From the Beginning
Notes
Transcript
What does God want them to know? God creates Goodness
Why? It give us hope
What does God want us to do? Rejoice in His Goodness
Why? It gives us hope
ME/WE
We are starting a new series called “From the Beginning
We are going to back to the beginning of the Bible, beginning of it all to see God’s orginal intent with what He created.
Any Lord of the Rings fans out there, Lighting McQueen (Cars) or Back to the Future?
It is like we are going to part 1 of the Lord of the Rings triology
We are going back to see how it all started to help us understand the whole picture better.
If you just watch the 3rd movie in the Lord of the Rings, yes it was a great storyline, a great story line with EVIL being defeated by a CHRISTLIKE CHARACTER IN A HOBBIT NAME FROTO BAGGINS....THE LEAST LIKELY
SIMILAR THINGS WERE SAID ABOUT JESUS
For he grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground; he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him.
Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.”
Shire!?!
And if we don’t start from the beginning and understand God’s whole plan there are VITAL things we will miss about GOD and US and His plan
Regretfully I have missed a lot of things because I have spent the majority if my Christian life in the New Testament
Not only I but many of our devotionals and etc.
And it is hard at times to understand everything.
BUT LET’S NOT THAT BE A BARRIER
ALSO, VOLUME 4 OF THE BIBLE, (Revelation) THE VOLUME THAT IS NOT WRITTEN YET, THE NEW HEAVENS ADN NEW EARTH
Looks like the BEGINNING,
Genesis 2 and Revelation 22
Genesis 2 shows what heaven will look like and Revelation 22 has similar language.
We don’t have time today to go over this.
And the temple and tabernacle had images of the Garden of Eden all in it because the Garden of Eden was like heaven.
It is good to look back, because looking back we see how things were to be, and how they are supposed to be now, and will be perminately in the future.
And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”
All to its original design and pattern
To understand that let’s go back to the Beginning to see who things were made to be. to help us understand how things are to be and will be.
this will be a little interactive.
GENESIS
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.
What does it say?
We will cover a few key words
In the Beginning (He is the ALPHA and OMAGE)
Whether you believe in an old earth creation....the earth is old, that it took God millions of years to create the EARTH or you believe God created
God is the beginning
HOW DID GOD GET HERE? DON’T KNOW…hard to
Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.”
He is the beginning
In the begging how was the world???
- Did God come to a world that is somewhat opperational? Just fix a few things?
NO, scripture says it was toho vavoho: wild and wasteland (toho vavoho is used over and over in the scriptures to describe the desert
there was also water
What does that look like in your mind?
Who is hovering over the waters?
The Spirit of God?…holy Spirit is at creation over the water
Ruach: wind, breath, Spirit (ru-ach)
What does God do with these uncreated wind waste planet called earth and also he does something with heaven?
does he just leave it toho vavoho?
no he creates
How does it He create it?
by his breath, ruach
by God’s breath, God’s ruach, God creates the heaven and earth.
do we see what God’s breath does....toho vavoho....in one minute God creates
Ezekiel 37 that God’s ruach causes dry bones to come to life.
The hand of the Lord was upon me, and he brought me out in the Spirit of the Lord and set me down in the middle of the valley; it was full of bones.
And he led me around among them, and behold, there were very many on the surface of the valley, and behold, they were very dry.
And he said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” And I answered, “O Lord God, you know.”
Then he said to me, “Prophesy over these bones, and say to them, O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord.
Thus says the Lord God to these bones: Behold, I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live.
And I will lay sinews upon you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live, and you shall know that I am the Lord.”
So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I prophesied, there was a sound, and behold, a rattling, and the bones came together, bone to its bone.
And I looked, and behold, there were sinews on them, and flesh had come upon them, and skin had covered them. But there was no breath in them.
Then he said to me, “Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, Thus says the Lord God: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live.”
So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived and stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army.
Then he said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. Behold, they say, ‘Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are indeed cut off.’
Therefore prophesy, and say to them, Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I will open your graves and raise you from your graves, O my people. And I will bring you into the land of Israel.
And you shall know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves, and raise you from your graves, O my people.
And I will put my Spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land. Then you shall know that I am the Lord; I have spoken, and I will do it, declares the Lord.”
The ESV Study Bible Chapter 37
The vision receives a double interpretation in vv. 11–14. The primary meaning relates directly to the exiles’ despair (v. 11) and concludes the vision in v. 14. Verses 12–13 transpose the metaphor to a graveyard and contain one of the few hints of resurrection in the OT (see note).
RU-ACH
This is foundational to God....out of toho vavoho God creates LIFE
Some of you your life is going in one direction and you think it’s going to stay toho vavoho but in one breath…God creates a new situation…a better stitutation .
What does He create?
TOV: Goodness, seven times God said “this is good”
SEVEN times a number of completion
the number seven is all over the first chapter of Genesis
FIRST DAY
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.
What is the good that is created this day?
light
Anybody ever been in a dark cave or when it is pitch black outside? it is disorienting…we don’t know up from down, left from right....it is scary
but where is the light coming from?
This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.
Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”
not to just see with our physical eyes but also Spiritual eyes
Good God who gives us light
DAY 2
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.
What is Good about this day?
God creates water?
Do we realize how much we need water?
do you know how long you can live without water?
3 days
God creates water
but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”
He creates heaven?
That is good news? How many of us are happy that after our time is up on this earth, we get to go heave if we believe in Jesus?
THIRD DAY
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.
What is good that God created by His ruach on day three?
land
We need a foundation
We cannot tread water forever
plants for fruit
food
Barukh ata Adonai Eloheinu melekh ha’olam hamotzi lehem min ha’aretz.
Blessed are You, Lord our God, Ruler of the universe, who brings forth bread from the earth.
Fruit
Vegetables
Grains
Wine
Other foods
plants for beauty (blessings for beauty)
How many of you like to go to the metro parks or nature?
it takes you breath away at the beauty of God
FOURTH DAY
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.
What is good about this day?
Sun is 93 million miles away
warmth
Rule: dominion
Why is important that they rule the skys?
Physical and mental health
Vitamin D
Meloatonia 95% created
SUNSHINE MAKES US FEEL HAPPIER
Spiritual health
Seven days
Feasts
New Moon festivals
The ESV Study Bible Chapter 28
28:11–15 The New Moon Sacrifices. The first of the month, indicated by the new moon, was an important festival; as many sacrifices were offered then as at Passover or Pentecost (see vv. 16–31). It was an occasion for family worship (1 Sam. 20:5–6; 2 Kings 4:23). It was like the Sabbath, a day when trading stopped (Amos 8:5; see also Col. 2:16).
They were set in place to rule to help us continue to be connected to God.
FIFTH DAY
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.
What is Good about this day?
God has given us birds and fish to look at
Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you. And as I gave you the green plants, I give you everything.
SIXTH DAY
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.
What is good about this day part so far?
Animals
God has given us animals
Anybody have a dog or a cat?
They are like your best friend, companion, they are a gift from God
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.
God calls us to have dominion to have a kingly role
What is Good about this day?
God creates us, in the image of God.
“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.”
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.
My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth.
Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.
God created you GOOD, God doesn’t create junk
You are an image of God at the very beginning of your life
YOU ARE CREATED IN THE IMAGE OF GOD
“When men strive together and hit a pregnant woman, so that her children come out, but there is no harm, the one who hit her shall surely be fined, as the woman’s husband shall impose on him, and he shall pay as the judges determine.
But if there is harm, then you shall pay life for life,
eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot,
burn for burn, wound for wound, stripe for stripe.
God creates us and we has says what He created is Good, yes sin messes things up.
God creates us for a relationship and gives us companionship with Him and others
God creates Goodness
light
air
Sun
plants
heavens
companionship
seventh day
Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them.
And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done.
So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation.
What’s missing on the seventh day?
no evening and morning
Goodness is to last forever
But eventual sin gets in the way
But God makes all things
And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.
For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.
And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.
And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”