How it all Began (part 2)

How it all Began (part 2)

Genesis Chapter 1

20And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven. 21And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good. 22And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth. 23And the evening and the morning were the fifth day.

24And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so. 25And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good.

26And 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 fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. 27So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. 28And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth. 29And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat. 30And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so. 31And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.

Sermon

In the last sermon, we looked at the first 19 verses of the first book of Genesis, we still have 12 left so I will finish off with those 12.

But first a little background info on the book of Genesis. The author of this book of the Bible is Moses, who lived a very long time after these occurrences in the first chapter of Genesis. So it would seem that Moses took all his information about the beginning of creation from tradition. And that nothing is first hand information. So how can we be certain that the information contained in this book is correct?

Well, as Christians we believe that the Bible is the true inerrant word of God and that there is no false material in it whatsoever. And we should note that Moses had a very close relationship with God, and that God created the world. And more than likely God told Moses all firsthand information, which probably differed from the traditional stories told at that time.

But it’s only by faith that we can really believe what is written in the word of God. That is why sometimes when you are trying to argue the truths of the Bible with a non-Christian you just seem to be getting nowhere, they just haven’t been given faith by Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit.

So that’s enough said on the background of the book for now, so let’s get on with the passage before us.

20And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven. 21And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good. 22And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth. 23And the evening and the morning were the fifth day.

These are the first creatures that God created.

Here’s a little fun fact: About 70% of the world is covered in water, so there’s more sea than there is land. So I’d feel kind of privileged if I were a fish.

You know, I think God really loves the sea creatures, we don’t tend to care for them in the same way that we do the land animals and yet they are all part of God’s creation!

24And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so. 25And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good.

Now God creates the animals on the land. All for His honour and His glory.

Isn’t it interesting, both the human and the slug have exactly the same purpose on this earth? To glorify God. Yet the soul of the slug ceases to exist on the day of it’s death, and yet our sould will live for eternity. Quite a solemn thought isn’t it?

26And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness:

Notice that it is all in the plural here, let US, in OUR, after OUR, not me and mine... It doesn’t mean that there are a lot of Gods; the Bible specifically says that there is only 1 God. But what I think is really meant here, is that God is talking about the trinity here, one God, yet three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, you might remember that at the beginning of the chapter it mentions the Spirit of God!

Exactly how one God can have three persons to His character, I don’t know and I’m not sure anyone else really does, or will do until God reveals it to us in Heaven.

26And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness:

We are made in the image of God. Or we WERE made in the image of God, we don’t look so perfect after years of sin making its toll on our image. But we are still physically very similar to the appearance of God Himself.

And because we are made in the image of God we ought to look after our bodies. I believe that it is wrong to eat unhealthy food, not to get exercise, and to wilfully get fat. Christians should be aware of their physical appearance and health, but yet to not make it their god. The key is to do all things as unto The Lord. I go to the Gym a lot, I eat healthily, and the Lord has kept me healthy to do the will of God in any way He sees fit. Could I do that if I were unwell?

26And 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 fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.

God has made us stewards of this world, not to use it for our pleasure, but the look after it that it may bring forth glory to the One that created it.

It is acceptable to take animals as food, it is acceptable to make them into pets and to tame them.

It is NOT acceptable to waste resources; it is not acceptable to beat an animal for your pleasure, which is marring God’s creation; It is not acceptable to deface the globe in any way that is not for the advancement of God’s glory.

We are stewards not lords!

27So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.

You know I’m so glad God gave us women; I just wouldn’t know what to do without them!

And notice that here both men and women are mentioned as being in the image of God, in that respect both sexes are on equal terms.

28And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.

Here God gives us the command to multiply. Meaning that it is a very good thing for a man and a woman to marry.

You know, I love going to weddings, because it is a great example of God taking the church as His bride. There’s just so much you can learn from the relationship between a man and a woman.

29And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat. 30And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so.

You see, even here will God is in the flow of creating everything for His honour and His glory, He takes a little time to think of puny little man and our needs for food. God is a really caring God!

31And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.

Everything God does is good! God is a good God! Do you remember what Paul said in Romans 8?

“All things work together for good”

All God’s plans are perfect and good, and we really are blessed that such a great God would look down on us sinful human beings.

Praise the Lord for everything.

The Lord bless His word.

Amen!

How it all Began

How it all Began

Genesis Chapter 1

1In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. 2And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. 3And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. 4And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness. 5And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.

6And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters. 7And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so. 8And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day.

9And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so. 10And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good. 11And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so. 12And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good. 13And the evening and the morning were the third day.

14And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years: 15And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so. 16And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also. 17And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth, 18And to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that it was good. 19And the evening and the morning were the fourth day.

20And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven. 21And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good. 22And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth. 23And the evening and the morning were the fifth day.

24And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so. 25And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good.

26And 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 fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. 27So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. 28And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth. 29And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat. 30And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so. 31And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.

Sermon

The Chapter we have just read starts off with “in The Beginning”. This is the very beginning of the inspired work of God.

The Beginning mentioned here is not the beginning of EVERYTHING, it is the beginning of the world, and God’s redemptive plan. It is not the beginning of God, God has no beginning or end. People have a beginning, our birth, yet we have no end... we must all one day stand at the judgement seat and hear the declaration that we are either saved or condemned to eternity in Hell, where the worm dieth not and the fire is not quenched.

1In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

God created us, not evolution as some people would have us believe.

Why did God create Heaven and Earth?

All for His glory! Everything is for His glory! The Bible is for His glory. People are created for His glory, and the sooner you realise that the sooner you will find meaning and fulfilment in your life.

2And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters

Isn’t this a great picture of what our hearts were like before The Lord came in and changed us? We were all darkness, no light in us, we were without form and void, we were merely a shell, and then the Lord comes and changes our whole life.

Do you remember the days when you weren’t a Christian? Do you ever wish to go back in time to those days? I really hope not. My life before I became a Christian had no meaning to it, I seemed to be put on the Earth by an accident, and that things just happened and that it all just meant nothing. I thought we all lived and then we died, nothing more nothing less. But there’s quite a change now!

3And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.

What would we do without light?

If there was no light, we would all be as blind people, we could see no colours, all would be dark inside. We wouldn’t be able to read this Bible if there was no light.

You see the Christian life is like a journey. And God has given us a road map, which is the Bible. Now that map would be no use if we had no light, because we just wouldn’t be able to see. In the same way unless the Spirit works within us that we can understand what God is telling us, the Bible is of no use to us at all!

4And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.

This is kind of like our conscience, which tells us whether what we are doing is right or wrong, light or dark.

The conscience is a very tender piece of equipment, put there by God to make living Godly easy for you. If you continue to ignore your conscience, your conscience will gradually begin to lose its power. Look after your conscience by reading the Bible often, the conscience needs a standard to keep to, a way of measuring up to the way a Christian should be, and the Bible is that standard!

5And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.

Wow all that was done in one day! That is remarkable! Only a God could do that! We can’t do the tenth part of that in a lifetime! Or can we? Paul said, “I can do anything through Christ which strengtheneth me”. Do you think maybe if we take all our strength from God, that maybe we could do things that only a God could do? We could do amazing things!

Think about it, With God we could be invincible.

That doesn’t mean that we could conquer the world, or that we could become really rich, God will only do those things that honour Him.

So let’s stop fighting against God and join Him!

6And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters. 7And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so. 8And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day.

I don’t understand this bit all too well, I will be honest.

We must continue to read the word of God, no one knows everything, unless you are God, so there will always be need for us to study the Bible. I recommend you spend a lot of time reading the Bible. I find a study Bible to be invaluable, learning from those who have already spent a lifetime studying the word of God.

9And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so. 10And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good.

It’s quite interesting that God didn’t make all the world into land, that there should be the seas which are mostly unusable to mankind. I think what we can learn from this is that God didn’t create the world for man, but for His glory, and Gods gets glory for Himself both in man and other creatures of the land, and also in the fish and creatures of the sea. We can often get the idea that man is the top of the food chain and that all things are made for man, but that’s not true at all.

11And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so. 12And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good. 13And the evening and the morning were the third day.

You see here the beauty of creation, God creates colours, not just the brown of mud.

Do you see the beauty of Creation?

Do you see the Creator in all of His works?

I didn’t used to be able to see all the beauty in creation; I used to be so taken up with myself, which made me so depressed. But now everything seems so bright and cheerful, and all that’s changed is that I see through all of creation and see it as the work of God who I love.

Ever been given something that’s been made by someone close to you? Perhaps your little daughter drew you a picture once, you don’t have a clue what it’s meant to be, it’s really poor art, yet you’ve kept it for years, because you love your little girl!

It the same with creation, although creation is perfect art, yet we do not look at the art, but the artist!

14And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years:

Here God divides up time into years, months, days, hours, minutes and seconds. This is very important because it gives us markers, shows us that time is going too fast, and that we must come to God before it is too late.

I’m also grateful that I can always remember the 17^th June every year as my baptism date, and that every year I can remember the goodness of God.

You see, I’m really thankful that God has given us days and months and years.

15And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so. 16And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also. 17And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth, 18And to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that it was good. 19And the evening and the morning were the fourth day.

Here God creates night and day.

Perhaps God created the night so that, we could always have a rest every day. One of the psalms says that rest is a gift.

Ps 127: 2It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows: for so he giveth his beloved sleep.

I always make sure that I have 8 hours sleep each night. I feel that as sleep is a gift it should be received gratefully, for to not receive would be an insult to the giver.

I have run out of time so I will continue on a later occasion.

The Lord bless His word.

Amen

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