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Show Notes
Remember, look for the bonus video to this episode uploaded by the end of each week. One of the topics we will discuss is:
- Evolution
- The origin of the Universe – created or accidental?
- If the 6 days of creation is literal, can evolution be true?
- Is evolution a FARCE?
The word “Lord” is defined in the dictionary as “One having power and authority over others, a ruler by preeminence (highest authority) to whom service and obedience are due.”
Who is your Lord?
If you haven’t accepted Jesus as Lord, or wonder if He is, then I would suggest you do that immediately. God has made this easy, just ask Him to be the Lord of your life by placing your faith in Jesus Christ.
If Jesus is your Savior, I want to challenge you to consider the definition of “Lord” again. “One having power and authority over others, a ruler by preeminence (highest authority) to whom service and obedience are due.”
As you consider that, ask yourself these questions:
- Is Jesus the Lord of my life?
- If Jesus is the Lord of my life, should He be my top priority?
- Is Jesus the top priority?
- Do I acknowledge the Lord has:
- Power over me?
- Authority over me?
- Have I surrendered to His power and authority?
- Do I honor His position in my life by my:
- Obedience to Him?
- Service to Him?
When we are done reading, we must ask these questions:
- What are the main points of this text (Observation)?
- What does it mean (Interpretation)?
- What should I do (Application)?
The greatest breakthroughs occur when we understand the context, read Scripture, and then conduct a process of inductive study that draws certain conclusions from the information and leads me to discover application.
Here is a summary of the process:
- Pray
- Research
- Read
- Interpret
- Apply
SO, LET’S PUT IT TO PRACTICE.
Let’s pray – Lord, your Word teaches that you will lead us into all truth. I pray that you do just that. Amen.
Today we find ourselves in the 1st era of Beginnings. This is era 1, Episode 1, and we will read about The Beginning of Creation from the Book of Genesis.
The book of Genesis was written by Moses.
The original Audience was the people of Israel.
The purpose of his writing was to record God’s creation of the world and his desire to have people worship him.
The date that it was written was approximately 1450 – 1410 BC.
It was written in the wilderness during Israel’s wanderings, somewhere in the Sinai Peninsula.
The Scripture we will read today is Genesis chapter 1: verses 1 through chapter 2: verse 4.
Let’s read an excerpt from the Bible, NLT:
1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.[a] 2 The earth was formless and empty, and darkness covered the deep waters. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters.
3 Then God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. 4 And God saw that the light was good. Then he separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light “day” and the darkness “night.”
And evening passed and morning came, marking the first day.
6 Then God said, “Let there be a space between the waters, to separate the waters of the heavens from the waters of the earth.” 7 And that is what happened. God made this space to separate the waters of the earth from the waters of the heavens. 8 God called the space “sky.”
And evening passed and morning came, marking the second day.
9 Then God said, “Let the waters beneath the sky flow together into one place, so dry ground may appear.” And that is what happened. 10 God called the dry ground “land” and the waters “seas.” And God saw that it was good. 11 Then God said, “Let the land sprout with vegetation—every sort of seed-bearing plant, and trees that grow seed-bearing fruit. These seeds will then produce the kinds of plants and trees from which they came.” And that is what happened. 12 The land produced vegetation—all sorts of seed-bearing plants, and trees with seed-bearing fruit. Their seeds produced plants and trees of the same kind. And God saw that it was good.
13 And evening passed and morning came, marking the third day.
14 Then God said, “Let lights appear in the sky to separate the day from the night. Let them be signs to mark the seasons, days, and years. 15 Let these lights in the sky shine down on the earth.” And that is what happened. 16 God made two great lights—the larger one to govern the day, and the smaller one to govern the night. He also made the stars. 17 God set these lights in the sky to light the earth, 18 to govern the day and night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good.
19 And evening passed and morning came, marking the fourth day.
20 Then God said, “Let the waters swarm with fish and other life. Let the skies be filled with birds of every kind.” 21 So God created great sea creatures and every living thing that scurries and swarms in the water, and every sort of bird—each producing offspring of the same kind. And God saw that it was good. 22 Then God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply. Let the fish fill the seas, and let the birds multiply on the earth.”
23 And evening passed and morning came, marking the fifth day.
24 Then God said, “Let the earth produce every sort of animal, each producing offspring of the same kind—livestock, small animals that scurry along the ground, and wild animals.” And that is what happened. 25 God made all sorts of wild animals, livestock, and small animals, each able to produce offspring of the same kind. And God saw that it was good.
26 Then God said, “Let us make human beings[b] in our image, to be like us. They will reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, the livestock, all the wild animals on the earth,[c] and the small animals that scurry along the ground.”
27 So God created human beings[d] in his own image.
In the image of God he created them;
male and female he created them.
28 Then God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth and govern it. Reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, and all the animals that scurry along the ground.”
29 Then God said, “Look! I have given you every seed-bearing plant throughout the earth and all the fruit trees for your food. 30 And I have given every green plant as food for all the wild animals, the birds in the sky, and the small animals that scurry along the ground—everything that has life.” And that is what happened.
31 Then God looked over all he had made, and he saw that it was very good!
And evening passed and morning came, marking the sixth day.
2 So the creation of the heavens and the earth and everything in them was completed. 2 On the seventh day God had finished his work of creation, so he rested[e] from all his work. 3 And God blessed the seventh day and declared it holy, because it was the day when he rested from all his work of creation.
4 This is the account of the creation of the heavens and the earth.
NLT
What are the main points of this text?
- God created the world by his spoken word.
- God created the world in 6 days.
- God created the heavens, the earth and everything that lives.
- He made humankind in his image and gave them charge over the earth.
Discussion / Interpretation:
- So, God spoke the world into existence!
- God created the world in 7 days. In verse 2:2-3 it says “On the seventh day God had finished his work of creation, so he rested from all of his work. And God blessed the seventh day and declared it holy, because it was the day when he rested from all of his work of creation.”
- An example of how we are to live.
- Do you take a day and rest every week?
- What does a day of rest look like to you?
- Is this something you think God would honor?
- Application Question – What will you do?
- Will you pray and consider:
- Taking a day of rest?
- What that looks like?
- God created the heavens, the earth and everything that lives. In verse 1:28, it says “Then God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth and govern it. Reign over the fish, the birds, and animals.
- What does govern and reign over mean to you?
- What about our listening audience?
- How does this resonate with you?
- What does honor look like?
- Application Question – What will you do?
- Will you pray and consider:
- What honoring people looks like?
- He made humankind in his image and gave them charge over the earth. In verse 1:26, it says “Then God said, “Let us make human beings in our image, to be like us.”
- Who do you think He is speaking about when He says “Let us…” – who is us?
- He says “…in our image.” What does image mean?
As we prepare to wrap up this episode, we can see a couple of applications that we can consider. Applications are best understood by using “I will” statements.
- I will take a day of rest.
- I will honor the people around me.
So will you?
Thank you for being a part of this Scott, and we want to thank you for listening. We look forward to our next meeting together in episode 2, as we continue our study of the 1st era “Beginnings.”
Thank you and God bless.
Bonus video discussion, look for the bonus episode later this week!
Let’s talk about Evolution.
Believers believe by faith, and therefore should not feel as though it is our responsibility to prove it. If someone says it wrong, then it is on them to prove that. Macroevolution (Major Change) of course would not do well to support a literal meaning because it is required for the theory of evolution to explain the origin of life, whereas the literal meaning does less harm to microevolution (Minor Change). Microevolution in and of itself can be considered a fact as it is clearly a feature of living organisms, for example, plants and animals can be bred to develop various characteristics.