Genesis 1:1

1 - In the beginning….

TRUTH: Anything that has a beginning … also has an end

Throughout scripture…The “Beginning” is often paired with the “end…” indicating a specific period of time initiated for the purpose of a future goal.

Meaning…. that God constructed the beginning, according to his sovereign purpose for the end.

In the future New Jerusalem…He will be our God and we will be His people

[Rev. 21:7]

But then… if we go back in time…we can watch God’s plan unfold

With Abraham …I will be your God and you will be my people. [Gen. 17:7-8]

With Israel at Sinai…I will be your God and you will be my people. [Lev. 26:12]

As Nebuchadnezzar is besieging Jerusalem… I will be your God and you will be my people. [Jer. 32:38]

To the New Testament Church … I will be your God and you will be my people.

[2 Cor. 6:16]

God is sovereign …He knows all… created all….and will complete all…from beginning to end.

Philippians 1:6 - And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.

1B - God…

Here in Genesis 1… we see the Finite Created Universe meeting the Infinite Everlasting God.

Last week we spoke of the most used name for God in the Old Testament, Elohim .

Elohim is a plural name meaning God. But the plural nature of the word speaks to the majesty and power of God rather than describing the person of God.

Simply put, the power of God is so transcendent, so complete , so majestic, that only a plural word is appropriate in describing it.

But not only do we come into contact with the transcendent Deity known as Elohim/God, but we see that He did something….

He created …

As we study the Bible…one thing that we have discovered is that this word “created or bārāʾ ” always and only relates to God .

It is exclusively used to describe God’s creative work which took place without any preexisting material [latin: ex nihilo - out of nothing]

This is contrasted with another word found in scripture for “Create” [ʿāśâ] … that implies to things being created out of preexisting material. This word unlike [bārāʾ] can refer to human activity.

In other words…We as humans can ʿāśâ but we cannot bārāʾ .

John 1:3 - All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.

…the heavens and the earth.

The Hebrew word for “heavens” used in Genesis 1:1 is a plural word. It means and/or refers to “heaven, heavens, sky, visible heaven, abode of stars, universe, atmosphere, and the abode of God.”

Nehemiah 9:6 - “You are the Lord, You alone. You have made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host , the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them; and you preserve all of them; and the host of heaven worships you.

The Lexham Bible Dictionary denotes that the “Heaven of Heavens” is the “place where God dwells in biblical cosmology and can also be used as a descriptor for the vastness of the universe.”

With that said we must not lose sight of the fact that God is all together separate from the Heavens, that He created the Heavens, that He preexisted the Heavens.

Distinct from creation… yet intimately involved with it! He began history at creation…And has allowed history to continue through the nations according to His plan.

There are many different beliefs about the origin of the universe. Some people believe in science. Others attempt to marry science and intelligent design. Ancient civilizations held polytheistic beliefs where various gods ruled over various regions of the earth and universe. None of these views adequately distinguish between creature and Creator.

GOD TRANSCENDS ALL OF CREATION!