Berean Bible Church: In the Beginning, Genesis 1:1

Introduction

You’re admiring the view from the top floor of the most beautiful skyscraper you’ve ever seen. It’s brand new, it even smells new. Your smile reaches the ceiling…and you’re the manager.

You feel it first, then you see it, your smile drops to the basement; the biggest, ugliest, crack you’ve ever seen….and you’re the manager.

You can’t control the panic when you call the structural engineer and demand a meeting immediately.

You pace fuming, repeatedly looking at the crack, the elevator and then your watch. Finally, frantically, you call the engineer, again.

“Where are you!? What? Why? Never mind! Don’t move! I’ll be right there!”

You push the down button for the elevator a hundred times. Finally, it opens, you jump in and ride fifty floors to the basement.

“What are you doing down here? The damage is up there!”

The engineer nods, way too calm. “The damage may be up there; but the origin is down here.”

The manifestation on the top floor is, Revelation.

The origin in the foundation is, Genesis.

Author

Most say Moses penned the scrolls between 1400-1440 BC; not only of Genesis, but the first five books.

Remember, knowing who held the pen isn’t nearly as important as knowing Who directed the strokes. No Scripture came by the will of man, but as they were moved by the Holy Spirit. 2 Peter 1:19-21.

Genesis is the garden from which the balance of the Bible grows. Every great Biblical doctrine has roots in Genesis.

People have more heated battles and strong opinions over the first part of Genesis, than perhaps, any other portion of scripture.

But there’s one thing they all have in common… none of them were there.

We won’t get in the speculation business. Let’s simply believe God said what He meant.

The first line is not, “Once upon a time…” as in a fairy tale. It’s “In the beginning God created…” It’s powerful, authoritative. As if spoken by the, All Powerful Author of the universe.

Imagine that.

Approach Genesis, (and all scripture) as historically accurate, God breathed, Divine Truth. Believe, what Jesus said; not one jot or tittle will fall without being fulfilled, that His Word, lives and abides, forever. Matthew 5:18, 1 Peter 1:25.

It’s getting easier and easier to see, because the more science and archeology uncover, the more they discover, exactly what we’ve known all along, God’s Word is unequivocally, historically accurate and absolute Truth.

Genesis is a Greek word meaning, origin; source; beginning (foundation of your skyscraper). The original Hebrew word is, bə·rê·šîṯ (beh-reh-sheet); meaning, in the beginning.

The opening of the Bible is: bə·rê·šîṯ’ ’Ĕ·lō·hîm bā·rā;

bə·rê·šîṯ (in the beginning)’Ĕ·lō·hîm; (God) bā·rā (created).

If your world is cracking apart, about to crumble, just say, bə·rê·šîṯ ’Ĕ·lō·hîm. And know that God has gone before; your Foundation is solid, anchored in ’Ĕ·lō·hîm. On Christ the solid Rock I stand all other ground is sinking sand.

THE STRUCTURE:

Genesis didn’t start as a book with fifty chapters, but with eleven Hebrew scrolls.

The first was a Prologue or Introduction, the following ten scrolls all started with the words, elleh toledoth, which means: these are the generations of… or, history of… or, something similar. When you see a phrase like that in your Bible, you’ll know it’s the start of a new scroll.

Eleven Scrolls of Genesis:

1) Introduction 1:1 – 2:3;

2) Heaven and earth 2:4 – 4:26;

3) Adam 5:1 – 6:8;

4) Noah 6:9 – 9:29;

5) Sons of Noah 10:1 – 11:9;

6) Shem 11:10-26;

7) Terah 11:27 – 25:11;

8) Ishmael 25:12 – 18;

9) Isaac 25:19 – 35:29;

10) Esau 36:1 – 37:1;

11) Jacob 37:2 – 50:26

Two Sections of Genesis:

Chapters 1-11 and 12-50.

1. Fall of man

2. Reconciliation plan

The first section reveals how the fault in the foundation (fall of man) transferred to all mankind. Exposing the ever-widening crack between creation and Creator.

The next section, almost four-times larger, describes God’s ever narrowing plan of redemption.

Or put another way, the first section is the separation, the affair, the divorce and the dysfunction it caused the entire family. The next section is God’s plan to reunite and reconcile the family.

Or, you might say, the first section is the skyscraper crack condemning all in the building and its inhabitants, the next section is God’s plan of restoration.

Outline of Sections:

The first section, chapters 1-11, details four major events:

1. Creation (1-2).

2. The Fall (3-5).

3. The Flood (6-9).

4. Tower of Babel (10-11).

The last section, chapters 12-50, introduces four main characters:

1. Abraham (12:1 - 25:18).

2. Isaac (25:19 - 26:35).

3. Jacob (27 - 36).

4. Joseph (37 - 50).

Theme:

In a Word: Messiah. Jesus. Immanuel. Take your pick.

In three words:

Generation (Creation, 1-2).

Degeneration (Fall, 3-11).

Regeneration (Redemption, 12-50).

Purpose:

Introduce Triune God

Personal, Omniscient, Omnipotent, Omnipresent.

Reveal origins (Creation, not evolution) of:

Universe (Intelligent Divine Design).

Life; all life, plant, animal, people (Chicken or egg? Answer is chicken).

Set precedent, (create mold):

Marriage (one man, one woman. Period).

Gender (male, female. Only).

Sin – penalty

Sin – remedy

Genesis 1:1 In the beginning God…

This is the doorway, to the whole Bible, and all HIStory; it marks the boundary between time and eternity. Kairos and Chronos.

God, starts to introduce Himself at the opening of the door. We’ll see more in a bit, but notice the word God uses for Himself; ’Ĕ ·lō·hîm, which is plural. This is our first glimpse of the Trinity.

I have a question.

Let’s say you invite us over for lunch after Church. Now, here’s my question. When we get to your house, will you open the door and show us your driver’s license, passport, birth certificate, and title to the house, to prove who you are, that you own the house?

No, of course not. You’ll invite us in, show us around, feed us some awesome food, (I hope), and you might even tell us what not to eat, or even touch.

Same thing here. There’s no need for God to prove who He is. He’s the owner of the universe. The Alpha and Omega, The Great I AM. Amen.

Yet, He does.

Oh how He loves us; He so longs for us to know Him, to have a personal, intimate, relationship with Him.

Created the heavens and the earth

Created: Hebrew: “bara” to bring into being; create. Used in Genesis 1:1 and not again until, Genesis 1:21 (fish and fowl). All other times we see the Hebrew word: asah: to make or made, out of already existing material.

bə·rê·šîṯ’ ’Ĕ·lō·hîm bā·rā (In the beginning God created)

That, is enough, for all creation to know their Creator.

The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. Psalm 19:1.

For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Romans 1:20-21.

Let’s pause here at the end of verse one and gaze at His creation.

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Genesis 1:1.

What do you see?

With just one verse we don’t have much to go on. Fortunately, there’s another 31,101 verses in the Bible to help paint the picture.

We won’t look at all of them all.

You’re welcome.

It's of utmost importance that we get a clear picture of what this verse shows us; it's the bedrock of the balance of Scripture.

The best commentary on the Bible, is the Bible, so let's let the Bible speak for itself:

Isaiah 45:18 says God did not create the earth to be a waste place. The original text uses the word, tohu; which means: confusion; place of chaos; wilderness; waste and an undistinguishable ruin. Remember that word, we'll need it later.

1 Timothy 4:4 says every creation of God is good…

Every good and perfect gift comes down from The Father...

The heavens declare the glory of God...

God is Light...

Now, after looking at those verses, do you have a picture of what the heavens and the earth should look like?

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Genesis 1:1.

Hold that thought, we’ll come back to it.

Now, I have something to show you. It didn’t always look like this. It evolved over a long time, billions of years. Many changes, metamorphosis, but little by little, first one little bud, then another, then the pair developed a hard shell that would open and close, and eventually, it emerged as…

Samsung ear buds.

I hope you’re laughing. That was stupid. I know. But that is exactly, no worse than that, more ludicrous, our kids are being taught that something far superior to Samsung earbuds has evolved from primal soup.

You are created in the image of God. You are not an animal, or a mammal, or a mistake. You are a spirit; you have a soul, and you live in a body. You are a beloved creation of the Omnipotent, Omniscient, Omnipresent, Creator. We all have this same top line in our genealogy: And Adam was the son of God. Luke 3:38.

Evolution is utter foolishness. All of it.

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Genesis 1:1.

YOU MUST BELIVE THIS VERSE FOR THE REST OF THE BIBLE TO WORK THIS IS THE CORNERSTONE OF YOUR SKYSCRAPER.

Now, back to our question. Remember what we read. God did not create a wasteland, (tohu), but a land to be inhabited, heavens to declare His glory, good and perfect gifts coming down from the Father of Lights in whom is no darkness.

What do you see? What does the Creator’s creation look like after verse one?

Good? Very good? Awesome? Beautiful? Brilliant?

Yeah, that’s how I see it, too.

Now, let’s take a snapshot of this beautiful creation and carry it with us into verse two.

Genesis 1:2. The earth was without form, and void and darkness was on the face of the deep. …

Whoa. What? Did your smile just drop to the basement? Is that like the biggest, ugliest, crack you’ve ever seen? This doesn’t look anything like our snapshot. What happened?

Good questions.

Unfortunately, we need to pause here and pick it up next week.

But don’t worry, there’s Good news ahead. No matter how it looks at the end, remember, bə·rê·šîṯ ’Ĕ·lō·hîm (In the beginning God). And you can be sure and certain that He who began a Good work in you, is faithful to complete it. Philippians 1:6.

Let’s pray.

Lord,

As we look at Your creation we bow in humble adoration, how great Thou art.

When our world turns without form, void and dark, we remember, bə·rê·šîṯ ’Ĕ·lō·hîm, and we lay our fears before You, pick up our trust in You, and commit our future to You.

We love you, forever.

Amen.