Creation is all about the Creator, Genesis 1:1-2:3

• Main Idea: ◦ We must realize that creation is about God's revelation of himself, creation is about the Creator not what is being created. God reveals his character through his creation and the ultimate expression of his character is found in his creation of people. • Ice Breaker ◦ Have anyone who knows a CLEAN joke tell it for the group. It will probably require telling them up front that it can't be racist or contain curse words. ◦ Discuss how everything in a joke builds up to a punch line, and without the punch line the joke is just a lame talk. • Intro: ◦ Stories are like jokes, if they don't have a punch line or climax then they are just a lame talk. ◦ Parts of the Creation Story ■ Introduction: 1:1-2 ■ Rising Action: 1:3-25 ■ Climax: 1:26-27 ■ Falling Action: 1:28-31 ■ Resolution: 2:1-3 • God's Process of creation shows his greatness and we shouldn't take away from it. ◦ The creation of different things on different days, with one element dependent upon what was created the previous . ◦ Genesis 1:3-5 is the creation of ■ This I believe to be the time in which God creates the orbit of the earth around the sun and the rotation of the earth on its axis. ◦ Some have not seen literal 24 hour days here instead they have expanded the meaning of day to be figurative in order to allow for the evolutionary process to take place within the creation narrative. ■ Nothing in the story would lend itself to describe the days as anything other than 24 hour days. ■ The word for day in the hebrew is 'yom' and this is the word used every time in Genesis 1-2. ■ The word 'yom' and its derivatives occurs 2302 in the OT and out of these occurrences and in particular the occurrences in Genesis-Deuteronomy (the books written by the same author Moses) almost exclusively refer to a 24 hour period. ■ Some exceptions do occur. ■ Some times the word is used it is in reference simply to the portion of the day in which the sun is up. ■ Other times it is used more in the sense of a general period of time. (Duet. 31:17, "in that day") ■ Psalm 90:4, I Peter 3:8 are two passages in which God's perception of time is described in figurative "a day is as a thousand ." However, this is not a comment on the potential for God to consider a day something other than a 24 hour period. Instead it is figurative language used to describe God's eternal nature. He is outside of time so one time period is just as a another, he does not operate in that dimension. ■ Therefore it would be improper to insert an age into each one of the days in order to incorporate an opportunity for evolution to take place within the creation narrative. ■ And lastly, it would be wrong to presume that death occurred before sin. As we mentioned last week Romans 5:12 presents a different line of thinking, namely, death is a result of sin. • God's Pronouncement over creation shows his perfection and we should be thankful for it. ◦ Each portion of creation is pronounced to be "good". ■ Find out who in the group has been to Yogen Fruze, Menchies, Yumilicious, or a similar frozen yogurt place. Then find out what flavor they like the bast. ■ We say things like try that flavor it is "good." ■ Good in this passage means more than simply God likes it. ◦ The proclamation that the creation is "good" carries with it the understanding that what was made is perfect, complete, and lacking in nothing. • God's Climax in creation shows his ◦ The process of creation builds upon itself, with each portion giving us more detail and being called good every step of the way. ■ We should note that Genesis is history, but that is not he genre used. The genre of the is unique to the Bible, but we do have some parallels. God is using is telling a story, and world history makes up the parts. And as with any other story there are stories within the story. Genesis 1:1-2:3 is a story. ■ It is important to see what God is doing in this passage because it demonstrates the importance God places upon people. We are distinctly different from the rest of creation because we are made in God's image. ■ So for those who would suggest that people • God's Rest from Creating ◦ God's rest does not mean that he stopped working but instead it is that God stopped creating for Colossians 1:17 tells us that God continues to maintain creation. ◦ Instead God's rest has the understanding that God's creation is perfectly formed nothing more is to be done, and he is at peace with his creation. ◦ With the entrance of sin comes the loss of God's rest. Jesus comes to provide the opportunity for us to enter into God's rest again. • Application: ◦ God is a God of order and purpose. So when we think through how God operates in our lives we should look to his order and purpose as a sign of how he deals with us. ◦ ■ This is super helpful for those of you who may go into a scientific field one day. Because God creates the universe with order and intelligence we are able to study it and draw conclusions. ■ ■ For instance think if gravity only worked randomly. ■ The air conditioning in Jimani will drive you crazy because it comes and goes without any real warning. First yo need a blanket at night and then you wake up sweating so bad it looks like you just peed the bed. ◦ We should enjoy God's creation because it is good. And when we enjoy what he has made the right response is thankfulness. ■ 1 Timothy 4:4-5