Genesis: The Book of Beginnings

1:1-31, 3:15, 12:1-3 (Pastor Heo)

The Beginning

1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. 3 And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. 4 God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. 

5 God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.” And there was evening, and there was morning–the first day. 6 And God said, “Let there be an expanse between the waters to separate water from water.” 7 So God made the expanse and separated the water under the expanse from the water above it. And it was so. 8 God called the expanse “sky.” And there was evening, and there was morning–the second day. 

9 And God said, “Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear.” And it was so. 10 God called the dry ground “land,” and the gathered waters he called “seas.”And God saw that it was good. 11 Then God said, “Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds.” And it was so. 12 The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. 13 And there was evening, and there was morning–the third day. 

14 And God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark seasons and days and years, 15 and let them be lights in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth.” And it was so. 16 God made two great lights–the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars. 17 God set them in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth, 18 to govern the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that it was good. 19 And there was evening, and there was morning–the fourth day.

20 And God said, “Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the sky.” 21 So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living and moving thing with which the water teems, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 22 God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the water in the seas, and let the birds increase on the earth.” 23 And there was evening, and there was morning–the fifth day. 

24 And God said, “Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: livestock, creatures that move along the ground, and wild animals, each according to its kind.” And it was so. 25 God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. 26 Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” 

27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. 28 God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground.” 29 Then God said, “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. 30 And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds of the air and all the creatures that move on the ground–everything that has the breath of life in it–I give every green plant for food.” And it was so. 

31 God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning–the sixth day.

…

3:15 And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head,and you will strike his heel.”

…

The Call of Abram

12:1 The LORD had said to Abram, “Leave your country, your people and your father’s household and go to the land I will show you. 2 “I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”

Amen.

Do you believe in the Beginning God created the heavens and the earth? The first sentence of Genesis is the first sent of the whole Bible. Personally, I thank God that Genesis is the first book in the whole Bible. How happy we are because Genesis is in the first place in the Bible. If it were not in the first place, maybe we would be confused to receive the Bible as the Word of God.

Genesis = geneseos = “birth” “beginning” “generation” (Greek?)

This speaks of the beginnings of ALMOST everything we have today – I cannot say the WHOLE list.

Creation, heavens, earth, sky, birds, sea, humans, animals, marriage, family, worship, offering, tithes, sin, bad things, murder, adultery, rape, homosexuality, culture, society, community, language, skill, business, industry, government… and on and on.

Genesis is the beginning of almost everything.

Another key word in Genesis = “account” – there are 10 parts (accounts). There are 50 chapters with 10 “accounts.”

1. The heavens and earth
2. Adam
3. Noah – Adam’s 10th generation
4. Noah’s 3 sons Ham, Shem, Japeth
5. Shem
6. Terra
7. Ishmael
8. Abraham’s son Isaac
9. Esau
10. Jacob – up to Joseph’s story

Genesis is the basic, fundamental book to the understanding of the rest of the Bible.

Genesis spans more than any other book in the Bible – it covers more than ALL 65 other books together.

The first sentence = the first sentence of the whole Bible (”In the Beginning God…”) – this first sentence = the master key to open and solve all problems and all questions. This is the main front gate through which we can enter the Bible. This is the ONLY main front gate to enter the Bible “In the Beginning…”

• Heb 11:3 “By faith, we understand and believe that the whole universe was made by God’s command.”
• Heb 11:6 “Without faith, it is impossible to please God, so anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and rewards those who earnestly seek him.”

Bible = the book of miracles

If we enter the Bible through this main gate, inside the Bible, there is no miracle we cannot accept IF we accept Genesis 1:1 by faith.

“In the Beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.”

Through only this single verse, we have SO much to learn, study and understand.

#1 “bara” (created)

In the Hebrew Bible, “created” = “bara” = “In the Beginning, Elohim bara the heavens and the earth.” This means “make something out of NOTHING”

We can make something out of something, but we can make nothing out of nothing. For Creation to be a Creation, there must be 3 elements = time, space, materials. See clearly the first verse – in this sentence we can see that:

1. God created TIME,
2. God created SPACE,
3. God created MATERIALS.

It means, God is beyond, before, above TIME – from everlasting to everlasting. God is absolutely unchanging, immutable in his existence and duration, quality, attributes.

God created TIME: Look at your watch and remember GOD created TIME.

God created SPACE: he is beyond space, beyond the heaven of heavens, he is transcendent from all creation and from all space and at the same time he is imminent, omnipresent (everywhere, at the same time) – nothing is hidden from his sight, everything is laid bare before his eyes.

He is omniscient (all wisdom, knowledge, understanding) – he knows all past, present, and future.

God created MATERIALS: he is not materials, he is a person, a spirit, invisible to our material eyes. Our eyes can only see the objects of the material world. God is understood not by our senses, but by our souls. He is above, beyond natural senses.

He is omnipotent, nothing is impossible with God. He created TIME, SPACE, MATERIALS.

#2 “Elohim” (plural form of God)

In Hebrew, there are two words for “God” (English and Korean, there is only one word) –

“El” = God and “Elohim” = plural form of God

In these 31 verses, we see 30 times “God” – the whole subject is GOD – God made, God separated, God blessed. In ALMOST every sentence, GOD is the subject – please let him be the subject in your life sentence – then he will “see that it is Good.”

• “Elohim” = a hint of the pattern of God’s existence in the Trinity God. In the NT, the Trinity is very clear, but in the OT, it is not clear. YET, even in Genesis 1:1, we can see the hint of the Trinity God.
• “The Spirit of God was hovering…” – this is the Holy Spirit.
• “God said, let there be light…” – God created with a Word – out of nothing (John 1:1) – “In the Beginning, there was the Word, the Word was with God and the Word was God. ALL things were made through the Word and that Word became flesh.”
• Colossians 1:17 “By him, all things were created in heaven and on earth, whether visible or invisible. ALL things were created by him and for him and all things are held together by him.”

Yes, the doctrine of the Trinity is a mystery of mysteries, = Son, Father, Spirit, are ONE. Son is not Father is not Spirit is not Son, yet they are all “God.”

Yes, God created all things within 6 days.

1. Light (not the sunlight nor moonlight nor starlight – these were made on the 4th day) – from scientific knowledge, it is impossible for living things to live, it is impossible to count days without sun, moon, stars (light)
2. Skies
3. Land and sea, and vegetation (so how is there vegetation and days counted, and night/day determined without the sun, moon, stars?)
4. Sun, moon, stars
5. Fish and birds
6. Animals and humans (in his image/likeness)

Yes, on outward appearances, we think that we live by the sunlight, oxygen, etc. But inwardly, we are living by the grace of God – this is the “light” – this is the life-giving power and energy created on the first day.

• Heb 1:3 “Jesus Christ is keeping, sustaining, upholding all things with his powerful word.”

Basically, fundamentally, we are living, working, doing something by the provision of GOD’S life-giving power continually.

Genesis can be summarized by:

1. the creation of all things,
2. the creation of man,
3. the fall of man – he lost paradise, and became more and more wicked and sinful.

There was the judgment of the flood at the time of Noah (the 10th generation after Adam).

Even after this judgment of the flood, humans became more and more wicked – they eventually tried to rebel against God by building the Tower of Babel – to keep themselves safe from the dangers of a possible flood again. So, God scattered them by confusing their languages – this multiple languages is the fruit of the sinfulness of man.

Then, in chapter 12, the Abrahamic Covenant: “God called Abraham and said, ‘Leave and go where I will show you. I will make you a blessing so you will BE a blessing. All people on earth will be blessed through you.”

Last time we studied that the Bible is “all about Jesus.”

Two people here show Jesus: Adam, Abraham

• Genesis 3:15 is the first promise, prophecy of the coming Messiah (Jesus). This is the first curse from God to his creation – yet in this curse there is a hidden blessing – the promise to send his one and only Son, the Messiah (this is the “Primitive Gospel.”)
• Galatians 4:4 “When the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman.”

The hidden and real identity of the snake is the devil, Satan, Rev “The ancient dragon was hurled down – the ancient snake, Satan, who leads the whole world astray.”

Adam = “man” – he is representative of all men, but also of Jesus (called the “last Adam”)

What is common and different between them?

Romans 5:14 “The first Adam was a pattern of the last Adam – Jesus.”

1. Both came into the world by a special action of God as a sinless, perfect man.
2. Both had no physical father. Only TWO people in the HISTORY of the world had no physical fathers.
3. Adam was the head of the old Creation. From the dust of the earth.
4. Jesus is the king of the new Creation – from heaven.
5. Adam was tempted, but failed.
6. Jesus was tempted, died on a cruel cross, but he succeeded in his mission.
7. Through Adam, sin and death came into the world.
8. Through Jesus, forgiveness and life came into the world.

Only one action of Adam’s disobedience was enough to bring judgment and condemnation into this world. Likewise, only one action of Jesus’ obedience was enough to bring forgiveness and life into this world.

1. Genesis 5 = genealogy of Adam
2. Matthew 1 = genealogy of Jesus

What is the difference?

1. Adam = repeated clause, “he lived X years and then he died” – spiritually, the genealogy of Adam = the genealogy of death
2. Jesus = repeated clause, “begot” – NEW birth, NEW life – the genealogy of Jesus = the genealogy of LIFE

Abraham’s Covenant was/will be fulfilled in Jesus.

(Genesis 12:1-3) “Leave your country, leave your father’s house, and I will make your name great (Phil 2:9-11 – God gave him the name above all names that at the name of JESUS, every knee will bow and every tongue confess), I will bless those who bless you, and curse those who curse you – (Gal 3:14 – the evidence of the fulfillment of the Abrahamic Covenant “Jesus Christ redeemed us that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles that we might receive the promise and blessing of the Holy Spirit.”)

(Also, consider how Isaac is a foreshadowing of Jesus)

Please remember to let GOD be the subject of your life sentence so that he will look and see that “it is GOOD.”

Let’s pray.