BIBLE IN TEN

In the beginning God created the sky and the earth.  Although it can be challenging for us to go beyond the question “I wonder how we got here?”, it has many benefits to do so.   When you realize that you are in physically and spiritually alive, there are likely to be one of two reactions –                          Denial -  a desire to suppress the truth.     Or perhaps  “Awe” –and a desire to know more You can either say to God,    “You are what I strive to flee”, or “You are what I strive to be.” Albert Einstein showed that space and time are interdependent - two parts of a single structure, which we call spacetime.  Material objects, or matter require spacetime in order to exist.  Every physical object has a location in space and time.  This inter-dependency between space, time and matter can be highlighted within our verse: In the beginning  (refers to TIME) God created the sky or heavens as is usually translated (referring to SPACE) and the earth (referring to MATTER). Therefore. the author of the book of Genesis is in accord with one of the greatest scientists who ever lived.    Biblical truth and Science in harmony because of the logical, orderly way the universe behaves reflecting the One who made it.     The spirals of a shell and also of a galaxy both reflect a predictable mathematical sequence, the Fibonacci series which demonstrates the orderly thinking of the Creator.  Listen now to four key aspects about God to help us understand what He is like.

Genesis 1:2-19   On the first Wednesday the world existed diamonds were revealed in the sky. Even if there was a solid firmament of frozen water above the earth, it was clear enough to allow the stars to be seen.  In fact, it’s been theorized that the raquia which was the waters above, may actually have acted like a tuning device. The sound of the heavens may have been audible to the preflood world.  If this is true, then an orchestra of pulsars, magnetic storms, and other cosmic events may have played tunes for the people as they lived out their lives.

Genesis 1:20-25 Have you ever wondered about the question “Which came first, the chicken or the egg?” You have the answer in these verses. God created the birds in a dazzling variety of types and kinds, including the chicken. When the first rooster sidled up to the first hen, a little while later there was mother sitting on the first eggs.

Genesis 1:26 This episode provides insight into the amazing words of God:  "Let us make human beings in our image and likeness" Here is a poem to enjoy from a dear brother in Christ: "The crown of God’s wonderful creation plan, Is God’s image-bearer, known as man, Angels tend to his needs unaware, And the domain of earth is under his care, As special as God formed him to be Man turned away from the Creator, you see And so there is a rift between God and man And this rift is a vast one that we cannot span But God did the work to reconcile the two He sent His Son Jesus, all things to renew And so again we can stand in His glorious light Because of the Savior who has made all things right" Charlie Garrett

Genesis 1:27-31 27 So God created human beings in his image. In the image of God he created them. He created them male and female. 28 God blessed them and said, “Have many children and grow in number. Fill the earth and be its master. Rule over the fish in the sea and over the birds in the sky. Rule over every living thing that moves on the earth.” 29 God said, “Look, I have given you all the plants that have grain for seeds. And I have given you all the trees whose fruits have seeds in them. They will be food for you.

Genesis 2:1-3 2 So the sky, the earth and all that filled them were finished. 2 By the seventh day God finished the work he had been doing. So on the seventh day he rested from all his work. 3 God blessed the seventh day and made it a holy day. He made it holy because on that day he rested. He rested from all the work he had done in creating the world.   God created in six days and He rested on the seventh day. This set a pattern for the people of Israel to observe a Sabbath day as well, but the seventh day Sabbath wasn’t only based on creation, it was also based on redemption.

Genesis 2:4:9 4 This is the history of the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that Yahweh[a] God made the earth and the heavens. 5 No plant of the field was yet in the earth, and no herb of the field had yet sprung up; for Yahweh God had not caused it to rain on the earth. There was not a man to till the ground, 6 but a mist went up from the earth, and watered the whole surface of the ground. 7 Yahweh God formed man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul. 8 Yahweh God planted a garden eastward, in Eden, and there he put the man whom he had formed. 9 Out of the ground Yahweh God made every tree to grow that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food, including the tree of life in the middle of the garden and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.   (WEB)   God knew that we would start in a garden and then be removed from that garden because of our interaction with, believe it or not, a tree. But God’s plan is that we are to be restored to the garden because of our interaction with another tree. The plan is so intricately woven and presented in the Bible that it’s almost beyond imagination. Everything fits so beautifully.

Genesis 2:10-15 God is complete in and of Himself. He lacks nothing and therefore anything that He has created is a demonstration of His own goodness and should reflect His infinite worth.  Man pursuing works doesn’t fit this particular picture very well and so what we need to do is look deeper into God’s intent for man in Genesis chapter 2, in the Garden of Eden – the spot where God dwelt and fellow-shipped with him.   Chapters 2 and 3 are finer details inserted into the larger overview of Chapter 1.  Details that give us specific insights into something that must be rather important for us to know…

Genesis 2:16-17 16 Yahweh God commanded the man, saying, “You may freely eat of every tree of the garden; 17 but you shall not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil; for in the day that you eat of it, you will surely die.”   The Bible also says that "Whosoever calls upon the Name of the Lord Jesus will be saved" in Romans chapter 10.   Does this really mean whosoever?  Do we have freedom to make this choice?  In this episode we will explain how by giving Adam a free choice, we too can appreciate our own free choice.  

Adam was being used as a symbol of Christ to come. Just as God took a rib from the side of Adam while He slept, God formed His church through the death of His Son – His moment of deepest sleep. The soldier pierced His precious side and out came blood mixed with water. Two men with similar scars 4000 years apart – one received a bride of flesh and the other a bride of the Spirit. If God was willing to do that for us, we should respond in kind by calling on His name!   Genesis 2:18-25 18 Yahweh God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make him a helper comparable to[c] him.” 19 Out of the ground Yahweh God formed every animal of the field, and every bird of the sky, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them. Whatever the man called every living creature became its name. 20 The man gave names to all livestock, and to the birds of the sky, and to every animal of the field; but for man there was not found a helper comparable to him. 21 Yahweh God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep. As the man slept, he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh in its place. 22 Yahweh God made a woman from the rib which he had taken from the man, and brought her to the man. 23 The man said, “This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh. She will be called ‘woman,’ because she was taken out of Man.” 24 Therefore a man will leave his father and his mother, and will join with his wife, and they will be one flesh. 25 The man and his wife were both naked, and they were not ashamed.

Genesis 3:1-6 3 Now the serpent was more subtle than any animal of the field which Yahweh God had made. He said to the woman, “Has God really said, ‘You shall not eat of any tree of the garden’?” 2 The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees of the garden, 3 but not the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden. God has said, ‘You shall not eat of it. You shall not touch it, lest you die.’” 4 The serpent said to the woman, “You won’t really die, 5 for God knows that in the day you eat it, your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” 6 When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took some of its fruit, and ate. Then she gave some to her husband with her, and he ate it, too

Genesis 3:7-13  7 Their eyes were opened, and they both knew that they were naked. They sewed fig leaves together, and made coverings for themselves. 8 They heard Yahweh God’s voice walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of Yahweh God among the trees of the garden. 9 Yahweh God called to the man, and said to him, “Where are you?” 10 The man said, “I heard your voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; so I hid myself.” 11 God said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?” 12 The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit from the tree, and I ate it.” 13 Yahweh God said to the woman, “What have you done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”   An early lesson about the futility in attempting to overcome our deficiencies with works without faith.