Discovering GOD Through The Old Testament April 19, 2015 Friends & Fellowship Community Group McLean Bible Church Discovering GOD Through The Old Testament Purpose: Through studying portions of the Old Testament, we will seek to understand what GOD says about Himself. Goal: Understand who GOD is, so we can Glorify Him in our worship, prayer, and life Seek to become more like Him through Jesus Christ Session 1: The GOD of All Creation
Discovering GOD in Genesis 1 In the beginning God (Gen 1.1) Hebrew Literal Translation: [In the beginning] [created] [ ĕlôhîym] ĕlôhîym 430 (literally) gods, used (in plural form, especially with the definite article) to refer to the supreme God. Derives from ĕlôwahh or ĕlôahh 433 a deity, a god [ ĕlôhîym] is neither a name or a title identify what the Creator is. Why [ ĕlôhîym] and not [ ĕlôahh]? Usage in Study: God [ ĕlôhîym] What Does Genesis 1 Tell Us About God? In the beginning God... God is the origination, the beginning of all There is nothing before God, because there is no before John 1:1 2 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. Rev. 1:8 I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, says the Lord, Who is and Who was and Who is to come, the Almighty. There is nothing apart or outside of God John 1:3 All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. If God is all encompassing, where did He put His creation? # 1: God in creating the heavens and the earth created the place, where no place existed before. # 2: God contained His creation. Discovering GOD in Genesis 1 Step God's Creation Activity End of Step 1 Gen. 1:1 5a God created the heavens & the earth Spirit of God moved on the waters Called light into being Defined light to be day Defined dark to be night One more creation act! (Stay tuned.) 2 Gen. 1:6-8a God created a firmament or expanse God separates the water above the firmament from the waters below the firmament. 3 Gen. 1:9 12 God gathers the water under heaven into one place to form the seas God creates dry land God creates plant life Gen 1:5b So the first day. Gen 1:8b So the second day. Gen 1:13 So the third day.
Discovering GOD in Genesis 1 Step God's Creation Activity End of Step 4 Gen. 1:14-18 Gen 1:19 So the God creates luminaries in the heavens, including two great luminaries. Greater luminary to rule the day Small luminary to rule the night fourth day. 5 Gen. 1:20 22 God creates water creatures God creates avian creatures Each had a living soul God blessed them: be fruitful and multiply 6 Gen. 1:24-31a God creates the beasts of the earth. God creates His image, made in His likeness: âdâm (aw-dawm') God gave âdâm a well defined purpose to rule over the other living things in the sea, the air, and the earth. Gen 1:23 So the fifth day. Gen 1:31b So the sixth day. Pattern 1: Orderly, yet artistic Earlier steps had to be completed before God performed the next step. For example God separated the seas and raised land, before He created plant life. Within each step God conceived a pattern for creation God conceived of what He wanted to appear God calls something to come into being God's spoken word takes form Confirmation: John 1:1 3 1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. Pattern 1: Orderly, yet artistic Implication Science is the [mis-] identification and interpretation of the processes that God used for creating Within each step the variety and beauty was evident And God saw that it was good. occurs 6 times during the process of creation. At the end of creation: Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good. Job 38:4 6 = Some details of In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Job 38:7 When the morning stars sang together, And all the sons of God shouted for joy?
Pattern 2: There is an order in and to God's Actions God created according to a plan 1 st Starts with heavens and earth 2 nd calls light into existence 3 rd organizes the creation, bringing Heaven into existence. 4 th separates the waters and lifts land into place 5 th creates plant life 6 th creates sun, moon, stars, quasars, pulsars, black holes, etc. and all the light and other electromagnetic energy from those celestial bodies. 7 th creates lower animal life (fish and birds) 8 th creates land animals 9 th creates His representative on earth in His image made in His likeness. Pattern 3: God creates/makes, then declares day yôwm 3117 (yome) = evening and morning This pattern leads to God creating one more thing, that is difficult to recognize TIME! In the beginning there was only God God's very existence was before time! How does God define time? The pattern implies how God defined time God does something to completion. God declares evening & morning was a day Conclusion: God is outside of time. God defines time by completion of His action or events Our lives are controlled by time. The converse is true for God, i.e. God controls time Pattern 3: God creates/makes, then declares day (continued) C. S. Lewis: Mere Christianity; Book Four: Beyond Personality: or First Steps in the Doctrine of the Trinity; Chapter 3: Time and Beyond Time Excerpts Our life comes to us moment by moment. One moment disappears before the next comes along: and there is room for very little in each. That is what Time is like. (1 st, pg 167) Almost certainly God is not in Time. His life does not consist of moments following one another. (2 nd, pg 167) If you picture Time as a straight line along which we have to travel, then you must picture God as the whole page on which the line is drawn. We come to the parts of the line one by one: we have to leave A behind before we get to B, and cannot reach C until we leave B behind. God, from above or outside or all round, contains the whole line, and sees it all. (2 nd, pg 168)
In the beginning GOD GOD 1 2 3 4 5 6 God defines time by the completion of events. Discard notion that Gen. 1 refers to 24-hr days 24 hour is a human, artificial division of day Time becomes relevant. Duration of day is defined for us according to God's creation of the greater and lesser luminaries. (Gen. 1:14-18) In Gen. 1 the influence of time can not be measured nor determined for the period that God created. Digression: the non-existence of time until God defines it throws an insurmountable obstacle into the Big Bang Theory. 1 st the visible universe did not get created until God's day 4. 2 nd the visible universe in all aspects was created by God at the same time, i.e. the star and the star light all the way to earth 3 rd atheists are trying to measure past the origin of relevant time. Revelations of God's Nature through Genesis 1 Wisest above all the wise Detailed planner and designer Imaginative beyond imagination Organized and orderly Far sighted God is present in His creation Revelation of the Spirit of God Gen. 1:2b And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. Revelation of the Son of God (admittedly a stretch) Gen. 1:3 Then God said, Let there be light ; and there was light. John 1:4 5 In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. [ ĕlôhîym] All Encompassing God Plural of [ ĕlôahh] or [ ĕlôwahh] (god, deity) Singular in usage Now to answer the question posed earlier: Why [ ĕlôhîym] and not [ ĕlôahh]? God existed before all creation and time God encompasses His creation, yet is in His creation [ ĕlôhîym] expresses the vastness and infinite presence of God far beyond what we can fathom.
Understanding the Triune Nature of God Gen. 1:2 3 Provides insight into how God interacts with His creation. [ĕlôhîym] expresses the vastness and infinite presence of God far beyond what we can fathom. God reveals how he interacts with His creation The Spirit of God is God interacting in His creation. (v2) The Son of God is the revelation of God in (or to) His creation. (v3) The God the Father is God outside of His creation. Gen. 1:2 gives us a hint as to how we can understand the three one nature of God v2b And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. Yep you guessed it! Water can serve as a model for understanding God. A Model to Comprehend the Triune God A Water Model First consider all the water on earth All the water in the ocean, seas, lakes, and rivers All the water frozen as ice, snow, icebergs, and glaciers All the water in the aquifers, underground lakes and rivers, and in caves All the water vapor in the air. All the water locked in the earth's mantle transition zone in ringwoodite About 400 miles under the surface Scientists believe the equivalent of 3 oceans are in the mineral Now let's make it a little more complicated Water = H 2 O (2 hydrogen atoms and 1 oxygen) Add/subtract neutrons from the atoms (heavy/light water) Add/subtract electrons from the atoms (ionized water) Now expand this to consider all the various forms of water throughout the universe. Given the above, can you see all the water in the universe? The vastness of water pales in comparison to God A Model to Comprehend the Triune God Understanding the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit The water we cannot see through out the universe is water, the father. The water we can see, whether in a cup, or bottle or seashore, is water, the son Water, the son, reveals some of water, the father, and water in toto. Take a cup of water from the ocean, you have water, the son, in the cup. Now pour the cup of water back into the ocean, and refill the cup. You have water, the son, but is it the same son? Water you take into your body, is water, the spirit. When you breathe, you take in water vapor. When you are thirsty, you drink water. God, [ ĕlôhîym], is one God, the Father, is God that we cannot see or comprehend God, the Son, is God revealed to His creation God, the Spirit, is God imparted or moving in His creation