Genesis: The Beginning of Everything

Genesis 1:1-2:3 ESV

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light. And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day. And God said, "Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters." And God made the expanse and separated the waters that were under the expanse from the waters that were above the expanse. And it was so. And God called the expanse Heaven. And there was evening and there was morning, the second day. And God said, "Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear." And it was so. God called the dry land Earth, and the waters that were gathered together he called Seas. And God saw that it was good. And God said, "Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind, on the earth." And it was so. The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed according to their own kinds, and trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening and there was morning, the third day. And God said, "Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night. And let them be for signs and for seasons, and for days and years, and let them be lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light upon the earth." And it was so. And God made the two great lights—the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night—and the stars. And God set them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth, to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening and there was morning, the fourth day. And God said, "Let the waters swarm with swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the heavens." So God created the great sea creatures and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarm, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. And God blessed them, saying, "Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth." And there was evening and there was morning, the fifth day. And God said, "Let the earth bring forth living creatures according to their kinds—livestock and creeping things and beasts of the earth according to their kinds." And it was so. And God made the beasts of the earth according to their kinds and the livestock according to their kinds, and everything that creeps on the ground according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth."
So God created man in his own image,

in the image of God he created him;

male and female he created them.
And God blessed them. And God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth." And God said, "Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food. And to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the heavens and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food." And it was so. And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.

Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation.

Rev. Dwight Yoo

Why are we covering genesis?

Scripture is one large overarching story spanning all the books of the bible. Genesis gives some principles that are foundational.

Components of a Worldview

A Theory of Origins
An Explanation of the source of evil and suffering
Instill Hope by offering a vision of how to fix what is wrong

what is the christian worldview?
Creation, the fall, and the gospel.

We are told that there are people who are reasonable and then there are those who have "faith" blindly ignoring reason and science. This is not true. We don't need to blindly believe.

This passage had been debated long before evolution became a theory. Before Darwin, christians debated how to interpret these beginning passages. There are multiple ways to understand them.

One that appeals to me is this interpretation. This passage of genesis can be viewed through the lens of the author's intent and the genre of this writing. This writing has the marks of poetry: Repetition of ideas and parallelism. So genesis 1 is not a historical account, it is poetic verse. Genesis 2 is more like a historical account. To say that genesis should be a historic account is like trying to say that a picasso should accurately describe anatomy. It was never intended to do so. So it is here.

Application

Creation is good, but God is ultimate.

Matter is good. So are spiritual things. This world is meant to be enjoyed. Food is good. Nature is good. Sex is good. But there is more than just materialism. There is more than just created things. There is still God.

Creation is ordered and purposeful.

God created things in an orderly way. God is not simply an inspector, he enjoys it. God rested from his work to enjoy his creation. God delights in man and all of creation.

The word is the agent that God uses to create and redeem.

God's word has creative power. It redeems and brings things into order. Just like creation. It brings order and fullness of life. The word is not only in the pages of the bible, it came in the person of Jesus. The word became flesh and died to redeem us.

The reason for god - keller
Total truth - nancy percy

Prayer of Faith For the Community

[James 5:13-20]

Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise. Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working. Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth. Then he prayed again, and heaven gave rain, and the earth bore its fruit.

My brothers, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back, let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.

{Rev. Dan Whang}

This is the wrap up for our James series.

Call for the Individual to Pray

"Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray."

This is not a command. It assumes that one will pray. Are you going through tough times because you are a Christian? because you are trying to live a life of faith? It is an exhortation for prayer. This is not necessarily a prayer for the tough situation to go away.

"Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise."

Cheerful doesn't mean a celebrating spirit. But rather having peace of mind, peace with God... as one who is content in the midst of severe trials. Are you able to find joy in times of trouble? This is the cheerfulness meant by the verse.

Call for the Community to Pray

"Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him"

The sick should be prayed over. We should ask for the LORD to raise him up.

"if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven"

But there is also a spiritual connection. Sometimes, God uses sickness to reveal our sin. Not always, but we need to be mindful that God may be showing us our heart. This also needs to be prayed over.

Promise of Results ins Prayer

We are told to pray for each other when there is sickness, there is peace, or there is sin.

"the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven."

"confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed."

The prayer of faith is not a prayer without doubt. It is a prayer rests on the person of Jesus and His power. I want us to picture the father of the demon-possessed child. "I believe; help my unbelief!" It is not our righteousness that brings power to our prayers. It is dependent upon Jesus' righteousness. He is the one who constantly intercedes on our behalf.

We must remember the root reason why we pray... to save. "whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins."

Fighting with the Full Armor of God: The Shield of Faith

{Ephesians 6:10-16}

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one;

[Rev. Dwight Yoo]

The shield provides overall protection.

How the Shield of Faith protects.

The enemy attacks us in two ways:

Attacks of Enticement

Satan wants us to place our satisfaction in money, hobbies, food, our family, our job... everything but God. All these things are good things and they are not inherently sinful. The problem comes when they become the ultimate thing. Say our job becomes where we get our ultimate satisfaction... we will become insecure. Because our worth, our joy is tied to our performance at work. We become jealous of co-workers that may be doing a better job than us. We get a bad performance review and we are crushed.

Faith gives us a long-term view, exposing short-term quality of sinful gratification and its consequences.

By faith Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. He considered the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking to the reward. - Hebrews 11:24-26

Faith pursues the greater pleasure, treasure, and satisfaction that we have in Christ

We do not always experience the pleasure, joy, & satisfaction in Christ. So very often we chase more immediate, but fleeting pleasure.

Attacks of Fear

When the devil attacks us in this way, he is trying to provoke us to the following:

Atheism - We start wondering if God even exists...

Blasphemy - We think God is not good. Or he is unjust....

Despair - We lose hope. We consider ourselves failures.

Faith recognizes the limits of reason and clings only to what God says about himself.

Faith takes hold of promises because Faith sees the trustworthiness of the Promiser.