In the Beginning (Part 1)
Text: Genesis 1:1-25
Core Idea: In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. May this truth humble us and cause us to worship knowing that He alone is worthy of our praise. But I pray that it’ll also bring us comfort and strength knowing that this powerful God loves us, cares for us, and has a purpose for us.
INTRODUCTION
Today, we’ll be starting a new sermon series in the Book of Genesis which will most likely take us to the end of next year. It’s going to be a long ride – so, get comfortable. Now, personally, I’m very excited to study this book with you not only because it’s foundational for understanding the rest of the Bible, but also because it contains truths that can expand our minds, awaken our souls, and stir our hearts – truths about God, truths about us, truths about the world we live in, and most importantly, truths about God’s plan to redeem His people. That’s what I want you to see. But if I can add one more reason – I want us to study this book together because I feel that some of us (including me) have become so familiar with this book that it no longer moves us in the way it should or in the way it once did. Now, don’t get me wrong – being familiar with the Bible is a good thing because it means that those biblical truths have been engraved in our minds and hearts. The problem of course comes when our minds stop thinking and our hearts stop responding because we’ve come to take those truths for granted. We no longer slow down to wrestle with these truths because we think that we know them already. And because we think that there’s nothing else to gain from this book, we become careless in our reading, and we’re quick to move on to something new, something more interesting – not realizing that it’s causing our minds to become dull and our hearts to miss the wonder of God’s truths hidden here. Brothers and sisters, does this describe you today? Then my prayer for us is that this sermon series will help us recover that wonder again and freshly discover life-giving truths from this book. I really want to show you that this book is far more amazing, far more powerful, and far more relevant than you could ever imagine. So, with that in mind, please turn your Bibles to Genesis 1:1-25. Let me read this for us.
1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 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. 3 And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. 4 God saw that the light was good, and He 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. 6 And God said, “Let there be a vault between the waters to separate water from water.” 7 So God made the vault and separated the water under the vault from the water above it. And it was so. 8 God called the vault “sky.” And there was evening, and there was morning – the second day. 9 And God said, “Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear.” And it was so. 10 God called the dry ground “land,” and the gathered waters He called “seas.” And God saw that it was good. 11 Then God said, “Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds.” And it was so. 12 The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. 13 And there was evening, and there was morning – the third day. 14 And God said, “Let there be lights in the vault of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark sacred times, and days and years, 15 and let them be lights in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth.” And it was so. 16 God made two great lights – the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars. 17 God set them in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth, 18 to govern the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that it was good. 19 And there was evening, and there was morning – the fourth day. 20 And God said, “Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the vault of the sky.” 21 So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living thing with which the water teems and that moves about in it, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 22 God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the water in the seas, and let the birds increase on the earth.” 23 And there was evening, and there was morning – the fifth day. 24 And God said, “Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: the livestock, the creatures that move along the ground, and the wild animals, each according to its kind.” And it was so. 25 God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.
Amen. This is the Word of God for you today.
Now, I’m sure your mind must be filled with all kinds of questions – “Is that what really happened? What about the Big Bang Theory? Did God really create the world in six literal days? Or could it be possible that each “day” represents millions of years? What about the theory of evolution, the fossil records, and dinosaurs? As Christians, how do we read and understand this passage with all that we know today scientifically? Should we take this to be literal or symbolic? Is this history or a parable? Not to mention – how do you explain the fact that there are two accounts of creation in Genesis 1 and 2? Is the Bible contradicting itself? And not just that – if the world that God created is so good, why is there so much evil and suffering today?” I could go on and on, but the point is that we must have a lot of questions because many of us want to know what really happened in the beginning. Now, I don’t want to disappoint you but I’m not going to answer any of those questions today – not because I’m trying to evade them, but because this passage wasn’t ultimately written for that purpose. One of the rules for interpreting the Bible is that we should always find out why the author wrote this book in the first place. Then what was the author trying to communicate here? One thing’s for sure – this passage wasn’t written to communicate scientific ideas. It doesn’t use the language of science, nor is it concerned with scientific issues – which is why when we pit science against this passage, we’re actually doing an injustice to the text. Then what is the focus of this passage? Not on how God created the world, but that God was the One who created the world – to tell us that this world wasn’t created by chance but that it was created by God with power and wisdom. That’s what this chapter is about. It’s meant to display the glory of God (to tell us who God is and what He is able to do) and to shape our worldview accordingly. All that to say, this is not so much the story of creation as it is the story of the Creator. And because of this, I’m going to focus today’s sermon solely on God. But this is not to say that I won’t answer any of those questions that are related to science – which is why this is only part one. So, next week, I’ll respond to some of the issues mentioned today – but not all of them. Then, for now, let me point out three things from this passage:
· WHO GOD IS
· WHAT GOD DID
· HOW GOD VIEWS HIS CREATION
1) WHO GOD IS
Verse 1, “In the beginning, God.” Let’s stop there for now – we’re going to take this very slowly. Think with me – everything we know has a beginning. When it comes to the universe we live in, all the living creatures in this world, our families, our church, and each one of us, we can all pinpoint a moment when these things started. But the first four words of the Bible tell us that God was there before anything came into existence – in fact, the rest of the Bible consistently teaches that God has no beginning and no end. For example, Psalm 90:2 says, “Before the mountains were born or You brought forth the whole world, from everlasting to everlasting You are God.” And God Himself says in Revelation 1:8, “I am the Alpha and the Omega who is, and who was, and who is to come.” The God that we gathered to worship today, the God who we have a covenant relationship with, the God who knows us by name, the God who loves us, the God who is for us and with us is the same God who is not bound by time or space – He’s the source of life, and He’s the One who allowed our stories to begin. Sometimes we forget this – forget how amazing, glorious, and inconceivable our God is because our minds get hijacked by the busyness of life or the pleasures of life. But He is not to be trifled with – which is why we should never treat Him casually, take His blessings for granted, and just nonchalantly disregard and disobey His Word. Our God is far greater, far stronger, and far more precious than we could ever imagine. He alone is the uncreated being – “In the beginning, God.” This is important to point out because it’s offering an answer to a question that science remains silent on – it’s the question that asks, “What was the true and first cause of all that there is?” Yes, the Big Bang Theory suggests that about 13.8 billion years ago, the entire universe began from a dense, extremely hot single spot called the “singularity.” But if we ask, “What caused that spot to form?” they have no answer. But the Bible clearly tells us that everything started with God – He intentionally and wisely created all things.
Then we can’t help but ask, “Who is this God? What does Genesis 1 tell us about who God is?” Let me point out just two things. First, God is transcendent – in that, there’s absolutely no one like Him. He is different. He is beyond our understanding. Compared to all living things of this world, God is categorically and infinitely above them all. No wonder Moses declared in Exodus 15:11, “Who among the gods is like you, LORD? Who is like you – majestic in holiness, awesome in glory, working wonders?” God is infinite, not finite; independent, not dependent; unchanging, not inconsistent. Now, you might be wondering, “Where do you get that from just this verse?” Because it tells us that before the world was created, God was. Before there was matter, time, and space, there was God – which means that there’s this infinite distance between us and God. We are not like Him. We should never try to act like Him. He alone is worthy of our worship. He alone is worthy to be the King of our lives. And unless we recognize and embrace this reality, we will never stop competing for the throne of our hearts – which, by the way, will always leave us more devastated because we will never be able to succeed. So, that’s the first thing.
Second, God is immanent – in that, God is not a mere force but a personal Creator with will and plan. This truth is powerfully shown through the Intelligent Design Theory which holds that certain features of the universe and the complexity of all living things in their biological structure are best explained by an intelligent cause – and that it could not be the random product of evolution. This is important to point out because it means that God created this world with a purpose. He didn’t just randomly put things together – hoping that something beautiful would come out. No, He carefully thought through the kind of world He wanted to build, meticulously carried out that plan, and intentionally got involved in this world to fulfill all that He desired. This is awesome because it implies that God designed each one of us with a purpose in mind. He knew exactly what He wanted us to be and how He wanted us to live. Then the ultimate goal of our lives shouldn’t just be to be happy by pursuing more possessions, more power, and more pleasure. Pastor Paul Tripp writes, “If there is a Creator, then it’s not my place to choose how I want to invest my life or to decide what I want my purpose to be. As Creator, God alone has the ability and the right to tell me how to live and what the driving purpose should be for everything in my life. Then making God’s purpose for me the driving purpose of my life should be my deepest motivation and my constant commitment, no matter who I am or where I am living. The doctrine of creation teaches us that we do not look to ourselves for purpose, but we look to our Creator.” We can joyfully do this because our God is not just transcendent but also immanent – He is close to us.
Then let me ask you, “Do you know this God? Do you have a relationship with Him? Do you know His purpose for you and for your life?” Friends, if God truly is who He claims to be, knowing God must be the highest endeavor of mankind. I love what Charles Spurgeon said, “The highest science, the loftiest speculation, the mightiest philosophy, which can ever engage the attention of a child of God, is the name, the nature, the person, the work, the doings, and the existence of the great God whom he calls his Father. There is something exceedingly improving to the mind in a contemplation of the Divinity. It is a subject so vast, that all our thoughts are lost in its immensity; so deep, that our pride is drowned in its infinity. But while the subject humbles the mind, it also expands it. Nothing will so enlarge the intellect, nothing so magnifies the whole soul of man, as a devout, earnest, continued investigation of the great subject of the Deity.” Then let me ask you again, “Do you know this God? Do you want to know Him?” But here’s an even more important question – “What would be the proper way to respond to knowing this awesome God?” Worship. This passage was written to humble us, inspire us, and move us to drop to our knees and exalt the name of the Lord – these words were written to cause us to be in awe of Him. Think with me. We weren’t there when the world was created – and we certainly did not create the world. In fact, no matter how hard we try, we will never be able to speak anything into existence – but God is the great Author of our story. Then what we do here (our corporate worship) can’t be a casual thing – it can’t be just another thing that we have going on in our lives. We must remember that we’re entering the presence of the Creator God – that we’re coming to honor the King of kings, the Lord of lords, the One who was, is, and is to come, the One who is not like us, the One who is beyond our understanding, the One who breathed life in us. Then let’s not just mindlessly sing – let’s joyfully and passionately sing songs to the Lord with all of our hearts. Let’s give Him the glory that He deserves. Yes, I understand that we’re often exhausted, drained, and discouraged by the burdens of life – and believe me, I don’t take that lightly. But if that’s the case, let’s make an even greater effort to see His beauty and glory here – let’s desperately ask God to ready your hearts, revive your hearts, and renew your hearts today. Friends, let’s not make our Sunday service a meaningless ritual – let this be an opportunity for us as a body of Christ to come together to be in awe of our almighty God and worship Him for who He is. But more than that, may our whole lives be a living sacrifice – that we would honor the Lord with our speech, decisions, actions, money, time, marriage, singleness, studies, and work every single day. Let’s not waste the opportunities that God has given us to exalt Him – let’s worship the Lord with everything we have because He alone is worthy to be praised.
2) WHAT GOD DID
Verse 1, “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” The Hebrew word for “to create” is incredibly interesting because it’s never used by anybody but God in the Bible – this word is associated only with God. This makes sense because most of the commentaries agree that the word at its core ultimately means to create something out of nothing – to create something that wasn’t there before at all. Now, it may be so easy to miss the wonder of this truth because all of us have never created anything in its truest sense. Think about it. Yes, it’s true that we create things – in that, we create new songs, new movies, new technology, new products, new stories, and so on. But we always “create” things from existing materials – which means that it’s more accurate to say that we’re always building rather than creating. We never create something out of nothing, and yet that’s exactly what God does throughout the Bible. But here’s something even more mind-blowing. Verse 3, “And God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light.” How did God create? Simply by speaking. This is absolutely amazing because when you and I say, “Let there be light,” we have to go and flick on the switch or ask somebody to do it for you. But when God simply said, “Let there be light,” there was light. In fact, not just light but the land, the sea, the sun, moon, and stars, the trees, flowers, birds, fish, and animals – the whole world just came to be just at the sound of His voice. Pastor Paul Tripp gives us a simple example to give us a glimpse of how stunning this is – he said, “You and I have to work hard to make anything. Even when you buy a piece of furniture from Ikea, with all the pieces properly designed and a booklet of instructions, you are driven to the edge of your sanity trying to follow the instructions and assemble something that represents what you thought you bought. All of our DIY projects require mental focus, physical dexterity, and perseverance. We struggle to make things, even though we always start with raw materials, are following instructions, and have collected the appropriate tools. And yet here is God, who, with nothing more than His will and His Word, spoke the universe into existence. It is the impossible made possible. There are no analogies to this moment. It stands alone as one of the singular wonders of the awesome power of God.” Brothers and sisters, I pray that you won’t miss this astonishing glory that’s contained in this passage. I pray that it will take your breath away – to cause you to be in awe of our God knowing that we create out of stuff, but God creates the stuff.
Then here’s what we can take away from this. It’s to remember that there’s power in His Word – the power to create something out of nothing, the power to bring order from chaos, the power to bring light into darkness. Whatever He says, goes. Isn’t that what was happening? When He said, “Let there be light,” God was expressing His will. “I want this to be done” – and that’s exactly what happened. And here’s why this is important for us. Because it teaches us that just as nothing was able to stop Him from achieving His will then, nothing will ever stop Him from achieving His will in our lives and in this world now and forever. In other words, whatever God desires for you and me will always be done. We briefly touched upon this during our prayer time – but all God’s promises will be fulfilled in our lives because there is power in His Word. Whatever He says, goes. Then let me ask you, “If you’re a Christian, do you ever doubt the love of God for you because your life feels out of control – because you’re constantly facing setback after setback?” Then meditate on Romans 8:38-39 which says, “Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Do you worry about your life? Then think through the words of Jesus in Matthew 6:31-33, “Do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” Are you crushed by the weight of your sin? Then obey the words in 1 John 1:9 which says, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” Do you find yourself too easily falling into temptations? Then pray through 1 Corinthians 10:13, “God is faithful; He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, He will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.” Are you hesitant to go and share the gospel with others because you feel inadequate and intimidated? Then remember the words of Jesus in Matthew 28:18-20, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” In fact, remember Genesis 1, because just as God’s Word brought life into this world, when we speak the Word to our friends, it will create life in them too. I can go on and on about a list of promises in different circumstances – but the point is that there’s power in the Word and all that He wills will be done. Then let’s trust Him and immerse ourselves in the Word.
3) HOW GOD VIEWS HIS CREATION
Verses 4, 10, 12, 18, 21, and 25 all have this phrase – “And God saw that it was good.” After each day of creation, God looked at His creation and declared it all good. What’s going on here? He was delighting in His creation. Isn’t that what we do after eating a good meal, listening to good music, watching a good movie?
We would say, “That was so good” because it satisfied us in many ways. Then in the same way, when it says, “God saw that it was good,” it means that He loved what He saw. He was satisfied. He was taking pleasure in His creation because He could see that the world that He created reflected His beauty and glory. Now, we get a glimpse of what this means just by going out to nature. Think with me. Doesn’t it move you to see the vastness of God’s creation? When you look at the mountains, when you look at the night sky filled with stars, when you listen to the rainfall, when you listen to the sound of the waves, when you feel the power of thunder and lightning, when you smell the flowers, when you think about the intricate details of your body, when you think about the vastness of our solar system, don’t you just feel overwhelmed by the glory it displays? Aren’t you blown away by the beauty that you see? Considering this, it’s absolutely unbelievable that God says, “It was very good” after creating mankind in verse 31. It wasn’t just good but very good when He created and saw us. You and I are the epitome of His creation because, unlike any other creation, we are created in God’s own image. Friends, let this truth sink in because it means that you’re beautiful, glorious, valuable, precious – it means that you have incomparable worth, God loves you, God delights in you, God cherishes you not because you have accomplished something great, not because you have possessed something that others don’t have, but solely because you and I are created in the very image of God. Do you believe this today?
Of course, the Bible tells us that everything changed when we sinned against God. It distorted that image in us, and it also created this unbridgeable chasm between us and God. In fact, in Genesis 3, we’ll read that because of our sin, we’ve been expelled from the presence of this Creator God. Then what can be done to restore that image – to enable us to enter into His presence again? Well, did you know that there’s another place in the Bible that starts with the words, “In the beginning?” John 1:1-4, 14 says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through Him all things were made; without Him nothing was made that has been made. In Him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind… The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us.” Here, we learn that the very Word of God that created the heavens and the earth became flesh in order to be with us. He came to live the life that we should’ve lived and died the death that we should’ve died so that we can be forgiven of our sins and be reconciled to God. Isn’t that amazing? The Creator God made Himself vulnerable and came to be with us so that He can make way for us – and the Bible clearly tells us that His name is Jesus. You see, on the cross, the unthinkable happened. The Creator God spoke and yet there was no answer. He cried out, “My God, My God,” but His Father did not respond. He was the One who made all things full and yet on the cross, He was completely emptied. As the Creator God, He delighted over His creation, but on the cross, He was despised and rejected by the very people He created. He came to create and give life, but on the cross, all He experienced was destruction and death. Then we can’t help but ask, “Why? Why did He do this?” 2 Corinthians 5:21, “God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.” He did this in order to pay the penalty of our sin so that we can be forgiven, so that our image can be restored, so that we can have life and life to the full. Friends, do you believe that today? If not, you can do that today. Trust Jesus as your Lord and Savior. But if you already do, approach God with confidence today for when He sees you, He will delight in you, He will sing over you, He will adore you and love you.
CONCLUSION
Lighthouse family, in the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. May this truth humble us and cause us to worship knowing that He alone is worthy of our praise. But I pray that it’ll also bring us comfort and strength knowing that this powerful God loves us, cares for us, and has a purpose for us. Who can be against us when this almighty God is for us?
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1) What are some of the questions you had on the creation account found in Genesis 1?
2) Verse 1 tells us that God was there in the beginning. What does this tell us about God? And how should this influence how we live and relate to Him?
3) How does the fact that God created the world by simply speaking challenge or inspire your understanding of His power? In what ways does knowing that God’s Word is powerful impact your faith, especially in difficult times?