Genesis 1

1. For 13 Sunday nights, starting this evening we will be looking at select passages in the book of Genesis.

2. Many of your young people are involved in lads to leaders-leaderetess.

3. They are now studying the book of Genesis to help them for the 2006 competition.

4. To reinforce what they are reviewing, we will be using 13 Sunday nights to help them and us.

5. Our format for these lessons will likely follow this pattern:

6. I will ask questions based upon the text, answer them, and then provide some brief application.

AS WE LOOK AT THE OPENING CHAPTER IN THE BIBLE, WE ARE PRESENTED WITH 31 VERSES.

1) God sums up the beginning of all things in Gen. 1:1, a verse already read.

a) Here we are told there was a creation.

b) Contrary to what some have claimed, matter has not always existed.

c) There is a being known as “God” and it was He who created the “heavens and earth.”

2) In the world we find many ideas about God.

3) We find those who believe in many gods.

4) Good hearted people point to an animal, a rock, or valuable object and proclaim it to be a god.

5) There are religions that say we are gods or can one day be gods.

6) In the Bible, we find again and again an affirmation of their being only one true God.

7) This God is portrayed as being eternal (He had no beginning and He has no end).

8) The God of the Bible is outside the boundaries of time.

9) Peter said a day is like a thousand years and a thousand years is like a single day to God.

10) God is all powerful, all knowing, present at all places at all times, all loving, perfectly just, etc.

11) It is this God and only this true God who made the heavens and the earth.

a) When we create things, it is often not a smooth operation.

b) Last week we had to build a contraption to test some parts at H2.

c) What we created looked like it came from the early 1900’s.

d) One young lady who had to use the procedure was afraid of being electrocuted.

e) When she say some sparks fly she panicked. We had to work through some safety concerns.

f) Perhaps you have created something and after you got started there was a mess.

g) Gen. 1:2 says that part of the creation process involved making the earth “shapeless and chaotic.”

h) What comes to my mind in looking at verse 2 is a crossword puzzle.

i) Think of how all the pieces are created and put into a box.

j) When we open that box, we may dump all the contents on the floor or a table.

k) A mess is before us, but we begin to arrange and turn all the pieces into a beautiful picture.

l) God created all things necessary for the earth to be what it is, and then arranged everything in the right way.

12) From this verse we learn great truths about God: He cares about man (worked to give him a good environment).

13) We also see that God is a God of order. God didn’t just go “bang,” create matter and leave everything.

14) He formed all things into a harmonious unit.

15) We also see in Gen. 1:1-2 information about who God is: God created (verse 1); the Spirit also helped (verse 2).

16) When we describe God we might say He is a “triune God” (1 God who has three aspects to Him).

17) Just as we see light as a single color, so God is one God.

18) The single color we see in light is actually composed of three unified colors blended together.

19) 3 colors are so closely connected together they form a single color for us to see.

20) A similar thing is true with God; blended into the one God is the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

21) God’s power is found in Gen. 1:3: He put out a request for light and it appeared.

22) All who have any sense at all will say that we have light and dark in the world.

23) We can give a scientific explanation for how this process works.

24) We know how it works, but how did this process arrive? God did it.

25) God “divided” the light from the darkness (verse 4). It was God who called the light “day” and darkness “night.”

26) It was God who formed the first day.

27) God did more than separate the light from the darkness. He separated the sky from the waters (verse 7).

28) We have the right balance of water and land on our planet.

29) God created the right boundaries so everyone would not have to live in boats.

30) He also insured that the world would not need to go hundreds or thousands of miles for water.

31) Remember back to the point made earlier: God is a God of order.

32) We would even say God is a God of perfection.

33) Whatever God does, He does very, very well.

34) By the second day light and night have been divided. Then came dry land.

35) Since an ideal environment existed, it was now time to populate it.

36) Since God is a God of order, He was a very logical creator.

37) In view of His orderliness, God brought forth “every sort of grass and seed bearing plant.”

38) God made fruit trees, and put seeds inside these trees (verse 12).

39) Many of the things we see or take apart have seeds; they can reproduce themselves.

40) We marvel at the seeds, but these seeds are all proof of the creator in Gen. 1—the God of the Bible.

41) On day three, man received additional items that would help him live.

42) Concerning the creation of grasses, these are used for different reasons.

43) Sometimes grasses are used for landscaping purposes. They help keep soil from washing away.

44) When we mow our laws or weed our flowerbeds, we can look at the beauty and see the hand of God.

45) Light existed prior to the fourth day, but it was apparently not permanent light.

46) When we construct things today, builders often use temporary lights. We did for this structure.

47) God apparently did a similar thing because the sun and moon were made on day four.

48) With the sun and the moon were also made the stars.

a) In the Bible we have a lot of things said about stars.

b) Gen. 15:5 has God asking Abraham to “count the stars” if this great man could.

c) Abraham could not do that, and neither can we.

d) The only true God made more stars than we can find and count.

e) Stars are compared to the grains of sand on our sea shores (Gen. 22:17).

f) Stars are so great many people have worshipped them (Deut. 4:19).

g) In the past and now, people have worshipped what the creator created instead of the creator Himself.

h) We know of stars that are far, far away, but listen to Job 22:12.

i) God is “higher than the stars.” He is far away, but He has come near to help man and save us.

j) God’s glory is far more glorious than the sun and stars, Job 25:5.

k) Ps. 33:6 says God formed all the galaxies and the stars in them.

l) God can count the stars and knows all their names, Ps. 147:4.

m) Imagine our world banding together and trying to move a star from place to place.

n) It cannot be done.

o) Isa. 51:13 says God “spread stars throughout the skies;” “stretched forth the heavens.”

p) People look to the stars for their future, but God says only He knows that, Jer. 10:2.

49) On day 5 in Genesis 1 (verses 20-23), God continued to create things to fill the earth.

a) God let fish fill the water He had separated.

b) In the air, birds of all kinds appeared.

c) Sea creatures of various kinds were created, and God commanded them to multiply.

d) It was because of God’s command these various creatures filled the earth and sea.

e) What exists came quickly, not after millions and millions of years.

50) Once the earth and sky were brimming full of various forms of life, God returned to land.

51) He commanded (verse 24) for various kinds of animals to appear.

52) He put out the word for cattle, reptiles, and wildlife of all kinds.

53) At this point in the creation process, the earth was filled with all kinds of life.

54) It must have been an interesting place, but it must have also seemed incomplete.

55) Was there not something that could somehow interact with all of God’s creation?

56) A perfect environment had been created-- lants, water, and all forms of life were all in place.

57) What additional creation could be brought forth to use and enjoy all of God’s beauty?

58) Man was the answer.

59) Gen. 1:26 says “let us” make man in our image and after our likeness.

a) Earlier it was noted how God is one, but there is a “Godhead.”

b) God is a triune being; here we see this thought being expressed again.

c) “Us” points us to the divine nature of God (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit).

d) God did not create man with the angels.

e) God decreed that man would rule over the life upon the earth and in the sky.

60) Just as God has authority, so man would have some authority (verses 26-27).

61) Not only did God make mankind, He made man male and female.

a) What kind of earth would we have if everyone on earth were a woman?

b) There would be problems with reproduction.

c) What if there were nothing but men?

d) In either case our earth would not be all that God intended it to be.

e) God is a God of perfection and completeness.

f) The order that He established was man and woman.

g) More specifically, one man for one woman.

62) In the beginning, God created a patter for the home and marriage.

63) He didn’t create an arrangement where a man formed a home with another man.

64) Neither did He arrange for two women to live together.

65) God didn’t, as some preachers say, arrange for a “shack up” relationship.

66) Animals are not our example for a marriage bond.

67) Some animals will form life long mating relationships but others do not.

68) With mankind, God set forth a very clear pattern: one man, one woman, for life.

69) God did not tell Adam, “take this woman for a few years and then trade her in.”

70) God’s plan for marriage as well as some principles about divorce are found in the opening pages of the Bible.

71) God gave man all things necessary to live (Verse 29) and expected them to be used.

72) At the end of creation, there was no evil at all in the world.

73) We do not know when Satan first appeared upon the earth, but at the end of Gen.1, all is fine.

74) God created a perfect earth but man ruined it with sin.

75) Though man messed up, God has another perfect place for human beings.

76) It is a place called heaven.

77) Because heaven is perfect, not everyone will go there; it is reserved for the saved.

78) A perfect earth offered fellowship with God, but earth was not God’s dwelling place.

79) Remember that God is compared to being far above the stars.

80) Heaven is the opportunity to be in God’s presence forever and ever.

81) It is possible to have this blessing, but we can only get there on God’s terms.

82) Jesus said He is the way and the only way (Jn. 14:6).

83) Jesus is the door, the vine, the good shepherd, and the bread of life.

84) We come to Him through a very simple process: faith, repentance, confession, and baptism.