God is beyond time… He is not limited by it. He did however create it…
My personal conviction…
I am a literal seven day creationist… with a young earth view.
The reason I land here… is that to me it seems like part of the very nature of Creation and His creative process frames in time.
Lining out time… framing in a week… and years and seasons…going out of his way to communicate evening and morning… and because of what God does on day 7… which He uses to communicate something else that He has in mind for us. More in two weeks on that,
I believe that… pretty firm in it… however…
I know people who are far smarter than I am that hold an old earth… figurative view.
I don’t think they’re dumb. They firmly believe in God, in creation, in Jesus being the only way, truth and life… I consider them brothers and sisters…
For me… the closed handed truth is… God created it, the trinity, and Jesus. Those are non negotiable truths.
Genesis goes on to detail creation using 6 days…
God often steps back and calls each day good…
Each day begins with… and God said and ends with there was evening and morning…
God has the power to speak things into existence…
We serve a God who speaks.
… even to this day… God communicates… through His word, His spirit, Prayer, discipline… I’ve never heard an audible voice, but I have had undeniable nudges in my heart about things… Northside is one of them.
When God speaks and it's obeyed… It's good.
Days 1-3 God brings shape and order into creation… in three realms that can support life.
Days 4-6 God fills it with all kinds of creatures.
I wont be reading each of these passages for each day, but would like them on the screen as I talk about them.
Day one.. Genesis 1:3-5
Then God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. And God saw that the light was good. Then he separated the light from the darkness. God called the light “day” and the darkness “night.”
And evening passed and morning came, marking the first day.
It says God said “Let there be light,” God saw that it was good…
He separated light from darkness…. Day and night… God begins to establish order and time… weeks and seasons…
Day two… Genesis 1:6-8
Then God said, “Let there be a space between the waters, to separate the waters of the heavens from the waters of the earth.” And that is what happened. God made this space to separate the waters of the earth from the waters of the heavens. God called the space “sky.”
And evening passed and morning came, marking the second day.
God separates the water… from the water… creating sea, sky, and space. Often seen as Monday… it's interesting to note… God didn't not call Monday good… He gets it. Monday’s are stinky.
Day Three… Genesis 1:9-13
Then God said, “Let the waters beneath the sky flow together into one place, so dry ground may appear.” And that is what happened. God called the dry ground “land” and the waters “seas.” And God saw that it was good. Then God said, “Let the land sprout with vegetation—every sort of seed-bearing plant, and trees that grow seed-bearing fruit. These seeds will then produce the kinds of plants and trees from which they came.” And that is what happened. The land produced vegetation—all sorts of seed-bearing plants, and trees with seed-bearing fruit. Their seeds produced plants and trees of the same kind. And God saw that it was good.
And evening passed and morning came, marking the third day.
God brought dry land… and seas… and it was good.
God caused vegetation to sprout up… every seed-bearing plant… and tree… with seeds that would produce its own kind…
God’s design… is and had been… it produces its own kind.
Day four… Genesis 1:14-19
Then God said, “Let lights appear in the sky to separate the day from the night. Let them be signs to mark the seasons, days, and years. Let these lights in the sky shine down on the earth.” And that is what happened. God made two great lights—the larger one to govern the day, and the smaller one to govern the night. He also made the stars. God set these lights in the sky to light the earth, to govern the day and night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good.
And evening passed and morning came, marking the fourth day.
God creates the Sun, moon and stars… that bring light and that govern day and night… and separate light from darkness… and that mark the seasons…
Day Five… Genesis 1:20-23
Then God said, “Let the waters swarm with fish and other life. Let the skies be filled with birds of every kind.” So God created great sea creatures and every living thing that scurries and swarms in the water, and every sort of bird—each producing offspring of the same kind. And God saw that it was good. Then God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply. Let the fish fill the seas, and let the birds multiply on the earth.”
And evening passed and morning came, marking the fifth day.
God created fish and all kinds of sea creatures… and birds of every kind. Each producing offspring of its own kind. God blessed them… saying be fruitful and multiply… and God saw that it was good.
Day Six… Genesis 1: 24-28
Then God said, “Let the earth produce every sort of animal, each producing offspring of the same kind—livestock, small animals that scurry along the ground, and wild animals.” And that is what happened. God made all sorts of wild animals, livestock, and small animals, each able to produce offspring of the same kind. And God saw that it was good.
Then God said, “Let us make human beings in our image, to be like us. They will reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, the livestock, all the wild animals on the earth, and the small animals that scurry along the ground.”
So God created human beings in his own image.
In the image of God he created them;
male and female he created them.
Then God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth and govern it. Reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, and all the animals that scurry along the ground.”
God created every sort of animal… producing offspring of its own kind.
And it says that God created humans… talking more about that next week…
We’ll talk in a couple weeks about day 7…
Over and over… God speaks. We serve a God that communicates in powerful… orderly… life giving ways….
When God speaks… and it’s obeyed… It's good. We see it in creation and in life.
WORSHIP TEAM AND Mark DeVries who’s going to help us prepare for Communion
The reality of who He is… and his Power… and His greatness… is clearly seen through what He made… and if we don’t start there… its hard to get anything else right from here on.
God’s word is powerful… and it accomplishes everything that it was sent out to do… that’s true in creation… and in life. There is great power in hiding God’s word in your heart…
Understanding God as the creator of it all will not only impact everything else we read in scripture but how we interpret all of life too.
and the way we interpret life… so DONT CHECK OUT.
There is a willful submission… that I sense in this part of Genesis… this desire to step out from under God’s sovereignty and design… It’s nothing new and it’s never ended well. THIS… is part of what is most broken in us.
Submitting to God… as the creator and sustainer of your life… of your family… is a powerful thing. It leads to a “not my way but yours” mentality.
Revelation 1:8 (NLT)
“I am the Alpha and the Omega—the beginning and the end,” says the Lord God. “I am the one who is, who always was, and who is still to come—the Almighty One.”
8 “I am the Alpha and the Omega—the beginning and the end,” says the Lord God. “I am the one who is, who always was, and who is still to come—the Almighty One.”
There at the beginning… there at the end… and present in this moment…
Revelation gives us a preview of heaven… talking about how they law their crowns at the feet of Jesus… and say this…
Revelation 4:11 (NLT)
“You are worthy, O Lord our God,
to receive glory and honor and power.
For you created all things,
and they exist because you created what you pleased.”
11 “You are worthy, O Lord our God, to receive glory and honor and power.
For you created all things, and they exist because you created what you pleased.”
Crying out to God and worshiping God… feels like hinges on knowing the reality of who He is… All powerful… All knowing… All present… creator of all things including you.
Is that how you know Him? Is that how you relate to Him?
How is that being lived out in your life?
