Genesis 1-2

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As I said in last week's message we will be covering redemptive history and the Gospel in this series.

Redemptive History = The story of the Scriptures from Creation to New Creation in which we see YHWH God’s love and ideal design for creation and His faithful desire to defeat the enemy and sin and death redeeming humanity and creation after humanity sins and rebels against Him play out throughout history.

Gospel = Oral proclamation about Jesus the Christ - who he was; what he accomplished through his life, death, and resurrection; the promise of his future return to establish God’s reign; and the concomitant call to repent and have faith. - Pennington

Essential elements of the Gospel:

Redemptive History

All have sinned and need to be saved.

What God did in and through Jesus.

How we are to respond.

What God does for those who say yes, repent and believe.

What you get saved into.

Since redemptive history begins with Genesis 1-2 that is where we will begin.

Read Genesis 1-2

There is so much information in Genesis 1-2 that we could do a whole year series just on these two chapters but do not worry we will not, yet. Remember -- the goal of this series is to give you the main ideas that reflect the gospel -- in ways that you might be able to share with others. So this is the specific context for this message on why Genesis 1-2 is a key part of the gospel -- the good news.

The main point of Genesis 1-2 is that YHWH God created everything. He created all plants, animals, moon, sun, stars, etc. and said it was good. He then created mankind specially in His image to be his co-rulers over His creation and under His authority and said it was very good. YHWH God the creator, mankind the image-bearers, and the rest of creation were in right relationship with each other just as God wanted, including sabbath rest. Yet, God gave mankind the choice to obey Him or not.

Genesis 1-2 tells us about God’s good and perfect work before human sin and the fall. Why do we care about that? Read the “end of the book” -- the Bible tells us that there will be a New Creation. Stay tuned, let’s not get ahead of ourselves -- but the beginning of the story, before sin and the fall, is a foretaste of the New Creation.

Let’s begin by meeting the key characters

Back to the beginning -- Genesis means “in the beginning” in Hebrew text, or “origin” in the Greek -- Genesis 1-2 introduces three main characters in the gospel story:

YHWH God

creation

mankind

and answers these questions:

Where did they come from?

Who are they?

How are they supposed to relate to one another before sin as God intended?

God is the main character of the Bible, and most of Genesis 1-2 is about God and His work of creation. So that is where we will start.

Where did God come from?

Genesis 1:1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

At his point in the story all we know is that God was there before the beginning of creation because He was the one who created everything. As Scripture unfolds we are told and should understand God is eternal and has always existed and was never created and was indeed the creator of all things.

Therefore God did not come from anywhere. He has always existed and was the origin for everything else.

What do we learn about who God is?

Creator God: We are told that in the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. This phrase means God created everything. The first thing we learn is that our God is a creator and the creator of everything. The rest of Genesis 1-2 gives us details on the creation process. We also learn that God believed His creation was good.

Plurality of God: As the foundation of our understanding of God as the trinity we are introduced to the plurality of God.

In Genesis 1:1 and many other places in Genesis 1-2 God is talked about in the singular as one being.

But then we have two very interesting passages.

Genesis 1:2 Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.

Genesis 1:26 Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness,...”

This language introduces us to the fact that God is one and plural. We are introduced to the Holy Spirit. And when God talks about Himself it is in the plural: us and our. God lives in and has always lived in eternal community with Himself. The idea and importance of community existed before creation.

As we continue to read more Scripture we come to the conclusion that God is a trinity: 3 in 1.

Name of God: Then we are told God’s name. Because remember that this was written in a culture that believed in many different gods and each culture had their own view of creation. From Genesis 2:4 throughout the rest of the chapter we are told that the creator God is YHWH.

Genesis 2:4 This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created, when the LORD God made the earth and the heavens.

Genesis 1-2 wants us to not only know that some random god created everything, but YHWH is God and the one and true and only creator God.

How are they supposed to relate to one another before sin as God intended?

Genesis 1-2 clearly places God at the top of the hierarchy as the most important and powerful character in the story of the gospel. Everything else came from Him. God is the creator and sustainer of life itself. He is the ultimate ruler and king of His creation. Mankind and creation were to obey, serve, and worship Him.

And as God is 3 in 1 He lives Himself in perfect community.

Here is a summary…

YHWH is the one true God. God eternally exists without beginning or end, existing as one God, same in essence, in three distinct and relational persons as Father, Son, Holy Spirit, each being equally and fully God. (Gen. 1:26; 19:24; Deut. 6:4; Ps. 90:2; Isa. 44:6; 45:5; Matt. 3:16-17; 28:19; Jn. 1:1-3; 2 Cor. 13:14) They live in perfect loving relationship mutually glorifying one another with distinct but harmonious roles in relationship with each other and creation and in redemption. (Jn. 17:5; Jn. 1:1; 14:11, 16, 17; 5:20-23; 8:54; 17:5; 1 Pet. 1:2; 1 Cor. 8:6; 2 Thess. 2:13-14; Tit. 3:4-6; Heb. 9:14) God is spirit personally and intimately involved in creation as its designer and sustainer, yet above, separate, and self-reliant apart from creation. (Exod. 3:13-14; 1 Ki. 8:27; Ps. 139: 1-16; Jn. 4:24) He is self-sustaining and needs nothing external of Himself to exist and live fully. (Exod. 3:13-14; Jn. 5:26)

The second character is creation. Answering the questions for the character of Creation is much easier and simpler than trying to fully understand YHWH God based on His introduction in Genesis 1-2.

Where did creation come from?

Again Genesis 1:1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

and the rest of chapter 1 details for us that YHWH God created everything that was created: heavens, earth, light, sun, moon, stars, sky, water, land, seasons, birds, fish, animals, and mankind. God created everything.

How are they supposed to relate to one another before sin as God intended?

Creation was created to obey, serve, and worship God.

But to answer how creation relates to mankind, let's look at the third character -- mankind, people.

Genesis 1:26-30

26 Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”

27 So God created mankind in his own image,

in the image of God he created them;

male and female he created them.

28 God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”

29 Then God said, “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. 30 And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds in the sky and all the creatures that move along the ground—everything that has the breath of life in it—I give every green plant for food.” And it was so.

Where did they come from?

Mankind just like the rest of creation was created by God. But they have a different identity and a different purpose than the rest of creation.

Who are they?

Mankind was created in the image and likeness of God. And created with the purpose to rule over creation under God’s authority. Both male and female are created in the image of God.

Definition of Imago Dei

1. Structural (Similarity) = Personhood

2. Functional = Dominion, Obedience, Making Visible

3. Relational = Love (Humankind representing the triune God)

4. Teleological = Christlikeness

5. Amazing Ability and Awesome Responsibility to Make Visible the Invisible Attributes of the Creator and Redeemer.

How are they supposed to relate to one another before sin as God intended?

God in relation to mankind: God created a special relationship where mankind was to image Him: obey, serve, and worship Him. Adam and Eve walked with God unhindered. God blessed mankind.

Mankind in relation to creation: Mankind was to rule creation under God’s authority. They were to do this by imaging God to His creation. And mankind was to live by eating from creation.

Mankind in relation to each other: They were to love one another unashamedly. They were to treat each other as image bearers of God.

So, we’ve met three key characters in the gospel story -- God, creation and humanity.

Now, let’s meet two more important themes in Genesis 1-2.

SABBATH

Genesis 2:1-3

1 Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array.

2 By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. 3 Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.

Although mankind is a special creation as His image bearers, that is not where the creation account overview stops. But it ends with the Seventh day where God finished the work He had been doing, and He rested and made the seventh day holy. Another word for holy is sanctified.

But the word I want to pause on is rested. In Hebrew, this word can is mainly translated sabbath. So God sabbathed on the seventh day. Although we do not have time to do a full biblical theology of sabbath right now, it is important to note that sabbath was part of creation including mankind, and observed by God before sin and the fall. Sabbath was not something just introduced in the Law of Moses, but sabbath rest is part of God’s good purpose for mankind and His creation.

FREE WILL

Genesis 2:15-17

15 The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. 16 And the LORD God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; 17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.”

God creates mankind in a special way as image-bearers and He blesses them tremendously but He does not stop there. He gives mankind free will -- choice. Mankind can choose to obey God or to disobey Him, and He is upfront about their choices. God is also upfront about the punishment for disobedience: Death -- more on that next week.

So what are we to take away from all of this information? What have we learned about the gospel story that we could share with someone who wants to know where everything started?

YHWH God is the one and true creator God - He has no beginning and no end.

YHWH God has desired to bless his creation and specifically mankind from their very beginning, from their creation.

Mankind’s purpose is to rule and care for YHWH’s creation under His authority. We were made to work, and also to share in His sabbath rest.

God created mankind, His image bearers, for relationship with Him, including the gift of free will.

Mankind is meant to treat each other like image-bearers of God.

And unfortunately we know Genesis 1-2 is followed by Genesis 3, where we are shown how awesome and great YHWH God is and how terrible sin is and our choice to ruin what God had made good.