Genesis: Why it's True and Why it Matters
Notes
Transcript
Mark it Out!
Mark it Out!
I’ve some Sharpies here this morning. As I get into the passage this morning, if there is something in your bible you don’t like, then raise your hand, I’ll toss you a pen, and you can mark it out.
When I was in college I was in a Christian Campus org called, Inter Varsity Christian Fellowship.
We had a staff guy who would teach us regularly, bible study.
We’re college kids. We already knew everything.
You know the saying, why didn’t you encounter this problem when you were 22 and knew everything?
Could anybody really teach us anything? I appreciated the effort of our staff guy. But, we already knew the bible.
When we graduate, we were going to do everything right. Our parents did okay, but we were going to do it better.
Whatever it was.
B/C, it’s us!
The staff guy knew we were a little full of ourselves. He was teaching a passage, I don’t remember which one, but it was one that didn’t always sit well.
Challenging. Like, give up what you want to do what others want. Give up your life to get Jesus’s. All sinners saved by grace.
Does God choose us? Or, do we choose Him?
I want to choose. I don’t anyone choosing for me. Even God.
It’s my life. I’m perfectly capable of making choices.
Or, a submission passage.
Wives? But we all submit. Well, we’re supposed to.
Anyway, one of those passages that ppl w/ a little pride try to work their way around. Justifying a little arrogance.
So, as he teaches that passage, he says something to the effect of, he doesn’t like that, doesn’t like what it means, thinks it should be different.
W/ that, he tore that page out of his bible.
We gasped so hard it sucked all the air out of the room.
You can’t do that. It’s the bible! Lightening.
He made his point. Hence, the Sharpies.
There are verses, or words, in the bible we may not like. Principles we may think should be different. B/C, it’s me.
Surely, it doesn’t mean that. B/C, if that domino falls, then the rest will fall and we’ll get to a domino I don’t what to do.
So, if there’s a contradiction in the bible, a contradiction between verses or a contradiction w/ what I want to believe, real or imagined, who defers to whom? And, what does it matter?
Words have a definition. If you don’t like the definition, you can’t just change it, erase it, or mark it out.
Or, can you?
This is the Word of God vs. the word of man, or ppl; even educated and very smart ppl.
This morning I’m starting a series thru the first 11 chapters of Genesis. They are foundational. They lay the groundwork for everything else in the bible.
If we can’t be sure of, or can’t believe in the first 5 words in the bible, then we can’t be sure about any of the words in the bible.
If we can’t trust the first 5 verses, then we can’t believe in any of rest of the verses in the bible.
If we can’t be sure of the first 11 chapters, then we can’t be sure of any chapter in the bible.
The bible is the inspired, written down, spoken words of God.
We have to believe in, accept, trust, and respect the power and authority of the word of God because when God speaks, things change for the better.
God will do his work in us when His word is in us.
It begins with the first 5 words. Then, the first 5 verses. Nothing else in the bible is more important that how it all begins.
You know there is baseball in the bible. “In the Big Inning...”
The Beginning
The Beginning
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 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.
The first 5 words are as important as any you will read in your entire bible.
In the beginning, God created...
They are foundational to everything else that’s in the bible. If these 5 verses have a crack, or a question of their authenticity and accuracy, then everything that is built on them is unstable and untrustworthy.
The most important part of a building is its foundation. If the foundation is cracked, crumbling, unsteady, unstable, or not level, then the building built on it is destined to fall.
Some of you have had foundation problems in your house up here. What happens when you problems in your foundation. Cracks form in the walls and ceiling. If allowed to continue w/out fixing it, eventually, they collapse.
A bad foundation means a weak structure that will not hold up under the pressures of life.
The ground moves. If your foundation moves w/ it, then where you live won’t hold up.
These 5 words, the first 5 verses of Genesis, and the first 11 chapters are the foundation that our faith and the the NT church are built on.
As life stresses them, if they don’t hold up, then the way we live will collapse around us.
The universe had a beginning.
The Hubble Space telescope has shown us many new things. Among them, the universe is still growing, expanding. Galaxies, solar systems, stars and planets are moving away from each other. Farther apart.
This surprised scientists. The thought had been everything is static in its orbit. So, projecting forward, things continue to move farther apart.
Hit the rewind button. Reverse it. Everything moves closer together. Go back far enough in time, and we will arrive at the place where it all began. Everything from 1 point began to expand.
The beginning.
This created a problem for atheistic scientists. They did not expect the evidence to point in this direction.
Science has yet to prove the earth is billions of years old. Science has found no evidence that disproves anything in the bible.
Carbon dating is very accurate to a few thousand years ago. After about 6,000 years, its accuracy drops off dramatically.
If you’re an atheistic, humanistic, evolutionist, you know it takes billions of years for the incremental changes to occur that produce Munds Park today.
So, backing up from that, to get here, their hypothesis requires billions of years.
But, if the universe is currently expanding, by definition, there is a point in history we can go back to where it all began.
There is no consensus among scientists that the earth is billions of years old, or just thousands. But you don’t read nor hear much about a young earth b/c the media is enamored w/ the humanistic.
If there is a beginning point, then there must be something, or someone who began it. A Creator who created it for a reason.
If God didn’t, who did? Where did the stuff come from that became Munds Park and us?
God must have. There is no other plausible explanation.
What about God? Where did He come from?
God has no beginning. He is eternal.
When I was a young Xian, my understanding at the time was God would exist forever in the future. But what eternal means is, not just future, but past, as well.
God was not created. He has no beginning.
The name of God in this verse is as we are first introduced to Him is, Elohim.
The -im ending is the plural ending in Hebrew. That means, there is 1 God who created everything, but He exists in plurality.
1 God, 3 persons, Father, Son, Spirit. The Trinity is defined in these verses. Fundamental to our doctrine and faith.
What God created is significant.
Man has created some pretty sophisticated tech. Computers, rockets, artificial hearts, cell phone.
You probably heard this long ago, there’s more tech in your cell phone than was in the first rocket and lunar module that first put man on the moon.
Yet, your body is made up of trillions of cells. And just one cell is more complex than anything man has created.
We couldn’t. Tech didn’t. Whatever is created cannot be as good as its creator.
And anything a person creates, must begin w/ raw material.
But God created the heavens and the earth ex nihilo, that is, out of nothing. So, not only did create what we see, he created what he used to create what we see.
We cannot do that.
There was so much more that happened than is in these verses. We have to be careful to not try to answer questions that are not being asked nor answered here.
v. 2 goes straight to the earth. Everything else in our sky was created around this same time.
But the earth was formless and empty. There was nothing here. God created the stuff that became the stuff where we live.
What’s represented here is utter chaos. Atoms and particles chaotically moving about w/out any sense of purpose.
God brought order to the chaos. An orderliness, that organized the cells that became the organisms of His creation.
While the things that are seen thru the Hubble are moving farther apart, their orbits and movements are orderly such that if 1 wobbled off by a fraction the pinball reaction would destroy everything.
So, everything that God has created has been placed and set in motion in a way that keeps it in existence.
This makes God a redeeming God. What was worthless and incapable of perpetual and reproductive existence has been redeemed to be maintained throughout history.
Our lives, once worthless and w/out purpose, chaotic and w/out direction; have been redeemed and given the opportunity to maintained for all eternity.
What was once unholy, has been made holy.
Once again, you see the trinity in creation. The Holy Spirit hovered over the waters that existed before anything else came to be.
Colossians 1:16 and corroborated by John ch.1; it was Jesus who spoke at creation.
For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him.
So, the Father oversaw the work, The Spirit hovered over the work. The Son did the work by speaking it into existence. And the first thing He did was create light.
Simply by speaking, the power and authority of the words of God are demonstrated in creation.
With Words
With Words
And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.
He didn’t have to use his hands. All He used was his words. And the first word he spoke was light.
Darkness has been used as a metaphor for evil. Evil is the absence of God.
Scientifically, there is no definition of darkness other than the absence of light. Once the light comes on, there is no darkness.
There are no degrees of darkness. There are degrees of light.
So, the first thing God did was bring light to the world. And, He did it before the sun existed. There was no star to light the earth.
He pronounced it good. That is perfect, w/out flaw.
He separated the darkness from the light and called it a day.
The earth had yet to turn on its axis, had yet to begin its orbit around the sun, when God created time.
Today, one spin on its axis is 24 hours. One lap around the sun is 365 days and 6 hrs. Every 4 years we have a leap day, Feb. 29.
Prior to any of this, God established time even though He is not bound by time. There will be no time in heaven.
Among the most questioned and controversial words in these first 5 verses is the word ‘day’.
How long was it really?
Every single occurrence in the entire OT and Hebrew language, when the word for day “yom”, is used, it represents 24 hours.
Every single time.
Would it have been any less glorious, miraculous, and questioned if God has said, “There were evenings and mornings, the first millennia.”?
What if each of these steps in creation too 1000 years?
What if He has said billion years? What if He had said nano-second.
But he chose the word day b/c that’s how long it took for each step in creation. If we question this word, then we could question every word in the God’s word.
Maybe day is a metaphor for short length of time that is not really defined.
Did Jesus really mean He is the only way to get to heaven. Or, was that a general undefined word representing a few ways to get there?
Moses wrote this down as the Holy Spirit gave it to Him. He also wrote Exodus. And, in Exodus where He is recording the 10 commandments, he wrote this:
For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.
If you question Genesis 1:5, then question Exodus 20:11, question the entire 10 commandments and maybe it really is okay to commit murder under the right circumstances. And adultery, thievery, and all the others written there.
If you pull one stone out of the foundation what happens to the structure?
Everything that exists does so under God’s control. Nothing that has been created poses a threat to God.
Therefore, the ppl He created, who have faith and believe this are provided security that we are protected us no matter what may threaten us.
He is large and in charge.
When He speaks, His words have authority. They have the authority to make everything obey what He says.
And the words He speaks have the power to do it.
So, if He says our reservation in Heaven, a seat at His table is secure, no maitre die can give our seat to anyone else or tell us we are underdressed for his dinner party.
From the beginning of time, science has tried to explain what happened in the beginning.
Physics, chemistry, biology all happened. But they have yet to explain everything. The sciences that ppl have discovered are still inadequate to fully explain everything God did when He spoke the universe into existence.
While we were visiting the Ark exhibit in KY, where most of my resource material has come from this morning, Dr. Ken Ham played a a clips of famous preachers and researchers at a Christian college and Mega-church in the south.
The preacher has been one that I have listened to a number of times for my own edification. When Dr. Ham played this clip I was stunned.
This preacher said, when science and the bible appear to contradict, we must land on the side of science.
Are you kidding me?!
Science is man’s opinion. It is well-educated and in most cases genius. But science can only attempt to explain what God did as it is discovered.
If there is an apparent contradiction between science and the word of God, then all that means is science isn’t done discovering everything, yet. Scientists have more work to do.
The power and authority of the word of God to affect change is unmatched. No human being can equal the act.
Try this when you get home today. Walk into your kitchen and say, “Cheeseburger.” See what happens.
If Jesus were to do this, what would happen is;
A cow for beef and cheese.
Wheat for flour for the bun.
A head of lettuce and an onion.
A cucumber for pickles,
Tomatoes for a fresh slice and some ketchup.
A chicken to lay eggs for mayonnaise.
Spices for you mustard.
A pig for your bacon.
Potatoes for your fries.
Do you know what would happen if I tried this? Do you know what I’d get? Slapped. That’s what I’d get.
It’s mothers Day. And that Cheeseburger ain’t fixing itself nor is my wife fixing it for me.
The word of God has the power and authority to affect change. God spoke and everything was created.
Jesus spoke and the storm went away. He spoke and the dead were raised, the demon-possessed were freed, the lame walked, and we are saved.
The Word of God is at work in us, too.
And we also thank God continually because, when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as a human word, but as it actually is, the word of God, which is indeed at work in you who believe.
He is at work in us affecting changes in our lives that make our lives better.
Whether it’s the first 5 words written in the bible or the last 5 words you read from your bible, they speak changes that make us better.
If you question the first, you will question the rest.
If you believe the first, the rest will provide the security you need to keep your life in order when everything is chaos around you.
Applications
Applications
Order
Order
God brings order to your chaos.
If your life is chaotic, your marriage, your family, your finances; then put Jesus in the center of it all and follow his lead.
He will give you direction and a purpose for your life that will keep you going for all eternity.
Word
Word
Let His word into your life.
One of my seminary profs, Howard Hendricks used to always say, It’s not how much you are in your bible, but how much your bible is in you.
We can read it and keep it at arms length.
Or, we have to intentionally let the written word, which is the spoken word of God into our lives.
That is, intentionally confront the contradictions that exist between our lives and the word, give the word priority and authority over our lives no matter how strongly we feel, and the Word will make positive changes in us.
God will do his work in us when His word is in us.
Accept
Accept
Accept the first 5 words as truth.
Accept the first 5 verses as truth.
B/C, if you question any of it, if you pull one stone out of the foundation, the structure will collapse on itself and on you.
Start here. And accept these words as truth. They are trustworthy, authoritative, and powerful; if not the easiest to accept and reconcile.
Commit to wrestle w/ and reconcile these words in your life and strengthen your position on the rest of the bible in the process.
If we can’t be sure of, or can’t believe in the first 5 words in the bible, then we can’t be sure about any of the words in the bible.
If we can’t trust the first 5 verses, then we can’t believe in any of rest of the verses in the bible.
If we can’t be sure of the first 11 chapters, then we can’t be sure of any chapter in the bible.
The bible is the inspired, written down, spoken words of God.
We have to believe in, accept, trust, and respect the power and authority of the word of God because when God speaks, things change for the better.
God will do his work in us when His word is in us.