In The Beginning God
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In The Beginning God
In The Beginning God
God Created the Heavens and the Earth
God Created the Heavens and the Earth
1 In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth—
God existed before anything else.
“a period of remote and unknown antiquity, hid in the depths of eternal ages; and so the phrase is used in Pr 8:22, 23.”
God created the heavens and the earth.
God existed before they were there.
It was the Godhead, the three in one together in creation.
“God—the name of the Supreme Being, signifying in Hebrew, “Strong,” “Mighty.” It is expressive of omnipotent power; and by its use here in the plural form, is obscurely taught at the opening of the Bible, a doctrine clearly revealed in other parts of it, namely, that though God is one, there is a plurality of persons in the Godhead—Father, Son, and Spirit, who were engaged in the creative work (Pr 8:27; Jn 1:3, 10; Eph 3:9; Heb 1:2; Job 26:13).”
Jamieson, R., Fausset, A. R., & Brown, D. (1997). Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (Vol. 1, p. 17). Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.
2 Now the earth was formless and empty, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters.
The Earth was Without Form and Void
or in “confusion and emptiness,” as the words are rendered in Is 34:11. This globe, at some undescribed period, having been convulsed and broken up, was a dark and watery waste for ages perhaps, till out of this chaotic state, the present fabric of the world was made to arise.
3 And God said, “Let there be light!” And there was light. 4 And God saw the light, that it was good, and God caused there to be a separation between the light and between the darkness. 5 And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.
Day 1 - evening and morning.
6 And God said, “Let there be a vaulted dome in the midst of the waters, and let it cause a separation between the waters.” 7 So God made the vaulted dome, and he caused a separation between the waters which were under the vaulted dome and between the waters which were over the vaulted dome. And it was so. 8 And God called the vaulted dome “heaven.” And there was evening, and there was morning, a second day. 9 And God said, “Let the waters under heaven be gathered to one place, and let the dry ground appear.” And it was so. 10 And God called the dry ground “earth,” and he called the collection of the waters “seas.” And God saw that it was good.
Day 2 - Dome
Heaven
Separated water and dry ground
11 And God said, “Let the earth produce green plants that will bear seed—fruit trees bearing fruit in which there is seed—according to its kind, on the earth.” And it was so. 12 And the earth brought forth green plants bearing seed according to its kind, and trees bearing fruit in which there was seed according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 13 And there was evening and there was morning, a third day.
Day 3 - green plants
according to their kind
it was good
14 And God said, “Let there be lights in the vaulted dome of heaven to separate day from night, and let them be as signs and for appointed times, and for days and years, 15 and they shall be as lights in the vaulted dome of heaven to give light on the earth.” And it was so. 16 And God made two great lights, the greater light to rule the day and the smaller light to rule the night, and the stars. 17 And God placed them in the vaulted dome of heaven to give light on the earth 18 and to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that it was good. 19 And there was evening and there was morning, a fourth day.
Day 4 - lights in the sky
signs for appointed times, seasons
20 And God said, “Let the waters swarm with swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly over the earth across the face of the vaulted dome of heaven. 21 So God created the great sea creatures and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarm, according to their kind, and every bird with wings according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 22 And God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let the birds multiply on the earth.” 23 And there was evening, and there was morning, a fifth day.
Day 5 - fish, birds
according to their kind
24 And God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures according to their kind: cattle and moving things, and wild animals according to their kind.” And it was so. 25 So God made wild animals according to their kind and the cattle according to their kind, and every creeping thing of the earth according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 26 And God said, “Let us make humankind in our image and according to our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of heaven, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every moving thing that moves upon the earth.” 27 So God created humankind in his image, in the likeness of God he created him, male and female he created them. 28 And God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it, and rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of heaven, and over every animal that moves upon the earth.” 29 And God said, “Look—I am giving to you every plant that bears seed which is on the face of the whole earth, and every kind of tree that bears fruit. They shall be yours as food.” 30 And to every kind of animal of the earth and to every bird of heaven, and to everything that moves upon the earth in which there is life I am giving every green plant as food.” And it was so. 31 And God saw everything that he had made and, behold, it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning, a sixth day.
Day 6 - everything on the ground
humankind
be fruitful and multiply
according to their kind
every green plant as food
it was very good
1 And heaven and earth and all their array were finished. 2 And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. 3 And God blessed the seventh day, and he sanctified it, because on it he rested from all his work of creating that there was to do.
God blessed the seventh day
This is something the Jewish people get right.
8 And Yahweh God planted a garden in Eden in the east, and there he put the man whom he had formed. 9 And Yahweh God caused to grow from the ground every tree that was pleasing to the sight and good for food. And the tree of life was in the midst of the garden, along with the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
Man is in the garden
every tree good for food
The tree of life
The tree of the knowledge of good and evil
16 And Yahweh God commanded the man, saying, “From every tree of the garden you may freely eat, 17 but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you shall surely die.”
18 Then Yahweh God said, “it is not good that the man is alone. I will make for him a helper as his counterpart.” 19 And out of the ground Yahweh God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the sky, and he brought each to the man to see what he would call it. And whatever the man called that living creature was its name. 20 And the man gave names to every domesticated animal and to the birds of heaven and to all the wild animals. But for the man there was not found a helper as his counterpart.
God took time with Adam to show him all of creation
All of these were for our use, but none were “counterpart”
21 And Yahweh God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man. While he slept, he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh where it had been. 22 And Yahweh God fashioned the rib which he had taken from the man into a woman and brought her to the man. 23 And the man said, “She is now bone from my bones and flesh from my flesh; she shall be called ‘Woman,’ for she was taken from man.” 24 Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and shall cling to his wife, and they shall be as one flesh. 25 And the man and his wife, both of them, were naked, and they were not ashamed.
bone from my bones and flesh from my flesh
In vs 24 a man shall leave his father and his mother and shall cling to his wife, and they shall be as one flesh
Adam understood the concept of father and mother, procreation, and all that meant.
They had the garden and all in it as food
They walked with God
They might have lived forever
But they believed the serpent
The Knowledge of good and Evil
The Knowledge of good and Evil
8 Then they heard the sound of Yahweh God walking in the garden at the windy time of day. And the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of Yahweh God among the trees of the garden.
They hid themselves
They were conscious of their sin
10 And he replied, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid because I am naked, so I hid myself.”
They knew they were naked
They were afraid
They are put out of the garden
There is the curse of pain in child bearing
There is the curse of the ground, by the sweat of your brow ...
21 And Yahweh God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skin, and he clothed them.
This was the first death, the death of an animal to cover their nakedness
It was also the beginning of them eating meat for food.
They go and are living their life
They have two sons, Cain and Abel and their sons grow up
3 And in the course of time Cain brought an offering from the fruit of the ground to Yahweh, 4 and Abel also brought an offering from the choicest firstlings of his flock. And Yahweh looked with favor to Abel and to his offering,
Abel brought an offering of blood, as the Lord had now established for the covering of their nakedness.
Cain worked to bring forth fruit and brought it to the Lord, but his conscience was seared, he didn’t acknowledge his nakedness. Cain came to the Lord as if nothing had ever happened and then was angry with Abel and kills him.
The Lord says to Cain
12 When you till the ground it shall no longer yield its strength to you. You shall be a wanderer and a fugitive on the earth.”
Cain takes this further and says
From Your Face I Must Hide
From Your Face I Must Hide
14 Look, you have driven me out today from the face of the ground, and from your face I must hide. I will be a wanderer and a fugitive on the earth, and it will happen that whoever finds me will kill me.”
Cain adds to what God had said “from your face I must hide”. Then in
16 And Cain went out from the presence of Yahweh, and he settled in the land of Nod, east of Eden.
The presence of the Lord was there for all of them even after they were expelled from the garden.
It was Cain’s own guilty conscience that separated him from the Lord just as it had been Adam’s guilty conscience that had caused him to hide from the Lord.
They knew their actions had consequences and felt the very real separation as a result.
Now, Cain is living apart from the Lord altogether.
Cain went ahead and lived his life and had children and built a city
God Has Appointed Another Child
God Has Appointed Another Child
25 Then Adam knew his wife again, and she gave birth to a son. And she called his name Seth, for she said “God has appointed to me another child in the place of Abel, because Cain killed him.”
Adam and Eve have also been living their life.
They have experienced one of the worst things a couple can face, the death of a child.
But God has said, be fruitful and multiply and they do.
And their son, Seth has a child, they are grandparents again.
This is the state of many people in the world. They are just living their lives. They may have a knowledge of God but they have no relationship with him.
Call on the Name of the Lord
Call on the Name of the Lord
26 And as for Seth, he also fathered a son, and he called his name Enosh. At that time he began to call on the name of Yahweh.
The Bible is silent on the relationship of Adam and Eve with the Lord until we come to Seth.
None have called on the name of the Lord until here.
The guilt of their sin, rejection they felt after being expelled from the garden, the premature death of a child which is a tragic and an emotional wound that is hard to get over, any or all of these may have been justifications for their separation.
But now, one man calls on the name of the Lord.
He Has Spoken to us by His Son
He Has Spoken to us by His Son
2 in these last days he has spoken to us by a Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, through whom also he made the world,
We have come into a relationship with the Father through Jesus Christ. We are sealed with His Holy Spirit, our comforter, our teacher.
And what is it that Jesus has said to us?
23 But an hour is coming—and now is here—when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for indeed the Father seeks such people to be his worshipers. 24 God is spirit, and the ones who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”
God wants those that come wholeheartedly to him.
We are no longer just living in guilt and shame and rejection and grief.
Yes, there is still tragedy in the earth, we suffer loss of loved ones, offenses, and accusations, but God s with us.
Praying and Singing to God
Praying and Singing to God
Today, we have a different relationship. Wherever we are, we have access to the presence of God.
25 Now about midnight, Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. 26 And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken. And immediately all the doors were opened and all the bonds were unfastened.
Think about this, they had been arrested, beaten and locked in the deepest part of the prison, today we might call it the hole in
22 And the crowd joined in attacking them, and the chief magistrates tore off their clothing and gave orders to beat them with rods. 23 And after they had inflicted many blows on them, they threw them into prison, giving orders to the jailer to guard them securely. 24 Having received such an order, he put them in the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks.
But how do Paul and Silas take this? They start singing ...
I Love you Lord, and I lift my voice (sing here)
19 But Jews arrived from Antioch and Iconium, and when they had won over the crowds and stoned Paul, they dragged him outside the city, thinking he was dead.
They all thought Paul was dead.
20 But after the disciples surrounded him, he got up and went into the city. And on the next day he departed with Barnabas for Derbe.
What do you think the disciples were doing? Certainly they were praying and seeking the Lord. They were invoking their right to enter into the throne for help in
16 Therefore let us approach with confidence to the throne of grace, in order that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
I found a new way of living (sing here)
Paul refers to this event in 2 Cor 11:25 and more generally in 2 Tim 3:11
25 Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I received a stoning. Three times I was shipwrecked. A day and a night I have spent in the deep water.
What pain have you suffered? How have you reacted to it?
I’ve got that joy joy joy joy down in my heart (sing)