Genesis 1v1 The Gospel In
Creation
By Ken Humphries
The opening chapter of the Bible stands diametrically
opposed to various human philosophies. In regard to these
human theories the believer takes his stand, not on the shifting
sand of human opinion but on the bedrock of the Bible.
Chapter one opposes ATHESIM: “In the
beginning God”
Chapter one opposes POLYTHEISM: “In
the beginning God” One God!
Chapter one opposes Pantheism: “In
the beginning God Created the heaven and the earth”
That separates God from matter!
Chapter one opposes Materialism: “Let
us make man in our image”
Man is like God, possessed of a spiritual
nature!
Chapter one opposes Evolution: “After
his kind” The expression occurs twelve times, it locks
each kind into its own category.
Chapter one opposes Naturalism: “In
the beginning God created” matter is not eternal, nor
is man a machine.
Chapter one opposes Nihilism: God created,
God said, God blessed. Man is much more than a machine, determined
or capricious, operating in a meaningless closed system.
Chapter one opposes Existentialism: Meaning
life is purposeless and miserable. “And God said”
(ten times) “And God saw” (seven times) “The
evening and morning were” (six times) “And it
was so” There is an historical basis for faith; the
Bible does deal with concrete facts!
Now it is important that we understand this text and more
to the point, that we believe it. Because if the Holy Spirit
cannot be trusted in Genesis Ch. 1 about the story of creation,
how can we trust Him about the story of Salvation? If we cannot
trust the Holy Spirit when He speaks about earth in Genesis
Ch. 1 how can we believe what He says about heaven in Revelation
Ch. 22. If the Holy Spirit cannot be trusted in Genesis Ch.
1 how can we trust Him in John 3v16?
Now there are four thoughts that should occupy us seriously
just here!
1. He Is The God Who Is Presented!
Why do I use the word presented? Because the fact of God
is not argued here, the fact of God is not explained here,
God is presented as a fact of truth. “In the beginning
God” No philosophising, No argument, no explaining,
it’s a profound fact and needs believing, the Bible
writers never try to prove the existence of God, they simply
present the truth that has stood the test of all history,
all humans, all heaven and all hell, a truth that stands forever
sure.
Sometimes it’s levelled at Christians, Oh you just
believe by faith that there is a God! Do you know what? That’s
absolutely correct, but by the same token, the unbeliever
accepts by faith that there is no God, you see he cannot be
omnipresent so he must accept by faith that there is no God,
he has never proven there is no God. Teach this dear people,
all men and women are believers, I choose to believe in God,
the so called atheist chooses not to believe in God!
When the God in whom I believe says He made creation out
of nothing I believe Him, when the God in whom I believe says
he spoke and it happened, I believe Him. When that same God
says he made redemption out of the death of his lovely Son,
Jesus Christ, I believe him.
One day Jesus of Nazareth hung on an old rugged cross, friendless,
forsaken and alone and died an ignominious, shameful, cruel
violent death, a death reserved for rebels, slaves and criminals
and a few days later He was worshiped and praised enthusiastically
by thousands as the Son of God, something must have happened
in between, it did! Jesus rose from the dead and appeared
unto many causing many thousands to believe what He had said
was true and came true. To believe in God and more than that,
to believe Jesus is God’s Son because He has the words
of eternal life, they could believe in Him for eternity.
One day the disciples were huddled in fear of their lives
in an upper room with doors and windows barred, a short time
later they were out in the streets preaching the good news
of the gospel, preaching that Jesus was God and that he was
crucified for their sins and through Him they could know forgiveness
of sin and they could have eternal life, something must have
happened in between, it did! Jesus rose from the dead emphasising
that indeed He was the way, the truth and the life and that
no man could come unto the Father but by Him! This is the
greatest news this world has ever heard, you either believe
it or you don’t, it won’t be forced upon you but
it’s a truth you need to think on and believe on the
Lord Jesus Christ and be saved. You will be saved only through
the Lord Jesus Christ or not at all.
“That if you will confess with your mouth the Lord
Jesus, and believe in your heart that God raised him from
the dead, you will be saved” (Romans 10v9).
A. This Is The Basic Assumption Of The Gospel:
(1) This Is A Proven Truth: “God has raised him from
the dead”
Its historical, it’s factual, it’s honest, it’s
dependable, it’s worthy of our trust.
(2) This Has To be A Personal Trust: “Believe in your
heart”
No One can do it for you; it must be your own personal acceptance
of Christ.
(3) This Has To Be A Public Testimony: “Confess with
your mouth”
Confession confirms your reality.
B. This Is The Blessed Assurance of The Gospel:
You will be saved: That’s Gods way. “I am the
way” said Jesus.
You will be sure: That’s Gods Truth. “I am the
truth” said Jesus.
You will be satisfied: That’s Gods Life. “I am
the life” said Jesus.
One day the Lord Jesus Christ hung on an old rugged cross
friendless, forsaken by all, yet within a short period of
time there were churches all over the Roman Empire gathering
regularly to worship the one who had been crucified, what
made the difference? Belief of the truth! Confession of His
name!
“But the hour cometh and now is, when the true worshipers
shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father
seeks such to worship Him” (John 4v23).
The Father seeks to commune with you in worship. He is not
looking for your money, your glory, or your strength. He is
looking for your heart.
C. S. Lewis said, “It is in the process of being worshiped
that God communicates His presence to men.” If you are
not worshiping God, but you are serving Him (or so you think),
you are making a big mistake. To pray without worship is mockery.
To sing without worship is sounding brass. To work without
worship is an insult to God. To teach without worship is ignorance.
To serve without worship is hypocrisy. To witness without
worship is perjury. God wants your worship. Begin the next
seven days by reading Psalm 95 through 101. The first day,
read Psalm 95 and finish with Psalm 101 on the seventh day.
2. He Is The God Who Is powerful! In the beginning God created:
Now its interesting, the word for created here in the Hebrew
is the word “bara” its used only about fifty times
in the Bible, and do you know, it always speaks of something
only God can do, that is to make something out of nothing.
No man can create, only God can do that!
“Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed
by the Word of God, so that things which are seen were not
made out of things which do appear” (Hebrews 11v3).
You see, anything we make, we make out of something else,
but when we understand by faith that the worlds were framed
then we are taking God at His Word and can believe all else
He says.
I mean, what a mighty and powerful God we have!
So long as the church pretends or assumes to preach absolute
values, but actually preaches relative and secondary values,
it will merely hasten the process of disintegration. We are
asked to turn to the church for our enlightenment, but when
we do so we find that the voice of the church is not inspired.
The voice of the church today, we find, is the echo of our
own voices. When we consult the church we hear only what we
ourselves have said. There is only one way out of the spiral,
and the way out is the sound of a voice, not our voice, but
a voice coming from something beyond ourselves, in the existence
of which we cannot disbelieve. It is the duty of the pastors
to hear this voice, to cause us to hear it, and to tell us
what it says. Fortune Magazine, January 1940.
The voice of God is a friendly voice. No one needs fear to
listen to it unless he has already made up his mind to resist
it. A. W. Tozer.
There is hardly ever a complete silence in our soul. God
is whispering to us well nigh incessantly. Whenever the sounds
of the world die out in the soul, or sink low, then we hear
these whisperings of God. He is always whispering to us, only
we do not always hear because of the noise, hurry, and distraction
which life causes as it rushes on. Frederick William Faber.
God made it all, it’s His wonderful power at work and
there it stands in all its naked force as a testimony to the
keeping power of our God, it is God who keeps the stars in
place, it is He who keeps this world spinning on its axes,
and we need to let the world know about this wonderful and
powerful power.
“Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto
salvation ready to be revealed in the last time” (1
Peter 1v5).
One preacher said, “God stepped out from behind the
curtain of nowhere and stood on the platform of nothing and
made everything by His Word”.
You see when we believe in Jesus Christ as Saviour and Lord,
it is that same Jesus Christ who keeps us by His mighty power
and we need to let the world see and know that power working
through us.
What has happened?
“Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature,
(or creation) old things pass away; all things become new”
(2 Corinthians 5v17).
“New lamps for old,” you will remember was the
cry of the old schemer who wanted to get his hands on Aladdin’s
wonderful lamp. The old Arabian story tells how Aladdin discovered
a battered old lamp that, upon being rubbed, produced a genie
of great power and of complete subservience to the owner of
the lamp. With the genie’s aid Aladdin became very rich
and powerful and married the most beautiful princess in the
land. Aladdin’s wife did not know the secret of the
lamp, so when she heard the cry, ‘new lamps for old’
she gladly exchanged the old lamp because to her it was most
unsightly.
“New lives for old!” is what God offers to all
who will believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, His only begotten
Son, who is the only way back to God from the dark paths of
sin. Only with God it’s not a con game, it’s a
thrilling and blessed reality. With this new life comes not
a genie, but the Holy Spirit of God to make all things possible
to those who believe. New live is the very essence of the
Gospel for God does not patch up the old, he transforms and
makes completely new.
The text in 2 Corinthians gives us two very powerful insights
into what actually happens at New Birth.
A. A Tremendous Change Wrought In A Person By Christ!
1. His New Position: In Christ!
2. His New Personality: A New Creature!
3. His New Potential: All Things…New!
B. A Tremendous Challenge Brought To A Person By Christ!
If: Therefore if any man be in Christ!
You see, there’s the rub, if any man be in Christ he/she
will display the
Characteristics of Christ (The word man there is used in
the generic sense, meaning man or woman) There is a miracle
takes place from the inside out.
You cannot but see and hear the absolute transformation which
comes.
You may well say, I know some so called Christians who do
and say things to their own I would not do to a dog, still
you want me to believe there has been a change. No dear friend,
I would have to say to you very clearly, if there is no change
there is no Salvation!
Whatever you may have seen and heard from others, remember
it’s the fake, it’s the hypocrite who proves the
real thing, and you cannot have a counterfeit unless you have
the real thing. I tell you what though, why don’t you
believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and show us how true Christianity
should be lived; a breath of fresh air is always helpful.
Let the beauty of Jesus be seen in me,
All His wonderful passion and purity;
O thou Spirit Devine, all my nature refine,
Till the beauty of Jesus be seen in me.
3. He Is The God Who Is Purposeful! “Created the Heaven
and the Earth”
There is a reason God made our world and the universe. There
is!
A. He Made It For His Pleasure: Revelation 4v11:
“Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour
and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure
they are and were created.”
No doubt we often praise God for our precious Salvation,
I believe I am correct in saying we seldom ourselves or hear
others praise Him for creating us, yet in Heaven we will surly
know the joy of having been created as we have never sensed
or known here on planet earth. There are no songs of evolution
in Heaven, only songs about creation; our Lord Jesus Christ
is the origin and source of all creation. “All things
were made by him; and without him was not anything made that
was made” (John 1v3). It is our blessed Saviour, who
causes all things and all creatures to exist, is this not
the reason the elders bow down and worship Him, they acknowledge
God as the source and sustainer of the universe and indeed
of all life. These were the amazing scenes John witnessed
in Heaven, our dear Lord Jesus Christ is worshiped as the
creator of the earth upon which He will soon pour out His
divine judgement, His enemies have raged against Him but He
will stand on that day triumphant as the one who is to be
worshiped by all.
B. He Made It For His Praise: Romans 11v36:
“For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things:
to whom be glory for ever.”
What exactly does that mean? Well, it means as the Psalmist
said “Let everything that hath breath praise the Lord,
praise ye the Lord” (Psalm 150v6).
Everything that was created was made to praise the Lord;
humankind was made to praise and worship the Lord. God made
the fish to swim in the water, God made the birds to fly in
the air, God made man to praise His holy name. Take a fish
out of water and a bird out of the air they are no longer
in their natural habitat for which they were created, when
redeemed man moves out of his walk with God He is no longer
able to praise and worship as he was saved to do.
A. W. Tozer said: A real Christian is an odd number, anyway.
He feels supreme love for One whom he has never seen; talks
familiarly every day to Someone he cannot see; expects to
go to heaven on the virtue of Another; empties himself in
order to be full; admits he is wrong so he can be declared
right; goes down in order to get up; is strongest when he
is weakest; richest when he is poorest and happiest when he
feels the worst. He dies so he can live; forsakes in order
to have; gives away so he can keep; sees the invisible, hears
the inaudible, and knows that which passeth knowledge. Praise
the Lord!
C. He Made It For His People:
“God Giveth us richly all things to enjoy” 1
Timothy 6v17:
You see, when God made something He would step back and say,
that’s good or that’s very good, when He saw man
and saw he was alone He said, that’s not good, so He
made man a mate, you see its God’s plan that mans good
is uppermost in His mind and on His heart. When all was done
and dusted, He gave the whole earth over to man and gave Him
dominion over it all that He may enjoy it richly. What does
Satan do? He wants us to think negatively about God, he wants
people to think that God is not a good God and is some kind
of kill-joy. Dear people, let me tell you with all the unction
and function of my being, God has your best interest and mine
at heart, yes God made all things for His Glory and for our
good.
“No good thing will he withhold from them that walk
uprightly” (Psalm 84v11).
He giveth more grace when the burdens grow greater,
He sendeth more strength when the labours increase;
To added affliction He addeth His mercies,
To multiplied trials His multiplied peace.
When we have exhausted our store of endurance,
When our strength has failed ere the day is half done,
When we reach the end of our hoarded resources
Our Father’s full giving is only begun.
His love has no limit; His grace has no measure,
His power no boundary known unto men;
For out of His infinite riches in Jesus
He giveth and giveth and giveth again.
4. He Is The God Who Is Personal! “Come unto me, all
you that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give your
rest” (Matthew 11v28).
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