1. CREATION: In The Beginning, God

There are literally hundreds of verses about God as Creator. We will only study a few each week!

“The first verse of the Bible is the most important and basic of all. ‘In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth.’ When one really believes this verse, he will have little difficulty believing all the rest of God’s Word.” (Henry Morris, The Beginning of the World, p. 10)

Day One Study

Read Genesis 1:1.

1. What does this verse tell us about God and the reality (or truth) of the world around us? Read also Psalm 90:2.

2. Read Psalm 100. What does this psalm tell you…

·         About God?

·         About yourself?

3. The book of Job is full of discourses where Job and his friends try to figure out “why” Job is suffering and ultimately question God’s actions. Read God’s response to them all in Job 38:1-14. What does He say to Job and to us?

Day Two Study

4. What do the following verses say about God as Creator?

·         Romans 1:18-21—

·         Acts 14:15-17—

·         Acts 17:22-31—

·         Revelation 4:8-11—

5. In Genesis 1:1, the Hebrew word used for God is Elohim. El signifies the strong God; and what less than almighty strength could bring all things out of nothing? Elohim is plural. The verb, however, is singular, giving hint of the work of the Trinity—God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit. Read the following verses to see the part of each in Creation.

·         Genesis 1:2—

·         Genesis 1:26—

·         John 1:1-5, 14-18—

·         Colossians 1:13-20—

·         Hebrews 1:1-2—

6. How does Jesus validate the authenticity of Genesis 1 in the following verses?

·         Mark 10:2-9—

·         Mark 13:19—

7. Read Job 40:1-2. Notice that God stops speaking and waits for Job’s answer. Read Job’s response in Job 40:3-5 and 42:1-6. To what conclusions does Job finally reach about God?

Appreciation Application:

8. After reading all these passages concerning God as Creator (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit), what conclusions do you reach about God?

Think About It: When I come to the realization that God is God, and I am not; this is the beginning of true worship. I no longer limit God to my own understanding of Him and His works.

Day Three Study

“The Biblical account of creation is ridiculed by atheists, patronized by liberals, and often allegorized even by conservatives. The fact is, however, that it is God’s own account of creation, corroborated by Jesus Christ (Mark 10:6-8, etc.), who was there! We are well advised to take it seriously and literally, for God is able to say what He means, and will someday hold us accountable for believing what He says!” (Dr. Henry M. Morris)

Appreciation Assignment:

9. Watch a sunrise or sunset and read Psalm 19:1-6. Use any creative means to express what you see and how you respond (poem, song, drawing, craft, essay). Share your experience with your group.

10. Read and memorize Psalm 100 in your favorite translation or the one (NET) below:

“Shout out praises to the Lord, all the earth! Worship the Lord with joy! Enter his presence with joyful singing!

Acknowledge that the Lord is God! He made us and we belong to him; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.

Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give him thanks! Praise his name!

For the Lord is good. His loyal love endures, and he is faithful through all generations.”

Deeper Discoveries

·         Read “Creation Answers: Knowing Where to Start” following this lesson.

·         Go to www.answersingenesis.org. SEARCH for “Genesis” or “Creation.” Select an article to read. There are several articles on the reliability of Genesis 1-11. Select an article to read or video to watch. Also visit www.icr.org and search.

Creation Answers: Knowing Where To Start

“In the Beginning, God”

The information below is adapted from resources found on www.icr.org and www.answersingenesis.org.

“We tear down arguments and every arrogant obstacle that is raised up against the knowledge of God, and we take every thought captive to make it obey Christ.” (2 Corinthians 10:5)

Cynthia Heald in her book, A Woman’s Journey to the Heart of God, writes, “Years ago I discovered the freedom and power of making predecisions in order to take captive every thought and make it obedient to Christ. There are several predecisions or principles that are the foundation for taking captive every thought we read, hear, and see to make it obedient to Christ regarding creation science.

Principle #1: In The Beginning, God.

God existed forever. God created everything. (Genesis 1:1; John 1:1-3; Revelation 4:11 and Hebrews 11:3) This world is real, not an illusion. It had to come from somewhere. We have only 2 choices:

·         Nothing suddenly became something without a cause or

·         God, who always existed, created something out of nothing.

There is no other choice. It is easier to believe that God always existed and then created something, than it is to accept that nothing created something. What does the song say? “Nothing comes from nothing, nothing ever could.” Proverbs 1:7 says that the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom. Let’s be wise so that’s where we’ll start.

Principle #2: God Told Us What And How He Created

When it comes to this physical universe: God told us in audible and written form that He created what is and how He did it.

·         Genesis 1—God described how He took six days to create everything in the universe and the earth.

·         Exodus 20:11—God spoke audibly before more than 2 million people. “For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth and the sea and all that is in them, and he rested on the seventh day; therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and set it apart as holy.”

·         Exodus 31:17-18—God repeated what He had previously said—first, audibly to Moses. Then, God wrote it Himself by His own finger on 2 tablets and handed that to Moses

·         Exodus 34:28—God dictated the same information to Moses who wrote it down.

How many different ways did God use to communicate this fact about Himself to us? 5 ways. Yet many say Genesis 1 is a myth. God didn’t think people back then could take the whole truth. Let’s take captive our thoughts here. Why would the almighty yet personal creator God start out His entire revelation to man whom He created with intelligence and capacity for a trusting relationship with Him—why would He start this relationship with a story that isn’t true? Especially a God who cannot lie. That is illogical.

So, let’s not tell God that He was wrong, that He didn’t mean what He said every time He said it. That is presumption. God addresses that very thing in Job 38 when God asks Job, “Were you there when I laid the foundations for the earth?” (Job 38:4) What’s the answer? Of course not. So, who was there? God. Wouldn’t He know what He did? The Bible is true and the beginning source of truth—not man’s ideas.

Principle #3: The 7 C’s Of History

A creation apologetics ministry, Answers in Genesis, threads scripture together from beginning to end through an easy-to-remember series of words called the 7 C’s of History. The 7 C’s are Creation, Corruption (the original perfect creation altered due to sin), Catastrophe (the Flood), Confusion (spread of the populations after Babel), Christ (promises of the Messiah who would restore all things), the Cross (what Christ restored to believers), and Consummation (God’s restoration of His creation to perfection again). The theme of creation and restoration are consistent from Genesis to Revelation.

The first four are events that drastically affected earth history from a scientific or historical viewpoint.

·         Creation—6 days, the celestial objects, land and sea, plants, animals, and man.

·         Curse—ground, pain and death, food chain, poisonous and nuisance creatures, affected the whole creation according to Romans 8:20-22.

·         Flood—affected the planet surface entirely for > 1 year, afterwards man’s diet changed to include eating meat; also the animals’ diet.

·         Dispersion from Babel—the existing population was divided into language groups that spread out and repopulated the earth, taking the accounts of Creation, the Curse, and the Flood with them. This affects archeology.

Principle #4: True Science Is Repeatable, Testable, And Falsifiable.

As defined by the Supreme Court, there is a difference between operational science and historical science.

·         Operational science is repeatable, testable, and falsifiable. It describes natural laws and how they work in our world such as televisions, medicine, cars, etc. It describes what you can observe and repeatedly test in the present.

·         Historical science is not repeatable, testable, and falsifiable. It describes observations made in the present in order to make “educated guesses” about the past. It is more philosophy based on one’s personal belief system.

The two have become fused together into one term called “science.” That’s what really gets a stranglehold on us. A lot of us don’t know the difference.

Principle #5: Science Belongs To God

He is the one who designed the DNA of every creature, how minerals and crystals form as well as what makes a bird fly and the sun to produce light and heat. I can go to Him and ask for enlightenment on any issue. And, this is what I can trust: there are scientific answers out there that support what He said He did to create, curse and Flood this earth. It may not come today, but it very well be there tomorrow if I am looking. So…

Principle #6: Examine The Evidence, Ask Questions

We should evaluate everything we read and hear in light of the Scriptures. It’s remarkable what we find when we are willing to examine the evidence and look at facts. We can ask all the questions we want because God has left us enough clues to know that His Word, even in Genesis, is true.

·         No one can prove creation or evolution. But, we can start with this: we look at the historical record given in the Bible and build a model. If the Bible is true, what would we expect to find? What do we find? We can examine facts in light of that model. Both evolutionists and creationists can look at the exact same facts but apply them to different models based on their philosophy.

·         So, what are the facts? What are the facts in this news report? What are the assumptions? Separate the two. What did they really find? When what is presented as facts doesn’t agree with the model, there may be a problem with the model or the facts (how they were derived).

·         We believe that God’s Word is true. So, if the facts to support it aren’t available yet, we are confident that they may one day be available. Scientists are constantly studying this planet finding out new things.

Conclusion

Know where to start. “In the beginning, God.”