In the Beginning - Part 1

Intro:

Good morning.

This morning I want to begin a sermon series on the first 11 chapters of the book of Genesis.

A lot of folks are reading through Genesis this time of year (our family included), and I thought it would be a good time to do a series on the foundational principles that are found in these 11 chapters.

There are a lot!

I’m not sure how long we will be in this series — I don’t really have a set schedule entirely yet.

But I do know that I want to overview much of the material in these 11 chapters, pointing out some important principles along the way.

This morning, we are going to begin by talking about why this particular study is important, and then we will talk about a few of the principles from Genesis chapter 1.

Some of this will probably overlap with what you all are talking about in the Sunday morning Bible class with Greg, and some of this will venture into the realm of Christian evidences, but not all of it.

Our Title for this morning’s sermon is “In the Beginning — Part 1.”

(Lord willing, we will pick up with part two when I get back in town Sunday after next).

But anyways, let’s get into …

Why Have This Study?

And the answer is simple — If you cannot take the first 11 chapters of the book of Genesis at face value, then how can you take the rest of the Bible at face value?

The book of Genesis is a book of “Beginnings” — That’s what Genesis means — The Beginning.

It chronicles for us how the universe was spoken into existence by almighty God, and it is the basis and lays the ground rules for the rest of the Bible.

If we think of the Bible in terms of a play that is acted out (I’m speaking metaphorically here) …

Then the book of Genesis (and particularly the first eleven chapters) would be like the setting of the play!

The props, the lighting, the costumes, the play actors, the scaffolding, the theater — You take away those things, and guess what? You don’t have a play!

In the metaphor, who are the:

Play actors? (US!) (That is, humanity!)

What are the props? (Think things that people DO!) (The human condition, if you will)

What is the theater? (The world) (The universe)

So I think, again, if you think of it in terms of this metaphor like a play — Without all of those necessary things, you don’t HAVE a play!

And without the first 11 chapters of the Bible (first 11 chapters of Genesis), you strip away the necessary foundation/framework/scaffolding for the rest of God’s Word!

In other words, if you cannot take the book of Genesis at face value, then why believe the rest of the Bible?

You know, Jesus quoted the book of Genesis as factual history — Multiple times!

(Matt. 19:4; Matt. 19:5; Matt. 19:6; [all dealing with God’s ground rules for marriage] Matt. 23:35 [talking about Abel]; Matt. 24:37-39 [talking about Noah]; and other passages)

We simply MUST take the Scriptures at face value — ALL of them, because they are given by inspiration of God (2 Tim. 3:16)!

Someone says, “But can you really expect me to believe that the FLOOD was literal?”

“That there was a LITERAL talking serpent that deceived Eve?”

“That there was a LITERAL tower of Babel?”

“That God LITERALLY made the earth in just 6 days and rested on the 7th?!”

And the answer is an emphatic YES!

These things SHOULD be taken literally at face value and believed because we are supposed to have FAITH!

We’re dealing with the supernatural; that is, we’re dealing with a God Who is ABOVE the laws of nature and is so omnipotent, so powerful that He can do ANYTHING (as long as it doesn’t conflict with His all-good nature; i.e., God cannot lie!)

So if God cannot lie (Heb. 6:18), and He has plainly told us in His Word which He inspired the truths we’re going to read about in Genesis chapters 1-11 …

Then what does that mean?

It means they are the TRUTH, and we must take them at face value!

And by the way — Just because someone has a hard time believing or wrapping their mind around some of the things in these first 11 chapters, is that a reason to throw them out and just say they are allegory?

If that’s the case, then what you are really doing is venturing into modernism (which denies the inspiration of Scripture, which ultimately gave rise to post-modernism [anything goes!]).

Because all of the mind-boggling supernatural (miraculous) things that we are going to read about in Genesis, are quickly followed by lots of other mind-boggling supernatural (miraculous) things in the rest of the Scriptures!

Right?

10 plagues!

The parting of the Red Sea, and later the parting of the Jordan River, too!

Water coming forth out of a rock!

People miraculously healed of all manner of diseases!

Resurrection of the dead!

All mind-boggling, perplexing WONDERFUL things, but I believe them!

The list goes on and on!

If we’re going to believe the Bible, then we HAVE to take these things at face value!

So THAT’S why I want to go through this sermon series!

Well, let’s see what we can glean from chapter 1.

“In the beginning God ...”

The first phrase uttered from this amazing book, the Bible!

“In the beginning” — “In the Genesis of it all” — GOD, created the heavens and the earth!

That’s it! It’s the definitive answer for where we came from!

The atheist can deny it, the skeptic can question it, the agnostic can say he’s not sure, but WE KNOW!

There is an ability to KNOW the truth, and the truth will set us free (John 8:32)!

There is an ability to KNOW that one has eternal life (1 John 5:13)!

We can KNOW if we KNOW Him (God), if we keep His commandments (1 John 2:3)!

So it sounds like God wants us to have the ability to KNOW His eternal truths (He does!)

With all that said, we can KNOW these simple yet profound truths we are reading about in this study of Genesis!

Including, and most importantly, the foundational truth that started it all …

Gen. 1:1

Genesis 1:1 NKJV

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

I’ve made this point before not too long ago, but we’ll make it again — Everything you need to have physical existence is found in this one verse!

Time — “In the beginning!”

A Force that acted — That is, a Prime Mover — The First Cause (Whatever you want to term it) — God! (He is the One Who enacted creation, set everything into motion, and in order to have that taking place in the beginning, you logically have to have an eternal God Who exists BEFORE creation!)

Created — That’s God’s action of creating the world, setting it into motion (And God is going to reveal for us exactly how He did that in a bit)!

The Heavens — Space!

And the Earth — Matter!

Everything you need to have — All the ingredients for a physical universe of existence!

That’s point number one here in Genesis chapter 1.

Point two … (And I’ve made this point many times, but it’s always good to make it again and cement this in our minds)!

“It was good/It was very good.”

This is found in Verse 4 - “And God saw the light, that it was good!”

Verse 10 - God makes the dry land and seas, “And God saw that it was good!”

Verse 12 - God makes plants, “And God saw that it was good!”

Verse 18 - God makes the sun, moon, and stars, “And God saw that it was good!”

Verse 21 - God makes sea animals and birds, “And God saw that it was good!”

Verse 25 - God makes land animals, “And God saw that it was good!”

Verse 31 - God makes mankind, “And indeed it was VERY good!”

Why is this foundational truth so important?!

Because one of the atheist’s first and most favorite attacks is this — If God is so good, then why does evil and pain and suffering exist in the world?!

And to that, how do you respond?!

God created it GOOD! God created it VERY GOOD and had nothing but GOOD intentions for man!

It wasn’t until SIN came along (thanks to the Devil — Genesis 3) that evil pain and suffering enters the picture!

So don’t blame God for that!

I know I bring this up a lot, but it’s SO IMPORTANT!

It needs to be second nature for us to answer this moral argument because the atheists use it a lot!

Well, finally, point number three in this first part of the sermon — “In the Beginning,” take a look with me …

“The evening and the morning were the _________ day.”

Verse 5 - “So the evening and the morning were the first day!”

Verse 8 - “So the evening and the morning were the second day.”

Verse 13 - “So the evening and the morning were the third day.”

Verse 19 - “So the evening and the morning were the fourth day.”

Verse 23 - “So the evening and the morning were the fifth day.”

Verse 31 - “So the evening and the morning were the sixth day.”

And of course we end up seeing that God rests on the seventh day!

Real quick as we are about to conclude this morning — Why is this important?

Notice:

We are talking about 7 literal 24-hour days.

That’s important because, again, God cannot lie, the Scriptures are literally “God-breathed” (Theopneustos, 2 Tim. 3:16), and God’s Word literally is talking about seven 24-hour days.

“The evening and the morning ...”

There are a couple of different ways that some people try to make room for theistic evolution here in Genesis.

We will just mention them briefly.

The Day Age Theory, and the Gap Theory.

Neither one of these hold water with a literal interpretation of Scripture, taking God for what He’s told us at face value and by faith …

For more study on this, I would recommend you take a look at the Apologetics Press website, or Christian Courier.com with Wayne Jackson.

Answers in Genesis is another resource, but you have to be careful with that one, because it is denominationally produced — They have some good Christian Evidences content, though (And they are the ones that made the Creation Museum in Cincinnati, and the Ark encounter across the river in Kentucky.)

(By the way, there is another Creation Museum in Dallas — Institute for Creation Research Museum — I’ve been, and it was great! Would love to go again!)

So the Day Age Theory and Gap Theory?

What are they?

(Read highlighted parts of Christian Courier articles).

Conclusion:

Well, I hope that you have enjoyed this first study of Genesis chapter 1.

Lord willing, we will study some more things from Genesis chapter 1 the Sunday after next.

We’re going to be looking at things like “Be fruitful and multiply,” and the dominion mandate of man, so be on the lookout for that.

Before we give the invitation, let me encourage you to come back tonight at 6 PM.

We’re going to start a separate sermon series for Sunday nights — This one will be on the topic of “Virtues” (a very important subject), so I hope you will be here for that.

(Give invitation).