In the Beginning God
Notes
Transcript
Handout
In the Beginning God
In the Beginning God
Introduction
Introduction
Thank Cynthia, Tom and Micky
Do you realize how blessed we are to have a pastor who preaches the Word of God?
One who is more concerned about us learning the Word rather than entertaining us?
That is a rare thing in today’s world.
Today, I want to revisit what Pastor Steve has been teaching on Wednesday nights.
For those of you who have not been attending, I hope it encourages you to come. In fact, you can even go back on FB and watch his messages from the beginning.
Tell My Testimony
Please stand for the reading of God’s Word
1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness covered the surface of the watery depths, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters. 3 Then God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. 4 God saw that the light was good, and God separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.” There was an evening, and there was a morning: one day. 6 Then God said, “Let there be an expanse between the waters, separating water from water.” 7 So God made the expanse and separated the water under the expanse from the water above the expanse. And it was so. 8 God called the expanse “sky.” Evening came and then morning: the second day. 9 Then God said, “Let the water under the sky be gathered into one place, and let the dry land appear.” And it was so. 10 God called the dry land “earth,” and the gathering of the water he called “seas.” And God saw that it was good. 11 Then God said, “Let the earth produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and fruit trees on the earth bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds.” And it was so. 12 The earth produced vegetation: seed-bearing plants according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. 13 Evening came and then morning: the third day. 14 Then God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate the day from the night. They will serve as signs for seasons and for days and years. 15 They will be lights in the expanse of the sky to provide light on the earth.” And it was so. 16 God made the two great lights—the greater light to rule over the day and the lesser light to rule over the night—as well as the stars. 17 God placed them in the expanse of the sky to provide light on the earth, 18 to rule the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that it was good. 19 Evening came and then morning: the fourth day. 20 Then God said, “Let the water swarm with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the sky.” 21 So God created the large sea-creatures and every living creature that moves and swarms in the water, according to their kinds. He also created every winged creature according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 22 God blessed them: “Be fruitful, multiply, and fill the waters of the seas, and let the birds multiply on the earth.” 23 Evening came and then morning: the fifth day. 24 Then God said, “Let the earth produce living creatures according to their kinds: livestock, creatures that crawl, and the wildlife of the earth according to their kinds.” And it was so. 25 So God made the wildlife of the earth according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that crawl on the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. 26 Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, according to our likeness. They will rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, the livestock, the whole earth, and the creatures that crawl on the earth.” 27 So God created man in his own image; he created him in the image of God; he created them male and female. 28 God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, and subdue it. Rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, and every creature that crawls on the earth.” 29 God also said, “Look, I have given you every seed-bearing plant on the surface of the entire earth and every tree whose fruit contains seed. This will be food for you, 30 for all the wildlife of the earth, for every bird of the sky, and for every creature that crawls on the earth—everything having the breath of life in it—I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so. 31 God saw all that he had made, and it was very good indeed. Evening came and then morning: the sixth day.
I want start by asking you a few questions, it is an easy quiz.
Do you believe in the Bible?
Do you believe the Bible is without error in its original writing?
Do you believe the Bible was inspired by the Holy Spirit?
Do you believe in evolution?
What about in Theistic Evolution? God created the heavens and the earth and He did so using evolution?
1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
In the Beginning...God
In the Beginning...God
When? In the Beginning
Who? God
What did He do? Created
What did He create? the heavens and the earth
Everything we Christians believe, our entire foundation of faith, is based right here on this one verse.
If this verse can be discredited, then the entire Bible is discredited.
The entire foundation of Scripture begins right here.
That is why Genesis is attacked so often.
If God is not creator, the Bible is a lie.
Now all believe in the Bible, almost all professing believers would say they believe in the Word.
But what do we practice? Oh that is a totally different question.
Let us reason together
Let us reason together
18 “Come, let’s settle this,” says the Lord. “Though your sins are scarlet, they will be as white as snow; though they are crimson red, they will be like wool.
16 While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, he was deeply distressed when he saw that the city was full of idols.
In the Beginning…When?
In the Beginning…When?
The beginning of all creation
The beginning of time
God created time.
Since He created time, He exists outside of time
In the beginning…Who?
In the beginning…Who?
The Bible begins with In the Beginning God
God’s very existence is not questioned
He is
14 God replied to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: I AM has sent me to you.”
I Am is His title
It implies self-existence
God has existed from eternity
13 “Even from eternity I am He, And there is none who can deliver out of My hand; I act and who can reverse it?”
God is and always has been
God always will be
God the Father
God the Father
26 Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, according to our likeness. They will rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, the livestock, the whole earth, and the creatures that crawl on the earth.”
God the Father
Elohim -
the One true God
God Almighty
It is plural referring to the triune God of Genesis 1:1–3, who works through Word and Spirit in the creation of the world.
1 When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to him, saying, “I am God Almighty. Live in my presence and be blameless.
LORD (Jehovah, the self-existent one) appeared to Abram and said to him,
"I am God Almighty (El Shaddai);
4 “Listen, Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.
The Lord (Jehovah, the self existent One, the Eternal One)
is our God (Elohim, God is God, The creator)
God the Son
God the Son
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 All things were created through him, and apart from him not one thing was created that has been created. 4 In him was life, and that life was the light of men.
God the Son
He is the Word
The Word was God
16 When Jesus was baptized, he went up immediately from the water. The heavens suddenly opened for him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming down on him.
In this verse, we see the Trinity: Jesus is baptized, the Spirit descends on Him and God speaks
God in three persons
God the Holy Spirit
God the Holy Spirit
16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever.
God the Holy Spirit
The Helper
He may be with you forever;
The Spirit of truth,
He abides with you and will be in you.
13 In him you also were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and when you believed.
He is the seal
We are sealed in Him
He is the Holy Spirit of promise
In the Beginning...What?
In the Beginning...What?
God created the heavens and the earth.
The Trinity was involved in the creation of the World.
2 Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness covered the surface of the watery depths, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters. 3 Then God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.
3 By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was made from things that are not visible.
16 For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him.
The Spirit of God moved over the surface
God said let there be light
The worlds were prepared by the word of God (Jesus),
By Him (Jesus) all things were created,
God created you and me.
26 Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, according to our likeness. They will rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, the livestock, the whole earth, and the creatures that crawl on the earth.”
13 For it was you who created my inward parts; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. 14 I will praise you because I have been remarkably and wondrously made. Your works are wondrous, and I know this very well.
10 But Moses replied to the Lord, “Please, Lord, I have never been eloquent—either in the past or recently or since you have been speaking to your servant—because my mouth and my tongue are sluggish.” 11 The Lord said to him, “Who placed a mouth on humans? Who makes a person mute or deaf, seeing or blind? Is it not I, the Lord?
Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness;
You formed my inward parts; You wove me in my mother's womb.
I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
The LORD said to him, "Who has made man's mouth? Or who makes him mute or deaf, or seeing or blind? Is it not I, the LORD?
2 His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”
Why did He create us?
so that the works of God might be displayed in him.
In the Beginning…Evolution?
In the Beginning…Evolution?
What two main ideas are put forth in today’s world? Creation vs. Evolution
Sounds like a baseball game between two power house teams Atlanta Braves vs. St. Louis Cardinals
Both teams seem full of knowledge and skill
Before the game, players stand in front of the TV cameras boasting about how skilled they are and how poor the other team is
The game could go either way
1000’s gather in the stadium and in homes around the country to watch the game
Who will win?
That is the way many would have us believe the match is between Creation and evolution
Actually, It is more like The Atlanta Braves vs. the Center Hill Baptist Church Men’s softball team
Both sides certainly have the desire, they even think they have the knowledge and the skill on their side
But, obviously, in such a match the Center Hill team is going down
It is exactly the same for the match between creation and evolution
The evolutionists stand in front of the TV cameras boasting about how skilled they are, how smart they are and how ridiculous the Christians are.
They use terms like “how can any thinking person believe in such fairy tales.”
They resort to ridicule, name calling, and misleading statements
They are scared; they know the facts do not line up so they even stop open discussion and debate by taking the issue to the courts.
Evolution vs. Creation article
Wednesday, 21 December 2005, 05:03 GMT
Victors hail US evolution ruling
A US court decision to ban the teaching of "intelligent design" has been hailed by anti-creationism campaigners. A federal judge ruled in favour of 11 parents in Dover, Pennsylvania, who argued that Darwinian evolution must be taught as fact in biology lessons.
School administrators had argued that life on Earth was too complex to have evolved on its own.
"We have a federal judge ruling that intelligent design is in fact non-science and that it is religion," said Rob Boston of Americans United for the Separation of Church and State.
"That's going to be extremely useful as we combat intelligent design in other states." He accused them of "breathtaking insanity", of lying under oath and of trying to introduce religion into schools through the back door. The judge said he had determined that ID was not science and "cannot uncouple itself from its creationist, and thus religious, antecedents".
Why are they not willing to allow open and honest debate? Is it because they know that evolution is a failed theory?
Over the years, I have studied evolution and creation.
The more I have read and studied, the more I have been encouraged because I see that evolution is headed for a major defeat.
We have an advantage, we know who wins this match – Revelation is clear, God wins!
5 Then the one seated on the throne said, “Look, I am making everything new.” He also said, “Write, because these words are faithful and true.” 6 Then he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will freely give to the thirsty from the spring of the water of life. 7 The one who conquers will inherit these things, and I will be his God, and he will be my son.
So, we have the advantage, we know the Truth and the truth will set us free!
The Bible is clear:
15 Be diligent to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who doesn’t need to be ashamed, correctly teaching the word of truth.
But, we also need to know the tactics of our enemy.
Before every Game, the various sides always study the other team.
They want to know them.
They want to know their strengths and their weaknesses.
So… So, let’s enter into the game.
What is creation?
What is creation?
We have already seen that the Scriptures tell us that God created the heavens and the earth
God spoke and Bang, the world was created
Creation occurred by God’s Word
What is evolution?
What is evolution?
Who comes to mind when you think about evolution? Darwin
What do you think of? Millions of years
What is evolution?
“nonliving substance gave rise to the first living material, which subsequently reproduced and diversified to produce all extinct and extant organisms.”
Basically, the world was nothing.
Somehow the universe came to be, big bang or something.
After millions of years lightening struck and some type of simple life began.
Through mutations and then natural selection and survival of the fittest, that life evolved into a higher life form.
That form into another form and so on through billions of years until finally, gills developed and fish formed.
Fish to crawly things to birds.
Frank Peretti defines evolution as From Goo to you by way of the zoo.
What evolution is not - science. It is religion and it requires faith to believe in it.
What is the amazing part of this?
What is the amazing part of this?
Every one of us, God fearing, Bible toting, church going Christians, we all know what evolution is and who developed the theory?
Why is that?
We have been taught evolution in our schools, the news media puts it forth as fact,
Books and Museums proclaim millions of years ago…
What are some of the problems with evolution?
What are some of the problems with evolution?
Again, let’s reason together...
Where did the something from nothing come from?
If the earth was just a rock and the stars cold masses of gas, where did the rock come from, where did the gas come from?
No matter how far back you go, you still come to the point where something simply was… where did it come from?
Evolutionists do not have an answer.
Christians know the answer: In the Beginning God
Evolution is not science.
Evolution is religion.
It is based on faith.
A Prof Kerkut, Dean of Science at the Univ of Southhampton UK, and Author of the book “The Implications of Evolution” even admits that “it is a matter of faith that the textbook pictures [of horse evolution] are true.
Dr. Niles Eldredge, Curator in the Department of Invertebrates at the American Museum of Natural History, states: “the smooth transition from one form of life to another which is implied in the theory is not borne out in the facts. The missing link – never existed.”
It requires much more faith to believe in evolution than it does to believe in God.
I recently heard that the chances of the earth evolving are equal to having an explosion in a junk yard and the results of that explosion creates a fully functional 747 airplane.
Even allowing millions of years, there has still been insufficient time or material in the whole universe for very complex organic molecules to have formed BY CHANCE.
What are some questions that can only be answered by creation?
What are some questions that can only be answered by creation?
What about organs within the body of a specific species?
How did the eye evolve? How many blind animals wandered around and for how many millions of years before the eye finally developed?
And, what about male and female of the same species? Think about it, one species suddenly develops into male and female. From that moment on, the two individuals, one male and one female must evolve together in every way except the parts that make them male and female. How did that happen?
My favorite example is the bombardier beetle
"When a bombardier beetle (Brachinus) is threatened by a predator he sprays it with hot gases, heated to 212ºF
The gas is produced from twin combustion tubes right into the face of his enemy.
He stores two chemicals in the tubes
"When the bombardier beetle is ready to fire his defensive spray, a chemical reaction occurs and the spray heats to 212ºF, and is expelled into the face of the predator.
Evolutionists would have us believe that all of that occurred by accident.
How many beetles exploded before they figured it out?
My granddaughter is currently studying butterflies
What of the caterpillar changing into a chrysalis and finally into a butterfly?
How did such a thing evolve by accident?
The caterpillar basically liquefies inside the cocoon and reforms into a butterfly
And what of the giraffe?
Special muscles are in place to keep it from passing out when it lifts its head after drinking water.
How many giraffes passed out and fell over before those muscles evolved.
How did birds learn to migrate?
The arctic tern migrates more than 14,000 miles each year.
How many died in the ocean before the first one finally found its way to the breeding grounds
In the Beginning...Theistic evolution?
In the Beginning...Theistic evolution?
Theistic evolution says that God created the heavens and the earth and He did so with evolution
The order of creation is mixed up
Evolution - Micro-organisms, Fish, Crawling things, Birds
Creation - Micro- organisms, Fish, Birds, Crawling things
According to the Bible, fish and birds are created the fifth day (Gen 1:20) and crawling creatures the sixth day (Gen 1:24)
20 Then God said, “Let the waters teem with swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth in the open expanse of the heavens.”
24 Then God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures after their kind: cattle and creeping things and beasts of the earth after their kind”; and it was so.
In the end...God
In the end...God
As we reason together, it becomes obvious that we did not evolve, we were created by God.
Created in His image.
Dr. Henry Morris sums up evolution well when he stated: “Evolutionism is far more than a mere theory of biology. It is a complete world view, with its roots extending far back through the entire history of man’s rebellion against his Maker and its deadly fruits entering the bloodstream of every field of human thought and activity today.
Why do people believe evolution if it is so obviously a lie?
Why do people believe evolution if it is so obviously a lie?
3 But if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. 4 In their case, the god of this age has blinded the minds of the unbelievers to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.
We must believe
We must believe
Believe in the infallibility of the Word. It is without error.
We must praise the Lord
1 Hallelujah! Praise the Lord from the heavens; praise him in the heights. 2 Praise him, all his angels; praise him, all his heavenly armies. 3 Praise him, sun and moon; praise him, all you shining stars. 4 Praise him, highest heavens, and you waters above the heavens. 5 Let them praise the name of the Lord, for he commanded, and they were created.
6 Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.