The Beginning of Time

Theme for 2022 is “Begin Again”

This eight-part series is called “In the Beginning” and will carry us through May, June and into July with some breaks in between.

I thought it would be good for us to reset our thinking by going all the way back to the beginning.

Lets look at how God began everything and how God begins again.

Today we are in the first chapter of the first book of the Bible.

This is not just the story of creation, it’s the beginning of time.

When Albert Einstein posited his theory of relativity at the beginning of the last century it opened the way for a new understanding of the relationship between time and matter. All matter exists, not only in three dimensions, but also in a forth dimension of time. The speed of light became the measurement by which we can measure space. And to travel beyond the speed of light, theoretically, could alter time.

When God created space and time, he didn’t just create matter, he created order.

In creating order, God showed us His glory of goodness, beauty, creativity and design.

Six minute videohttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aVsqCLyoU3o

I can’t say it any better than Louie Giglio.

He says, “I’m not trying to make you feel small, I’m telling you that you are small!”

What he is really saying is that your God is bigger than you thought He was.

I wanted to take you on this little trip into outer space to give you perspective.

Time gives us perspective.

Let’s begin reading Genesis with this sense of perspective in mind.

Genesis 1:1–2 ESV

1 In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. 2 The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.

Perspective changes everything.

Before God, what was the world like?

Empty.

Without form.

Dark.

Chaos.

Without God, everything would be chaos.

According to Tim Mackie of The Bible Project the Hebrew describes a watery desert.

Like the ocean -there is seemingly no end.

Like the desert - there is no life.

It’s empty and nothing makes sense.

Doesn’t that describe our lives without God?

Without God life is empty, chaotic and nothing makes sense.

Have you ever felt like you life lacks meaning or purpose?

My question is : Where is God?

According to Genesis, The Spirit of God is hovering over the dark , deep waters.

Hovering - the Hebrew is literally vibrating.

Do you know what else vibrates? - Life, sound energy!

Something is stirring in the emptiness.

God is there, in the mist of the chaos!

And now for the Big Bang...

Genesis 1:3–5 ESV

3 And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. 4 And 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. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.

In the dark, empty, chaos suddenly - light!

Energy, time and matter burst forth like a supernova.

What does this tell us about God, creation and the universe? - more than I can comprehend!

But the simple answer is this:

Without God, we would be in darkness.

Light contrasts with darkness.

We don’t even know what darkness is until we have light.

God says the light is good.

We don’t know what good is apart from God.

We can be living empty lives, wandering around in darkness thinking evil is all there is...

Until God speaks an the light comes on and we begin to recognize what is good and what is not.

It’s like the difference of night and day!

God creates something out of nothing…so to speak.

Hebrews 11:3 NLT

3 By faith we understand that the entire universe was formed at God’s command, that what we now see did not come from anything that can be seen.

Actually God put His own essence into creation - His own substance.

1 John 1:5 CSB

5 This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light, and there is absolutely no darkness in him.

God not only spoke, He showed up and time began.

God shows up and suddenly there is space, time and matter.

The existence of time and matter is relative to the speed of light and God is light.

So what does God do next?

Genesis 1:6–8 ESV

6 And God said, “Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.” 7 And God made the expanse and separated the waters that were under the expanse from the waters that were above the expanse. And it was so. 8 And God called the expanse Heaven. And there was evening and there was morning, the second day.

God separates, divides, discerns…puts thing in their place.

Without God, we would not know which way is up.

Chaos is another word for confusion.

Confusion is the lack of categories, definition or discernment.

Chaos is when nothing is certain - everything is relative with no fixed reference points - and nothing is really knowable…for sure!

We don’t know which end is up.

That is when God separates water from water.

Have you ever tried separating water?

I dare you to try it sometime.

Pour two different bottles of water together and then try to separate them.

You could boil it or make ice - but that’s the only kind of separation I can think of.

God takes water that is vapor and puts it up in the clouds and says,”you belong up there!”

And he puts the water that is liquid in the ocean and says, “you belong down there.

And when the water in the sky falls into the ocean it rises again.

If we are going to begin again, we need God to come and do some separating.

Separating is the essential act of discernment.

Separating right from wrong, good from evil.

We have a world where everything is relative and people don’t know who they are or what their place is.

We have rejected our family and societal roles as arbitrary… granted they can be too rigid and that’s not good either.

But we can even say for sure what a man or a woman is!

We are fighting over the silliest things!

Meanwhile God is in heaven saying, “Do I need to come down there and do some separating?!”

We measure growth over time.

Have you ever thought about what an amazing miracle is time?

I have been in countries were time is not as important as it is here. In Haiti, if someone say I will be there in five minutes, that means a half-hour. Or in Kenya, when you tell the speaker to speak for an hour, that could be two hours.

Time is a measurement.

Without a measurement of time, you don’t know how much of your life has passed between events.

I believe that time is a gift of God so that we can measure growth and progress.

If you ask a child how much they grown today, how will they answer you?

But if you ask how much did you grow this year or this month, they can say that they have changed a whole clothing size.

Even creation is measured in days.

We could argue if a day means one rotation of the earth, but I don’t think any of us know if the earth was even rotating at this point.

The point is that time existed, there was progress and it was measurable.

Genesis 1:9–10 ESV

9 And God said, “Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear.” And it was so. 10 God called the dry land Earth, and the waters that were gathered together he called Seas. And God saw that it was good.

First God separated the waters and then he gathered them together.

And for the first time in history, we have solid ground on which we can live.

But what I really want to focus on is that “God saw it was good.”

Growth is recognizing what is good.

Dry land is better than living in water. Why?

The first thing that God said was good was the light?

Light is good because God is light and God is good!

We wouldn’t even know what good is apart from God!

The ocean can be an amazing place and a wonderful habitat for lots for lots of creature which will come later.

But the oceans are deep and dark and still pretty chaotic.

But land is where you can live in the light.

God wanted to create a habitat where people could live in His presence.

When Jesus was on the mount of transfiguration with Peter, James and John and they saw him shining like light - what did Peter say?

Mark 9:3–5 CSB

3 and his clothes became dazzling—extremely white as no launderer on earth could whiten them. 4 Elijah appeared to them with Moses, and they were talking with Jesus. 5 Peter said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it’s good for us to be here. Let’s set up three shelters: one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah”—

This is good! Let’s stay here!

Learn to recognize what is good.

Learn to recognize when God is present.

Learn to recognize what God is doing.

If you you do, you will see progress.

Growth happens naturally in the presence of God and when we recognize His goodness.

But you cant stay there, because there is more.

There is always more.

Genesis 1:11–13 ESV

11 And God said, “Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind, on the earth.” And it was so. 12 The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed according to their own kinds, and trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 13 And there was evening and there was morning, the third day.

That’s growth - literally!

The earth starts to grow vegetation.

The vacant lot turns into a jungle.

It’s wild! - but there is also a method to it.

Growth is learning to sow and reap.

When God creates vegetation, He also implants a means of reproduction.

The plants all contain seeds.

Just like I said last week - each seed contains the potential for a new plant.

So plants produce seed which produces more plants and the cycle of life begins!

Life on earth now has a momentum.

Life will beget life and will continue unless something intervenes.

Whatever you sow you will reap.

Everything multiplies itself naturally.

But its all good at this point - later it will create a dilemma.

But for now, just recognize the principle that whatever is created multiplies because God has created life with the ability to reproduce whatever it is.

God’s goodness will reproduce through his creation and fill the earth.

Genesis 1:14–19 ESV

14 And God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night. And let them be for signs and for seasons, and for days and years, 15 and let them be lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light upon the earth.” And it was so. 16 And God made the two great lights—the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night—and the stars. 17 And God set them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth, 18 to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. 19 And there was evening and there was morning, the fourth day.

Growth is knowing the seasons of life.

Growth and reproduction initiates a cycle or a rhythm of life.

So God creates the solar system, so that time is measured, not just in days but in months and years.

Now there is a time for planting and a time for harvesting.

There is a time for producing seed, a time when the seed is dormant, a time when it springs forth and a time when it matures.

Each season is a new beginning in that it holds new potential and has its own purpose.

I have found that a secret to living a good life is recognizing the seasons of life and getting in sync with the natural order of things.

There are hard times and there are good times.

Good times don’t last forever, but neither do the hard times.

But if you sow in the hard times, hang in there through the dormant times, there will also come a spring time.

God is good and he has created an order to things.

Ecclesiastes 3:11 NLT

11 Yet God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God’s work from beginning to end.

God’s time brings order to our chaos.

Genesis is not the only creation account found in ancient literature.

There are other ancient cultures with creation stories that involve gods arguing and murdering each other and creating the world from their corpses.

Genesis may be difficult to comprehend, but it is far more informative, at least to the Western mind, than the others.

Because in Genesis, God creates order out of chaos.

Other accounts involve gods creating more chaos.

If you want to know God, look for patterns, intentionality, because He is a God of order.

Genesis 1:20–21 ESV

20 And God said, “Let the waters swarm with swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the heavens.” 21 So God created the great sea creatures and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarm, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.

We see beauty in diversity.

Have you every walked around a zoo and admired the imagination and creativity that made such colorful creatures?

A peacock is beautiful with its feathers arranged in a fan.

The giraffe has its neck stretched so it can reach the tops of trees.

The zebras with their striped pajamas.

Or something a simple as a squirrel that twitches with every noise or movement.

Or you can look at larger groups of animals.

How do flocks of birds swirl around in the sky and not run into each other?

How do schools of fish communicate to keep their formation?

How do bees know their assignments?

God has a wild imagination.

So much so that people can spend a lifetime studying just one segment of his creation.

And just like the plants, each creature has the ability to reproduce in order to survive and to multiply.

Genesis 1:22–23 ESV

22 And God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.” 23 And there was evening and there was morning, the fifth day.

I want to take a moment to marvel in this fact, that God not only created the world and everything in it, but that everything he created participates by creating more of what they are.

We participate in God’s creativity.

But so far we just have the birds and the bees… oh and fish too.

When is it our turn?

Genesis 1:24–26 ESV

24 And God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures according to their kinds—livestock and creeping things and beasts of the earth according to their kinds.” And it was so. 25 And God made the beasts of the earth according to their kinds and the livestock according to their kinds, and everything that creeps on the ground according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 26 Then 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 birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”

As creatures we participate in God’s creation.

I don’t think that fact was ever so real as when I held each of our children for the first time.

Seeing ten little fingers and ten little toes.

Their mother’s eyes and daddy’s nose.

Think about how much God trusts us!

We marvel at God’s design.

The Bible says that God gave mankind dominion over creation.

We tend to think of dominion as the authority to do whatever we want.

But with that authority comes a responsibility.

God created the world good and He wants His goodness to multiply and fill the earth.

But who will understand God’s goodness?

Who will represent God’s interest?

Genesis 1:27–28 ESV

27 So God created man in his own image, in the image 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 have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”

To be made in God’s image is more than a mere resemblance.

It is a responsibility.

It is a status that we have as God’s representatives.

That we have a role in managing and stewarding creation so that God’s goodness is evident and increases.

Realizing that we are created in God’s image should make us want to know more about God and to become more like God so that we can represent Him well.

Jesus came to show us what God’s image should look like and gave us the Holy Spirit to transform us into that image.

The Spirit that hovered over the waters is here with us.

He is still making beauty out of essentially nothing.

Next time we will learn how God created us for fellowship with Him.

This week was about time and creation.

Questions for Reflection:

How big is your God? Are you serving the God of the universe? Or does everything revolve around you?

Have you discovered that life has a rhythm? That there are times and seasons? Do you recognize God’s order as His plan and move with it or is your life in chaos?

We each get a small part of time and space to participate in God’s creative work. Every human life is a new beginning, what are you doing with yours?