The word "genesis" literally means "beginning," and there are a couple of reasons why it's called that.

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1 1 Creation Series #2 I.WE HAVE A PERSONAL GOD II. WE HAVE AN ETERNAL GOD III. WE HAVE A POWERFUL GOD GENESIS 1:1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. Please take your Bibles and be finding your place at the very first verse of the very first book in your Bible. Genesis chapter 1 and verse number 1, and if you're still looking after 2 minutes, you're in big trouble. Genesis chapter 1 and verse 1 and today we are looking at a second message from this first verse in the Bible. The word "genesis" literally means "beginning," and there are a couple of reasons why it's called that. For one thing, out of the 66 books of the bible, this book comes first. So, it's at the genesis, or the beginning of your bible. Another reason, is because in this book we're told about the beginning of so many things. *We're told about the beginning of time and history. *We're told about the beginning of the universe. *We're told about the beginning of this planet. *We're told about the beginning of mankind. *We're told about the beginning of the family. *We're told about the beginning of worship. *We're told about the beginning of sin. *We're told about the beginning of death. *We're told about the beginning of redemption. *And we're told about the beginning of prophecy. We're told about the beginning of so many things here in the first book of the Bible. That's why it's called the book of Genesis.

2 2 It's amazingly simple, but it's also simply amazing because even though we're told how all of creation came into existence, there's no way that our little teacup minds can ever fully understand the great ocean of truth that's contained in this one verse. Don't let that bother you. There's no way that the creation can ever fully understand the creator until we get to Heaven. As we think today about God and what we learn about Him from this verse, I want to begin by saying I. We have a personal God The word translated, God, there is the word, Elohim. That's the most used word for God in all the Bible. It is mentioned about 2,750 times in the Word of God. In the beginning God. In the beginning Elohim. The word, Elohim, means majesty and honor and power. It is a statement about a personal God and a God who is real. This God of creation really exists. He is really there. He is a personal God. I never saw the Star Wars pictures. But one of the phrases that came out of Star Wars was this: "May the force go with you." Let s apply that phrase to how some may look at creation. Which had you rather believe in? Would you rather believe in an impersonal force or had you rather believe in a personal God? Which one would you like to turn to when you have real needs and real problems in your life -- some impersonal force or a real personal God who actually exists? God is a personal God. Notice something about this personal God. Look at chapter 1, verses 2-4. "God says..." That is, God can speak. In verse 4 it says, "God saw..." That means God can see. It says that God saw that it was good. That means that God has feelings. God possesses marks of personality: - God has a mind to think. -God has a heart to feel. -God has a will to act. The God of the Bible, the God of this universe, the God of creation - is the personal God. The great thing about this is it is possible for you to know this personal God. The Bible says you can have a personal experience with the God who created this universe. Hebrews 1:1-2 says,

3 3 "God who at sundry times and in divers manners, spake in times past unto the father, hath spoken in these last days in his Son." The eternal, personal God sent His own Son the Lord Jesus Christ into this world. In John 17, verse 3 the Bible says this: "And this is life eternal, that they may know thee, the true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou has sent." The only God who is, who exists, is the God who is the Creator God. The only true God is Elohim -- in the beginning. The God of creation is first of all the personal God. Notice the second truth about this God of creation. II. We have an Eternal God "In the beginning God." It doesn't say when that was. It doesn't say how that was. It just simply says -- in the beginning God. Whenever the universe was created -- how old it may be -- whenever it was that time began -- at that moment God was already there. In your notes you may want to jot down Psalm 9, verse 2, the Bible says, "From everlasting to everlasting, thou art God." God never had a beginning. God will never have an ending. He is the eternal God. In the beginning God -- in the beginning Elohim. In the Hebrew language, when a word ends with 'im" that means it is plural. It is a plural noun here. Some call it a plural of majesty. It raises some questions -- in the beginning God -- Elohim -- plural. What does it mean? There is a hint here of the doctrine which we call the doctrine of the trinity. Now I mentioned this in passing in a Christmas message but let me deal with it a little more here. Look at the 26th verse of this 1st chapter. There it says, 'And God said, let US make man in OUR own image." We also see it in the Spirit of God hovering over the face of the raging waters right after their creation. The noun for God is plural, but the verb is singular. In the beginning God -- Elohim -- created -- bara. It is singular. There is a revelation of the doctrine of the trinity. A Plural noun means more than one. Example: The Church Staff (plural noun, more than one) went to lunch (a singular act) The Bible says that God is one God and yet God exists in three persons -- God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. The Bible teaches that every person of the trinity partook in the creation. For instance, God the Father was active in the creation. Acts 4, verse 24 says this: "Lord thou art God, which has made heaven and earth and the sea and all that in them is." The Lord Jesus Christ, God the Son, participated in creation.

4 4 In John 1, verse 3 it says: "All things were made by him and without him was not anything made that was made." God the Holy Spirit participated in creation. Psalm 104, verse 30 says this: "Thou sendest forth thy spirit and they were created." The universe is a trinity -- time, space, and matter. The universe was created by a trinity -- God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Do I understand the trinity? No. Do I believe the trinity? Yes, the Bible teaches it and I believe it. Do I believe something that I don't understand? Oh, of course I do. I believe a lot of things I don't understand. Electricity, I Cloud The Trinity -- how can God be one God and manifest himself in three persons? It's kind of like water. Water is water and yet there are three forms of water. -There is the liquid form which is water. -There is the solid form which is ice. -There is the gaseous form which is steam. Yet there is only one water. It exists in three forms. Or take myself. There is one of me and yet I exist in three persons. I am a son to my mother. Yet there is one of me. I am a husband to my wife. Yet there is one of me. I am a father to Brooke and Bradley. Yet there is one of me. Example of a boiled Egg - Shell, white and yoke. Take any of the three away and you don t have a complete egg. I do not understand the trinity, but the Bible teaches the trinity. The Bible tells us that God is the eternal God. He never had a beginning. He will not have an ending. He has always been and He always is. He is the eternal God. That means that God cannot change. In Malachi 3, verse 6 God says, "I am the Lord, I change not." That means God is immutable. That means that God does not change. -God could not change for the better because he would have not been God to begin with. -God cannot change for the worse because that means He wouldn't be God now.

5 5 God -- the God of creation -- is the eternal God! In Deuteronomy 33, verse 27 it says, "The eternal God is our refuge and underneath are the everlasting arms." We have a personal God We have an eternal God III. We have a Powerful God "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth." He is the only God who created the heaven and the earth. He is the only creator God. He is the powerful God. "God created." It's the Hebrew word, bara. The subject of that verb is always God. It is only God who is capable of creating. The word, bara, means to bring into existence that which does not previously exist. That means that God is the creator God. It is technically called "creation ex nihilo." It means creation out of nothing. It means one moment there was nothing; the next moment there was everything. I like the way Tony Evans put it. He said, "The Lord God stepped from behind the curtain of nowhere, upon the platform of nothing, and spoke the world into existence." The creator God! We can't create. Sometimes we talk about creating something or we talk about human creativity. But in absolute terms it is impossible for us to create anything. We can't bring something into existence which did not previously exist. There is another word that will be used here that we will study in Genesis 1. It is translated "made" in this chapter. It is the Hebrew word, asah. It means to make. It means to take existing materials and make something out of those materials. A potter takes some clay and out of that clay he molds and makes something. He takes existing materials and puts it together in a creative way. But it is impossible for human beings to create -- to bring into existence that which did not previously exist. You can go to the grocery store. You can get flour, sugar, chocolate flavoring, and whipped cream and all that. You can find a recipe book and you can work and put it together and in a little while you can put it in a stove and give it a little time and it comes out and you have a beautiful chocolate cake. All you have done is just followed the recipe. You made a cake out of what was already made. But you can t go home and get hungry for cake and make one out of nothing. Only God is able to Create out of nothing Now, I am certainly no scientist, but I have researched this and let me just mention the two things our young folks are definitely going to be exposed to in school as far as creation goes. Today the most accepted scientific theory is the Big Bang theory. The Big Bang theory, as I understand it, is the theory that many, many eons ago, at the beginning of time, out of a vacuum, a single particle came. Millions and billions of years ago, about 4.6 billion years ago, that single particle which had crushed into it (where that single particle came from) all time,

6 6 all space and matter, exploded. It set off a series of explosions and through this series of explosions the universe, as we know it today, came into existence. Then somewhere, in our atmosphere, in a prebiotic soup, life began. When life began, there was a series of evolutions through natural processes. As we move through these natural processes, sooner or later, man came into existence. There are not only two views, but there are only two basic positions. -You have to believe that the world came into existence by a creator God -or you believe that the world came into existence in the evolutionary method. They are directly opposed to one another. They cannot co-exist. They cannot live together. One of the two must be correct. One of the two must be false. The Bible says, in the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. To go into the laboratory to find God would be like taking a piano apart and trying to find a song. Both of these views are matters of faith. By faith we believe that God created the universe. By faith the evolutionist believes that the universe came into existence in an altogether accidental manner. So, we have the evolution equation on the one hand and we have the creation equation on the other hand. Here's the evolution equation: Time + space + matter + chance = the universe. Chance is that which happens without a cause. Chance. The evolutional equation says that when you take time, space, and matter and then you add random chance, you have the existence of the universe. To me, it is incredible that anyone logically would believe that the universe would come into existence by mere accident or by chance. So, the evolutionary system is a system which accounts for the existence of the world without the necessity for a divine creator. The God of Creation is the God of special power. "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth." He is also the God of special purpose. He is the God who had a special purpose in mind. That's why it is so important to believe in creation. If evolution is true there is no meaning, no purpose to anything. If the world came into existence by some colossal accident or by chance, then that means you came into existence by chance. That means there is no real purpose or meaning to your life. When we teach people that there is no purpose or meaning to their life, why are we surprised when life becomes very cheap?

7 7 Why does it surprise us when human life means so little when we have taught people for generations that life has no meaning or no purpose? But when we believe that God created the universe and when we believe that God created us, it means that God had a purpose. God's purpose for creating this universe was for our good and for His Glory. As you move down through this creation chapter you will find that God says several times, "it was good." That means it was good for man. God created this universe to be inhabited by man. In Isaiah 45, verse 18, it says this: "For thus saith the Lord that created the heavens." God himself that formed the earth and made it. "He hath established it; he created it not in vain." He formed it to be inhabited. "I am Lord and there is none else." The God who is the Creator, the God who says I am the Lord and there is none else, says He created this universe and this earth to be inhabited. That means God created this universe for you and for me. Think about how ideal our earth is for human existence. It lets us know that it has been designed specifically for human habitation. -Take the very size of the earth. If the earth were larger or if it were smaller, human life could not exist. -Think about the rotation of the earth. If it rotated faster or slower, there could be no human existence. -Think about the distance of the earth from the sun. If it were closer we would burn to a crisp. If it were further away we would freeze. It is exactly right for human habitation. God says, "I have created this universe for a purpose, for your good." There's another reason God created this universe. He did it for His glory. Turn to Revelation 4, verse 11. There's a great hymn of praise in heaven to the God of Creation. Praising God for His creation. We read this remarkable statement: "Thou art worthy, o Lord, to receive glory and honor and power. For thou hast created all things and for thy pleasure they are and were created." God created this universe to bring glory to His name. That means that God created you for His glory as well. In Psalm 150, verse 6, the Bible says, "Let everything that has breath praise the Lord." The trees lift their branches and say, "Praise the Lord." The planets rotate in their orbits and say, "Praise the Lord." The beautiful rivers flow and they say, "Praise the Lord."

8 8 Yet, man puts his fist in the sky and refuses to praise the Lord. However, the God of Creation wants you to get to know Him. Genesis 1:1 says to me What A Mighty God we Serve As you leave today I hope that will be resonating in your heart What A Mighty God we Serve Little children can appreciate this verse, but scholars can be perplexed by it. **That is what I love about the Bible It s shallow enough that a little child can get a drink without fear of drowning, but it is deep enough that the scholars can swim and never touch the bottom. Amen? God created you for His glory. God has a special power. God had a special purpose. God had a special promise. "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth." God's creation is a loving demonstration. It is a demonstration of His love for you and me. Every time you look at one of God's trees, God is saying, "I love you." Every time you look at one of God's beautiful flowers God is saying, "I love you." Every time you view any part of God's creation on this beautiful earth of ours, God is saying, "I love you." The God of creation wants you to get to know Him. One of my favorite stories is the story about Charles Spurgeon. He was one of the most remarkable preachers in the history of the Christian faith. He was pastor of the Metropolitan Tabernacle in London, England. He started when he was just a boy preacher. The story of young Charles Spurgeon's conversion at the age of 16 is a remarkable story. It comes right out of Isaiah 45. This is a remarkable chapter about God's creation. It sets forth the creator God and God's purpose for creating the universe. The 22nd verse says this, "Look unto me and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth. For I am God and there is none else." Think about that. On a Sunday morning Charles Spurgeon set out to go to church. There was a snowstorm. God's creation seemed to be arranging circumstances of his life. If you came into this building today and don't know the Lord, you have not come into this building by accident. God had a purpose for you being in here. God arranged the circumstances of your very existence to bring you to this place. Just like God provided a snowstorm on that occasion to make it impossible for young Spurgeon to go to the place where he normally attended services. The snowstorm became so intense that he dropped into a little Primitive Methodist chapel. The weather was so bad that the pastor of the church couldn't even make it to the church that day. There was a small crowd of people there. A layman in the church got up to speak. He was not trained. He was not prepared. But he got up to speak and to say something for the Lord. God was working in the circum-stances of a young boy named Charles Spurgeon. The lay speaker chose as his Scripture, Isaiah 45, verse 22. "Look unto me and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth, for I am God and there is none else."

9 9 About all the layman did was just quote that verse. That's about all he could do. He looked out in the audience and there sat Charles Spurgeon. He said to him, "Young man, look unto Jesus and be saved." And the God of creation, the God of the universe who had arranged the circumstances of a sixteen-year-old boy's life to bring him to that moment when he might hear a verse, a special love message from the God of creation. He heard that verse and said, "I will look unto Jesus and be saved." God saved him and made a great preacher out of him--all because the God of creation sent him a love message that day. In II Corinthians 5, verse 17, the Bible says, "If any person be in Christ, he is a new creation. Old things are passed away, behold all things are become new." The same God who saved Charles Spurgeon had enough power to create this universe is the God who is in this very place today. He has the power to save you and make a brand new person and a new creation out of you. Would you respond to His Love by giving your heart and life to him? Let's bow our heads in prayer.