Genesis 1:1

[0:00] I'm going to be starting a new study this evening and it remains to be seen if your teacher! is successful or not. My plans are to do this. We've never really done this but in here on Wednesdays but my plans are to cover 10 interesting and what I would say are very essential passages found in the Bible. So that'll be 10 weeks and by then you all will be ready for Pastor Willard no doubt and we'll turn it over to him and then he'll teach and then the baton will go back to Lee and he'll teach and then it'll come back to me. If I haven't fallen flat on the previous 10 I plan on doing 10 more and I'm just going to kind of work and there's no there's not a system to this it's it's not systematic theology I'm not going to you know get through Genesis by the by 2040.

[1:08] I'm going to hit different areas and we'll just see how that goes and the the passage we will cover have have not all been selected. I've been working through some they might involve one verse they may involve several verses and I guess as I say in my notes here that I'm kind of making this up as I go so that's that's where we're at and by the way we're going to meet tonight next Wednesday and the Wednesday after so that's the second the 16th of the 9th and the 16th and then we're going to be dark on Wednesdays until January 4th or January 6th so that's that's the plan but we've got at least three sessions in here as as I lead in to the study tonight I want to make some comments about the prevailing religion being practiced in our country pretty much everywhere else on earth it is clearly not our brand of evangelical Christianity it is not even liberal

[2:21] Christianity which is anything but Christian it is not Islam although there's over a billion adherence to that belief system globally it's not Hinduism Buddhism or any of those other isms the predominant and global belief system on earth today is naturalism this belief dominates especially modern society in the western hemisphere it's rise to be the dominant religion was aided back in the 1800s by the rise of the theory of evolution as popularized primarily by Charles Darwin as you know Darwin wrote a book popularly referred to as the origin of the species that is itself a misnomer the actual name of the book which evolutionists try to hide you it's hard to find even on the internet is the origin on on the origin of species by means of natural selection evolution or the preservation of favored races in the struggle for life now you look at that title you think about that that is a very racist book and Darwin who was unquestionably in my opinion a racist himself wrote it when he took a journey where he quote discovered evolution he actually took with him a number of weapons hoping to hunt down and kill some natives which he considered to be subhuman he thought it would be a good good sport to kill some some natives in that area that isn't taught in high school biology which leads me to say and this is in your notes I had a biology teacher in high school that was one of my coaches in football

[4:21] Mr. Stein good guy and I'll never forget our first class he said I am required by the state board of education to teach evolution and I'm going to do that because it's the law but I'm here to tell you it is absolutely fiction can't have happened that's how we started that whole block of instruction I always remembered that most of Darwin's theories have been discarded by the scientific community by the way I may have to sit down midway through this we'll play that by here they've been discarded by the scientific community but evolution itself has become the fundamental article of faith in the modern scientific mind not all scientists are evolutionists but a lot of them are teaching evolution is also the law of the land in the United States big court case in Arkansas with all this way the Supreme Court Supreme Court affirmed it said any teaching of creation is in the realm of religion and has no business being in a science classroom that was the ruling and that's the law of the land naturalism I would suggest has replaced Christianity as the main religion in the western world and evolution is naturalism's principal dogma now what do I mean by naturalism naturalism is the view that every force operating in the universe is natural naturally occurring rather than moral rather than spiritual and certainly rather than supernatural the supernatural has no place in naturalism naturalism rejects any concept of a personal god to pull this off the world spirit had to convince people in positions of power and influence that naturalism has nothing to do with religion but is itself the embodiment of scientific objectivity now those who embrace this system pretend that their beliefs are a philosophy that stands in opposition to all faith-based world views they espouse the false notion that naturalism is scientifically and intellectually superior because it is non-religious well that is absolutely false religion is the exact word to describe naturalism it's a religion the entire philosophy of naturalism is built on a faith-based premise it rejects everything supernatural and that itself requires a giant leap of faith the basic tenet of this faith is evolution and it is embraced and taught as a scientific fact it is not science by definition deals with what can be observed and with what can be reproduced by experimentation that's what science is the origin of life cannot be observed none of us was there nor can it be reproduced in a laboratory the origin of life cannot be reproduced neither can the creation of the universe be reproduced in a lab by definition true science cannot give us any knowledge about where we came from or how we got here belief in that system is a matter of faith it's a matter of faith the best known proponent of naturalism in our lifetime was the late astronomer

[8:22] Dr. Carl Sagan and as long as he stayed with astronomy I kind of liked him but when he would drift away he left a lot to be desired before his death he came up with a wildly popular television documentary called Cosmos some of y'all remember that every program and there were a series of them began with this religious statement from Dr. Sagan the cosmos is all that is or ever was or ever will be in other words Carl Sagan deified the universe he deified the universe millions have bowed down to his deity Carl Sagan looked at the universe saw its greatness and concluded that nothing could possibly be any greater than that look up the Milky Way nothing can be greater than that in other words he put creation in the place that should have been reserved for the creator but instead he put creation there

[9:38] Sagan not only denied that the universe was a product of intelligent design he went further and said the universe was never created at all it was never created his argument was it has always existed he saw the universe as eternal and infinite and that belief in his mind took the place of God the apostle Paul addressed that error in the great book of Romans chapter 1 verse 18 to 21 for the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth for what can be known about God is plain to them because God has shown it to them he's shown it to us how do you do that

[10:38] Paul answers for his invisible attributes namely his eternal power and divine nature have been clearly perceived ever since the creation of the world and the things that have been made so they are without excuse for although they knew God they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him but they became futile in their thinking and their foolish hearts were darkened Dr. Sagan I'm sad to say died with a dark heart he died with a dark heart this is not in your notes but I remember when a missionary in the darkest part of Africa witnessed to a member of a tribe over there one night they were out kind of in a clearing and they looked up and he said everything you see there was created by God whose name is Jesus

[11:46] Christ and Jesus is the creator we can establish that he physically carried out creation and working in concert with the Trinity and I'll never forget that African's response he said when I would look up at night and see that I always knew he was there but I never knew his name that's what he said he said I always knew he had to be there I mean he was smarter than Carl Sagan over and against all this though we have God's word we have the word of God specifically for tonight we have the book of Genesis known as the book of beginnings and let me read to you what God the Holy Spirit had to say relative to all that I've been talking about thus far here's what the Spirit of God said and had Moses write it down in the beginning

[12:49] God four words in the beginning God now Diane and I are leaving Friday and we're going over to Branson we have granddaughter stuff and go tell my five-year-old granddaughter in Branson that in the beginning God is not true and you will have a fight on your hands I guarantee you what God reveals to babes he has hidden from some of the most learned scientists in the world as one scientist like to say in the beginning hydrogen that's how he started his class every year in the beginning hydrogen and I had a real good friend some of you know him when he went to college first semester he took biology and the professor came in and said we got anybody here believes in creation few hands went up he said why don't y'all discuss that among yourselves let's have a debate here so they had guys that believed in creation

[13:52] Genesis 1 1 guys that didn't and they went back and forth and after 15 minutes that professor said ok I'm going to call a halt to this and now we're going to come back to reality I want to introduce you to a book named The Origin of Species by Charles Darwin that was at Oklahoma Baptist University when Ed Saucier our former pastor a lot of you know him attended there that was his first class at OBU now I think OBU's changed I pray it has but that was his first class at OBU we should note at the outset contained in these four words in the beginning God that may be the most important comment I make tonight the Bible please mark this down in your mental file the Bible does not begin with a philosophical discussion as whether or not

[14:56] God exists it begins in the beginning God I believe God makes an assumption that rational human beings can look around their world can look up at the night sky can look out in daylight and come to the conclusion that God exists I think rational people should conclude that Paul covered this in the passage I read just a few moments ago for what can be known about God is plain to them because God has shown it to them it doesn't get any clearer than that now as I wrote those words I was sitting up in my study upstairs and I was looking out a rather small window on the second floor of our home and just through that little window I could see grass and trees and leaves and blue sky didn't see any clouds that day and small bounds of dirt small mounds of dirt put there by gophers if that is all of the universe

[16:06] I could see that would have been enough for me to conclude that there is a creator God who made all this that would have been enough for me when we know that Moses wrote the first five books of the Bible and obviously by inspiration of the Holy Spirit those five books are referred to as the Pentateuch that is not a difficult word to define it means five books Pentateuch is pretty interesting the books are Genesis Exodus!

[16:40] Leviticus Numbers Deuteronomy and again this isn't rocket science the name of God appears four words into the book of Genesis in the beginning God the specific name used there was Elohim Elohim is a plural form of the root El and we have El all through El Shaddai and El Rafa and we have all the El but this is Elohim the root El appears more than 2000 times in the Bible as it refers to the true God most theologians believe this to be a word of great intensity it indicates that God has a vast reservoir of power at his disposal I think that probably answers why he could speak into existence the entire universe with such power speaking the universe into existence was a simple matter for

[17:40] God it's a simple matter now I mentioned that this is a plural word but it is speaking about a singular God gets a little confusing here one theologian I read this many years ago he said this using the word Elohim in the first verse of the Bible is tantamount to saying we that's a plural the one and that's singular true God we the one true God of course God has revealed himself we know father son and holy spirit three persons same essence but the plural form of the name does not prove!

[18:21] at this point in the Bible conclusively that there is a trinity of persons that make up the Godhead but it is certainly compatible with the later revelations concerning the trinity totally compatible we learn very quickly that God was the active agent in creation the word the verse continues in the beginning God created so God is active here he created the universe was not created by some force other than the true God what specifically did God create well he created the heavens and the earth in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth Genesis 1 1 and let me tell you how he did that he did it ex nihilo

[19:22] Latin word ex nihilo what in the world does that mean out of nothing he created it out of nothing he didn't have to have anything to create everything I remember the old joke it's really a joke but talk about the scientists that said they could create life and do exactly what God did they wouldn't need God to do that all we would need was some amino acids and some dirt and yada yada so God took up the challenge and one of them got a jar and he scooped up some dirt and God said no no no get your own dirt don't use my dirt you get your own dirt but ex nihilo means out of nothing the doctrine of creation ex nihilo asserts that before the creation of the cosmos nothing existed except the trinity who has always existed but other than that nothing existed and then God spoke into existence the material universe it is interesting to note that of late a creation of the universe has actually gathered support from what is essentially an unbelieving scientific community which largely will continue to refuse

[20:42] God's role in such knowledge now what are they basing that on well two lines of evidence point and these two lines of evidence point to an absolute beginning of the universe and one of those lines of evidence is the expansion of the universe the other line is the thermodynamics of the universe in each case attempts to maintain a past eternal universe which Sagan believed in it's all that ever was or is or will be is becoming very difficult to defend scientifically now what does all that mean if the universe has always existed and has no beginning and no end as Sagan believed why is it presently expanding I mean if it's expanding seems like you could trace it back to a beginning and it went forth people say well maybe there was a big bang I don't have any problem with a big bang God spoke and bang it was

[21:43] I got no problem with that the other has to do with the law of thermodynamics and specifically the first and second laws the first law says that nothing in the universe is being created and nothing is being destroyed can't create anything can't destroy anything things change for instance from mass to energy but nothing that was created in the universe in an instant of time it's all constant I burn logs in my fireplace they're reduced to ashes smoke goes up the chimney but there's still a log somewhere it's just in the form of a gas smoke ashes which I need to clean out it's getting full the second law says there is natural tendency in any isolated system to degenerate into a more disordered state what does that mean things are wearing down things are wearing down a tree falls in a forest and after many years it's gone where'd it go well essentially it became fertilizer and fed other trees that were trying to grow our bodies die return to dust things are wearing out and even science is starting to admit there's some strong evidence for creation as we know it in

[23:15] Genesis 1 1 now for over a century scientists have recognized that all natural phenomena in the universe can be divided into interactions between five fundamental manifestations in 1882 there was a staunch evolutionist named Herbert Spencer and I'm wondering if that name should be Spinet but I'm going to call him Spencer because that's how it's spelled he was an English philosopher he was a biologist he was a sociologist who was a prominent classical liberal political theorist of the Victorian age and he was an atheist did not believe in God and he came up with this theory that everything in the universe can be grouped into five categories everything and I wrote them up there time force action space and matter and for his efforts he was heralded as a genius he went on speaking tours he received awards and accolades for his scientific insight he was nominated for a

[24:42] Nobel prize he didn't get it but he was nominated and that's quite an achievement well this little old theologian in London said Spencer didn't come up with anything new and people were aghast so what are you talking about he didn't come up with anything new the truth is fundamental to understanding science was articulated by an agnostic in the 19th century and these fundamental principles were very well articulated in the first verse of the Bible millennia ago let's start with time in the beginning let's start with force God let's go to action created let's go to space heavens and let's go to matter earth poor

[25:51] Dr. Spencer didn't come up with anything new God already had it God should have copyrighted it Spencer he didn't come up with anything new under the sun as Solomon said there's nothing new under the sun and it's truly amazing that a renowned apostle of agnosticism and atheism would be one to verbally articulate the discovery from science but a discovery which gives considerable and significant weight to the contention that one can know there is a God and that the Bible is his inspired word because God already told us in the very first verse everything that science says encompasses the universe all those things encompass the universe it's also notably ironic that the very first man from whom Charles Darwin took this phrase survival of the fittest was Spencer he came up with that and

[26:52] Darwin used it in the origin of the species here is the man that unknowingly found evidence specifically supporting the inspiration of Genesis chapter one I'm sure wherever Spencer is tonight he's rolling over by me just saying that that's the very chapter that relates the truth about our origins the very first verse from his work Spencer was nominated for the Nobel Prize he is buried in London and his grave faces the grave of Karl Marx father of communism let me make a final point here I hope we're not getting out too early but I didn't know how long this would take I'll do better I'll keep you here longer following the crucifixion a band of women all followers of

[27:54] Jesus went to the tomb they discovered that it was empty they went back to report their findings to the disciples now the men weren't there with them because the men were hiding out of fear the women weren't afraid but the men were but they went back and they reported their findings to the disciples Peter and John ran to the tomb and were amazed and it's recorded in some of the gospels where they thought has the Lord indeed resurrected as he said he would I want to pick this up in Luke's gospel in chapter 24 starting in verse 13 this is Sunday this is the resurrection Sunday that very day two of them and that's followers of Christ were going to a village named

[28:57] Emmaus about seven miles from Jerusalem and they were talking with each other about all these things that happened while they were talking and discussing together Jesus himself drew near and went with them but their eyes were kept from recognizing him you get the picture it's Jesus he's walking with them he knows they're followers of his but he didn't reveal himself to them he shielded that and he said to them what is this conversation that you're holding with each other as you walk and they stood still looking sad then one of them named Cleopas answered him are you the only visitor to Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days and he said to them just as Jesus what things and they said to him concerning

[29:58] Jesus of Nazareth a man who was a prophet mighty indeed in word before God and all the people and how our chief priests and rulers delivered him up to be condemned to death and crucified him but we had hoped!

[30:16] that he was the one to redeem Israel in other words they hoped he was the Messiah yes and besides all this it is now the third day since these things have happened moreover some women of our company amazed us they they were at the tomb early in the morning and when they did not find his body they came back saying that they had even seen a vision of angels who said he was alive some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it was just as the women said!

[30:49] but him they did not see and he said to them oh foolish ones and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken was it not necessary that the Christ should shuffle these things and enter into his glory now listen to this and beginning with Moses and all the prophets he interpreted to them in the scriptures the things concerning himself would you like to have been on that road Jesus said to them the Bible tells us and beginning with Moses and where did Moses begin Genesis 1 1 the

[31:50] Lord Jesus Christ creator redeemer sustainer of the universe very God of very God the all wise all powerful Lord and king of the world put his seal of approval on the words of Moses as the inspired inerrant authoritative and that they are most worthy to be believed Jesus believed in a literal interpretation of Genesis 1 1 I can assure you and we would do well to do the same now I meant to put this in your notes I didn't do it if you can get past in belief in faith and embrace as absolute literal truth Genesis 1 1 beginning in Genesis 1 2 until the very last words of the book of

[32:52] Revelation everything in between it all comes together and makes sense where people get off track is Genesis! 1 1 well I don't believe that or God as I perceive him to be pastor have you ever heard people say that God as I perceive him to be that's like running your fingers down a blackboard some of you don't know what a blackboard is you're too young but I don't care how a person perceives God I wonder how he revealed himself you get past Genesis 1 1 you're on your way all the way to the end of Revelation it all comes together Thank you.