Origin
Notes
Transcript
1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. 3 Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. 4 And God saw the light, that it was good; and God divided the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night. So the evening and the morning were the first day.
Because this is the first Sunday of the new year, it is fitting to begin this year the right way—
right at the beginning.
Not the beginning of a calendar,
not the beginning of a resolution,
but the beginning of everything.
—Before we talk about where we’re going,
—before we talk about how we should live,
—before we talk about meaning, morality, or destiny,
We must answer the first unavoidable question every worldview must face:
Where did we come from?
Because how you answer that question determines everything else.
1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
This is not just a theological claim.
It is a worldview declaration.
There is irreconcilable division in our world today—not merely political, cultural, or social.
At the root, the division is ontological.
It is about origin.
—If the universe is accidental, then humanity is accidental.
—If humanity is accidental, then morality is negotiable.
—And if morality is negotiable, then outrage itself is arbitrary.
Genesis refuses that entire chain.
The Hebrew Scriptures begin with three explosive words:
Bereshith— Bara—Elohim
In the beginning — God created — out of nothing.
Bereshith — In the beginning
Bara — creation ex nihilo, out of nothing
Elohim — the eternal, triune God
—Before matter existed, God existed.
—Before time existed, God existed.
—Before light, atoms, or galaxies—God was.
Christianity does not begin with philosophy, it begins with revelation.
3 Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light.
The sun has not yet been created.
The stars do not yet exist.
So what is this light?
It is not astronomical.
It is the manifested glory of God—His presence inserted into creation.
This is a case of letting Scripture interpret Scripture for us.
5 There shall be no night there: They need no lamp nor light of the sun, for the Lord God gives them light. And they shall reign forever and ever.
12 Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.”
From Genesis to Revelation, the message is consistent:
Life flows from God’s presence.
Now it says in
4 And God saw the light, that it was good; and God divided the light from the darkness.
This is not merely physical separation. It is moral design.
God establishes that not everything is the same.
Not everything blends.
Not everything is gray.
This is why Jesus later says:
32 All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats.
Creation already contains the blueprint for judgment.
Light and darkness are not interchangeable.
Now, on Day Six, the crown of creation appears.—Man
26 Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” 27 So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.
Human beings are not the result of time + chance + matter.
We are intentional creations made in God’s image.
In the Imago Dei
This is the cornerstone of human worth.
This is what make us valuable
—Not intelligence.
—Not productivity.
—Not usefulness.
—Not power.
But because we bear the image of God.
Now, let me bring this into the world we are actually living in.
I recently watched a talk show clip where the son of a Hamas leader confronted a pro-Palestinian guest.
His argument was not political—it was moral.
He said, in essence:
“Anyone who cannot plainly condemn the hatred toward Jews displayed on October 7 is, in a real sense, complicit in crimes against humanity.”
That statement made many people uncomfortable.
But why?
Because outrage assumes something sacred has been violated.
Illustration:
Imagine watching a video of a toddler being intentionally harmed.
No explanation is needed.
No philosophy lesson is required.
No cultural background must be supplied.
Something inside every normal human being recoils instantly.
We don’t say, “Well, that’s your truth.”
We don’t say, “That depends on perspective.”
We say, That is wrong.
And the question is not why do we feel that?
The question is where did that moral reflex come from?
Scripture answers it plainly:
because that child bears the image of God—
and we know, instinctively, that something sacred has been violated.
And sacredness only exists if humans have inherent value.
Historical Illustration:
In the twentieth century, the world witnessed what happens when an entire system rejects the idea that human beings are created in the image of God.
When people were reduced to categories—
useful or useless,
strong or weak,
pure or impure—
extermination became thinkable.
What shocked the world was not just the scale of the atrocities,
but how ordinary they became once human life was detached from divine worth.
History teaches us this sobering truth:
when origin is reduced to biology alone,
dignity becomes optional—
and cruelty becomes logical.
Here is the question we must ask:
On what basis can someone say that October 7 was objectively evil?
If humans are accidents, why is murder wrong?
Illustration:
If I knock over a rock in the road, no one calls the police.
But if I knock over a person, the entire system responds—
courts, laws, investigations, consequences.
Why?
Scientifically speaking, both are matter.
Both are composed of atoms.
But we know—without being taught—that a human life is not a rock.
The difference is not chemistry.
The difference is image.
One was spoken into existence.
The other was breathed into by God Himself.
So, If morality is relative, why must anyone condemn anything?
If power defines truth, why shouldn’t the strong dominate the weak?
The outrage only makes sense if human life has intrinsic worth.
And intrinsic worth only exists if humans were created by God.
As a Christian, we can see that SCRIPTURE ANSWERS ORIGIN CLEARLY
1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
And, God formed us intentionally
13 For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother’s womb.
The NKJV translates this word (sākak) used here as covered, as in Protected by God, but other versions use the word, Woven or knit together, Both are right.
14 I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Marvelous are Your works, And that my soul knows very well. 15 My frame was not hidden from You, When I was made in secret, And skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. 16 Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book they all were written, The days fashioned for me, When as yet there were none of them.
3 All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.
So, John is telling us Jesus Christ is Creator, not creature
16 For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. 17 And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist.
— All things exist through Him and for Him
If our origin is intentional, then our lives are sacred.
If our origin is random, then morality collapses.
There is no middle ground.
Other World views start here.
With:
Naturalism: tells us that you are nothing more than stardust with a pulse.
—That you are the accidental byproduct of time, chance, and matter.
—Your thoughts are chemical reactions.
—Your love is biological impulse.
—Your conscience is evolutionary conditioning.
In that worldview, your life has no inherent meaning—only assigned meaning.
You matter only because someone says you matter.
And when society changes its mind, your value can change with it.
Pantheism: tells us something very different, but no less devastating.
It says you are not truly an individual at all.
You are an illusion—a temporary ripple in the divine ocean.
Your suffering is not something to be redeemed; it is something to be ignored.
It tells you, that Your pain is not wrong; it is unreal.
In that worldview, evil is not confronted—it is explained away.
And compassion becomes unnecessary,
because nothing ultimately matters distinctly or personally.
Postmodernism: tells you something that sounds freeing at first.
It says meaning doesn’t exist—so make your own.
Create your truth.—Define yourself.—Author your own story.
But self-made meaning cannot survive real suffering.
When the cancer diagnosis comes, when the grave is filled,
when injustice screams for an answer—a story you invented
Collapses under the weight of reality.
Because deep down, we know meaning must be discovered, not manufactured.
But in Christianity: You are
—created,
—known,
—and loved
Only Christianity grounds dignity, moralilty, and hope simultaneously.
In Christianity,
—Jesus is not merely a moral teacher.
—He is not merely a prophet.
He is the Logos- or the Word through whom all things were made
Who entered His own creation to restore what sin corrupted.
The same God who said “Let there be light”—stood in the darkness
So we could live again in His glory.
PASTORAL APPLICATION
PASTORAL APPLICATION
Listen to me very carefully, Anna First Baptist Church, and all
Who are watching this or hearing my voice.
And this is on the authority of scripture.
You are not an accident.
Your life has value even when culture says otherwise.
your Suffering does not erase purpose.
Evil is real—and so is accountability.
Hope exists because your origin is intentional.
Meaning hope exist, because you were created in the image of God with a purpose and value.
This morning we answered the first question:
Where did we come from?
Next week we will ask:
Why are we here?
But everything builds from this foundation:
The Bible does not merely answer life’s questions—it tells the true story of the world, and
Jesus invites us to live inside it.
And that is why the question of origin is never abstract—
it is the foundation of whether human life means anything at all.
Amen.
Communion
