Out of Nothing

What is the smalles thing you can think of? Atom, Nutron, Proton, Electron, Quark

What is the oldest thing you can think of? Sun, stars, ocean

Last week we looked at how Jesus existed before God ever created the world. Because he is God, Because He is who His-tory is all about. God is the main character Tonight we are taking a closer look at the Creation event itself and just how crazy powerful God must be to do it.

Look at Genesis 1:1 “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.”

God existed before time began.

We looked at this a little bit last week, but since we have a couple new students here tonight we are going to look at it agian.

Have you ever heard of the space-time continuim. Basically in Physics there once was this smart guy named Enstien. You’ve probably heard that there are 3 dementions in space, hieght, length, and depth. Einstien’s theory postulates that there is a fourth demention- time. We cannot exist in more than one time at once any more than more than one point in space. And that the faster you move in space the slower time gets, all sorts of stuff that we are’nt going to deal with today. But think of this connection in relation to what Genesis 1:1 says. God created the heavens and the earth aka God created everything in our universe incuding the space that it inhabits and the time that began there.

It doesn’t say in the year 12 billion BC God created the heavens and the earth. It doesn’t say this one time God got bored of nothing so he made a universe.

If I were to retell the story it would go… In the Begining God, the only Who, made both When and Where.

God created everything… out of Nothing

Genesis 1 ESV

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. 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. And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day. 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. God called the dry land Earth, and the waters that were gathered together he called Seas. And God saw that it was good. And God said, “Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind, on the earth.” And it was so. The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed according to their own kinds, and trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening and there was morning, the third day. 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 let them be lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light upon the earth.” And it was so. And God made the two great lights—the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night—and the stars. And God set them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth, to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening and there was morning, the fourth day. 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.” So God created the great sea creatures and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarm, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. And God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.” And there was evening and there was morning, the fifth day. 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. And God made the beasts of the earth according to their kinds and the livestock according to their kinds, and everything that creeps on the ground according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 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. 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.” And God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food. And to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the heavens and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so. 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.

So lets count down the days of creation real quick...

Heavens and Earth, Light and Dark, Day and Night

Sky and Water

Earth and Sea, Plants and trees

Sun, moon, and stars (all celestial bodies)

Sea life, and birds

Land animals, and people

Rest (Chapter 2:1-3)

God made everything that there is apart from himself, (because he always existed). We can create some cool stuff. Phones, cars, tennis shoes, ice cream. But unlike God we need supplies to create. I can just speak a new iphone into my hand. (although i’d be happy with a new one.)If you wanted to grow a garden, you’d have to go to walmart or wherever you prefer and buy some seeds, maybe a shovel, possibly some good dirt. You’d have to run the water hose, and hope that it grows what you want. Yet when God created the trees, He didn’t need any seeds. When he created the heavens and earth there was no periodic table of elements. No Oxygen or Hydrogen to put together to make the water. He made everything with nothing but the power of his spoken word.

Key Words: ex nihilo: Latin term meaning “Out of Nothing”

God made us

But notice what he did different for Adam and eve.

Genesis 1:26 ESV

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.”

Genesis 2:7 ESV

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.

When God began to make mankind, He did a few things different. First He made man in his own image. (We will be learning more about that next week.) then instead of creating us with a word, he scooped up the dust of the ground and formed, or sculpted, us together. Then he breathed his own breath into our lungs for us to become a living soul.

Applicaitions Questions to ponder:

Since God existed before time itself began, and is always present. “Have I ever really been alone?”

God created everything and He created us like himself. If we do not spend time to create junk, neither did he. “Do my actions reflect a respect for God’s creation? Do I treat and view creation the same way He does?”

God created ex nihilo (out of nothing). Nobody else can do that! “What ways can i stop trying to do God’s job this week? (How many of you like to be in control?)

God made us. He made each of us special to Him and different from one another. “Is there anything that we as a church/group can do together, that we cannot do if we were by ourselves?