In the Beginning
Genesis • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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The First Word of the Bible
The First Word of the Bible
In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.
The first word of the Bible is "In the beginning". In the Hebrew Bible, the first word of each book is the title of the book, so the original title of Genesis was "Bereshit". It means ‘in the beginning.’ Around the 3rd century BC, a Greek translation of the Old Testament of the Bible, known as the Septuagint, came out, and when it did, the translators translated the key word "toledot," which occurs repeatedly in the first book of the Bible, as "genesis," and the title of the first book of the Bible became Genesis in Western languages.
No other religion or philosophy outside of the Bible spoke of the beginning of time, but the Bible began with the words "in the beginning" when it was first written. Outside the Bible, matter, space, and time are seen as eternal, but the Bible testifies that time, space, matter, and life are all God's creations. Many people believe in naturalism, the idea that the world exists on its own, but everything in the world does not exist on its own, but because God commanded it to exist. The only being that exists on its own is Yahweh, the Creator God. The meaning of Yahweh, is "self-existent."
Then Moses said to God, “If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what shall I say to them?” 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.’ ”
There is nothing in this world that exists on its own, except Yahweh God; Yahweh alone is eternal and self-existent.
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.
In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. In the beginning, the earth was chaotic, empty, and dark, but by God's command light was created, and light and darkness were separated, the waters above the expanse were separated from the waters below the expanse, and the waters were separated from the land. God created orders in the heavens, earth, and waters and God filled them with all kinds of creatures. The formerly empty spaces were now beautifully filled with the sun, moon, and stars(v 14), all kinds of birds, worms, fish, whales(v 20), all kinds of land animals(v 24), and all kinds of trees and flowers.
And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.
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 God said, “Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear.” And it was so.
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 God said, “Let the waters swarm with swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the heavens.”
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.
So the problem of Gen 1:2 is solved. There is no chaos nor emptiness.
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.
Genesis 1:31 (ESV)
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.
The last thing God created was man. For none of God's creations does it say that God created them in His "image." What does it mean? Why did God say, "Let there be......" when He created the other creatures, but when He created man, He said, "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness"?
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.
There have been various interpretations of what it means that God created man in His image. In this context, the best interpretation is that the "image of God" is God's "vicegerent ruler" over all other creatures. Ancient kings would create an image of themselves in each city they ruled to show that the city was under their rule. The context of the following verses suggests that this is the case.
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.”
God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over every living creature." They are vicegerent ruler over all creatures. So human being is very different from other creatures. Human cannot become any animal nor any animal become human. We are created in God’s image, after God’s likess. So our bowing down to any other creature is an abomination to God. Idolatry is an act of insulting God.
There is one more testimony to human creation.
then the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature.
Humans, like other animals, are made of soil. When we die and our bodies decay, we become dirt. Adam’s name came from a Hebrew word ‘adamah’. Adamah means earth. But there is something unique to man that is different from other animals. God breathed into his nostrils the breath of his life, and man became a living soul. A friend of Job testifies to this fact, saying
The Spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty gives me life.
The breath of the Almighty means the Spirit of God. We are created as spiritual being.
When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him? Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor. You have given him dominion over the works of your hands; you have put all things under his feet, all sheep and oxen, and also the beasts of the field, the birds of the heavens, and the fish of the sea, whatever passes along the paths of the seas.
The Spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty gives me life.
The spirit of man is the lamp of the Lord, searching all his innermost parts.
For when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law. They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them
Semen Religionis: the seed of religion
Sensus divinitatis: the sense of divinity
For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.
For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.
So there is no genuine atheist. No one can say “I have not known that there is God.”
Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.
We are created in God’s image, after God’s likess. So bowing down to any other creature is an abomination in front of God. Idolatry is an act of insulting God. We are born once, and when we die, there is no reincarnation; there is no second chance after death; we are born once, we die once, and after that there is judgement. It is not reincarnation that we should fear, but the trial before God's court. If you think that if you fail in this life, you can do well in the next life, you are mistaken. There is no second chance. There is no reincarnation. You have only one chance. You must get God's salvation now. There is no next chance.
If I am given another opportunity to speak to you, I would like to share with you the reason for human misery, suffering, and the solution that God offers.
And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment,
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