1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:07,160 How's everybody doing today? Awesome. I understand there's probably a few more 2 00:00:07,160 --> 00:00:12,040 people that are braving the horrific storms that are plaguing Southern 3 00:00:12,040 --> 00:00:17,480 California and so we pray for them to get here safely despite the challenges. 4 00:00:17,480 --> 00:00:22,360 Well we like to start our services every week by saying welcome to any of you that 5 00:00:22,360 --> 00:00:25,160 are joining us here in our sanctuary for the first time or if you're joining us 6 00:00:25,160 --> 00:00:31,400 online. Welcome. We're so glad you're here to worship with us today. Today we are 7 00:00:31,400 --> 00:00:38,000 beginning a brand new series, a brand new book at the very beginning of the Bible. 8 00:00:38,000 --> 00:00:44,760 We're gonna be studying for some time, I don't know how long, the book of 9 00:00:44,760 --> 00:00:52,040 beginnings. The book whose very name Genesis means the origin, the start or 10 00:00:52,040 --> 00:00:57,440 point at which something comes into being. You know the Hebrews named or 11 00:00:57,440 --> 00:01:03,000 titled this book Barashith and that word in the Hebrew language simply means in 12 00:01:03,000 --> 00:01:08,480 the beginning. Then as time went on in the Old Testament, it was translated into 13 00:01:08,480 --> 00:01:15,240 Greek around 250 BC, they translated that Hebrew word into the Greek equivalent 14 00:01:15,240 --> 00:01:20,120 which is Genesis and then as time went on again both the Latin and English 15 00:01:20,120 --> 00:01:25,960 Bibles simply adopted that title for this book, letter for letter. In this 16 00:01:25,960 --> 00:01:32,200 title Genesis is an absolutely perfect title for this book because this book of 17 00:01:32,200 --> 00:01:38,520 the Bible gives us the Genesis. It gives us the beginning and the origin of so 18 00:01:38,520 --> 00:01:43,840 much. It teaches us the beginnings and where we get our doctrine of God, our 19 00:01:43,840 --> 00:01:51,840 doctrine of man, the doctrine of creation, the doctrine of salvation. This book talks 20 00:01:51,840 --> 00:01:59,040 about the origin of the universe, the origin of sin. It defines things like 21 00:01:59,040 --> 00:02:05,120 marriage, human government and it really gives us the beginning of the nation of 22 00:02:05,120 --> 00:02:10,880 Israel and everything true that we know about all of these things has its 23 00:02:10,880 --> 00:02:16,840 beginning in Genesis and really the rest of the entire Bible all the way through 24 00:02:16,840 --> 00:02:23,440 to the book of Revelation stands on what this very important book teaches us. Now 25 00:02:23,440 --> 00:02:29,720 the Bible as a whole you should understand looks in both directions into 26 00:02:29,720 --> 00:02:34,720 eternity. In Genesis 1 1 we're gonna read today that it says in the beginning God 27 00:02:34,720 --> 00:02:40,040 and we see that in the beginning of the Bible it looks into eternity past and 28 00:02:40,040 --> 00:02:44,160 teaches us some very very important things and then as we just got done 29 00:02:44,160 --> 00:02:48,400 studying as a church the book of Revelation we see that we get the look 30 00:02:48,400 --> 00:02:53,720 into eternity future where we saw the new heaven and the new earth and the new 31 00:02:53,720 --> 00:02:58,320 Jerusalem in Revelation chapter 21 but it's important to understand that 32 00:02:58,320 --> 00:03:03,160 regardless of where we're at in the Bible the entire thing the main subject 33 00:03:03,160 --> 00:03:08,840 of the whole thing front to back is our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. That is who 34 00:03:08,840 --> 00:03:15,080 the Bible is about your Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. He has his prophetic 35 00:03:15,080 --> 00:03:21,200 Genesis here in the opening chapters of this book and then everything after 36 00:03:21,200 --> 00:03:25,760 everything through the Old Testament as we'll be studying over time leads up to 37 00:03:25,760 --> 00:03:30,840 the first coming of Jesus Christ and then after we get through the Gospels 38 00:03:30,840 --> 00:03:35,680 which tell the story of his life and his death and his resurrection the rest of 39 00:03:35,680 --> 00:03:40,240 the New Testament then all leads up to his second coming that we learned about 40 00:03:40,240 --> 00:03:44,200 in the book of Revelation but the foundation of understanding all of it 41 00:03:44,200 --> 00:03:48,880 the foundation of understanding every detail of what the Bible has to teach us 42 00:03:48,880 --> 00:03:54,560 about ourselves about who he is it all has its beginning in the beginning and 43 00:03:54,560 --> 00:03:57,640 that's what we're gonna be studying today but first we're gonna spend time 44 00:03:57,640 --> 00:04:04,680 worshipping God who is our Creator the one who existed before all things the one 45 00:04:04,680 --> 00:04:10,720 in whom all things had its beginning our Lord and Savior God Almighty our 46 00:04:10,720 --> 00:04:16,200 Creator the one who loves us dearly and loves us more than anything else we're 47 00:04:16,200 --> 00:04:20,520 so excited to worship him and so we're gonna do that as a body together before 48 00:04:20,520 --> 00:04:26,440 we study the word today but let's pray father we love you so much God we're so 49 00:04:26,440 --> 00:04:31,600 grateful that you sent your son to die for us and Lord as we're even gonna see 50 00:04:31,600 --> 00:04:39,360 in the very first verse of your word we see this mystery of the Trinity this 51 00:04:39,360 --> 00:04:47,400 mystery of the Godhead Lord that you are one unified holy God yet you exist in 52 00:04:47,400 --> 00:04:53,160 three distinct persons with different personalities in different ministries and 53 00:04:53,160 --> 00:04:58,920 Lord we know it is a mystery to us Lord our human brains cannot understand all 54 00:04:58,920 --> 00:05:04,880 of what that means Lord but God all of what that means is that you created us 55 00:05:04,880 --> 00:05:12,360 you love us you knew our needs and you died for us you rose from the dead and 56 00:05:12,360 --> 00:05:16,960 then gave us eternal life through our faith in you Lord God all of it starts 57 00:05:16,960 --> 00:05:19,840 in the beginning here and I pray God that you would speak to us Lord and 58 00:05:19,840 --> 00:05:24,040 bless us as we study your word starting here in Genesis God that you would speak 59 00:05:24,040 --> 00:05:27,800 to us about all the truths and the wonderful things that you have about who 60 00:05:27,800 --> 00:05:33,840 you are and who we are sin and salvation and all of it Lord that we would draw 61 00:05:33,840 --> 00:05:38,360 closer to you as your people that God as we draw closer to you we become more 62 00:05:38,360 --> 00:05:42,120 like you and that through us Lord your glory would shine to those that don't 63 00:05:42,120 --> 00:05:47,080 know don't yet know you Lord that they would come to salvation as well but God 64 00:05:47,080 --> 00:05:51,200 we want to worship you and praise your name because you were holy you were God 65 00:05:51,200 --> 00:05:58,680 Almighty you were the God who always was always is and always will be and we 66 00:05:58,680 --> 00:06:04,760 bless your holy name it's in Jesus name we pray amen we're gonna be in Genesis 67 00:06:04,760 --> 00:06:09,120 chapter 1 today for those of you don't know where that's at it's all the way to 68 00:06:09,120 --> 00:06:13,480 the left in your paper Bibles or just find it by tapping on your screen and 69 00:06:13,480 --> 00:06:19,760 it's usually the first book of the Bible in the list you know this book is is 70 00:06:19,760 --> 00:06:23,920 just critically important and has so many of the foundational truths and the 71 00:06:23,920 --> 00:06:29,080 foundations of the truths that we believe as Christians and so just as a 72 00:06:29,080 --> 00:06:32,560 brief overview of the book as we're gonna be studying through it you know 73 00:06:32,560 --> 00:06:37,720 it's divided into a whole lot of neatly structured themes as we go through we'll 74 00:06:37,720 --> 00:06:42,120 point out these different themes but the two broad divisions in Genesis is 75 00:06:42,120 --> 00:06:47,240 typically chapters 1 through 11 and then chapters 12 through 50 and so chapters 76 00:06:47,240 --> 00:06:53,720 1 through 11 refer to what commentators call primeval history right this is a 77 00:06:53,720 --> 00:06:59,600 way way back and in the primeval history as recorded for us in Genesis we have 78 00:06:59,600 --> 00:07:05,960 five major stories that really all have the same exact structure these stories 79 00:07:05,960 --> 00:07:11,520 are the fall of mankind Cain and Abel then we have a story about the sons of 80 00:07:11,520 --> 00:07:16,820 God marrying the daughters of men we have the story of Noah's flood and then 81 00:07:16,820 --> 00:07:21,000 the Tower of Babel and those are the five major stories that make up what the 82 00:07:21,000 --> 00:07:25,800 Bible records in primeval history for us now it's interesting is all five of these 83 00:07:25,800 --> 00:07:29,880 stories are structured exactly the same way as we get to them we'll see that 84 00:07:29,880 --> 00:07:35,480 there's a sin described or sin itself is described then there's a speech by God 85 00:07:35,480 --> 00:07:42,020 pronouncing the penalty for that sin then you see God bring grace to the 86 00:07:42,020 --> 00:07:47,180 situation and really kind of bringing in grace to ease the misery of what sin is 87 00:07:47,180 --> 00:07:51,920 causing but then you're also going to see that God does indeed punish the sin 88 00:07:51,920 --> 00:07:57,040 and brings consequence for sin this format is kind of what you see 89 00:07:57,040 --> 00:08:01,000 throughout the entire Bible and it really is the format of all history as 90 00:08:01,000 --> 00:08:04,720 we're gonna see it eventually as we study all the way through scripture but 91 00:08:04,720 --> 00:08:08,560 what's amazing is throughout Genesis we're gonna see over and over again that 92 00:08:08,560 --> 00:08:14,840 when man does his absolute worst and reaches his lowest his most depraved his 93 00:08:14,840 --> 00:08:21,440 most sinful his most wicked God offers grace God offers a new beginning and 94 00:08:21,440 --> 00:08:26,440 that's one of the major major points of this book and who our God is you know we 95 00:08:26,440 --> 00:08:32,600 see that Adam and Eve sin in the first few chapters of Genesis and yet there 96 00:08:32,600 --> 00:08:38,000 was a penalty for death that if you eat of that tree you will surely die and yet 97 00:08:38,000 --> 00:08:42,160 God withheld the death penalty from them for eating of that tree and then in this 98 00:08:42,160 --> 00:08:46,080 part of scripture in Genesis chapter 3 we're gonna see the very first 99 00:08:46,080 --> 00:08:52,760 prophecy of the coming Messiah then we read about Cain killing Abel and again 100 00:08:52,760 --> 00:08:57,360 Cain was banished from his family yet we're gonna read that he was graced with 101 00:08:57,360 --> 00:09:04,480 a mark of protection and then God gave Seth to continue the godly line then the 102 00:09:04,480 --> 00:09:08,480 earth becomes violent and wicked and that's where we read about the flood 103 00:09:08,480 --> 00:09:14,600 coming but again God preserves the human race very graciously through Noah to 104 00:09:14,600 --> 00:09:19,960 carry forth the promise of a Savior for all mankind then we get to the Tower of 105 00:09:19,960 --> 00:09:23,960 Babel where man in his arrogance thinks we're gonna get up to heaven on our own 106 00:09:23,960 --> 00:09:27,520 we don't need God we're gonna build a tower and we're gonna get all the way up 107 00:09:27,520 --> 00:09:31,600 there and then we know in that story that God scatters them by changing and 108 00:09:31,600 --> 00:09:35,200 scattering the languages of all the people so that they couldn't communicate 109 00:09:35,200 --> 00:09:40,720 anymore and in that way scattering mankind instead of destroying them for 110 00:09:40,720 --> 00:09:45,100 their arrogance then in chapters 12 through 50 of Genesis it really focuses 111 00:09:45,100 --> 00:09:51,400 on what's called the patriarchal history of mankind really what we see there the 112 00:09:51,400 --> 00:09:58,720 focus is in the midst of polytheistic pagan idolatry God calls this man Abram 113 00:09:58,720 --> 00:10:03,680 calls him to himself to step out in faith this man eventually becomes known 114 00:10:03,680 --> 00:10:08,640 as Abraham and he is given a very gracious promise by God where God tells 115 00:10:08,640 --> 00:10:14,560 them that through you all the people of the earth will be blessed and then 116 00:10:14,560 --> 00:10:18,640 ultimately as Abraham's line goes on it leads to the creation of the nation of 117 00:10:18,640 --> 00:10:23,240 Israel which ultimately leads all the way down as the genealogy of Jesus Christ 118 00:10:23,240 --> 00:10:27,840 and the Messiah who comes to save the whole world we have the promise of the 119 00:10:27,840 --> 00:10:32,080 defeat of the serpent after the fall fully fulfilled and that is the promise 120 00:10:32,080 --> 00:10:37,400 God gives in Genesis chapter 3 that although the serpent will will strike 121 00:10:37,400 --> 00:10:42,560 him he will crush the serpent's head and that promise to Abraham then that he 122 00:10:42,560 --> 00:10:45,880 would be a blessing to all the nations of the world just unfolds as we go 123 00:10:45,880 --> 00:10:49,440 through the book of Genesis through all the patriarchal narratives and despite 124 00:10:49,440 --> 00:10:55,260 the patriarchs repeated errors repeated sins repeated falls we see God's grace 125 00:10:55,260 --> 00:11:00,920 and God's promise standing over and over again now you can say then that Genesis 126 00:11:00,920 --> 00:11:05,960 really is about grace this is a book about the grace of God and really it's 127 00:11:05,960 --> 00:11:10,160 summarized it is summarized by the Apostle Paul in Romans chapter 5 verse 128 00:11:10,160 --> 00:11:15,600 20 Paul said this but where sin multiplied grace multiplied even more 129 00:11:15,600 --> 00:11:20,640 that's what we see in Genesis that's a truth that we see the very beginning of 130 00:11:20,640 --> 00:11:25,020 in Genesis and it's a very important truth to all of our lives because we all 131 00:11:25,020 --> 00:11:30,600 sin and we all sin over and over again but we know that as God's children his 132 00:11:30,600 --> 00:11:36,320 grace multiplies even more in our lives G Campbell Morgan a very famous preacher 133 00:11:36,320 --> 00:11:40,240 divided up Genesis this way he said chapters 1 & 2 of Genesis are 134 00:11:40,240 --> 00:11:45,040 generation right the the generation of life and man and then chapters 3 through 135 00:11:45,040 --> 00:11:50,080 11 are degeneration as man falls and then you got chapters 12 through 50 which 136 00:11:50,080 --> 00:11:55,880 is regeneration as God then puts his plan to save all mankind into action and 137 00:11:55,880 --> 00:11:59,960 so that little layout their generation degeneration regeneration again that's 138 00:11:59,960 --> 00:12:07,240 another snapshot of the human condition right we are born we are generated right 139 00:12:07,240 --> 00:12:13,120 and then we're instantly born into sin it's a nature we have it's a degenerative 140 00:12:13,120 --> 00:12:18,160 condition that plagues all of us but then we are regenerated born again when we 141 00:12:18,160 --> 00:12:23,840 put our faith in Jesus Christ our Savior so both the Old Testament and the New 142 00:12:23,840 --> 00:12:29,000 Testament affirm that Moses was the author of this book or at least the 143 00:12:29,000 --> 00:12:33,760 primary author it affirms that he was the primary author of the first five 144 00:12:33,760 --> 00:12:37,560 books of the Bible you know there are certain things like in Deuteronomy where 145 00:12:37,560 --> 00:12:42,400 it records the death of Moses you know unless Moses was performing some cool 146 00:12:42,400 --> 00:12:46,440 tricks he couldn't really record his I died so so we know that there's some 147 00:12:46,440 --> 00:12:51,120 contributions by other authors but the primary writing of these books is Moses 148 00:12:51,120 --> 00:12:54,760 and these five books these first five books of the Bible is called the 149 00:12:54,760 --> 00:13:00,000 Pentateuch it was the Torah or for Jewish people it was known as the law 150 00:13:00,000 --> 00:13:03,960 this is where they got all the foundation of who God was and what God 151 00:13:03,960 --> 00:13:10,320 wanted of his people now in John chapter 5 verses 45 through 47 we see Jesus 152 00:13:10,320 --> 00:13:14,640 himself affirming Moses is authorship of these books whereas he was talking to 153 00:13:14,640 --> 00:13:18,600 the Jewish leaders he says do not think that I will accuse you to the Father 154 00:13:18,600 --> 00:13:24,640 your accuser is Moses on whom you have set your hope now again the hope of the 155 00:13:24,640 --> 00:13:29,080 Jewish people especially the Jewish leaders was the law right they prided 156 00:13:29,080 --> 00:13:33,200 themselves on be people who followed the law and did everything exactly how God 157 00:13:33,200 --> 00:13:37,560 wanted and the law is everything and we follow it and he's saying for if you 158 00:13:37,560 --> 00:13:44,080 believed Moses you would believe me too because Moses wrote about me which tells 159 00:13:44,080 --> 00:13:48,520 us that these first five books that Moses authored they're about who Jesus 160 00:13:48,520 --> 00:13:52,840 Christ he said but if you don't believe what he wrote how are you gonna believe 161 00:13:52,840 --> 00:13:58,840 me the idea was is although they were so dogmatic in their claim to follow the 162 00:13:58,840 --> 00:14:02,120 law they were really hypocrites and we know that through the Gospels Jesus 163 00:14:02,120 --> 00:14:05,800 called them whitewashed tombs right you look pretty on the outside but you're 164 00:14:05,800 --> 00:14:09,920 pretty ugly on the inside and that's really again a picture of sin and what 165 00:14:09,920 --> 00:14:16,320 it does to our lives so Genesis the date of this book is generally tied to the 166 00:14:16,320 --> 00:14:19,680 time of Exodus when Israel was wandering in the wilderness that's when most 167 00:14:19,680 --> 00:14:23,640 people believe that this book was written and and for those of you that 168 00:14:23,640 --> 00:14:27,400 are really interested in time frames a lot of commentators kind of pinpoint 169 00:14:27,400 --> 00:14:32,880 that in the late 15th century BC but the idea is that that as Israel was 170 00:14:32,880 --> 00:14:38,600 wandering in the wilderness the context of their journey surrounding them right 171 00:14:38,600 --> 00:14:44,000 they they had been led out of Egypt by Moses they had crossed the Red Sea and 172 00:14:44,000 --> 00:14:47,240 now they were in the wilderness and as they were wandering in the wilderness 173 00:14:47,240 --> 00:14:51,880 they were dreaming of the promise right they had been promised the promised land 174 00:14:51,880 --> 00:14:55,680 that they were going to be led to this promised land that God had given to them 175 00:14:55,680 --> 00:15:01,440 and and naturally you know this is speculative but but if if you were a 176 00:15:01,440 --> 00:15:05,640 group of people wandering through the wilderness and and expecting this 177 00:15:05,640 --> 00:15:09,880 promise that this man Moses is saying God has given to you you know the 178 00:15:09,880 --> 00:15:14,200 conversation might naturally come up well who are these people that are our 179 00:15:14,200 --> 00:15:17,280 patriarchs that we've talked about so much that we've believed in you know 180 00:15:17,280 --> 00:15:22,280 who's who's Abraham who's who's Isaac who's Jacob you know these are the 181 00:15:22,280 --> 00:15:27,000 people that initially brought us to Egypt right so what's their story where 182 00:15:27,000 --> 00:15:33,560 did they come from and so Genesis is really the story of the origin of the 183 00:15:33,560 --> 00:15:37,960 people Israel and how they ended up in Egypt and that's why it's kind of very 184 00:15:37,960 --> 00:15:42,800 short creation and everything is really an abridged conversation about the the 185 00:15:42,800 --> 00:15:46,160 primeval history and then the bulk of the book is really about where did 186 00:15:46,160 --> 00:15:51,640 Israel come from and so God met Moses with his word and gave him the book of 187 00:15:51,640 --> 00:15:57,400 Genesis now the situational context of Moses's writing helps us frame some of 188 00:15:57,400 --> 00:16:00,840 the ideas and the purpose and the point of this book as we study through it you 189 00:16:00,840 --> 00:16:05,960 know again Israel's in the wilderness and they had just escaped the the the 190 00:16:05,960 --> 00:16:10,720 rampant polytheism in Egypt right Egypt was a place that that had pyramid 191 00:16:10,720 --> 00:16:16,360 pyramids and temples and Sun gods and moon gods and a god for this and a god 192 00:16:16,360 --> 00:16:21,160 of the river right it was very polytheistic and so in Egypt as the 193 00:16:21,160 --> 00:16:25,720 people were there for 400 plus years they were inundated with this this pagan 194 00:16:25,720 --> 00:16:32,360 religion that stood in direct opposition to their own monotheism that as a people 195 00:16:32,360 --> 00:16:38,240 Israel they believed in God the one God and yet for 400 years as a people they 196 00:16:38,240 --> 00:16:43,400 were inundated with all this pagan polytheistic religion and so now Moses 197 00:16:43,400 --> 00:16:50,520 is writing to really establish the truth that instead of a single creator God 198 00:16:50,520 --> 00:16:56,120 that they were following these Egyptians just made up these many gods these gods 199 00:16:56,120 --> 00:16:59,160 that don't exist that had all these elaborate love affairs and all this 200 00:16:59,160 --> 00:17:03,840 weird nonsense and warfare and fighting but instead Moses is saying I'm gonna 201 00:17:03,840 --> 00:17:08,520 confront all of that stuff you guys have been living in for 400 years and tell 202 00:17:08,520 --> 00:17:15,200 you about your God and more than just where you came from as a nation Moses 203 00:17:15,200 --> 00:17:20,240 goes all the way back as led by the Holy Spirit to talk about where humanity came 204 00:17:20,240 --> 00:17:25,560 from as a people that who God is in all of that and so the opening line of this 205 00:17:25,560 --> 00:17:31,280 book would forever establish a true and absolute understanding of who God is 206 00:17:31,280 --> 00:17:38,720 what the universe is and who we are as humanity and so in Genesis 1 1 it says 207 00:17:38,720 --> 00:17:44,920 in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth now that's as far as we're 208 00:17:44,920 --> 00:17:54,080 gonna get today right and we could quite literally spend weeks and weeks on this 209 00:17:54,080 --> 00:17:58,880 verse but I've already had the question asked many times how long are we gonna 210 00:17:58,880 --> 00:18:05,040 be in Genesis and so I'm gonna try and move through Genesis as as quickly as 211 00:18:05,040 --> 00:18:09,800 possible but I don't want to gloss over the the core important doctrines of what 212 00:18:09,800 --> 00:18:14,380 we learn here and so I know Revelation was long it might be longer who knows 213 00:18:14,380 --> 00:18:21,280 okay so but Genesis 1 1 in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth 214 00:18:21,280 --> 00:18:26,000 now when you read that you might ask yourself the beginning of what the 215 00:18:26,000 --> 00:18:31,440 beginning of what that phrase the beginning is actually one Hebrew word 216 00:18:31,440 --> 00:18:38,240 the beginning and in the Hebrew the word is not a time reference it's an event 217 00:18:38,240 --> 00:18:42,680 reference do you understand the difference it's referring to an event a 218 00:18:42,680 --> 00:18:49,000 happening it's not referencing the beginning as in time as we understand it 219 00:18:49,000 --> 00:18:53,560 but there is a correlation to that that phrase the beginning the Hebrew 220 00:18:53,560 --> 00:18:58,360 definition for the word is an event consisting of the start of something so 221 00:18:58,360 --> 00:19:03,720 you could rewrite it and say at the starting point God created the heavens 222 00:19:03,720 --> 00:19:07,160 and the earth but that would lead to the same question right starting point of 223 00:19:07,160 --> 00:19:13,600 what well it's the starting point of everything it's the beginning of everything 224 00:19:13,600 --> 00:19:23,320 including time as we understand it it was an event where everything began the 225 00:19:23,320 --> 00:19:28,120 beginning is the event where God literally started the clock of our 226 00:19:28,120 --> 00:19:34,520 universe and then that moment was followed by all of history past present 227 00:19:34,520 --> 00:19:40,200 and future yet to be lived and so verse 1 of Genesis is really a summary 228 00:19:40,200 --> 00:19:44,640 statement of everything we're gonna read about in Genesis chapter 1 verse 2 all 229 00:19:44,640 --> 00:19:49,280 the way through Genesis chapter 2 verse 3 and then even that section is an 230 00:19:49,280 --> 00:19:55,360 abridged creation story you see God doesn't give us every single detail of 231 00:19:55,360 --> 00:20:00,000 his creation right well we don't get into and I know some people would be 232 00:20:00,000 --> 00:20:03,000 like oh that would be very interesting but he's like he doesn't get into okay 233 00:20:03,000 --> 00:20:07,560 so I took this quark and I took this lepton and I put them together in this 234 00:20:07,560 --> 00:20:10,520 way and I made an atom and that you write he doesn't get into all those 235 00:20:10,520 --> 00:20:16,020 details it just summarizes what God did in fact there's only 630 words to 236 00:20:16,020 --> 00:20:21,880 describe the origin of everything that exists Moses will go on to spend far 237 00:20:21,880 --> 00:20:27,080 more time in his writing talking about Abraham Isaac and Jacob and really the 238 00:20:27,080 --> 00:20:32,600 reason why is because Genesis is not meant to be a biology or a cosmology 239 00:20:32,600 --> 00:20:37,480 lesson that's not the focus of this book although we're very interested that's 240 00:20:37,480 --> 00:20:42,320 not the focus it's not meant to be a thorough treatise on biology or a 241 00:20:42,320 --> 00:20:47,000 thorough treatise on cosmology and so very briefly what this book gives us is 242 00:20:47,000 --> 00:20:50,640 the origin of all things and then it moves on to the origin of the Hebrew 243 00:20:50,640 --> 00:20:56,520 nation because that's who the Messiah comes through now my point of all that 244 00:20:56,520 --> 00:21:03,440 is that there was an event a moment when time began time as we understand it the 245 00:21:03,440 --> 00:21:08,480 linear process that we live in there was a moment when all the forces in our 246 00:21:08,480 --> 00:21:16,080 universe began when all the laws of physics and thermodynamics began when 247 00:21:16,080 --> 00:21:20,960 all the quarks and leptons and neutrinos and protons and neutrons and electrons 248 00:21:20,960 --> 00:21:27,400 and atoms when all of that began when all the stars and all the planets and 249 00:21:27,400 --> 00:21:32,920 all the multiple thousands of galaxies we know that are in our universe began 250 00:21:32,920 --> 00:21:38,520 and at the moment that everything began this is the important detail of Genesis 251 00:21:38,520 --> 00:21:50,400 1 1 God already was that's the important detail in the beginning God that's what 252 00:21:50,400 --> 00:21:54,440 we learned from this very first important verse that in the beginning 253 00:21:54,440 --> 00:22:02,120 God before time before creation before atoms before mass before matter and dark 254 00:22:02,120 --> 00:22:08,480 matter and all this stuff God already was you know in Psalms 90 verse 2 it 255 00:22:08,480 --> 00:22:12,040 says before the mountains were born before you gave birth to the earth in 256 00:22:12,040 --> 00:22:18,000 the world from eternity to eternity you are God and there's multiple other 257 00:22:18,000 --> 00:22:25,160 verses throughout the Bible that refer to God as everlasting as the eternal one 258 00:22:25,160 --> 00:22:29,440 right it says from eternity to eternity you are God right it points in both 259 00:22:29,440 --> 00:22:33,840 directions the same two directions that the word of God starts with and ends 260 00:22:33,840 --> 00:22:39,160 with eternity past to eternity future and we have to say it that way because 261 00:22:39,160 --> 00:22:44,240 that's how we're created we understand things linear linearly and so we're 262 00:22:44,240 --> 00:22:49,160 described or God is described as existing in that idea of forever past 263 00:22:49,160 --> 00:22:55,480 and forever future Abraham called him the Lord the everlasting God in 264 00:22:55,480 --> 00:23:01,960 Deuteronomy 33 27 Habakkuk 1 12 in Romans at 1626 God is called the 265 00:23:01,960 --> 00:23:07,640 everlasting God or the eternal God it's all the way through scripture it's all 266 00:23:07,640 --> 00:23:10,840 the way through scripture where we're constantly repeatedly over and over and 267 00:23:10,840 --> 00:23:18,640 over clued into the fact that God always was always is and always will be when he 268 00:23:18,640 --> 00:23:30,720 said I am that I am that was a statement of that I am when I am yesterday I am 269 00:23:30,720 --> 00:23:38,840 tomorrow I am today right now I am that is what this is telling us now you go 270 00:23:38,840 --> 00:23:43,640 all the way back to this moment this beginning and you might go well how long 271 00:23:43,640 --> 00:23:48,440 ago was that right people like to debate and talk about such things how long ago 272 00:23:48,440 --> 00:23:51,960 was this moment well depending on who you ask you're gonna get different 273 00:23:51,960 --> 00:23:58,480 answers right some people ascribe to and believe in what's called the young earth 274 00:23:58,480 --> 00:24:03,480 theory right that the earth is only between six thousand to ten thousand 275 00:24:03,480 --> 00:24:07,280 years old or the whole universe is only that old and that's called the young 276 00:24:07,280 --> 00:24:11,200 earth theory right that God created everything probably between six thousand 277 00:24:11,200 --> 00:24:15,800 and ten thousand years ago and there's actually kind of a lot of support for 278 00:24:15,800 --> 00:24:19,800 that in the earth and we might talk about some of that stuff later but other 279 00:24:19,800 --> 00:24:23,720 people go now the universe is two billion years old or five billion years 280 00:24:23,720 --> 00:24:28,560 old or twenty billion years old or however many billions of years we need 281 00:24:28,560 --> 00:24:33,400 to get you know our evolutionary theories to work you know and um but 282 00:24:33,400 --> 00:24:37,800 regardless there's even believers that that believe the universe is billions of 283 00:24:37,800 --> 00:24:41,920 years old and and there they make fairly convincing cases for those types of 284 00:24:41,920 --> 00:24:45,920 things but regardless the proponents of both sides of this this question they 285 00:24:45,920 --> 00:24:50,720 argue and they're very passionate and they just they'll they'll tear into each 286 00:24:50,720 --> 00:24:54,840 other vehemently over these things and my answer to when did the beginning 287 00:24:54,840 --> 00:25:01,400 happen comes from a question that God asked Job in the book of Job and Job 288 00:25:01,400 --> 00:25:07,200 chapter 38 verse 4 God was responding to Job after Job questioned God's wisdom 289 00:25:07,200 --> 00:25:14,920 right this is what God says where were you when I established the earth tell me 290 00:25:14,920 --> 00:25:22,000 if you have understanding you know what the answer to that question is not there 291 00:25:22,000 --> 00:25:31,320 I wasn't there when you established the earth in fact nobody was except God 292 00:25:31,320 --> 00:25:37,440 because God has existed always you see the problem the people that want to 293 00:25:37,440 --> 00:25:42,360 argue the the beginning of everything it's it's ultimately all speculative it's 294 00:25:42,360 --> 00:25:48,200 ultimately all speculative and and none of the experts were there right nobody 295 00:25:48,200 --> 00:25:53,400 was there and so yeah we speculate we can draw conclusions we could you know 296 00:25:53,400 --> 00:25:56,320 say well I think the evidence points here and that's fine that that's really 297 00:25:56,320 --> 00:25:59,520 fine and and I'm gonna deal with some of that you know and as we move forward 298 00:25:59,520 --> 00:26:07,640 but but the idea is this that that nobody was there and so because I'm 299 00:26:07,640 --> 00:26:11,280 probably gonna get 10 million emails after this study to say well where do 300 00:26:11,280 --> 00:26:16,240 you lean pastor Nathan I personally lean towards a young earth understanding 301 00:26:16,240 --> 00:26:20,840 that's my personal event but again like much of the things we talked about in 302 00:26:20,840 --> 00:26:27,520 Revelation I don't know I really don't know because when I say God when was the 303 00:26:27,520 --> 00:26:30,080 beginning he goes well where were you when I established the earth I'm like 304 00:26:30,080 --> 00:26:36,440 oh yeah I wasn't there I wasn't there you were there well we do know what we 305 00:26:36,440 --> 00:26:43,300 do know is in the beginning God that's what we know that's what God has 306 00:26:43,300 --> 00:26:48,280 revealed to us this is how God's word began begins there's no philosophical 307 00:26:48,280 --> 00:26:56,320 arguments for the existence of God and in his nature it's just simply he was he 308 00:26:56,320 --> 00:27:02,280 existed he existed prior to everything we know and that truth is assumed here 309 00:27:02,280 --> 00:27:07,280 in verse 1 of Genesis it's just assumed thus he is the only one who could speak 310 00:27:07,280 --> 00:27:11,360 with any real authority about creation because he was the only one there and so 311 00:27:11,360 --> 00:27:16,880 what he tells Moses is simply this in the beginning God created the heavens and 312 00:27:16,880 --> 00:27:22,200 the earth now that's exactly the point where a lot of people start with their 313 00:27:22,200 --> 00:27:26,800 objections before we even get into the rest of it that's where they start they 314 00:27:26,800 --> 00:27:32,960 go no no I can't accept that instead they want to say in the beginning there 315 00:27:32,960 --> 00:27:40,360 was gases and and and there was space and and and in the beginning it just it 316 00:27:40,360 --> 00:27:44,160 was all floating around but the problem is is if you eliminate God from our 317 00:27:44,160 --> 00:27:47,720 understanding of the creation of the universe you have big problems big 318 00:27:47,720 --> 00:27:52,600 problems because if they're going well no in the beginning there was gas you 319 00:27:52,600 --> 00:27:57,240 go where did the gas come from well in the beginning there was just there was 320 00:27:57,240 --> 00:28:02,400 space where did the space come from right you're just gonna indefinitely 321 00:28:02,400 --> 00:28:08,880 ask that question and I don't care how far back in time you go to allow for all 322 00:28:08,880 --> 00:28:14,120 these really really interesting theories about stuff no matter how far back to you 323 00:28:14,120 --> 00:28:18,800 go you go you're always gonna have the same problem you're gonna have the same 324 00:28:18,800 --> 00:28:22,920 problem until you're able to acknowledge that there has to be some first 325 00:28:22,920 --> 00:28:29,880 uncaused cause if you could get to the point of acknowledging that there has to 326 00:28:29,880 --> 00:28:35,800 be a first uncaused cause something caused everything something began 327 00:28:35,800 --> 00:28:43,800 everything and that something had to exist before until you could do that 328 00:28:43,800 --> 00:28:49,920 nothing makes sense but why do so many people try and eliminate God from the 329 00:28:49,920 --> 00:28:55,880 equation well Romans chapter 1 answered this very clearly for us as Paul was 330 00:28:55,880 --> 00:29:00,200 writing and he says mankind did not want to glorify or obey or even 331 00:29:00,200 --> 00:29:04,200 acknowledge the existence of God even though they could look around in 332 00:29:04,200 --> 00:29:08,440 creation and even though scientists are still going well you know we don't know 333 00:29:08,440 --> 00:29:13,520 how that happened well it had to just accidentally evolved well you keep 334 00:29:13,520 --> 00:29:17,720 backing up well then that well then that well then that and every scientist that 335 00:29:17,720 --> 00:29:23,800 that denies God they'll get to a place of saying we're not sure because 336 00:29:23,800 --> 00:29:30,240 everything that they hinge their beliefs on has a cause and then a cause and they 337 00:29:30,240 --> 00:29:33,800 got and the only way you could get to the beginning of this is that there was 338 00:29:33,800 --> 00:29:42,400 the first uncaused cause so people want to eliminate God from the equation 339 00:29:42,400 --> 00:29:46,760 because mankind simply wants its sin that's what the Bible tells us in the 340 00:29:46,760 --> 00:29:51,800 heart of man we want sin we want to live without accountability to anybody right 341 00:29:51,800 --> 00:29:57,000 including the their creator and so they remove God from the equation because if 342 00:29:57,000 --> 00:30:00,920 I could remove God from the equation I'm not accountable to God and so if I'm 343 00:30:00,920 --> 00:30:05,760 just an accident of evolution that it doesn't care what I do doesn't care he 344 00:30:05,760 --> 00:30:10,720 doesn't care nobody cares it doesn't matter what I do and so instead they say 345 00:30:10,720 --> 00:30:15,400 well you know in the beginning you know there was gases floating in space and 346 00:30:15,400 --> 00:30:20,120 then those gases eventually coalesced into a singularity that exploded in a 347 00:30:20,120 --> 00:30:30,920 big bang instead of in the beginning God and personally I think it takes more 348 00:30:30,920 --> 00:30:35,920 faith to believe in all of those theories and it does to believe that 349 00:30:35,920 --> 00:30:41,800 there is a God and so who is this God we're introduced to here we already 350 00:30:41,800 --> 00:30:45,600 talked about that he's eternal he has always existed from eternity to 351 00:30:45,600 --> 00:30:48,960 eternity but the word God here is a very interesting word and some of you have 352 00:30:48,960 --> 00:30:52,160 studied this you know this but it says in the beginning God that word God in 353 00:30:52,160 --> 00:30:57,680 the Hebrew is Elohim it's a Hebrew word that that is referring to the 354 00:30:57,680 --> 00:31:03,160 supernatural being who originated the universe and rules over the universe 355 00:31:03,160 --> 00:31:09,080 that's the definition of this word in in the Hebrew dictionary right Elohim God 356 00:31:09,080 --> 00:31:15,080 Elohim he is the very subject of the very first sentence in the Bible and he 357 00:31:15,080 --> 00:31:19,040 dominates the entire chapter first chapter of Genesis we're gonna see that 358 00:31:19,040 --> 00:31:24,440 God this word God in our English Bible which is Elohim in the Hebrew it's 35 359 00:31:24,440 --> 00:31:30,560 times that he appears now what's interesting about this word is it shows 360 00:31:30,560 --> 00:31:36,720 us the mystery of the Trinity the Godhead existing in the beginning in the very 361 00:31:36,720 --> 00:31:44,040 first three Hebrew words of Scripture we're already told that God is triune you 362 00:31:44,040 --> 00:31:51,600 see in the Hebrew in the beginning God reads this way barasheth barah Elohim 363 00:31:51,600 --> 00:32:02,280 three words now Elohim is a plural word that refers to a singular entity can you 364 00:32:02,280 --> 00:32:09,880 guys grasp that concept it's a plural word that refers to a singular entity so 365 00:32:09,880 --> 00:32:16,120 God plural is God singular right and that's where our brains start to 366 00:32:16,120 --> 00:32:23,520 shrivel up and I don't get it and some people will be like that because I don't 367 00:32:23,520 --> 00:32:27,640 get it it can't be true and that's just silly there's so many things we don't 368 00:32:27,640 --> 00:32:32,140 get that are true you know it's our limited human understanding is not what 369 00:32:32,140 --> 00:32:38,080 defines truth God defines truth and so we have this word Elohim this plural 370 00:32:38,080 --> 00:32:42,320 word that refers to a singular entity and that's where we get the idea of the 371 00:32:42,320 --> 00:32:49,240 Godhead the Trinity now it is true that the word Trinity doesn't appear anywhere 372 00:32:49,240 --> 00:32:54,840 in Scripture but the concept the doctrine is very very clearly taught I 373 00:32:54,840 --> 00:32:59,880 know people like to argue against it and stuff and and and but it's it's very 374 00:32:59,880 --> 00:33:04,040 clearly there if you study the Word of God as a whole and it starts right here 375 00:33:04,040 --> 00:33:09,200 in these first three words of the beginning of the Bible on one hand the 376 00:33:09,200 --> 00:33:13,440 Bible very clearly demonstrates and this was a very critical point Moses was 377 00:33:13,440 --> 00:33:16,240 trying to make right considering they just came out of this polytheistic 378 00:33:16,240 --> 00:33:22,680 culture that there is one and only one God see in Deuteronomy 6 for a part of 379 00:33:22,680 --> 00:33:30,620 the Shema it says listen Israel the Lord our God the Lord is one very clear we 380 00:33:30,620 --> 00:33:34,080 understand that that through through Scripture it's it's emphasized over and 381 00:33:34,080 --> 00:33:39,240 over that there is one God and that God is one but then you also have this in 382 00:33:39,240 --> 00:33:45,440 Genesis chapter 1 verse 26 and Genesis chapter 3 verse 22 God speaking says let 383 00:33:45,440 --> 00:33:53,560 us in Genesis chapter 11 verse 7 when when God is gonna go confuse the 384 00:33:53,560 --> 00:33:58,800 languages of all the people at the Tower of Babel it says God speaking let's go 385 00:33:58,800 --> 00:34:06,200 confuse the languages of the people now it is beyond the scope of today's study 386 00:34:06,200 --> 00:34:11,960 to exhaustively dig into a biblical defense of the Trinity and my point was 387 00:34:11,960 --> 00:34:15,760 just to establish that it starts in the beginning but if you do want to dig 388 00:34:15,760 --> 00:34:20,800 deeper into the doctrine of the Trinity I encourage you to go to Bible thinker 389 00:34:20,800 --> 00:34:26,920 org that's pastor Mike's channel and he has plenty of very exhaustive teachings 390 00:34:26,920 --> 00:34:31,440 defending the concept of the Trinity in the Bible but I will point out that this 391 00:34:31,440 --> 00:34:36,000 is that when it says in the beginning God and it's this word Elohim and it's 392 00:34:36,000 --> 00:34:42,080 referring to the God head the God plural who is one singular being we do see 393 00:34:42,080 --> 00:34:45,920 throughout Scripture that all three members of the Trinity the Father the 394 00:34:45,920 --> 00:34:50,680 Son and the Spirit are all involved in creation and it's really beautiful you 395 00:34:50,680 --> 00:34:54,440 see in the beginning God Elohim that's that word that refers to the God head 396 00:34:54,440 --> 00:34:58,520 right and that involves all three of them the Father the Son and the Spirit 397 00:34:58,520 --> 00:35:02,840 and then in Genesis chapter 1 verse 2 it says the Spirit of God was hovering over 398 00:35:02,840 --> 00:35:06,960 the waters of a formless and a dark earth there we see the Spirit of God the 399 00:35:06,960 --> 00:35:12,600 Holy Spirit and then in John chapter 1 verses 1 through 3 we see God theos the 400 00:35:12,600 --> 00:35:17,440 Greek word for God as a whole with the Son it says in the beginning was the 401 00:35:17,440 --> 00:35:23,360 word and the word was with God and the word was God he was God in the beginning 402 00:35:23,360 --> 00:35:31,360 all things were created through him it's referring to the word that was with God 403 00:35:31,360 --> 00:35:35,360 and that was God and apart from him not one thing was created that has been 404 00:35:35,360 --> 00:35:39,600 created and then verse 14 of John 1 and says the word became flesh and dwelt 405 00:35:39,600 --> 00:35:45,520 among us who's that Jesus Christ God the Son second member of the God head in 406 00:35:45,520 --> 00:35:51,160 Hebrews chapter 1 verses 1 through 3 it says long ago God spoke to our ancestors 407 00:35:51,160 --> 00:35:55,440 by the prophets at different times in different ways in these last days he has 408 00:35:55,440 --> 00:36:00,600 spoken to us by his Son God has appointed him heir of all things and made 409 00:36:00,600 --> 00:36:06,680 the universe through him the Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact 410 00:36:06,680 --> 00:36:13,800 expression of his nature sustaining all things by his powerful word and so it is 411 00:36:13,800 --> 00:36:18,280 and so it was that at the beginning of time and at the beginning of everything 412 00:36:18,280 --> 00:36:24,640 that exists in our universe the one and only God who exists as three distinct 413 00:36:24,640 --> 00:36:29,680 simultaneous eternal persons the Father the Son and the Spirit who each have 414 00:36:29,680 --> 00:36:33,960 their own will who each speak on their own they have their own love that they 415 00:36:33,960 --> 00:36:36,920 demonstrate they demonstrate their own individual personhood throughout 416 00:36:36,920 --> 00:36:43,480 scripture these three who yet exist in absolute perfect harmony consisting of 417 00:36:43,480 --> 00:36:49,200 one substance being co-eternal and co-equal and co-powerful this God 418 00:36:49,200 --> 00:36:55,400 existed and had always existed from eternity past outside of time as we 419 00:36:55,400 --> 00:36:59,880 understand it not subject to the physical laws of the universe he created 420 00:36:59,880 --> 00:37:05,000 but outside of all of it now belief in this really I think is a doorway to 421 00:37:05,000 --> 00:37:11,120 faith right it's really the the the key to understanding the Bible I think 422 00:37:11,120 --> 00:37:15,200 everything in the Bible rests on this understanding of Genesis 1 1 if you 423 00:37:15,200 --> 00:37:21,720 believe Genesis 1 1 then the rest of the Bible I think is easy peasy I mean think 424 00:37:21,720 --> 00:37:26,720 about it Jonah getting swallowed by a fish and then spit up on a beach well if 425 00:37:26,720 --> 00:37:32,760 you believe in the beginning God a God who existed into eternity past created 426 00:37:32,760 --> 00:37:36,760 everything by speaking it into existence well then Jonah getting 427 00:37:36,760 --> 00:37:40,320 swallowed by a fish and spit up okay that's easy no but there's 428 00:37:40,320 --> 00:37:45,960 scientifically no way a man could be swallowed by a big fish God omnipotent 429 00:37:45,960 --> 00:37:50,800 omnipotent omnipresent omniscient all power knowing everything and all things 430 00:37:50,800 --> 00:38:00,160 at all times God Elijah's floating acts simple Jesus walking on water well he's 431 00:38:00,160 --> 00:38:07,000 God Peter walking on water well yeah God Philip one of my favorite stories in the 432 00:38:07,000 --> 00:38:11,880 book of Acts is called down to go preach to the Ethiopian and as the scripture 433 00:38:11,880 --> 00:38:15,000 tells us that after he baptized the Ethiopian as soon as he open came out 434 00:38:15,000 --> 00:38:18,820 of the water Philip was caught up in the spirit you know what the modern word for 435 00:38:18,820 --> 00:38:26,320 that is teleportation Philip teleported God just went and took him that's 436 00:38:26,320 --> 00:38:33,440 impossible no it's not God everything is a no-brainer compared to this glorious 437 00:38:33,440 --> 00:38:39,960 majestic first act of God in creating all things the first uncaused cause God 438 00:38:39,960 --> 00:38:46,120 was who then created everything then the question I kind of want to close today 439 00:38:46,120 --> 00:38:54,240 on is well what was God doing before creation in eternity past was he 440 00:38:54,240 --> 00:39:01,720 twiddling his thumbs was he bored man there's no one to talk to you well no 441 00:39:01,720 --> 00:39:07,720 he's a Trinity also he was talking to himself what was he doing was he 442 00:39:07,720 --> 00:39:10,600 creating other universes and going nope that one's not right nope that one's not 443 00:39:10,600 --> 00:39:14,840 right and then I got it right people have all kinds of interesting thoughts 444 00:39:14,840 --> 00:39:21,600 and theories on this and it's all speculative but the best place to go to 445 00:39:21,600 --> 00:39:25,080 find out what God was doing when God was doing what he was doing is to go to his 446 00:39:25,080 --> 00:39:29,800 word and there's one thing in his word that we know for absolute fact that God 447 00:39:29,800 --> 00:39:33,480 was doing before creation and it's really what the entire Bible is about 448 00:39:33,480 --> 00:39:39,360 he was planning our redemption how do we know this Ephesians chapter 1 verse 4 449 00:39:39,360 --> 00:39:46,920 says this for he chose us in him before the foundation of the world to be holy 450 00:39:46,920 --> 00:39:52,720 and blameless in love before him but that tells us his way back before the 451 00:39:52,720 --> 00:39:57,000 foundation of the world before the foundation of the cosmos before the 452 00:39:57,000 --> 00:40:01,360 foundation of everything that exists all those atoms and all those planets and 453 00:40:01,360 --> 00:40:05,240 all those galaxies and time and and all these dimensions that physics is is 454 00:40:05,240 --> 00:40:14,840 understanding or out there before all of it God who is all-knowing knew you he 455 00:40:14,840 --> 00:40:23,520 knew me he knew he was gonna create you he knew he was gonna create me he knew 456 00:40:23,520 --> 00:40:28,960 your name he knew your personality he knew your ups and downs he knew your 457 00:40:28,960 --> 00:40:36,440 weaknesses he knew it all and he still before everything existed said yeah I'm 458 00:40:36,440 --> 00:40:46,800 gonna create him I'm gonna create her me knowing my life God you still did that 459 00:40:46,800 --> 00:40:52,360 you knowing who I was gonna be all those years before I accepted you as my Lord 460 00:40:52,360 --> 00:40:58,200 and Savior all those times I cursed your name you still created me and people 461 00:40:58,200 --> 00:41:03,720 ask well why did he create us the Bible tells us pretty clearly that God created 462 00:41:03,720 --> 00:41:09,040 us for himself God created us for his glory his pleasure what that means 463 00:41:09,040 --> 00:41:14,320 Colossians 1 16 says this all things have been created through him and for 464 00:41:14,320 --> 00:41:19,000 him now when I say that God created us for himself for his glory for his 465 00:41:19,000 --> 00:41:22,640 pleasure it doesn't mean that that we were created to entertain him right 466 00:41:22,640 --> 00:41:27,040 dance puppet right that's that's not what we were created to do we weren't 467 00:41:27,040 --> 00:41:32,680 created to just provide him amusement but yeah we do know that throughout 468 00:41:32,680 --> 00:41:37,320 scripture we see that God is a creative being it pleases him to create he's 469 00:41:37,320 --> 00:41:40,720 pleased in creation we see that through the whole Genesis account we're gonna 470 00:41:40,720 --> 00:41:45,960 study but God's also a personal being that's what he reveals to us in his word 471 00:41:45,960 --> 00:41:48,500 and it pleases him to have other beings that he could have a genuine 472 00:41:48,500 --> 00:41:53,080 relationship with a relationship with you that he desires now don't 473 00:41:53,080 --> 00:42:01,080 misunderstand he didn't create us because he needed us all right God in 474 00:42:01,080 --> 00:42:06,880 eternity lacks nothing needs nothing in all of eternity past there was no 475 00:42:06,880 --> 00:42:13,520 loneliness that God had he wasn't looking for friends if God never created 476 00:42:13,520 --> 00:42:19,240 you and me he would still be God fully satisfied and content in his own 477 00:42:19,240 --> 00:42:29,040 eternal existence but the glory of God in God being glorified is manifest in 478 00:42:29,040 --> 00:42:34,280 his unconditional lavishing on of love on us his creation it's just God 479 00:42:34,280 --> 00:42:40,560 exercising his glory it's God loving because he chooses to not because he 480 00:42:40,560 --> 00:42:46,880 needs to but because he wants to again he didn't need anything he didn't have 481 00:42:46,880 --> 00:42:55,640 to do anything but he wanted to love you and we respond when we respond to that 482 00:42:55,640 --> 00:43:01,520 love we were respond to our creator who created us and say God you love me so 483 00:43:01,520 --> 00:43:05,280 much and we put our faith in him and we accept him as our Lord and Savior and we 484 00:43:05,280 --> 00:43:09,960 love him back we praise we worship him back oh my goodness he is glorified 485 00:43:09,960 --> 00:43:16,440 and so he created the heavens and the earth he created us to be caretakers of 486 00:43:16,440 --> 00:43:21,240 the earth to live and to exist with him in a perfect loving fellowship forever 487 00:43:21,240 --> 00:43:24,960 but as we're gonna see as we study through Genesis that sin caused a 488 00:43:24,960 --> 00:43:32,580 separation he created you and me with a free will because what kind of love is 489 00:43:32,580 --> 00:43:40,520 love that is forced right love isn't love unless it's given freely willingly 490 00:43:40,520 --> 00:43:46,320 and so he created us to love us and just so that we had the opportunity to love 491 00:43:46,320 --> 00:43:50,880 him back but in order for us to be able to choose to love him back he had to 492 00:43:50,880 --> 00:43:56,760 give us a free will a will that could say I don't want to love you and so he 493 00:43:56,760 --> 00:44:00,080 created us that way and people go well why did he do that if he knew we were 494 00:44:00,080 --> 00:44:04,960 gonna choose sin why did he do that he knew we were gonna choose sin remember 495 00:44:04,960 --> 00:44:11,520 he's omniscient before everything he knew but he graciously created Adam and 496 00:44:11,520 --> 00:44:17,960 Eve anyways gave them that free will that they then used to choose sin which 497 00:44:17,960 --> 00:44:24,360 then introduced to death and decay and corruption into all of creation and he 498 00:44:24,360 --> 00:44:30,560 knew he knew that by us making that choice to choose sin it would separate 499 00:44:30,560 --> 00:44:37,240 us from him forever and despite sin we see God over and over continuing to show 500 00:44:37,240 --> 00:44:42,960 mercy and grace and provision and forbearance and you just you just read 501 00:44:42,960 --> 00:44:48,080 to the Bible and you see all of that and in God displaying all of those things 502 00:44:48,080 --> 00:44:53,320 God is displaying the fullness of his glory the fullness of who he is the 503 00:44:53,320 --> 00:44:57,960 Bible tells us God is love and we see what love looks like and how God 504 00:44:57,960 --> 00:45:03,040 responds to mankind the ultimate exercise the ultimate demonstration of 505 00:45:03,040 --> 00:45:07,640 his glory was then at the cross where God the Father poured out his righteous 506 00:45:07,640 --> 00:45:11,960 judgment on sin by pouring out all his wrath on God the Son the second person 507 00:45:11,960 --> 00:45:17,960 of the Trinity Jesus Christ and God willingly demonstrated the full glory of 508 00:45:17,960 --> 00:45:22,360 his nature the full glory of his goodness the full glory of his love by 509 00:45:22,360 --> 00:45:27,660 taking the penalty for the sin of all mankind the creator dying for his 510 00:45:27,660 --> 00:45:34,160 creation but just as we exercise our free will to choose sin in the garden 511 00:45:34,160 --> 00:45:40,960 through our former parents Adam and Eve we have to exercise our free will now in 512 00:45:40,960 --> 00:45:46,840 today's world to choose salvation outside of the garden to say God I choose you I 513 00:45:46,840 --> 00:45:52,120 accept you I believe in what you did for me and I receive that and when we accept 514 00:45:52,120 --> 00:45:58,640 that sacrifice the Bible tells us that the power of sin and death is defeated 515 00:45:58,640 --> 00:46:05,200 by what he did it no longer has control on on us when we accept that sacrifice 516 00:46:05,200 --> 00:46:10,720 that started in the beginning with God the plan of redemption that started in 517 00:46:10,720 --> 00:46:16,040 the beginning with God through which he created all things and then created us 518 00:46:16,040 --> 00:46:21,840 and then the enemy entered in and we chose sin and he said I have a plan of 519 00:46:21,840 --> 00:46:25,560 redemption and I'm going to create a people and there's going to be a nation 520 00:46:25,560 --> 00:46:30,000 and it's going to go through history and kingdoms and and it's going to go all the 521 00:46:30,000 --> 00:46:36,960 way through to the birth of this Messiah Jesus Christ who is God himself me coming 522 00:46:36,960 --> 00:46:41,400 to the earth to die for you so that I could restore that relationship that you 523 00:46:41,400 --> 00:46:49,240 gave up back in the garden you see all of the Old Testament pointed toward his 524 00:46:49,240 --> 00:46:55,480 death on the cross it prophesied it it spoke of it it lifted up his first 525 00:46:55,480 --> 00:47:01,280 coming as the thing man was looking forward to and we have to exercise our 526 00:47:01,280 --> 00:47:06,280 belief in it but when we do then we live lives in the New Testament which all 527 00:47:06,280 --> 00:47:10,520 points towards his second coming that one day he's going to come back and he's 528 00:47:10,520 --> 00:47:13,120 going to take us and paradise is going to be restored and it's going to be 529 00:47:13,120 --> 00:47:16,760 wonderful and perfect and everything that God intended in the very very 530 00:47:16,760 --> 00:47:21,160 beginning when he created all things but it's only through him that that 531 00:47:21,160 --> 00:47:27,520 restoration is possible and when we choose him again it greatly pleases him 532 00:47:27,520 --> 00:47:35,400 and it glorifies his name once more our created purpose to glorify him to please 533 00:47:35,400 --> 00:47:40,000 him it all comes back and every time we worship him again and serve him again 534 00:47:40,000 --> 00:47:44,800 and choose him again in all ways and all things we glorify him over and over and 535 00:47:44,800 --> 00:47:49,120 over again and and in all of that we we live and breathe and walk in the insured 536 00:47:49,120 --> 00:47:53,080 promise of eternal life with him in a new heaven and a new earth and and it's 537 00:47:53,080 --> 00:48:00,680 just going to be wonderful but this whole deal started the whole deal was 538 00:48:00,680 --> 00:48:07,400 planned here as shown to us in Genesis 1 1 in the beginning God the first 539 00:48:07,400 --> 00:48:13,920 uncaused cause so that's how the Bible begins I know we covered a whole half of 540 00:48:13,920 --> 00:48:20,120 a verse that's I think that's a new record but do you realize what you'd be 541 00:48:20,120 --> 00:48:25,680 able to live through with confidence with with with with just absolute 542 00:48:25,680 --> 00:48:31,200 confidence in your life if you believe in the beginning God do you realize if 543 00:48:31,200 --> 00:48:34,880 you fully truly believe what this verse teaches us can you imagine the kind of 544 00:48:34,880 --> 00:48:41,840 peace and stability you could have in your life that if the God you believe in 545 00:48:41,840 --> 00:48:45,080 the God who died for you the God who loves you the God who wants to have a 546 00:48:45,080 --> 00:48:55,080 relationship with you the one who created everything works on your behalf 547 00:48:55,080 --> 00:49:01,280 is there anything you can't go through is there anything you can't have victory 548 00:49:01,280 --> 00:49:10,000 in is there any challenge you can't overcome the answer is no we are more 549 00:49:10,000 --> 00:49:16,320 than conquerors through him who loves us simply because of the belief that he 550 00:49:16,320 --> 00:49:22,600 always existed that he spoke everything into existence and he knows me he knows 551 00:49:22,600 --> 00:49:27,940 me you know in Acts 4 when Peter and John were under pressure from the Jewish 552 00:49:27,940 --> 00:49:31,320 leaders and they were arrested and brought in and told not to speak about 553 00:49:31,320 --> 00:49:37,160 Jesus in Acts 4 verse 24 they then went back out to the other believers and they 554 00:49:37,160 --> 00:49:40,400 were praying right what do we do about this persecution how are we gonna get 555 00:49:40,400 --> 00:49:44,280 through this what it says there in Acts 4 24 it says they raid their raise their 556 00:49:44,280 --> 00:49:48,880 voices together to God and said this master you are the one who made the 557 00:49:48,880 --> 00:49:55,320 heaven the earth the sea and everything in them when we start our prayers with 558 00:49:55,320 --> 00:49:59,920 that understanding when we start our prayers with that that that concept the 559 00:49:59,920 --> 00:50:03,920 Lord you existed before everything in the universe existed God you created it 560 00:50:03,920 --> 00:50:08,040 all the heavens the earth the seas everything within it Lord you created me 561 00:50:08,040 --> 00:50:14,920 if you did that then you could surely save me if you did that of course you 562 00:50:14,920 --> 00:50:21,080 could forgive me if you did that Lord of course you could restore my life if you 563 00:50:21,080 --> 00:50:25,880 did that Lord then I could believe that you hear my prayers and that you're 564 00:50:25,880 --> 00:50:31,440 answering my prayers according to your will and so then Lord is your child or 565 00:50:31,440 --> 00:50:35,720 if you're here today you don't know Jesus Christ is your Lord and Savior you 566 00:50:35,720 --> 00:50:43,360 could start and say Lord as your creation on the basis of your eternal and 567 00:50:43,360 --> 00:50:51,480 infinite power on recognition of who you are the one who knew me before all of 568 00:50:51,480 --> 00:50:57,160 creation who loved me then who purposed to die for my sins then so that I could 569 00:50:57,160 --> 00:51:07,040 be forgiven today God be glorified as I accept the salvation you offer me God be 570 00:51:07,040 --> 00:51:13,880 glorified as I worship you God be glorified as I trust you and depend on 571 00:51:13,880 --> 00:51:22,520 you for all things big and small because Lord in my life in the beginning was God 572 00:51:22,520 --> 00:51:32,240 and today in my life is God and when I leave this earth it'll be God forever in 573 00:51:32,240 --> 00:51:38,160 glory amen let's pray father we love you so much 574 00:51:42,560 --> 00:51:49,160 God we see in your word that you gave us that that you were there the father was 575 00:51:49,160 --> 00:51:55,560 there the son was there the spirit was there God that as you reveal yourself in 576 00:51:55,560 --> 00:52:02,080 your word you were there and God you reveal yourself through your word 577 00:52:02,080 --> 00:52:07,840 because you want us to know you God it brings you such glory and such pleasure 578 00:52:07,840 --> 00:52:13,680 when when us created in your image Lord and we're gonna get to that what all 579 00:52:13,680 --> 00:52:24,280 that means Lord when we recognize you acknowledge you accept you praise 580 00:52:24,280 --> 00:52:36,480 worship you but God your glory was even manifest before that because God you 581 00:52:36,480 --> 00:52:42,200 made a plan of redemption to save us through history you protected your 582 00:52:42,200 --> 00:52:49,520 godly line to fulfill your promise Lord Jesus Christ was born God in the flesh 583 00:52:49,720 --> 00:52:57,480 to die for us then Jesus as you went back to heaven to sit at the right hand 584 00:52:57,480 --> 00:53:05,120 of the father you told us that you went to prepare a place for us and so God 585 00:53:05,120 --> 00:53:12,680 those that know you today we look forward to that place the Lord as you told Thomas 586 00:53:12,680 --> 00:53:19,240 Lord we are blessed those who believe in you without seeing you we are blessed in 587 00:53:19,240 --> 00:53:25,840 God we have experienced your presence in our lives we've experienced your work in 588 00:53:25,840 --> 00:53:32,360 our lives in God as you call us to believe in you to believe in the 589 00:53:32,360 --> 00:53:36,800 impossible to pray for the impossible Lord that that relationships would be 590 00:53:36,800 --> 00:53:42,040 restored that addictions would be defeated that that God hopes and dreams 591 00:53:42,040 --> 00:53:46,480 would be would be realized in according to what you're calling us to do Lord 592 00:53:46,480 --> 00:53:55,600 that that everything in our lives that confuses us that worries us that 593 00:53:55,600 --> 00:54:01,600 challenges us Lord that we would be able to pray with the full understanding of 594 00:54:01,600 --> 00:54:11,600 the truth and the power of who you are that because God in the beginning you 595 00:54:11,600 --> 00:54:18,880 were there you can accomplish anything in our lives and so we trust you God we 596 00:54:18,880 --> 00:54:23,800 wait on you and Lord if there's here people here watching online that don't 597 00:54:23,800 --> 00:54:27,000 know you God I pray God just in the quietness of their own heart they call 598 00:54:27,000 --> 00:54:33,400 out to you right now that they would say Lord I believe in you and I believe you 599 00:54:33,400 --> 00:54:39,240 existed before everything existed I believe you were God you created 600 00:54:39,240 --> 00:54:48,240 everything God I believe you created me and Lord even though I may be struggling 601 00:54:48,240 --> 00:54:52,480 with the idea that you knew me by name before anything existed I'm gonna put 602 00:54:52,480 --> 00:54:58,200 my faith in that and believe that you know me that you died for me because you 603 00:54:58,200 --> 00:55:06,640 want to forgive me and restore me so God I believe I put my faith in that come 604 00:55:06,640 --> 00:55:13,680 into my life and change my heart and the rest of us God that that that know you 605 00:55:13,680 --> 00:55:20,200 we would just pray in the power of who you are God we know that you dwell 606 00:55:20,200 --> 00:55:25,280 within us the Holy Spirit dwells within us today God is your people and Lord if 607 00:55:25,280 --> 00:55:31,200 you before us who can be against us God help us to believe that help us to trust 608 00:55:31,200 --> 00:55:36,760 that help us to walk in that that we would be effective tools for you in this 609 00:55:36,760 --> 00:55:46,720 world God be blessed be glorified be magnified Lord with our lives we love 610 00:55:46,720 --> 00:55:54,240 you so much it's in Jesus name we pray amen let's worship guys