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*Inscription: Writing God’s Words on Our Hearts & Minds*
*/Part I: In the Beginning/*
*Genesis 1:1-2:4*
*/January 3, 2010/*
*Main Point(s) of sermon:*
· God created everything out of nothing and is not part of creation.
· He made it “good.”
· He made us in his image.
*Objectives of sermon:*
· Exult God as the sovereign creator of all things.
For further reading:
· www.reasons.org
· Peralandra: A perspective on dominion
* *
*Prep: *
· Gen.
1-3
· Kyle’s commentary, Who was Adam?, Driscoll at -25:30
*Scripture reading: Genesis 1:1-5*
Prayer
As we begin reading through your Word, help us *find* *you* and *fall* more in *love* with you.
Help us find the *hope* that comes from the fact that you created us, and *share* that hope with others.
· Be with *Aaron* as he moves to Japan.
intro
Q How has your *Bible* *reading* gone?
We have read through the first 5 chapters of Genesis, from the *creation* to the *Fall* to *Cain* and *Able*.
· Each week I will only *focus* on a *part* of the reading, this week the creation, Genesis 1.
This is arguably the *most* *controversial* chapter in the Bible.
It may be the greatest *stumbling* *block* in modern times, to both *naive* *Christians* and *skeptics*
We look at it and ask questions like “*How* *old* is the earth?
The Bible says God created the earth in 6 days, but science says the earth is *4.5 billion* years old.”
And, “Are *science* and *religion* *compatible*?”
How *reliable* is the Bible?”
Wrong questions
The *ironic* thing is these are not the questions in the *original* audience mind.
These were the early *Jews* – they had grown up *surrounded* by *Egyptian* *Gods* and were largely *ignorant* about God.
· They had an entirely different question in mind: “Who is God?
What is he *like*?”
Here is a key hermeneutical hint (I will try to give these as we go along): Try to read through their eyes.
· This passage is far more about the *nature* of God than the *age* of the *earth*.
Genesis was not written as a *scientific* *book*, but a *theological* on.
As *Galileo* said, it was written not to tell us “how the heavens go but how to go to heaven.”
Yet *if* God has *inspired* the Bible, we would expect it to be *accurate* in everything it addresses.
If the Bible is patently *false* in *anything* it diminishes the *reliability* of *everything*.
· We’ll try to answer the questions the Bible is answering while answering *our* own *questions* as well.
Ex Nihilo
*Genesis 1:1 * In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
This opening verse was *controversial* when it was *written* and still is today.
All ancient *Mediterranean* *cosmogonies* start with *verse* *two* “the earth was void and formless” (a primordial chaos) and the gods *arise* out of chaos *spontaneously*.
· To my knowledge, this is the first place we begin with *God* and *nothing* else.
From this we have the doctrine of creation “*ex* *nihilo*,” creation out of nothing.
In fact, the word “*created*” (Heb: /bara’/) in v.1 is important because it denotes making out of *nothing*.
In most places in Genesis, it says *yasar*, which means to shape from *preexisting* materials (NIV: *make* vrs.
*create*).
It is only used *here* at the beginning, when he creates *living* *creatures*, and when he creates *humans*.
· Ironically, this is *less* *controversial* now than 50 years ago: until the *Big* *Bang* *theory*, the universe was thought eternal.
God is outside of creation
Here in the first verse, we have several profound statements about who God is:
1.
*He* *exists*: Denies *atheism* and that all this “just happened.”
2.
He is not *part* of creation: Denies *pantheism*, that God is in and part of everything.
He created it, so it bears his *fingerprint*, but he is *separate* from it.
3.
There is *one* *God*: Denies *polytheism*, not a team of gods creating and fighting.
Yet, in the *next* *verse* and John 1:3 we see the *Trinitarian* nature of God.
Who made God?
Let’s dabble in *philosophy* – Sarah has already asked me “who made God?” and people still ask that question.
The *ancients* said, “They *appeared*” and *moderns* say “He is a *myth*.”
· The Bible says “He has *always* been, he is the *uncaused* *cause* and *preexisting*.”
The *question* betrays our *lack* of *perspective*.
We look at the *universe* as our starting point.
Actually, God is the starting point.
Don’t try to *imagine* what may have been before God, but *imagine* *God* as the *entirety* of *everything*.
Then think of *creation* as almost an *intrusion* upon that *reality*, like a *bottle* adrift in the *Pacific* *Ocean*.
This *universe* and its *entire* *history* from start to finish is a *blip* is the *eternal* *radiant* *glory* of *God* that has always been and will always be.
There’s your philosophy for the morning.
Yeah, but how old is the universe?
As we continue to verse 2, things only get more *interesting*, and *controversial*:
*Genesis 1:2 * 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.
| Day 1 – light and darkness | Day 4 – sun, moon, stars |
| Day 2 – sky and waters | Day 5 – fish and birds |
| Day 3 – dry land and plants | Day 6 – animals and man |
Regardless of the concerns of *original* *audience*, we are very much *interested* in *how* *old* the earth and the universe are.
Among Christians, there are basically *three* *perspective* on *how* *long* God took creating the earth and *how* *old* the universe is:
1.
Young-earth Creationism: The entire creation took a *literal* six days.
They see Genesis 1:1 is a *summary* of the entire creation event in chapter 1.
The universe is between 6,000-10,000 years old.
2.
Old-earth Creationism: Genesis 1:1 explains events *prior*/ /*to* the rest of chapter 1, meaning that the universe and earth were already *quite* *old* (about 14 billion years) by Genesis 1:2.
There are two *different* *types* of OEC:
a.
The days of 1:2-31 took a *literal* six days.
b.
The days of 1:2-31 are in some manner *figurative* (longer or shorter), yet still a *miraculous* *creation*.
3.
Theistic evolution: Genesis 1 is *largely* *figurative* and *evolution* is the process God used for creating everything.
Which of these is *church’s* *position*?
“In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.”
We don’t have an *official* position on *how* and *when*.
A variety of opinions are held by the *elders*, yet of each take the *Bible* *very* *seriously* and also believe that God *could* do any of them.
We *disagree* on *which* *one* he did.
· This may come as a *real* *shock* to some – I saw a couple leave my last church because it wouldn’t take the YEC position.
*Why*?
Because it is thought that these other views *devalue* *Scripture*.
They may be so *accustomed* to the *YEC* *perspective* that they cannot *imagine* how the *OEC* could be *Scriptural*.
I myself *lean* towards #2b, but I could be wrong.
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