Genesis 1

Well good morning everyone…It is so good to see you all again this morning. Right now we want to welcome out kids back into the back to meet your teachers so that you can go and learn about Scriptures in a way that makes sense to you. We also want to welcome our extended family online this morning. We are so glad that you have chosen to join us as we continue to grow into a deeper relationship with the Lord together.

Hey, this morning we are going to start a brand new series called Genesis: back to the beginning. I wanted to come back here becuase we have looked at various studies over the last few years and I may repeat myself sometimes, but I felt like it would be beneficial to understand where we all came from. I mean, we did a study of the origins of the church and we will be going back to that soon, but I felt it would be important to go back to the very very beginning of everything so that we can understand where we came from and where everything started.

That is what we are going to start looking at this morning. We are going to see where we came from so that we can see where we are going and what God is doing all around us. You see, the God we worship is the same God yesterday today and forever, so if something was true in the beginning....it’s still true today. If something was God’s perfect plan in the beginning…it’s still God’s perfect plan today. This is something that is largely lost in the world around us, which is why occasionally we have to be reminded why we believe the things that we believe. For instance…There was a decision that was leaked from the Supreme Court earlier this week. This decision is a decision that has already began to polarize the country, as well as the world frankly. It seems that the whole world is watching what we do here in the states as a guide to what is good. Well, this decision is a decision that is not going over particularly good in the eyes of many people. You see, earlier this week the majority decision was leaked to the press from the case Dobbs v Jackson. This is a case that was fighting against the abortion ban after 15 weeks in Mississippi. Now, many people would argue with this decision becuase it seems to set back abortion rights 50 years by overturning Roe v Wade. However, when the court went back and looked at the case and looked at what was decided and how it was decided that there never was a Federal right to abortion in the first place. Therefore, the decision must be taken back to the state level and each state will make their own laws or allowances to proceed with this heinous act.

Now, why did I mention that this morning? Well, first of all becuase it just happened, and frankly I believe this is a decision that is going to save thousands, maybe millions of lives. Secondly, because we have to look at what the beginning says in order to understand what is right. In this case, we are going to see in Genesis how God made mankind. Then, we must as Christians fight for that life that God created if we are going to honor Scriptures. However, we really must know for ourselves what that Scripture actually says, and not just repeat what someone else claims.

So, to that end, let’s take a look at Genesis and see what is really going on. Turn with me to

Genesis 1:1–2 (ESV)

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. 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.

Ok, so before we go too far here, I want to share a few things with us. Right here we see that in the beginning God created. That statement right there eliminates all unBiblical origins of the heavens and the earth as well as life on earth, including, but not limited to the Big Bang Theory, and all theories that originate from that such as evolution and the panspermia, that claims life was brought here from somewhere else in space. You see, we have to make a choice as to whether we believe the Bible, or we believe people that are simply making guesses becuase they so desperately do not want to believe in a creator. Actually many in the sciences are moving their views to claim that there may be a creator of some sort, but they are unsure what that means. So, we first decide that

God Created Everything

Now, that we have made this decision to believe this Passage, then we begin working our way through the details of how this happened. In order to understand that we need to look at some Scriptures so that we can see what exactly God did. Actually, there is something else that i must address here. You see, there is a picture being painted here that is important. First of all in vs. 1 we see that God created the heavens and the earth. Now, when we look at the original languages, which are actually incredibly important we see that in the beginning is a word called Berashit. Now, this word indicates to us that there is nothing at this time. Berashit means “what is first” There is nothing prior to this moment. There is no time, there is no space, there is no mass…God created the heavens and the earth, from nothing. The latin phrase that you might hear would be EX-Nihilo, which literally means from nothing. God did not build the universe from things that he had around him…there was no around him prior to this moment. This is the moment that time, space, and mass began. This is important, becuase this right here is what eliminates the big bang as taught in school.

Thats not all we see right here though is it. No, you see, there is an incredibly powerful picture that is painted with verse 2. We see that in the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth that the earth was formless and empty with darkness everywhere…there is a picture of pure chaos. Things floating around everywhere, water and dry-land all mixed up. Up and down all confused, just pure chaos If that picture is true, then God brings order to chaos. I don’t know about you, but that right there is incredibly comforting to me. It’s comforting becuase I know that there are so many times that my life is pure chaos…at least it feels that way. When I reflect on this picture of creation I can’t help but believe that if God can bring that chaos into order, then he can surely order my chaos, Amen…Does that give you hope at all? I sure hope it does.

Let’s keep going though becuase there are some pretty important things I want to look at this morning. I want to remind us all about the order of creation. First we see

Day 1—Day/Night

Genesis 1:3–5 (ESV)

And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. And God saw that the light was good. And God 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.

There are a couple of important things going on here that I want to point out. First of all we see God is sovereign over everything. When God speaks…things happen. We see that throughout this story of creation. We also see God has control of everything. Here again, and we will see this throughout the creation story. IN the Ancient Near East, when you named something, you held control over that thing. Therefore when God named the light and the dark, he was asserting his own lordship over those items, and we will continue to see that along every single day throughout the creation narrative. Lets keep going here

Day 2— Heaven (Space)/Atmosphere

Genesis 1:6–8 (ESV)

And God said, “Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.” 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. And God called the expanse Heaven. And there was evening and there was morning, the second day.

Here we continue to see God’s power as he separates his creation with an atmospheric layer. That is what the expanse is. This word that is used is based on a verb that can mean a thin piece of metal. Anytime this word is used as a noun, it always refers to the atmospheric divide. Then in

Day 3— Land/Vegetation

Genesis 1:9–13 (ESV)

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. God called the dry land Earth, and the waters that were gathered together he called Seas. And God saw that it was good. 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. 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. And there was evening and there was morning, the third day.

Now God is beginning to form things a bit better. I can almost envision God as he organized the chaos, separating his creation how he will use them, and now he is beginning to form that chaos into something real. We see that as the land appears and trees and plants and all other kids of vegetation that grows all over. Talk about the most pure plants ever. What happens next?

Day 4— Sun/Moon/Stars

Genesis 1:14–19 (ESV)

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, and let them be lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light upon the earth.” And it was so. 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. And God set them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth, to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening and there was morning, the fourth day.

Ok, something that is interesting here is that…Day 4 compliments Day 1. Now we get to see formulation of seasons to help the grass and plants grow the way that God has formed them to grow. There is something else that is kind of impactful when you think about it here. You see, in the ancient world, and frankly in some places still today, people worship the lights in the skies as deities. That means that people in other religions and in other cultures would actually worship what God has created. This shows us the futility of false worship as God literally has control over what other worship. In other words, the sun, moon and stars are simply inanimate objects created and ruled by God. On to

Day 5— Birds/Fish

Genesis 1:20–23 (ESV)

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

Here we go again…Day 5 compliments Day 2. God is still at it and he is doing amazing things here. God has formed these new areas where he separated the waters above from the waters below and now he is filling those areas with amazing creations. Listen, I know that people love space travel and they love to be in the air flying like a bird, and honestly that is the one super power I always wish I had growing up…well that and clean my room by blinking my eyes…Of course now I am deathly afraid of heights, like to the point that I start to get woozy on a ladder sometimes…However…under the sea…that is amazing, it is beautiful to see all that God created under water for us to enjoy. God’s paintbrush under water is magnificent. I would go scuba diving today given the opportunity. Actually we used to have a saltwater fish tank before we moved and it was so cool to be see first hand the beautiful fish and the coral that we had. I could sit for hours and just watch life underwater. Of course here again, we see that God has control and ownership over the animals of the sea, which is in direct contrast to the neighbors to the ancient Israelites who worshiped Rahab a mythical sea monster. Well let’s move on becuase this next day is kind of a really big deal…not that the first 5 weren’t, but 6 is amazing for us to remember...

Day 6— Animals/People

Genesis 1:24–31 (ESV)

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. 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. 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.” So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. 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.” And God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food. And to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the heavens and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so. And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.

This is the busiest day of the week here. We also see that Day 6 compliments Day 3. You see, it is as if God had a plan throughout this entire process where he would work to create the spaces that are needed for his greater creations to survive, ending of course with the creation of mankind. The thing is there is something different about these animals, isn’t there? I mean, in other days God simply created the fish and the birds, but now God is creating according to their kinds, which tells us there aer different kids, and those kids are important. From here we have livestock, or domesticated animals, then we have crawlers, such reptiles, and finally we have wild animals that roam the earth.

When we get to v 26 we see a bit of a problem here. You see, God says, “Let us make man in our imagine.” So, who is us? I think that is a fair question. Some have said that the us refers to God and his angels…some have said it is God and all of creation…some have said it is God and other gods…However, all of those explanations would seem to conflict with the rest of Scripture that tells us that there is one God, right? I mean, is God going to make his creation in the image of his creation? No, you see, here what we see is the first picture of the Trinity. God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. God then tells us that this new creation is going to rule over and subdue all of the other creations. This new creation will name all other creations asserting dominance over everything. Remember in the ancient cultures if you named something, you held control over it. That is the life that God has created for mankind.

That’s not all we see here though…No, we see in vs 27 a little poem,

Genesis 1:27 (ESV)

So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.

Ok, here is something that the culture we live in today does not like to see or hear. You see, Im going to say something that has gotten me removed from various social media sites, and I will continue to stand on this truth. God created male and female…Period…that is it. There is no such thing as these multiple genders that people feel like today. When someone, and I know I am going to say something that might be hurtful to someone so please hear that I love you and want Gods best for you, but when someone decides that their gender is wrong, they are telling God that his perfect plan is not good enough. You see, what did God say at the end of every single day of creation…It is good. What did God say at the end of day 6? It is good. If it is good, then it cannot by definition be wrong. Our culture today says that we can be whatever gender we want to be in that particular moment. We have people that believe they are neither male, nor female, and we have people that believe they are animals, we have people that are pregnant, yet believe they are men…I know that sounds strange, but it is true. When we as sinful people have taken Gods word and thrown it away we turn further and further from truth and we begin to believe more and more lies from Satan. That is what modern gender theory is…a lie from Satan. Anytime we believe we can take what God has created and make it better, or fix it...that is a lie.

Listen, God made male and female and it was good…Do you know what else this day shows us? God has placed mankind over every other creation and commanded us to conquer it and control it. However, what we see is that God created man in his own image…Listen, earlier I told you about a decision from the Supreme Court of the United States that has overturned a horrible decision called Roe v. Wade. This decision lays the groundwork for states to begin to outlaw this barbaric practice of murder, becuase God did not command us to conquer and control mankind…and those that are pre-born are lives that were created by God in his image, not something that we have the right to destroy as we see fit.

I love what God says at the end of the 6th day here...

Genesis 1:31 (ESV)

And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.

God saw all that he had made, and it is not only good…now, it is very good! Now, it is complete...

Now, it is possible that for you and me we feel like this is easy stuff. However, we need to remember that there is a growing part of our worldwide culture that believes this is not in fact easy. This is being taught in the schools here in Illinois and across the world that you can become whatever you decide you want to, or you feel like becoming. It is being taught in schools that the preborn don’t matter because they are not real life…Listen, this is in direct contradiction to Scripture. Look with me at

Psalm 139:13–14 (ESV)

For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well.

You see, God created man and woman, male and female, and God created you…He created you exactly the way that you are…there is no mistake.

Now, there are also some other views of creation and I would like to share with you the most common and most rational views of creation for you to be aware of. That way you can read for yourself, and be informed, and believe. So here we go...

Five Creation Theories

First of all there is

Theistic Evolution:

This states that God used evolution and all of the scientific theories in order to bring about his creation. The problem here is that in order to believe this, you have to throw out Genesis 1.

Next there is the

Gap Theory:

This states that there is a gap between vs 1 and vs 2. This gap is an unknown length of time and this is a way of bringing together the theory that the earth is billions of years old, and creation.

Another theory is

Day-Age Theory:

This theory says that each one of the days represented here in Gen 1 is actually some other amount of time called an “age”. This theory also brings together the scientific age of the earth and the truth of creation. This theory is based on 2 peter 3.8 that says for the Lord, a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years is like a day.

This next theory is a bit interesting, it is the

6 Days of Revelation Theory:

The strength of this theory is that we know that no one was alive to witness the actual creation events. Therefore in order to have this recorded in this way God would have to give this revelation to Moses so that he can write it down. Therefore, this theory states that each of these days is simply the signifier of the time it took for God to reveal his creation.

Finally after all of these, some of which may be a solid view to hold, we have the

6 Day Creation Theory:

This theory is exactly what it sounds like. This is the theory that says the Bible is a real book with real events and therefore is to be taken literally in the absence of genre specific Scripture. Most people that would believe in a literal 6 days of creation would say that God created a mature earth, not a baby. That is why there were full size trees in the garden. God did not plant seeds, but instead he created a world, a universe that was already mature and continuing to grow.

Now, most of these views are actually solid views that are held by faithful believers all over the globe. While it is ok if you hold to almost any one of these views, the important thing to remember is that God did create everything…That this is not an accident, and that God actually has a plan for everything that he created. We see that in the way that the days worked together and built upon each other. That means that whatever we do, we should seek to be in accordance to Gods plan. We should seek to live a life that is reflective of God’s perfect design.

Listen, more than anything else this morning as we close out I want you to think about the very beginning of everything. Remember that God created the heavens and the earth and that the earth was formless and void…The earth was chaotic and messy, or untamed. Then God spoke, and when God spoke, order was created. There was an order to creation, there was an order to plants, there was an order to animals, and finally there was an order to you and me. That means that your personal messy life that you are experiencing right now can have order to it once again. The question is, how? How can God bring order into your chaotic life…Well, the only way to discover that order that God brings is to look at his words. When God speaks, things are brought into order…so...read your Bible, I know that I talk about this all the time, and I talk about it, becuase its true. Reading your Bible daily is powerful and keeps you focused on his words and not your own. I know it can be really hard to start doing that and so I want to invite everyone to join several of us as we are seeking to read daily. There is a reading plan in the Bible App that you will see, and if you need help getting connected talk to me and I will be happy to help you out. That is the first way to begin to experience God’s order in your chaotic life. The other way is to reach out and let’s talk about the order that only God can bring into your life. Bethany and I offer Biblical counseling as well as personal help with your spiritual growth and we would love to get together with you and talk about your relationship with the Lord.

For now, here is what I want to do. I want to invite every single person here or online right now to join me in prayer and commit to spend some time with the Lord in his word this week. Listen, if you make this commitment to the Lord, you better be prepared to follow through, or at least tell him why you don’t have time for him. Otherwise, if you are unwilling to make this commitment, be honest with the Lord as we pray together and tell him why you cannot make that commitment at this time in your life. Then ask for him to work in your life to give you the desire to know him more. Just be honest with him…and yourself.

Let’s pray