Genesis 1:1-13 In The Beginning In The Beginning " 1 Rev. Brian North September 11 th, 2016 Is there a better-known phrase in the Bible than In the Beginning...? Is there a more debated passage of Scripture than the opening verses and opening chapter of Genesis? These words have been at the heart of debates over questions such as: Why are we here? Where did we come from? How did we get here? These are the sorts of questions that humans have been asking since...well, the Beginning. So this morning we begin a new adventure that will take us throughh the first four chapters of Genesis. In The Beginning is the title of the series, as well as of today s message, as we look at what the opening verses of Scripture tell us about God, Creation, humanity, sin, redemption, and much more. And from these words in the beginning and what comes after them, we learn much that can impact our lives today, because life is full of beginnings: beginnings of relationships, beginnings of new jobs, of school, of retirement, new community, beginning of new seasons such as fall coming soon, which we know is coming because Pumpkin Spiced Lattes are back at Starbucks. So in the beginning is not a one-time experience, but these opening verses of Genesis tell us of the first of these beginnings. Genesis is actually the Greek title of the book, given to it when the Scriptures were translated from Hebrew into Greek about two centuries before the birth of Jesus. Our English translation of the book of Genesis come to us from the Hebrew, not the Greek, but the Greek title has stuck. The Hebrew title for the book Genesis is beresheet and is simply the first Hebrew word of the Bible, which means In the beginning. Similarly, Genesis means origins or beginnings. So Genesis is a book of beginnings, and that is true right from the first words: In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth... We see in these opening words that: The first chapter of Genesis is fundamentally about God. i God is the one acting, taking the initiative, and everything else that follows is filling in the details of that sentence. In fact, the rest of the Bible is all about God acting in and through the events of
human history that are recorded in the Bible. Here in Genesis 1, the emphasis is on God s activity in creating everything out of nothing. Now, thanks to modern science, several questions arise when looking at Genesis. The problem with trying to answer them by turning to the Bible is that many of these questions aren't questions that Genesis sets out to answer. We want to focus our attention on the creation and how it came to be, but the focus should be on God, the creator. That s what this chapter, and all of the Bible, is about. For instance, the passage tells us that in the first three days God created light, sky, sea, land, and vegetation. And many people have started asking, how could that be done in one day each? Did God really do this in six, 24-hour days? Could the word day be metaphorical? Could it really be much longer? These are interesting questions to ask and debate. And the fact of the matter is, we will probably never have a final answer, though we will dive into that more next week so if those questions resonate with you or if you know people with whom they resonate, I encourage you to be here next Sunday. But for now, suffice it to say that Genesis 1 doesn't primarily concern itself answering these questions, especially the more scientific ones. These are theological statements here, not scientific statements, and we can t expect the Bible to answer questions that it wasn t designed to answer in the first place. It does, however, let us know that this is about God, first and foremost, and it points us to him and his creative activity, and his love for his Creation. Now when it comes to all of creation, when you think about it, it's kind of odd that there is anything at all. Especially if you factor God out of the equation, there really is no logical reason for anything to exist. Why does anything exist at all? Why is there a universe? Why is there a Milky Way Galaxy? Why is there our solar system? Why is there an earth? Why is there humanity? Why does time exist? Why is their oxygen or hydrogen, let alone a combination of them to create water? Why is there such a thing as an idea or a thought? Why is there math, poetry, literature, and music? Why is there football and baseball? (Actually, we know why there s baseball: because God created everything in the big-inning. ) This fundamental question of 2
why is there anything? is one of the arguments for the existence of God to begin with: Stuff is here because God created it. And yet Creation is the only organized, designed, and delicately balanced thing I know of where people believe there s no organizer/designer/builder. Take something man-made as an example. Look at this building we're in. Where did it come from? Would you agree with me if I told you that there was a builder of this building? What if I challenged that notion and told you that I don't believe this building ever had a builder? Would someone please prove to me that there was a builder who built the building? What is the proof of the existence of a builder? The proof is in the building itself. The evidence for a builder of this building is overwhelming, because of the presence of the building it s design, the way it is organized and the different parts of it work together and so forth. In fact, I'd say that we know with 100% certainty that there was a builder who built the building, even if we don t know who built it. We know this because of the building itself. The same is true with the existence of God. You can cling to the argument that God doesn't exist if you want to, but: The overwhelming evidence points toward the existence of a Creator God. There is too much evidence in favor of a creator to dismiss it. To suggest that all of creation, the order and interaction of all its parts, and the delicate balance that exists within it all, came about by accident, would be akin to saying that this building, or any building for that matter, came about by accident. So the proof of the creator is in the creation. ii Many people have then tried to answer the question, Why did God create? And various answers have been given to that question over the centuries. One of the most prominent has been that God created everything, and especially human beings, because he was lonely: God had a need for companionship and relationship, and God was not complete in and of himself. That is not true. God is completely and totally self-sufficient. God does not have relational needs such that he had to create something in order for Him to be complete. God is complete in and of himself. 3
Rather: God created simply because he wanted to. It was his heart's desire. The notion that God created because he had relational needs is dismissed right here in the first sentences of Genesis, because we see that God already exists in relationship. The Trinitarian nature of God three in one is outlined for us right here in the opening words of the Bible. Here's how: 4 When Genesis says, God created the Hebrew word for God is Elohim. In Hebrew, adding the im at the end of a word is like our s at the end of a word. Dogs is plural for dog; Cars is plural for car. Similarly, Elohim is plural for God. But then the word created is in its singular form. We don't have singular and plural past-tense verbs in the English. I/he/she created and they created and we created use the identical word. Even if you speak that strange variant of English that includes y all or all y all it still is created. But not in Hebrew. There are singular and plural past tense verbs. And here, it s singular, in spite of the plural noun Elohim. So right off the bat we're given a sense of the relational nature of a single God. There is one God who creates, but that one God exists in relationship with himself...one God in trinitarian form: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Now, this verse on its own doesn't make clear the number of relationships in Elohim. This could be a Septarian God or a Quad God or something else. But the trinitarian nature of God comes out in the next verses and throughout Scripture. Verse 2 tells us that the The Spirit of God was hovering over the waters (Genesis 1:2). Some translations, read A wind from God swept over the face of the waters. God's 'ruah' swept over the face of the waters. And ruah can be wind or spirit, and we have to figure out what would be the best meaning of the word, which we can do if we continue reading. And as we continue we see that this ruah is doing something. The Hebrew word for what it's doing is rapat and only occurs two other times in the entire Old Testament. One of those other occurrences is in Deuteronomy, also written by Moses. That verse says, As an eagle stirs up its nest, and hovers (rapat) over its young... (Deuteronomy 32:11). Here the word
clearly means to hover. The other instance is in Jeremiah, where it s usually translated as tremble. And of course there s some overlap between hovering and trembling. So hover is the way many English Bibles translate rapat in Genesis 1:2. So then we have to ask, what is hovering? How should we translate ruah as wind or as Spirit? Wind does not hover. But God's spirit could hover over the waters. So: God's Spirit, part of the Elohim, is hovering over the waters. And so here we're given some more specificity on the nature of this Creator God. Elohim. We know that this God of creation exists as at least a dyad Within the God-head is at least one relationship between two aspects of God. Then in verse three we read of God bringing order out of the chaos through his speaking. God's word is powerful. And it is here that we see the third aspect of the trinity, and the New Testament helps shed some light on this. The Gospel according to John tells us that In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God...and the world was made through him...and the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us... (John 1:1...10...14). First, John intentionally uses words that evoke thoughts of the opening words of Scripture, In the beginning. Then he tells us that the world came into being through this word. So in the beginning, this word is instrumental in the creation of the world. Then John clarifies for us just who or what this word is: The word is Jesus Christ, and he s been a part of things from the beginning. Jesus himself affirms for us this fact when he said And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began (John 17:5). Jesus Christ existed in the God-head before the world began, at the dawn of creation. This is the larger context in which we read these opening sentences of Scripture. So in his Word, in his speaking, we have here the third aspect of the Trinity. God's word is the Son, Jesus Christ. And so in the first three verses of scripture we're given a Trinitarian formula for understanding who God is. Elohim plural God created singular verb. Three in one. God exists as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit for all eternity. And it all starts in the beginning. One last thing that we learn from this passage about God s word: The word of God is powerful; it has authority. The stock brokerage firm EF Hutton 5
used to have a slogan, When EF Hutton speaks, people listen. EF Hutton no longer exists, so they no longer speak, and when they did they must not have spoken too well or they d still be around. So their word didn t really have that much power or authority. But with God's word, there is incredible power and authority, and we know this because he spoke creation into existence. And as we'll see in a few weeks, we humans want to have that kind of authority, to have that kind of power. But only God's Word has true authority and power. When God speaks, creation happens. And as I said earlier, life has a lot of beginnings. In fact, Fall is a time of beginnings: beginning of church ministries after some of them took a summer break, beginning of school, beginning of new relationships with teachers, students, parents, and more. Some people are beginning a journey of faith with Jesus or beginning a step of faith in a new ministry or experiencing a beginning in some other facet of your life and God is doing something there that s a huge in the beginning for you. Whatever beginning you re experiencing, God is there in the midst of it. God is doing something creative. God is doing something new. He s beginning something in your life. He s creating something in you and through you. He s beginning a new faith, beginning a new relationship, beginning a new ministry, beginning a new boldness, beginning a new era in the church, beginning new community, beginning a new forgiveness, beginning a new work in your life. What is God doing in the beginning in your life? We see God s initiative and God s activity here in this passage in the beginning, we see it throughout the Old Testament, we see it the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, we see it in history, and we see it in our own lives if we are open to what God is doing. God is doing something in the beginning in you, and I pray you would know that deeply in your life today: that God is active, that he s bringing about new beginnings, he s creating and bringing about something new in your life today, in whatever season of life you re in. So let this passage remind you of that, and help us all to live by faith and be open to what God is doing in the beginning no matter what that beginning is. Let s pray Amen. i Briscoe, D. Stuart. Genesis (Preacher's Commentary Series), p. 24 This chapter should be read primarily as a revelation of the God of creation rather than a statement about that which God created. Briscoe is one of several authors who make this observation. ii For a short and highly readable book on this topic, check out The Case for A Creator by Lee 6
Strobel. Published by Zondervan Publishers, and available easily at Amazon.com and other major book retailers. 7