[Profound questions about life abound]
[People’s understanding of our origin]
[The Bible holds the answers to life’s difficult questions!]
[What do people like about the the Bible?]
[Online – Bible Gateway stats]
[What about the most important verse?]
[The first book is Genesis – the book of origins!!!]
• and God is the Lord and Master of everything.
• The first sentence of the Bible is unique.
• and it’s the starting point of all true godliness.
[The story of creation is in Genesis 1:1 to 2:3]
• Genesis 1:1 is NOT a title for the section
• Let’s take out our magnifying glasses and take a closer look at Genesis 1:1...
• and its implications for our lives.
• First it says, “In the beginning...”
• Next, it says, “God...” [the creator]
• Next in the verse, it says, “Created...”
• The last words of the verse say, “The heavens and the earth.”
[God created everything from scratch]
[God’s creation contradicts pantheism]
[3. Wider implications (application)]
• Genesis 1:1 gives the background to everything we need to know about
• Genesis 1:1 is the background to God’s ability to control the world.
[DIFFICULT QUESTIONS]
[Where did I come from?]
How many of you have had the endearing experience of hearing a child asking the profound question,
“Where did I come from?”
Not too long ago, my four year old brother had a conversation with my dad that went something like this:
...
Profound questions right?
...
[Profound questions about life abound]
Children are not the only ones asking profound questions.
The majority of humanity at one point or another
How did life begin?
[People’s understanding of our origin]
The late Freeman John Dyson,
known for his works in...
in other words – a really smart guy,
...he once wrote that:
The origin of life is the deepest mystery in the whole of science. Many books and learned papers have been written about it, but it remains a mystery.
There is an enormous gap between the simplest living cell and the most complicated naturally occurring mixture of nonliving chemicals. We have no idea when and how and where this gap was crossed.
We only know that it was crossed somehow, either on Earth or on Mars or in some other place from which the ancestors of life on Earth might have come. – Physicist and mathematician Freeman J. Dyson, A Many-Colored Glass: Reflections on the Place of Life in the Universe, p. 104.
Freeman John Dyson basically said that
Was he right or wrong with his conclusions?
Sadly,
it appears that he must have spent too much time
...
So what do people do when they can’t find answers?
If you ask scientists,
Have you heard of the watchmaker argument for the origin of life?
The watchmaker argument,
In crossing a heath, suppose I pitched my foot against a stone. I wouldn’t think much of that. I wouldn’t wonder, “Well, who put that stone there, and where did it come from?” It’s just a stone.
But if I were to continue across the heath and come across a watch, then I would be intrigued. I would pick it up, look at it, and pop the back off the watch. Inside I would see the bushings and the gears in quite an arrangement. -- Paraphrased from Chapter 1 of Natural Theology, and further reworded from The Watchmaker article from the following note.
“Paley makes the point that
In order for the watch to tell the exact time,
A watch, Paley concludes,
“The point that Paley was trying to make is that
“Paley’s argument has had quite a legacy. ...
In the 1820s a young student named Charles Darwin read Paley’s Natural Theology.
Darwin would later record in his autobiography
But later, sadly,
In his book, The Origin of Species, Darwin wrote,
“The old argument of design in nature, as given by Paley, which formerly seemed to me so conclusive, fails, now that the law of natural selection has been discovered.
We can no longer argue that, for instance, the beautiful hinge of a bivalve shell must have been made by an intelligent being, like the hinge of a door by man. ... Everything in nature is the result of fixed laws.” – Charles Darwin l
“If this was all you knew about Darwin’s findings,
“Millions of people have come to that conclusion.” n
“But actually, if you read on,
It actually says that:” o
“...all living things have much in common, in their chemical composition, their germinal vesicles, their cellular structure, and their laws of growth and reproduction...
Therefore I should infer from analogy that probably all the organic beings which have ever lived on this earth have descended from some one form existing from the beginning of time (primordial), into which life was first breathed by the Creator.” -- Charles Darwin, The Origin of Species, p. 484.
“Life was first breathed by the Creator.”
Friends, Darwin wrote this!
It has been over 163 years since Darwin wrote this statement [in 1859],
and since,
many continue running to and fro,
with knowledge increasing in all schools of thought and sciences,
yet the knowledge of the absolute truth of our true origin
...
According to Wikipedia:
“Most experts agree that all life today evolved by common descent from a single primitive lifeform. It is not known how this early life form evolved, but scientists think it was a natural process which happened about 3.9 billion years ago.” -- Origin of Life, Wikipedia. p
This explanation still leaves so many questions unanswered!
[The Bible holds the answers to life’s difficult questions!]
Friends,
We could talk, theorize and argue all day long about our origin,
Have you heard about this book?
It's The Holy Bible!
Whether you are a Christian or not,
whether you have read the Bible or not,
you would have to agree that the Bible is the most important book ever written because: r
- The Bible has transformed the world
- People are willing to die for this book
- It's the most accurate book of antiquity
- It contains a life-changing message of freedom
- It connects you to history's most important figure...
JESUS of NAZARETH!
...
[What do people like about the the Bible?]
You may be wondering how the people who read their Bibles read it.
[Online – Bible Gateway stats]
With the use of computers and the Internet,
[Top 10 searched keywords]
In 2018, on the 25th year of Bible Gateway (founded in 1993),
And the ten top most searched keywords are:
Starting at number 10 is...
10. grace
Then...
9. holy spirit
Then...
8. wisdom
At number 7 is...
7. prayer
Then...
6. heart
Next is...
5. joy
Then...
4. hope
At number 3 spot of the most searched keywords in the Bible is...
3. faith
At number 2 is ...
2. peace
And finally, the number one keyword searched is......
1. love
...
Many of the people searching for love
“Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.” -- John 4:7-8, NIV.
...
[Top 10 searched passages]
How about the list of the top 10 most searched Bible passages?
Starting at tenth place we have the passage about Spiritual protection found in...
10. Ephesians 6:10-11
...Put on the whole armour of God.
Next for those who worry too much is...
9. Philippians 4:6-7
...Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. (NLT)
Next we have a verse to help us with our fears...
8. Isaiah 41:10
...Don’t be afraid, for I am with you. (NLT)
At number 7 we find a list of virtues all Christians should strive for...
7. Galatians 5:22-23
...The Fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace...
At number six is a passage about who we should really trust...
6. Proverbs 3:5-6
...Trust in the Lord with all your heart. (NLT)
At number five we learn the results of loving God....
5. Romans 8:28
...all things work together for good. (KJV)
Next up is the love passage, which would make a great poster for your walls...
4. (NLT) 1 Corinthians 13:4-8
...Love is patient and kind.
At number 3 of the top 10 most searched Bible passages we learn of what is possible to do when we rely on Jesus....
3. Philippians 4:13
I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me. (KJV)
At spot number 2 we get some insight into the mind of God...
2. Jeremiah 29:11
..."For I know the plans I have for you.", says the Lord. (NLT)
And finally, at the number one spot of the most searched passages in the Bible we learn about God’s true love for mankind...
1. John 3:16
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. (KJV)
...
What is really interesting is that,
...
[What about the most important verse?]
We have listed the top 10 words people search in the Bible
and the top 10 verses people search for,
How about the most important verse of the Bible?
What verse do you think is the most important,
...
HINT: When people get a new Bible, what do you think they read first?
Genesis 1:1
[Genesis 1:1]
[Great conversation starter]
Genesis 1:1 is found at the very beginning of the Bible,
...
Please open your Bibles to the very beginning... s
[The first book is Genesis – the book of origins!!!]
Our English Bibles call this first book Genesis.
What is the definition of the word “genesis”?
Genesis means, an origin, creation, or beginning.
As you can see, Genesis 1:1 says that,
“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” -- Genesis 1:1, KJV.
So, the first thing we learn about our origin or beginning is that...
• God is there
• God is real
• God is unique
• and God is the Lord and Master of everything.
Do you see how All of this is taught in the very first sentence of the Bible?
• The first sentence of the Bible is unique.
It is not an accident that the Bible begins in the way it does.
The fact that God is there as the Creator of the universe...
• Is the start of all...
• healthy thinking,
• all true worship
• and it’s the starting point of all true godliness.
[The story of creation is in Genesis 1:1 to 2:3]
Genesis 1:1 to chapter 2 verse 3, tells the story of the creation of the world.
God is pictured as a workman who works for six days
• Genesis 1:1 is NOT a title for the section
but it is rather the opening sentence of verses 1-5.
...
• Let’s take out our magnifying glasses and take a closer look at Genesis 1:1...
• By considering its wording,
• its teaching
• and its implications for our lives.
...
[Ⅰ. The Wording]
Let’s start with the wording of Genesis 1:1:
‘In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.’ (KJV)
A more literal English translation is:
‘In the beginning created God the heavens and the earth.’
This is the word order of the original Hebrew t .
And in Hebrew it read,
Berreshit BARRA Elohim
et Ha-Sha-MA-Yim
veh-ET
ha-AH-retz.
But since I am not even a novice in Hebrew,
Today we will examine the King James version wording for this verse:
• First it says, “In the beginning...”
In the beginning...
It does not say in the beginning of “anything”.
It simply talks about ‘“the”’ beginning.
It is an absolute beginning.
This phrase is found also in John 1:1, where it says,
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
This verse refers to the beginning of everything,
• Next, it says, “God...” [the creator]
In the beginning God...
This is the first time the word ‘God’ is used in the Bible.
It is worth noticing that the names
The word ‘God’ is the common word that even unbelieving people use.
Its meaning is defined in the very first verse of the Bible!
‘God’, in the rest of the Bible,
...
Adam Clarke explains in his commentary,
“Many attempts have been made to define the term GOD.
As to the word itself, it is pure Anglo-Saxon,
and among our ancestors signified,
not only the Divine Being, now commonly designed by the word,
but also “good,”
– in their understanding it appeared that “God” and “good” were corresponding terms;
and when they thought and spoke of Him,
they were doubtless led from the word itself
to consider Him as the Good Being...” -- Adam Clarke’s Commentary on the Holy Bible.
...
Friends!
God is good... All the time!
...
Later in the Bible, when we see God interacting with men and women,
But ‘God’ is the common and general [ordinary] word used
...
‘God’ is a word that stresses God’s power!
It takes its meaning from this chapter.
The first mention of God in the Bible refers to what He does.
The Bible does not give any abstract,
God is not known apart from what He does,
The only God is the God of the Bible,
...
From Genesis 1:1 onwards this word ‘God’ will mean ‘the sovereign creator-God who revealed Himself in Israel’.
Later on, the term ‘Yahweh’/‘Jehovah’ will be used,
It means, ‘the God who redeems by the blood of a lamb’. u
But to start with, Genesis 1:1 introduces God as the creator-God.
• Next in the verse, it says, “Created...”
In the beginning God created...
The Bible only uses the word ‘create’ with God as the subject.
It never has any man or woman as a subject.
It never says any person ‘created’ anything.
...
Nowadays we often speak of people being ‘creative’.
It is alright to speak that way
Then, the word create is always used of something happening
Also, it must be noted that the word create is never used mentioning any kind of material being used.
God does not create ‘out of something else‘, like artists do.
‘Create’ means ‘bring into existence, without using pre-existing material’.
...
The word create is used of other things besides creating the world.
It is also used of God’s work of salvation in 2 Corinthians 5:17, where it says that:
“... if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” - 2 Corinthians 5:17, KJV.
New life is also ‘created’ when a person is in Christ.
...
Something very interesting to note in this verse is,
that the Hebrew word for “created” is the singular verb Barra,
yet the Hebrew word for God preceding it, is the plural Hebrew noun Elohim.
Do you see how...
Right here in the first verse of the Bible an awesome doctrine is introduced, that though God is one, there is a plurality of persons in the Godhead – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, who together were engaged in the creative work. v
...
• The last words of the verse say, “The heavens and the earth.”
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
Heavens and earth is a way of saying ‘absolutely everything’.
When you get a pair of words like,
The use of a pair of opposite words is a way of saying ‘every single thing that there is’,
...
[Ⅱ. The teaching]
Next, let’s consider the teaching – what we can learn from Genesis 1:1
[God’s existence is assumed]
We notice first that God’s existence is assumed – His existence is taken for granted – it is a fact.
The Bible never tries to prove the existence of God.
All people ought to know that God is real.
The Bible simply starts talking about Him:
‘In the beginning God...’
[God created everything from scratch]
Genesis 1:1 excludes the idea that matter is eternal.
The stuff this world is made of has not always existed.
Material things,
It teaches that God created everything from nothing,
...without using pre-existing material.
Everything that there is,
[God’s creation contradicts pantheism]
God’s creation contradicts pantheism,
the idea that everything is God,
and that the universe is divine
-- a belief that the New Age movement promotes.
Pantheism is not true!
We must never worship the world!
“In the beginning, God created...”
There is a distinction between God and the stuff of which the universe is made.
In the beginning God was there,
“In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.”
God is utterly self-sufficient.
God once-upon-a-time did not have anything there other than Himself,
because as the apostle John describes,
“All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.” -- John 1:3
The apostle Paul also understood that,
“The God who made the world and all the things in it, the One who is Lord of heaven and earth ... is not served by human hands as though He needed anything. He is the One who gives to everyone life and breath and everything.” -- Acts 17:24-25
God does not need anything outside of Himself.
He depends on nothing;
...
[3. Wider implications (application)]
Finally, let’s consider the wider implications of Genesis 1:1
This introductory verse gives us the background to the rest of the Bible.
• Genesis 1:1 gives the background to everything we need to know about
• sin,
• redemption,
• history,
• and about the future.
God is our Creator.
This means that God has rights over us.
The reason why sin is sin is that God is our Maker.
He has sovereign rights over this universe.
Any person who lives out of touch with His creator
• Genesis 1:1 is the background to God’s ability to control the world.
The reason why God can control this world
He knows how it works.
The laws of nature are His laws.
...
• Genesis 1:1 gives us the background to redemption.
Salvation is God doing something about His world.
When this world fell into sin and darkness,
God was not willing to let it go.
God is saving the world that He made in the beginning.
This verse means that God is capable of handling our lives.
...
Imagine you have some machine,
[Illustration - the broken jack or broken chain bar]
What do you do?
MEN! Eventually you might have to say,
‘I have to send it back to the one who made it – back to the maker!’
This is how it is with with us.
God made us.
Yet we have become broken.
Is there any answer?
Yes, the answer is ‘go Back to the Maker – our Creator!’
He is the One who knows how we function.
If we wish to function aright in this world,
we must follow the Maker’s instructions,
the way He designed the world
...
When God sent Jesus,
He was making a way for His world to come back to Him.
Out of the old fallen world, He brings into being a new creation.
In 2 Corinthians 5:17, the apostle Paul says,
“Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” – 2 Corinthians 5:17, KJV.
The new creation is God’s determination not to abandon the old creation.
Because God is Creator,
As John 3:16 says,
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” – John 3:16, KJV.
.......
Dear friends,
Are you distracted with the many paths you have taken in your life?
Are you stuck on a perpetual roundabout, doing the same wrong thing over and over and getting no where?
Are you travelling on a freeway leading to an unknown end?
If this is you...
Pull over!
Listen to the quiet knock at the door,
it is Jesus –
let Him in and let Him take the wheel.
And as you fix your eyes on Jesus,
the author and perfecter of your faith [Gal 12:2],
He will help you drive through the obstacles of life
and set you on a path
that leads to everlasting life...
because He is your almighty God,
your Creator,
He knows exactly the beginning and the end of your life,
and what is best for you,
because He is the Alpha and the Omega,
the First and the Last,
the Beginning and the End. [Rev 22:13]