GENESIS 1 BELIEVE THE BEGINNING2021 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: Genesis 1 Believe The Beginning

You are listening to FerventWord, an online Bible study ministry with teachings and tools to help you grow deeper in your relationship with God. The following message was taught by Jerry Simmons in 2021. Well, as we look at the book of Genesis this morning, we're looking at the beginning. The word Genesis means beginning.

And the book of Genesis records for us so many beginnings. Here in chapter 1, we see the beginning of all three things, the beginning of creation, the beginning of mankind, the beginning of animals and plants and trees and oceans and waters and all of these beginnings that we see develop here in chapter 1.

But beyond that in Genesis, we're going to see the beginning of sin. We're going to see the beginning of humanity, the beginning of nations, the beginning of the nation of Israel, the beginning of the plan of redemption that God had through Jesus Christ, the beginning. And God here establishes so many things here in the book of Genesis. And so I've titled the message this morning, Believe the Beginning.

And I want to encourage you as we look at chapter 1 this morning to really challenge yourself and encourage yourself to believe what God says here in this word. If you can believe Genesis chapter 1, then you really have no problem believing the rest of the Bible.

If you can believe what God has recorded here in Genesis chapter 1, then the rest of the Bible, it might have some challenging passages and things that we don't understand, but there's no problem believing the rest of the scriptures when we start in Genesis chapter 1 and believe what it is that God has declared here. Now, the inverse of that is true as well. If you cannot believe Genesis chapter 1, then you can't believe what God has declared here.

Listen, you're going to have problems with the rest of the Bible. And every chapter after that, there's going to be questions, there's going to be issues, because you have not believed this initial declaration of God, what took place at the beginning. And so we need to believe the beginning. And really everything else from the scriptures is based upon and laid upon this foundation that is here in Genesis chapter 1.

And so there's four points I'll walk you through as we look at this. Not trying to cover every verse and every detail. Boy, we could spend years in Genesis chapter 1 going through all the details. But looking at some of the highlights here of the things that we need to believe that are found here in Genesis chapter 1. The first thing we'll look at is found in verse 1, and that is, "...believe that God is before everything."

believe that God is before everything. Look again at verse 1. It says, in the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. And really the emphasis that we're considering here in verse 1 is, in the beginning, God. God is before everything. In the beginning, God

God. That is, before the beginning, God was there. Now, believing that God is before everything, by that I mean to issue a statement of chronology. That is, there was God and then there was the beginning. But also for us to consider in our hearts, it's a statement of priority.

Because God was there before the beginning. God needs to be first and foremost in our hearts, in our minds, and before everything in our lives. It pictures for us the place that God needs to have in our lives. And so in the beginning, God. Now, this speaks to the reality, the fact that God is eternal. God is eternal. He has no beginning, no end.

and he has no ending. There was never a time where God was not, and that's really hard for us to understand, and yet it is what the Bible teaches consistently from cover to cover. God has no beginning. He has always existed, and he will always exist. Pastor Warren Wiersbe puts it this way. He says, God is eternal. He has neither beginning nor ending,

Therefore, he is totally self-sufficient and needs nothing more than himself in order to exist or to act. This is something that's so foreign to us because we don't know anybody like this. We don't know anything that exists like this that is self-sufficient. There is nothing else that is self-sufficient. Everything else is

No matter how big of a scale you look or how small of a scale you look, everything else is dependent upon something else and needs something else in order for it to survive, needs something else in order for it to thrive. But God is different. He is unique. He is self-sufficient. He needs nothing more than himself in order to exist or to act. God is eternal. He has always been.

Again, mind-boggling for us, but the reality and the truth that God presents. In the beginning, God. God created the heavens and the earth. Moses, in considering this, wrote down a prayer in Psalm chapter 90. Here's what he says in verse 2.

Before everything, Moses says. Before there was mountains, before even the earth had been formed, from everlasting to everlasting. God is eternal. He says, you are God. Nothing has changed that.

If you follow the timeline of those who declare such things, and you go back 13 billion years, God is still God. If you go forward 13 billion years, God is still God. He is self-sufficient. He is unchanging. He does new things, but he himself does not change because he is full and complete within himself.

And so as we begin to consider Genesis chapter 1, we need to begin with the reality and the understanding that God is eternal. He has always existed. And before the beginning, there was God. John talks about this a little bit as well in John chapter 1, how Jesus was in the beginning with the Father, before creation. That God was there. He is not a created being, but he is the one who has no creation.

No origination, no beginning, and no end. This also, though, speaks to another aspect that's important for us to understand about God, and that is that God is the only God. Because if in the beginning, God, he was there before the beginning, there is nothing else that exists like that.

There is nothing else that was with God in the beginning except for the triune nature of God, the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit, which I won't get into this morning. But God consistently throughout his word says, there is no one like me. I was there at the beginning, before the beginning, and there was nothing else. In Isaiah chapter 45 verse 22, God says, look to me and be saved, all you ends of the earth, for I am God and there is no other.

Isaiah 46, 9, he says, remember the former things of old, for I am God and there is no other. I am God and there is none like me. He says these things consistently throughout the scriptures. Another account of Moses in Deuteronomy chapter 4, verse 39, Moses tells us, therefore, know this day and consider it in your heart that the Lord himself is God in heaven above and on earth beneath. There is no other.

And so right here in the beginning of Genesis, in Genesis chapter 1 verse 1, we are introduced to these concepts that God is before the beginning. He's before everything. There's nothing that existed before him. There's nothing that existed alongside of him until he began to create the heavens and the earth.

And so this morning here, we are encouraged, we are challenged to believe what God has declared here in Genesis chapter 1 verse 1. Believe that God is before everything. Now again, I mentioned before, this is a statement of chronology that God was before even the beginnings of our universe, but it's also a statement of priority. This demonstrates the importance of God

the place that God has, and the place that we should give him in our lives. The commentator F.B. Meyer puts it this way, all beginnings must begin with God. Always put God first. The first stone in every building. Our first thought in every morning. The first aim and purpose of all activity. It's a good encouragement for us to consider. Is God first? Do we put him first?

He says the first stone in every building. As we look at perhaps, you know, homes to move to. Is God first in that decision, in that discussion, in the things that are driving that decision? Is God first in the thoughts of the morning? As we have our schedule, as we have our day, is God first? Is he the beginning of all things for us? Believe that God is before everything. That is his priority. That is where he belongs for us.

For every decision, for every day, F.B. Meyer says, for every aim and purpose of all activity. Understanding who God is, the reality of his eternality. Let's put God first before everything. Well, moving on to consider now verses 1 and 2 together, it gives us the second point to consider this morning, and that is believe that God is the creator.

Believe that God is the creator. Let's read verses 1 and 2 again. Here's what it says. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was on the face of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. Here, as we look at these first couple verses, and of course, we are familiar with the rest of the chapter, and so we understand this creation that is about to be described is

We can look at this and understand and know that God is the creator. In the next verse, we'll see that God spoke, let there be light, and there was light. And the things that follow is God speaking into existence. All of these things that exist, everything that exists, God spoke it into existence. He alone is the creator. Now, when we consider this idea of creation, of course,

there is a lot of different views about how all of the universe came into existence. Throughout the years, of course, there's been different views and different ideas and different nationalities or different peoples throughout all of history have had many different ideas about how things came to be and what creation was like. These days, we could probably summarize it with three views that

that describe how our existence came to be. The first view is special creation. Special creation would be the understanding of the creation by God speaking forth and bringing forth all of the things that exist by supernatural work, by his own power. Special creation is one view. Another view, of course, is evolution. And that's what's predominantly talked

taught in the world around us. That's what's predominantly believed by the world around us. That it wasn't a, you know, matter of a divine being who created things, but it was a matter of chance with the big being, something out of nothing and

over multitudes and multitudes and multitudes of years, then we get to where we are as, you know, evolution takes place. And so that's the other view that is predominant now. The third view that we could consider is theistic evolution.

And theistic evolution is kind of a marriage of the two. That it's, well, God did create everything, but the way that he did it was he created the basic elements and then he let evolution, you know, have its way. And then, you know, we get to where we are today from that, that God created and then let things evolve into their current state.

Now there's so many different aspects that we could consider in this, and there's a lot to dive into if we want to understand all the different concepts here. We're not going to try to resolve all of those things or cover all of those things this morning. One reason, I'm not a scientist. I don't have a problem with science, and the Bible doesn't have a problem with science.

But there's a lot of details and technicalities that we just don't have time to dig into. And yet at the same time, I would encourage you that there are the resources and opportunities for you to dig into these things. And we should not fear studying these things and thinking that it's contradictory to the scriptures. Science and the Bible really have no conflict. Now, many scientists have problems with the Bible.

But that's the issue with the scientist and not the science, right? The science itself has no problem with the scriptures because God is consistent with the way that he has created things. For me personally, when I look at passages like this, I come to it with an understanding. I believe the Bible is the word of God.

And so I don't come to this, you know, from the place of, wow, I wonder if this is true. You know, I start from that place of this is what God says and how it matches what we see and how it matches what we find and what research uncovers. Well, there's some perhaps things to work through with that. But I begin personally with this is the word of God. And there's many reasons why.

to approach the word of God that way. And I'm not suggesting that if you approach it differently, that, you know, you're completely out of line, but to encourage you to understand that there is the opportunity for us to believe God at his word and let this bring clarity to what we see around us and what we find as research takes place.

Pastor Tom Constable says this. He says,

He goes on to say, if one believes that both are true, you'll soon find out that both cannot be true. And so in this discussion about evolution versus creation versus theistic evolution, what you believe heading into the passage is going to influence how you understand the passage. And so it kind of goes back to, again, verse 1, do you believe that God is eternal?

Do you believe that there is a God who exists beyond time and space, before time and space, who is capable of speaking all of things into existence? I believe, Genesis chapter 1 verse 1, I believe that God existed before all things. And I approach chapter 1 of Genesis with a belief that this is the word of God for many reasons. Now, if you're not there, I would encourage you to start there.

That is, work on your understanding of what the Word of God is. If you can't approach the Scriptures with that understanding, listen, there's not much sense to study something if you can't understand or trust that it is accurate.

And there is much reason to trust the Word of God that it has been handed down to us as a fully intact and accurate record of what God has declared to us. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. Believe that God is the Creator. Believe that He is the one who brought it all into existence. Now when you start with this foundation of believing the Bible,

Well, you can take God at his word and where there are things that we don't understand, that's okay. We trust God to fill in the blanks later on. But of course, there is that supposed scientific perspective that many believe in spite of all of the evidence. And the scientific perspective looks at

Christians or those who believe the Bible and say, there's all this evidence and, you know, you throw that away in order to believe the Bible. And they're viewed as contradictory. But that's not the reality. Even though it's presented that way so many times, that is not the reality. Another commentator, his name is Kurt Strassner, says this,

There is this pressure that

This expectation for us to just believe what it is that we're told by scientists. Now again, there's no problem with Christians and science, with the Bible and science. And the world is trying to frame the argument against us in that way. And we need to be careful not to fall into the trap. There is no conflict between

The problem with evolution is that it cannot be proven scientifically. And yet it's presented as fact. It's presented as science. It's an idea. It's a hypothesis. In some ways, you could consider it a religion. It's something to believe in spite of having no proof to back it up.

And that is the reality. Again, I would encourage you to consider these things. And if that's something that you wrestle with or you're not there as I'm sharing this and you're like, I don't know if I'm, you know, if I would say the same things that Jerry's saying right now, I don't know if I'm there yet. That's okay. We can be at different places, but understand we don't have to believe the message that we are told. We don't have to believe in the supposed statement of facts that are taking place. For example, the timeline, right?

In order for there to be the theory of evolution, it has to be multitudes of multitudes of time frames in order for all of these things to maybe have taken place. And so the age of the Earth, the age of the universe, according to scientists today, is about 13.8 billion years. There was an article in USA Today back in July saying,

The age of the universe, 13.8 billion years, is confirmed by scientists. And the way that they confirmed this was they studied an image of the oldest light in the universe to confirm this age of 13.8 billion years. Now this light, they say, is the afterglow of the Big Bang. And that took place about 380 years after the universe's birth, right?

when protons and electrons joined to form the first atoms. So that there's this event of the birth of the universe. No God involved, of course, you know, that wasn't part of it. But here is the birth of the universe. Then 380,000 years later is the Big Bang. And it's been 13.8 billion years since then. That's what is declared.

Now, again, I'm not a scientist. I'm not going to try to defeat this scientifically. But I will say there is scientists, there are scientists rather, who are able to look at these things, understand them, and have a different perspective. One article kind of addressing the same issue from Institute of Creation Research says,

As they say, there is this new estimate, the universe is 2 billion years younger than they thought. They changed the estimate before. They thought it was older. Now it's only 13.8 billion years. And this article goes through and describes how they came to that conclusion and the problems with the conclusion and the steps to reach that conclusion that are there.

And so again, if these things are things, you know, you're not settled on yet, and you don't look at chapter 1 of Genesis and say, oh yeah, I believe it, no problem, and you're wrestling with those things, I bring all of this up just to say there is evidence that

You don't have to believe the story of evolution, the theory of evolution. You don't have to believe in the timeframes that, you know, they seem to be so consistent around the world, right? And there seems to be, you know, such an agreement between scientists and in the scientific community that these things are fact and that they are true. But the reality is they are not fact. They are not proven. They're theories and speculations, right?

If you want to dig deeper into this, there's two organizations I would encourage you to check out for further study. And that is, one is the Institute for Creation Research. ICR.org is their website. And they...

have brilliant scientists working through the reality of creation from a biblical point of view. And so there's some great things there. And then another one, which is like, I think in my perspective anyways, a little bit simpler. And so if you want to get into the scientific details, Institute for Creation Research is for you.

And then if you want a little bit simpler approach or maybe for educating your kids and helping your kids walk through these things, another organization is called Answers in Genesis. And Answers in Genesis is very similar. Again, scientific research and study and a real firm basis on the word of God here in the book of Genesis. And so there's much there that you can consider.

But what I would have you consider one final thing before we move on this morning is Romans chapter 1. In Romans chapter 1, Paul says this. In verse 20, he says,

Here Paul, in talking about the rest of the world, those who refuse to believe in God, those who refuse to believe that God is the creator, Paul says, look, creation itself, look around and it declares...

The reality of God. It declares the intelligence of God. It declares the power of God. His invisible attributes, he says, are clearly seen. And a study of God's creation reveals the attributes of God. But the problem is, Paul says in Romans 1.21, although they knew God, they can see the design, they can see the intelligence, they can see those invisible attributes, they refuse to glorify him as God.

They refuse to acknowledge, going back to point one, believing that God is before everything. They refuse to acknowledge the existence of God. They refuse to acknowledge because they do not want to be accountable to him. And so they're not thankful. They don't glorify him as God. But instead, he says, become futile in their thoughts. They suppress the truth. He goes on to say in verse 22 of Romans 1, professing to be wise, they become fools.

And that is so much of what we see today. Many who are professing to be wise, who claim to have such great wisdom and such great insight. And we can, you know, measure this beam of light, you know, back to 13.8 billion years. And it's presented with such great confidence and certainty. But it comes with a denial of the existence of God and the declaration of what God has done. Believe that God is the creator.

Believe that he is the one who brought all of this into existence. Believe the Bible. And again, there's great reasons for us to believe that the Bible is the word of God. There's great reasons for us to believe that all of creation came forth as God spoke into existence all that we see around us. His creation means that we are under his sovereignty and accountable to him. And that is the real problem that many people have.

We don't want to be accountable to God. And so we'll use any other explanation than the reality of God and him being the creator. Well, moving on to consider a little bit more of the chapter now, we'll look at verses three through 31. Again, not covering every verse, but just hitting some of the highlights here. Here's point number three, believe in God's perfect timing.

Believe in God's perfect timing. Let's look at verses three through five together. It says, Here we see the first day of creation.

God spoke into existence light. He said, let there be light, and there was light. Again, approaching this with the understanding that this is what God has revealed. This is the true word of God. We can take it at face value and believe that here on day one, God brought light into existence. Now, the rest of the chapter walks through six days of creation.

And not trying to, you know, get into all of the details of this. Again, so much that we could consider. So much that is there. But day one, God created light and darkness. He created light. He separated light from darkness. He called light, light. He called darkness, darkness. On day two, you can find that in verses six through eight, God created the sky and the atmosphere. And

Day three, God created the dry land, the seas, as well as the grass and the trees. That's found in verses 9 through 13. Then on day four, God created the sun, the moon, and all of the stars. That's verses 14 through 19.

On day five, God created all of the fish in the sea and all of the birds in the air. That's verses 20 through 23. And then on day six, God created all the land animals as well as man. And you find that in verses 24 through 31.

Now, some of the challenges that we find here in the book of Genesis, the challenges to the record of Genesis is, you know, that it's not a very scientific explanation of these things. There's not a lot of detail here. And there's, you know, some interesting things to consider about that. First of all, I like what Pastor David Guzik said. He said, look, if God used, you know, all of the details to describe the things that took place,

well, you and I wouldn't be able to understand it. And even if God used our, you know, technology language of today in a way that we could understand it, well, then the generations that came before us couldn't understand it. And if God used, you know, future understandings of technology and the way that God works and the knowledge of the atoms and, you know, all of those details, well, then we wouldn't understand it. And so here we see God bring forth the reality of his creation in a way that is simple but true.

And we can understand what it is that God is doing here and the things that God has created. As you look at each of these different days, there is so much complexity in each one.

There is so much complexity and discussions that we could have in looking at light and what is light, looking at the spectrum and all of that, looking at the sky and the atmosphere and how that works and what that means and looking at the dry land and the seas and the balance and all of these things. There's so much complexity to consider here.

And what God is doing here is not attempting to give every detail of every event of every explanation, but he is giving us a simple and straightforward understanding of what he did in these six days of creation. Maybe consider it this way. Could you describe the details of

of car mechanics in this short of a text, right? Could you describe, you know, all the different working parts of your motor and the brakes and the steering wheel and how all of that fits together and, you know, the distribution of weight and the chassis and, you know, could you, you know, bring forth that kind of thing? And so we're seeing a summary here, right? A simplification, it's true, it's real, it's what God did, right?

But there's complexity, of course, that's not mentioned here. There's complexity that God's not trying to explain. He's trying to show us what took place in the beginning, not give us every detail about all of those things. Just check out some patent applications and you can see, hey, when there's an invention, there's something new, you know, there's all of this detail that needs to be presented and given in order for this thing to be established. And

That's not what God's trying to do here. He's not trying to give every answer, give every detail. He's giving us the timing of what took place. Now, as you look at these six days of creation, it is something that is challenging for many people that, you know, was this a 24-hour day or was there some other time period that is being addressed here? And again, I take it back to verse 1.

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. If you can believe that, you have no problem with the rest of scripture. The reality is God didn't even need six days. If he wanted to create everything in a millisecond, he could do that because he's God. He's all powerful. He's able to accomplish that. And yet he chose to bring forth these things in six days.

Personally, I look at this and I understand these six days to be six 24-hour time periods. As God mentions the evening and the morning each day in each of these days of creation. As you look at the use of the word day in the scriptures, whenever it's a numbered day, it's always referred to as a 24-hour time period. In Exodus chapter 20, verse 11 says,

kind of recaps this chapter. It says, And so in setting for the Israelites the pattern of the six days of work and the seventh day is rest, it's looked back on these six days of creation. God used this to establish that principle for his people.

And yet there are many who look at this and say, you know, this cannot have to happen. This cannot take place in a 24-hour time period. Many of those who would have that understanding are the theistic evolutionists. It's like, well, I believe in evolution, but I also believe in God. So, you know, these days are ages. And so it could have been a thousand years for day one and a thousand years for day two. And maybe it was a million years, you know, and all of these things took place.

For me personally, all of these different kinds of arguments for looking at this and seeing it different than a 24-hour time period, in my head it sounds like this. I can't understand how that could take place in 24 hours, so it must be something different.

And again, that's the problem. When I'm the authority, when I'm the foundation, and if I can't understand it, then it must not be so. Then, you know, I'm the basis for all truth. And that's not a good place for us to come from. God tells us very clearly and plainly, evening and morning, here are the days of creation. If you wanted to say it a different way, he could say it a different way. But he chose to present it this way. So the plain meaning, the plain reading is,

gives us the impression that this happened in 24-hour days. Now, if God wants to show us something different in the future, he can, but this is my take. God presented it this way on purpose so that we would see and understand these 24-hour time periods. Now, one of the issues for me when it comes to evolution and the idea of theistic evolution where, you know, God used evolution, the major problem with that for me is

that it puts death before sin. If there was all of this evolution taking place for the animal kingdom, you know, for millions of years before God created man, then there was all this death that would take place over, you know, these multitudes of variations as they evolved in different forms. And the biblical account is consistent and clear that

Death came as a result of sin entering into the world, that there was no death before sin. And so for all of these animals and creatures to die in the process of evolution is not consistent with what the Bible teaches in regards to sin and death. And so I think the 24-hour time period is the best approach to understanding Genesis chapter 1.

Now, you can believe other things and you're welcome to entertain those thoughts and chase them down. No problem. Again, the point that I'm making here this morning is believe in God's perfect timing. So if it wasn't 24-hour days, that's okay. God has that worked out. I don't have to figure it out, right? Like,

God did it when he did it in the time frame that he did it and he knew what he was doing and he accomplished what he was doing and there's no conflict for him if he did it a different way. He knows how he did it. So, you know, there is no issue. The only issue is for us, you know, trying to figure it out. Again, things that God just didn't give us enough information to go down those paths, in my opinion. And so,

We don't have to figure those things out. And our faith doesn't have to be based on understanding every detail about those things. We can believe in God's perfect timing. And as we look at these days of creation, I think there's an interesting pattern for us to consider. There's an interesting look at these days of creation for us to think about in the way that God works in our lives as well. Pastor Warren Wiersbe puts it this way.

There's a pattern to God's activities during the creation week. First he formed, then he filled. He made three spheres of activity, the heavens, the land masses, and the waters, and then he filled them with appropriate forms of life. It's interesting to consider as you look at the days of creation. Remember day one, he spoke light into existence. And then day four, he created the sun, the moon, and the stars. In day two...

I forget what he did in day two because I don't have that on my screen. In day two, he created the sky and the atmosphere. And then in day five, he created the birds to fill the air. Day three, he created the dry land. And then in day six, he created the animals to populate the land and man and wife to live and to populate the earth. And so there's this correspondence of these days. They relate to one another, but they're separated. And then in day five,

So Warren Wiersbe is saying, look, God created the form first. First, he created the concept of light, the reality of light, and then he created the sun, moon, and stars later on on day four. First, he made the atmosphere, made space for birds to fly, and then later, day five, he created birds to fill the air. And it's an interesting pattern because God often works this way. He prepares the form and

And then he fills it. And we get to see this. We experience this many times in our lives where God is at work, but we can't see it. God is at work in our lives, but we don't know about it. Until later on, all of the sudden, God fills what it is that he's been preparing. And then once that happens, we can look back and go, oh my goodness, I didn't see it before, but I can see how God was preparing the form. He was preparing the way for much time before God.

but it only became visible or understood as he filled it. To me, that brings encouragement. Even when I can't see God working in my life right now, I can understand that he is. And perhaps he is forming something. He's creating some space. He's creating some opportunity that later on he will fill. And there will be the fulfillment and the completion of his work in the future.

Well, let's finish it up in one last point here this morning. Point number four is we consider the beginning and believe the beginning of what God has done. The fourth thing to consider is to believe that you're created in God's image. Believe that you're created in God's image. And so we're looking at verses 26 through 28 here in this last point. It says this,

Then God said,

And God said to them, be fruitful and multiply, fill the earth and subdue it, have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth. Here we see the creation of humanity. Mankind created, male and female, as God said, let us make man in our image.

Now, here in verse 26, there's a few plural pronouns to pay attention to. God says, let us make man in our image according to our likeness. God is speaking with this plural pronoun to really give space for us to understand later on the triune nature of God. It's not a direct revelation at this point.

It's not a, you know, final statement of the triune nature of God, but it's one of the pieces that help us to understand that God is one, and yet God is triune, the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit. And so God communing with himself says, let us make man in our image and according to our likeness. And so according to his own counsel,

According to his own communion, he says, we're going to create God. I'm going to, I'm sorry, create man in our image. This makes man unique and different than all of the creation that took place before. Man is the final of God's creatures. He created all the birds, all the fish, all the creatures on dry land before this. None of them were created in the image of God.

But here as he creates man and woman, he creates them in the image of God. It's unique. It's different. And it gives us a relationship to God that is different than everything else. Pastor Tom Constable says it this way, God and man share a likeness that is not shared by any other creatures.

This apparently means that a relationship of close fellowship can exist between God and man that is unlike the relationship of God with the rest of his creation. We have something unique as human beings, as those who are created in the image of God. We have something unique, a unique access to God, a unique fellowship with God, a unique relationship with God that is not shared by any other created thing. And because of this, there's, well, some things that we can do.

We can know God. We have the opportunity to know God, to know of his existence, to learn about him. No other creature can know God in the way that we can know God. We can love God in a way that nothing else can. We can devote ourselves to God and enjoy a loving relationship between us and God because we are created in his image, because we are created lovingly.

in a way that is similar to him. Now, again, there's a lot of things that you could debate and discuss about what it means to be created in the image of God. But without wrestling over those details, understanding that it gives us a connection to God that is so important and unlike anything else. This idea, this understanding that we're created in the image of God helps us to understand that we will be most fulfilled when we are imitating God. The more we become like God,

the more fulfilled we will be, the greater purpose we will have as we live out the purpose for which we were created to be in the image of God. Now, of course, sin has marred that image, but at the same time, there is still, even after the fall, man is referred to as being created in the image of God. And so there is still that reflection of God. But then, of course, we also know that in Christ, we have the opportunity to,

to be restored, regenerated, and to be in pursuit of likeness to God, to be conformed to the image of his son. And so believe that you're created in God's image. Believe that you really do have this kind of opportunity to know God, to love God, to commune with God, and you will be most fulfilled in

When you are imitating God and seeking to behave like him and seeking to have his character and his nature in your life, you will be most fulfilled when you know God and love him and imitate him. Believing that you are created in God's image will also impact our relationship to others around us. James makes mention of this in James chapter 3, talking about the danger of the tongue and how no one can tame it.

He says, with it, we bless our God and Father, and with it, we curse men who have been made in the similitude of God. When we believe that we're created in God's image, when we grasp hold of that truth, it will impact not only our relationship with God, but also our relationship with others around us.

recognizing we cannot treat people that way. They're created in the image of God, recognizing the value of life and the value that God places on life. And every human being is created in the image of God. And so there's some honor and respect. There's some dignity that is due as a result. And so it will impact not only our own relationship with God, but our relationship with one another. Well, one other thing to consider in this, it's important to,

especially in the age that we're living. And verse 27, it tells us male and female, he created them. And this is important to understand. Male and female are created in the image of God. It's not that man is created in the image of God and woman is something lesser, but man and woman corporately,

as well as individually, are created in God's image. And so that's an important understanding for us to have in the respect and relationship that is to be between men and women. But it also points out the importance of, well, God creating both male and female. And we live in a world that is really confused about gender. We live in a world that is confused about male and female. And there is this

proposition by many that, you know, whatever physical form you're born with doesn't necessarily mean that's the gender that you are. And so later on in life, you should decide, you know, what gender you are. The world is really confused about this, which is not surprising.

Because if you believe everything happened by chance, then your gender was just a matter of chance. It was not designed. It was not intended. It wasn't, you know, an intelligent decision. And so, of course, yeah, then everything is, you know, up for grabs. But here's what God said. He created them male and female. He has intention. He has purpose. He has design. He has reason. And it is not our place to try to undo what God has done.

And so gender identity is something that is dealt with when we believe the beginning, when we believe that God is who he says he is. Is that something that you struggle with, gender identity? Or maybe you know someone who does. We can wrestle and argue about all kinds of different things, but it really comes back to Genesis chapter one. Who is God? What place does he have in creation? Which translates then to what place does he have in my life?

Do I believe that I am created in the image of God? If I do, then I will be pursuing the knowledge of God. I'll be pursuing a loving relationship with God. I'll be seeking to imitate God and become more like him. And it will teach me to love others just as God does because they also are created in the image of God. And God can bring a lot of clarity to our hearts, to our lives, to all of the conflict within us

by us coming back to this understanding of who God is and this reality that God has created me in his image for purposes that he has, for reasons that he wants to reveal. And so we can look to God to bring forth the truth in all of these things. And so here in Genesis chapter one, believe the beginning. There's so much more here, of course. Yes, much we could dig into.

But just tapping these highlights real quick. Believing that God is before everything. First and foremost, he was there. He existed. He is self-sufficient. Nothing was before him. Nothing was with him. He brought all things into existence. Believe that God is the creator. And believe in God's perfect timing. Whether you want to wrestle with 24-hour days or not, believe that God could do it in the time frame that he wanted to do it.

You never hear anybody argue the opposite, right? They might say the six days are, you know, millions of years, but you never hear anybody say, you know, the six days are probably seconds, right? They don't go the opposite because that requires them to believe in God's power more, right? It's like, let's make it longer and we don't have to believe that God is as powerful. God is able to do it. And if he wanted to do it in a million years, he could have. And if he did, maybe he will show us that later. But here he's revealed it to us as days. Believe in God's perfect timing.

He works in seasons and he's able to accomplish his purposes when he wants to and believe that you're created in God's image. I want to finish up this morning with one final quote from Pastor Warren Wiersbe. Here's what he says. God didn't create a world because he needed anything, but that he might share his love with creatures who, unlike the angels, are made in the image of God and can respond willingly to his love.

Understanding the beginning and believing the beginning is important to understand our relationship to God. He didn't create us because he needed something. He created us because he wanted to share something. He wanted to share his love. He wanted to have fellowship. And so he created us

so that we might have the opportunity to respond willingly, to choose to know him, to love him, and walk with him. Let's pray. Lord, I pray that you would help solidify these things in our hearts. Lord, there's much dispute and discussion about these things, but Lord, may we not be swayed away from the truth that you have presented here in your word. And I pray, God, that you would help us to respond willingly as we understand these things. You are our creator.

And you created us so that we might know you, so that we might love you, so that we might walk with you and experience exceedingly abundantly above all that we could ever ask or think as we seek your purposes and seek to walk with you. And so Lord, help us to lay a solid foundation in our doctrine, in our understanding, to believe your word and your declaration of how it all began. I pray this in Jesus' name, amen.

We pray you have been blessed by this Bible teaching. The power of God to change a life is found in the daily reading of His Word. Visit ferventword.com to find more teachings and Bible study resources.