The Beginning
Sermon Notes
Intro:
Today we’re continuing our teaching series called The Story: From the very beginning to the last amen. We’re walking through the biblical narrative from the very beginning in Genesis 1, to the last amen in Revelation 22, and last week we learned the bible isn’t a collection of books full of disconnected stories. It’s a single story all pointing to Jesus. It’s a single story, a single narrative that includes you, but isn’t primarily about you. It’s primarily about Jesus, and every story in the bible whispers his name. Every story in the bible points to him and his plan to rescue and renew the world from the destruction sin is causing our world.
We need to remember that big picture of the biblical narrative so we don’t turn the bible into moralism, thinking it’s about how to live a good life and earn our way to heaven. The reality is we’ve all sinned, we’ve all contributed and still contribute to the destruction of our world and relationships. Jesus came to start the process of rescuing and renewing our world from that destruction, and that’s the big picture, the grand narrative, the thesis of the bible. It’s all about Jesus, and his plan to rescue and renew the world. Every story in the bible whispers his name, so let’s turn to the place where it all began, which is Genesis 1. You’ll find Genesis in the front of your bible, it’s the very first book of the bible, and we’ll be in Genesis 1:1-3. Title of today’s message is The Beginning, and here’s the big idea. The beginning starts with God, and He brings light into the darkness...The beginning starts with God, and He brings light into the darkness...
Context:
Here’s your context. The word Genesis means beginnings or origins, so Genesis is a book about beginnings. It’s about the beginning of creation, our world, human history and civilization. It’s about the beginning of creation, God’s purpose and plan for creation. So our context begins with God creating, it begins with God setting everything in motion. This is where The Story…begins.
The Word:
Genesis 1:1-3 states, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” Those are the first words in the bible, it’s in the beginning “God created.” The Hebrew word for created isn’t used for anybody else in the bible except God. It means to create out of nothing, to create something from nothing. When humans create we have to use already existing materials, because only God has the power to create something from nothing. So the implication being made in vs 1 is that God existed before creation, and He’s the one who set creation in motion, which is where skeptics disagree. Christians believe creation started with God, skeptics believe it didn’t, and both these claims require faith. It takes faith to believe God created the world, and it takes faith to believe the world created itself. The question is which is the more reasonable faith? Is it to believe the world created itself, or to in the beginning there was God?...Is it to believe life can create itself from non-life, or in the beginning there was God?...Skeptics want you to have faith, that the world began as an accidental formation of molecules. But even the greatest skeptics will admit the statistical probability of life creating itself from non-life, the statistical probability of life creating itself from nothing, is extremely low. One of the leading atheist scientists is Richard Dawkins, and in his book The God Delusion he admits the odds of things lining up so perfectly for life to exist, is nothing more than luck! So you can either have faith you’re lucky to be alive, or faith that in the beginning there was God, an intelligent designer, who intended to create you.
Again vs. 1 states, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 Now the earth was formless and empty...” The earth was formless and empty, like pottery waiting to be formed by its Creator, into a treasure of beauty and purpose. If you believe this view of creation, if you believe God intended to create and form you into existence, then it means 2 things.
#1 Your Life Is Treasured = Your life is treasured, because your life was formed by the very hands of God. Tomorrow we honor Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. whose Christian beliefs drove his desire for equality. He believed everybody is created in the image of God. King said, “The whole concept of the image of God, is the idea that all men have something within them that God injected. And this gives him a uniqueness, it gives him worth, it gives him dignity.”King believed what Genesis 1 teaches, which is that every human life is created in the image of God. So we should treasure every human life, because every human life has been formed by the very hands of God. The alternate view is to believe God didn’t create us, we’re just the random result of years of natural selection. But natural selection doesn’t care about treasuring human life and dignity, it cares about self-preservation and survival. Natural selection doesn’t even care about treasuring the beauties of creation, like a sunset over the ocean. Richard Dawkins states, “When you look at a certain scenery, and you think it’s so beautiful. It’s because your ancestors believed there was food out there. That neurological feature helped them survive, and so it’s now come to you. That’s the reason you see it as beautiful.” Simply put, natural selection doesn’t care about treasuring the beauty of creation, it cares about survival. So the next time you’re enjoying a nice sunset instead of being in awe over God creating such beauty, you should be thinking “My ancestors must’ve craved 4Rivers.” I can’t imagine proposing to my wife with this view. “Hey Andrea, I’ve been feeling my ancestorial need for survival building towards you. I think you’d be useful for survival. Will you marry me?...” She’d smack the stupid out of me!...The Genesis 1 view of creation offers a much better view on life. It teaches we’re to treasure life, even enjoy the beauties of life, since it’s all formed by the hands of our Creator. But it also teaches...
#2 Your Life Has Purpose = Since your life was formed by the very hands of God, it means your life is treasured, but it also has purpose. Tim Keller gives a great illustration of this. He says a hawk is designed to soar through the air, so if they’re on the ground being chased by a predator they shouldn’t run, they should fly. They’ve also been designed to hunt from the sky, so they shouldn’t try hunting from the ground, they should hunt from the sky. When you see a hawk soaring through the sky, they’re doing what they were designed to do, which is fly. What about a table knife? When the first table knife was created, it was designed for a purpose? If you try eating soup with a knife, you’ll never enjoy the soup. It’s because a knife wasn’t designed for soup, it was designed for cutting. If you want to enjoy soup use a spoon, if you want to enjoy a good bite of steak use a knife. My point is if a hawk has a purpose and a knife has a purpose, then isn’t it logical to believe humanity has a purpose? Just like a hawk and knife were created and designed with a certain purpose, God created and designed you with a certain purpose. So if you really want to treasure life, if you really want to find purpose in life, then seek the God who created your life. Genesis 1 teaches there’s a Creator who created you for a purpose. He formed you, which means your life is treasured and has a purpose.
Vs. 2, “Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness covered the surface of the watery depths, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters. 3 Then God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light.” So in the beginning there was darkness, but then God speaks bringing light into that darkness. If you read the rest of vs 3-31 what you’ll see is God repeatedly creating through speaking things into existence. If I said “let there be light,” I’d have to get up to flick the light on. But God doesn’t have to flick a light on, He just speaks and the properties of light are set in motion. Why does God do this, why does God speak to create? I mean He could’ve just created without speaking, He could’ve just snapped His fingers, so why does He choose to speak? It’s because speaking implies verbal social interaction, it implies a relationship. God speaking implies He wants to have a relationship with us, which is why in vs 31 after He creates humans, He says it’s very good. He repeatedly says it’s good after creating everything else, but after creating humans He says it’s very good. Right at the beginning of the bible’s story we’re learning your life and this world, wasn’t an accident. It was intentionally designed by God, to have a relationship with God, and it was considered a very good thing. But let’s not miss the significance of vs 3. Vs 3 is significant for us today, and for 2 reasons.
#1 God’s Word Brings Light Into Darkness = In vs 3 we learn one of the first things God’s Word does, is it brings light into darkness. The world was formless, empty, covered in darkness until God spoke, and His Word brought formation, fullness, and light into the world. If God’s Word can do that for the world, if God’s Word has the power to set the properties of life and creation into motion so the oceans now roar, the waterfalls crash, the sun sets over mountain tops, while the eagles and hawks soar. If God’s Word has the power to do that for the world, then what do you think God’s Word has the power to do for your life? If God’s Word has the power to do that in the World, then it has the power to bring formation, fullness, and light into your life. God’s Word can form your character, bring fullness of life, bring light into the darkness of your life. God’s Word has the power to bring light into darkness, which means we invite darkness into our lives when we aren’t aligning our lives with God’s Word. What we’ll see next week in our study of Genesis 3 is that it’s our sin, our refusal to follow God’s Word that causes creation to start to unravel, and the same is true for our lives. It’s our sin, our refusal to follow God’s Word that brings all kinds of darkness into our lives, our marriages, our families, our friendships, our relationships, our world. When we aren’t aligning our lives with God’s Word, we’re like a hawk trying to run or a knife trying to eat soup. A hawk is meant to fly, a knife is meant to cut, humans are meant to live in the joyful light of God’s Word, not the deadly darkness of sin.
#2 Jesus Brings Light Into Darkness Again = In Genesis 1 God’s Word brings light into darkness, but in John 1 Jesus becomes God’s Word in the flesh to bring light into darkness again. John 1:1-5 states, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God...3 All things were created through him...4 In him was life,, and that life was the light of men. 5 That light shines in the darkness, and yet the darkness did not overcome it.” Jesus is God’s Word in the flesh, and he came to shine light into the darkness of our lives and world again. He came to heal the physically sick, heal the mentally ill, forgive sins, bring light into the darkness of the world again. He came to start the process of restoring creation back to the joyful light it was intended to be, before the darkness of sin started unraveling creation. He came to die for our sins on the cross, be buried in the darkness of a tomb, then rise again on the 3rd day to prove not even the darkness of death can overcome the light of his glory. Jesus dies on the 6th day which is the same day humans were created. But the day he rises is the 1st day of a new week as if he’s beginning a new creation. Genesis 2:7 says, “God breathed the breath of life into Adam’s nostrils, and the man became a living being.” John 20:22 says, “Jesus breathed on them and said, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit.’” When Jesus rises he starts a new creation filled with the light and power of his resurrection, which the darkness of sin and death can’t ever overcome. Jesus said in John 12:46, “I have come as light into the world, so that everyone who believes in me would not remain in darkness.” What Jesus is offering is to bring light into our lives again so we don’t have to remain in darkness. If there’s darkness in your life, your marriage, your family, then turn to Jesus and his Word, so his light will shine in the darkness of your life again. Turn to Jesus and his Word, to shine the light of Christ into the darkness of our city. Wherever you see darkness, depression, hatred, racial tension, unforgiveness, slander, suffering, sin...it’s a chance to shine the light of Christ into those dark places. If we repent of our sins, turn to Jesus, and continue reading his Word, he’ll bring light into the darkness of our lives and city again. The question is will you walk this life in the light of Christ, or in darkness without Christ?
The Big Idea:
The big idea of the message is this. The beginning starts with God, and He brings light into the darkness...The beginning of The Story, the beginning of creation and life starts with God, and He brings light into the darkness...Genesis 1 teaches your life wasn’t an accident, it wasn’t formed by luck, it was formed by the very hands of God. Your life will never be complete, until you align your life with the God who created you. Your life will never be complete, until you do what you were meant to do, which is to align your life with Jesus and His Word. Only then will your life truly be formed, filled, full of light. It’ll be full of the light and life of Christ. Let’s pray.