Genesis 1-2

The beginning begins with God. God does not begin in the beginning. As we saw last week, God is the central character of the book of Genesis and ultimately is the central character of the whole Bible. So, it’s fitting that the Bible begins with God.

Has anyone ever told you that you are not the center of their world or that the world doesn’t revolve around you? Well guess what? That’s true! But literally the world and everything in it not only “revolves around” God, but literally proceeded from Him.

Let’s take a look at God in the first two chapters of Genesis: (*again I want to highlight that we won’t look at every detail or every verse of these two chapters)

WHAT DO WE SEE ABOUT GOD?

Genesis 1:1–2 KJV 1900

1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. 2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.

From the Scripture’s first syllable, it’s clear: the real God who really exists is entirely standalone and sovereign.

GOD HAS NO RIVAL

*The Space Race — competing countries seeing who’d finish their rockets first to get to space first

There was no race between others gods to see who would be able to “create” first.

Similar to the space race — there wasn’t a team of engineers, astronomers, scientists, and social media creatives that were assembled to create everything.

God created everything by himself.

Look at verse 2. How does Moses describe what existed in the beginning (without form and void / the NLT puts it this way — the earth was formless and empty) The point is that before the beginning of creation, there was God and only God.

God created everything out of nothing.

There’s a term for this. It’s that God created everything ex nihilo (or out of nothing).*put on screen

*basketball illustration about creating something out of nothing / busted play

God had nothing to work with. There was nothing. And yet God created everything out of nothing.

God needed nothing to create everything. He needed nothing outside of himself because all of the power he needed to create everything resides within himself.

God has no rival.

How does this truth intersect with our lesson from Sunday on God’s sovereignty? Often, we try to rival God. We want to be the center of the universe—the one in control. Our pride shows up when we demand our own plans for the future, like refusing to consider God’s will because we’ve already decided what college we’ll attend, what career we’ll chase, or how our life has to turn out. It shows up in frustration when things don’t go our way—when God closes a door, changes our schedule, allows disappointment, or doesn’t give us what we prayed for, and we respond with anger instead of trust. We rival God when we try to control others, expecting our friends to follow us, agree with us, hype us up, and bend to our preferences rather than walking humbly and serving them. It also shows up in a lack of respect, honor, and obedience toward the parents God has placed over us—arguing, ignoring instructions, or assuming we know better than they do. God created everything out of nothing, rules without competition, and answers to no one. Buddha does not rival our God—and neither should you attempt to take His place in your own life.

But this is all really good news! God has no rival. If you peek ahead to the next chapter you’d see the fall of man and the promise of future redemption. If God had a rival he would not be able to accomplish the redemption of humanity. He wouldn’t be able to accomplish deliverance from suffering. He wouldn’t be able to fulfill the promises to his people.

Praise God that he has no rival!

Think about the lyrics to the song we sang tonight:

Behold our God seated on his throne

Come let us adore him

Behold our king nothing can compare

Come let us adore him

But mainly in these first two chapters what do we see God doing? (creating)

I know we have some creative people in the room (Ava: design, drawing, media / Mel: macaroons / Melissa: music / William: drawing). Do you ever sit down and create without a plan or purpose? Sometimes we see this and call it abstract art. *show some photos of abstract art. / show Logan’s first picture

9 times out of 10 an artist is creating in order to communicate. The artist is creating with intention. And in God’s creating we find a truth central to who God is.

GOD CREATES WITH WISDOM

1. The Sun’s Exact Position 🌞 Earth sits in what scientists call the “habitable zone”—the precise distance from the sun where liquid water can exist. A little closer → oceans boil. A little farther → oceans freeze. This razor-thin margin strongly suggests intention. One small adjustment and life is impossible.

2. Earth’s Tilt (23.5°) 🌍 Earth’s tilt controls the seasons. No tilt → no seasons. Too much tilt → extreme temperatures that destroy life. This exact tilt allows stable climates where life can flourish.

3. Gravity’s Strength. If gravity were slightly stronger, stars would burn out too fast. If it were slightly weaker, stars wouldn’t form at all. Either way—no stars, no planets, no life. Gravity is finely tuned to an incredible degree.

4. The Human Eye 👁️ The eye includes lenses, light receptors, nerves, and a brain connection that processes images instantly. If any part is missing, vision doesn’t work. This kind of “all-or-nothing” system is difficult to explain by slow, unguided processes.

5. The Atmosphere’s Perfect Balance 🌬️ Earth’s atmosphere has the exact mix of gases needed for life. Too much oxygen → constant fires. Too little → no respiration It also blocks deadly radiation while letting life-giving sunlight through.

6. The Moon’s Size and Distance 🌙 The moon stabilizes Earth’s rotation and controls ocean tides. Without it: Earth would wobble wildly. Climate would be unstable. Life would struggle to survive. Its size and placement are unusually “just right.”

Some might here these truths and think, “Wow, we are so lucky!” However, we should look at these truths and think, “Wow, God is so wise.”

As Moses walks through the days of creation, he revels in God’s wisdom. Let’s notice it:

Days 1-3 — God designs the architecture of the universe.

Day 1 — Light and Dark (Genesis 1:3-5)

Day 2 — Sea and Sky (Genesis 1:6-8)

Day 3 — Dry Land (Genesis 1:9-13)

Days 4-6 — God picks out the furniture and fills out the rooms he’s already formed.

Day 4 — Sun, Moon, and Stars (Genesis 1:14-19)

Day 5 — Fish and Birds (Genesis 1:20-23)

Day 6 — Land animals and Man (Genesis 1:24-28)

At the finality of each day, God reflects on all that he has made and remarks that it is all… GOOD. (1:10, 12, 18, 21, 25, 31)

So from the beginning, in God’s wisdom, he created everything fit for flourishing. Everything is good.

It’s this point with which we pause and discuss an important topic in Genesis 1 — The Big Bang / Evolution.

If everything we see and know was created with such specificity and wisdom, it’s as if creation is crying out that it was created with intelligent design. Everything didn’t appear out of nothing. Everything as we know it didn’t grow out of nothing. It’s essential that creation was created. Especially when it comes to humanity…

WHAT DO WE SEE ABOUT HUMANITY?

Why? Because humanity is the crown jewel of creation. Why?

HUMANITY IS CREATED IN THE IMAGE OF GOD

Genesis 1:26–27 KJV 1900

26 And 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 fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. 27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.

We are made in God’s image.

What does it mean to be made in the image of God?

NATURAL CAPACITY

The first is through our natural capacity for goodness, love, mercy, justice, compassion, and even, with the Holy Spirit’s help, holiness. These are all attributes we share with God, that He calls us to demonstrate in this world.

ACTIONS

The second is through our actions. God gave humans dominion, or authority, over creation. We are called to care for all God has made, seeking to shape and develop creation, seeking to make the most of it for His glory. We’ll see this in full in a moment.

RELATIONSHIPS

The third is through our relationships. God is a relational being who eternally exists in a joyful relationship between the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, we are meant to live in relationship with one another and with Him. We are not meant to live in isolation, set apart from one another, but to live with one another so that, ultimately, God’s goodness can be seen through us. Again, we’ll see this in full in a moment.

We uniquely reflect our Creator to the rest of creation.

Now what would it mean if you created seven billion statues of yourself and put them all over the world? It would mean you would want people to notice you. God created us in his image so that we would display or reflect or communicate who he is, how great he is, and what he is like. Here’s the picture in my mind. I was created like a mirror. And a mirror that was supposed to be 45 degrees with the clear reflective side pointing upward so that as God shone on it at the 45 degree angle, it would bounce off, and it would make a 90 degree turn and be reflected out into the world. And at the fall, Satan persuaded me that my image is more beautiful than God’s image, and so I flip the mirror over. Now the black back side is toward God. It doesn’t reflect anything. Instead, the mirror casts a shadow in the shape of itself on the ground, and I fell in love with the shadow. That is what happened. And we have been loving ourselves ever since.

And in salvation, two things happen. The mirror gets turned around, and we see the glory of God again, and the defilement that had gone over the face of it gets wiped off gradually, and we begin to reflect God. So I think being created in the image of God means that we image God. We reflect God. We live in a way, we think in a way, we feel in a way, we speak in a way that calls attention to the brightness of the glory of God.

Take a look in the mirror… Whose image are you reflecting? Your favorite sports stars? Your friends? Your family? Your boyfriend/girlfriend? etc.

You were created to be a reflection of God. This begins at salvation but should only grow stronger. Yet sin, blurs our “mirror”.

Genesis 1:28 KJV 1900

28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.

Genesis 2:15 KJV 1900

15 And the Lord God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.

God has given humanity a special role because of their special status as made in the image of God — to rule and reflect our Creator.

HUMANITY EXERCISES DOMINION OVER CREATION

We reflect him as we exercise our rule over the raw materials of this world, as we put the orderliness of God’s wise world to work by working hard and making useful and beautiful things.

We were created to rule. Now thing back to our circles from Sunday (responsibility / concern). Where do you think dominion and subduing fall on that chart?

God gives us dominion. We can’t have dominion and subdue the earth without God telling us to. This is what it means to be a steward, not a sovereign. We’re not in charge. And yet, we’re given the blessed job to reflect him to the rest of creation.

Can you do whatever you want with creation? How should we act in response to creation? (wise, good, loving, etc…)

Here’s a silly but real example. As an image bearer of God, and as someone to whom God has given dominion over creation, should we litter trash? Why?

Did you know that as we create beautiful things we are exercising good rule over creation? An architect who designs and oversees the building of a beautiful log cabin in the woods wisely stewards the resources of God’s creation, reflecting God as he does this. A baker who meticulously hand-paints fine art onto her pastries and creates beautiful little treats is being a wise steward of creation and is reflecting the beauty of God.

But lastly, God leaves us with a foundational institution, a foundational relationship that was formed by God for man:

INSTITUTION OF MARRIAGE

God created everything perfectly, and yet something was still missing.

Genesis 2:15–18 KJV 1900

15 And the Lord God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it. 16 And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: 17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die. 18 And the Lord God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him.

Genesis 2:21–25 KJV 1900

21 And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof; 22 And the rib, which the Lord God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man. 23 And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man. 24 Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh. 25 And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.

Before sin even enters the world, the Lord is fixing our problems and giving us what we need.

What does Genesis tells us about marriage? (one man and one woman, companionship, children, helpers)

What does culture tell us about marriage? (not important, anyone you want, don’t have to have kids, etc.)

Here’s how the London Baptist Confession defines marriage:

Marriage is to be between one Man and one Woman; neither is it lawful for any man to have more then one Wife, nor for any Woman to have more then one Husband at the same time. Marriage was ordained for the mutual help of Husband and Wife, for the increase of Mankind, with a legitimate issue, and for preventing of uncleanness.

Who you marry matters. Why you marry matters. Who you date matters. You must be asking questions like… Is he/she a believer? a mature and godly believer? Will he/she make a good and godly father or mother? Do my parents and any mentors approve of the one I desire to marry? Is he/she currently glorifying God with their life?

I’m concerned that some teenagers are more concerned with getting married or having a boyfriend/girlfriend than they are about glorifying God.

Genesis 1-2 is foundational concerning our purpose as humanity. The rest of the Bible expands and explains.

The Westminster Large Catechism says this about man’s purpose — What is the chief end of man? Man’s chief and highest end is to glorify God, and fully to enjoy him forever.

Genesis gives us why we ought to glorify God — he has no rival and he is creator of all things — and how we ought to glorify God — dominion of the earth, image of God, and marriage.

GROUP DISCUSSION QUESTIONS + PRAYER PROMPTS

Why is it important that God existed before anything else—and needed nothing to create everything?

How can submitting to God’s authority actually lead to more peace instead of less freedom? What would it look like this week to stop “rivaling” God and instead trust His wisdom?

How does creation point us toward worship, not just information?

The mirror illustration asks: whose image are you reflecting right now? What tends to blur your reflection of God?

Why do you think God established marriage before sin entered the world?

Praise God for being eternal—that He existed before the beginning and has no rival.

Confess ways we try to rival God by wanting control over our lives.

Ask God to help us reflect His image clearly in our words, actions, and attitudes.

Pray for wisdom and purity in friendships, dating, and future marriage decisions. Pray for patience to wait on God’s timing rather than rushing ahead of Him.

Ask God to help us live this week for His glory and not our own.