Where can we find the foundation for all truth?

Question: Where can we find the foundation for all truth?

Answer: The Bible gives us the understanding and foundation for all truth.

The Book of Genesis answers the most important questions we have:

• Who am I? 
• Why am I here?  
• Where did here come from? 
• Why is life so messed up? 
• Is there a fix for the mess? 

The Purpose of the Book of Genesis:

• To reveal to the origin of man:  Created by God in the image of God with the understanding of his relationship to God and the universe.

• To reveal man’s original fall:   The book of Genesis helps us understand why sin created a chasm between God and man

            God created Adam and Eve so He could love and enjoy fellowship with them. To give them a 

            purpose, and suitable place for them to live. To reveal himself as a Holy God and to display 

            His glory. He created the earth and everything else to benefit them in every aspect of their 

            existence. God original design was perfect in every way. Yet Adam & Eve’s disobedience and 

            rebellion against God’s Command brought sin & death into the World and the need 

            for God to provide a Savior.

• To reveal God’s promise of redemption:  Through the offspring (Jesus) of the woman (Eve), man will be restored back into a right relationship with God that was broken due to the Fall (The original sin)

• To record authoritatively God’s choice of individuals and their descendants that led to the coming and birth of the Messiah: 

God made sure a record is kept (Genealogy) of the Jewish Line that eventually led to the Birth of the Messiah Jesus. (note: see Genesis 10, Matthew 1:1-17 , Luke 3 ) This record is Historical and gives us insight into God’s plan of redemption through the life and the stories of those He chose to be part of the line of the Messiah. For instance, Jesus was a descendent of both Abraham and David. Jesus became the fulfillment of the prophecies and covenants made by God to them.

Genesis 12:1-3 (NIV) (Abrahamic Covenant)

The Lord had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you. “I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”

1 Chronicles 17:11-14 (NIV) (Davidic Covenant)

When your days are over and you go to be with your ancestors, I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, one of your own sons, and I will establish his kingdom. He is the one who will build a house for me, and I will establish his throne forever. I will be his father, and he will be my son. I will never take my love away from him, as I took it away from your predecessor. I will set him over my house and my kingdom forever; his throne will be established forever.’”

2 Samuel 7:16 (NIV) (Davidic Covenant)

The Key Attributes of God found in Genesis:

·         Love and Grace

Note: 

It is very important while you are reading Genesis to ask God to reveal Himself to you out of the passage of scripture you are reading.  It is important to see yourself and the world through God’s eyes. Most of the time we view life through our own eyes which can easily cloud God's eternal perspective and purpose.  An important question we need to ask ourselves is?:

·         What do I need to do as a result of what I have learned from my reading of Genesis?

 Examples:

·         How should I view God?

       How should I view myself in light of God's creation?

·         How can I serve God?

·         How should I view others?

God as Creator of all things:

 

God created time as we know it when He created the Universe.

Genesis 1:1 NIV 
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

Even though the universe is so vast God ordained that the earth be the central role of importance in all of His creation because it was designed by God to be man’s home. 

The Big Question:

Is the First verse of the Bible true? If not, then how can we then trust God and His Word? 

We must understand that believing Genesis 1:1 to be true, gives us the foundation for all things that exist along with the foundation for all truth.

We see that God had a purpose for all the things He created.  One thing to notice is that God pays great attention to detail and order.  It is amazing to think how incredibly detailed God’s design for life is, down to our very own DNA.

How could God’s amazing design be the cause of some random events over a long period time?

After each day of creation God said that what He created was good. Notice after He created man He said that it was “very good”. We see that God does not give us arbitrary moral standards; what He calls “good” is good because it reflects His Holy Character.  God has given us free will to choose what is good or what is evil. Adam and Eve had that choice as well. They were told to not eat from one tree in the garden, The Tree of the knowledge of good and evil. They were warned that if they did, they would surely die. In many ways we are faced with that choice every day.  Because we have God’s Word we have a clear distinction between what God sees as good and what He sees as evil or sin. We are either with God or we are against Him.

Question:

Why didn’t God just create everything in just one day? (He could have done so seeing the immediate response to His spoken Command on each day of creation.)

Answer:

Each day of creation was special, specific and orderly. We get to see more clearly His glory in more detail as we see Him create over 6 days.  As we spend time thinking about God’s creation we can contemplate His majesty and power and understand just how great and sovereign God really is. This picture of God can only help us to understand that we cannot reduce Him down to our own desire to create for ourselves a God that suits our needs who also has limited power to do what He has promised.

·         God Created with the utterance of a spoken word.  Now that’s power!

It is interesting to note that the Bible teaches that, at the time of creation, The Father, Son and Holy Spirit were all present and working together.

Examples:

Genesis 1:2 NIV
Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.

God creates through His Word. “and God said Let there be light”, and there was light. Refer to John 1:1-4. The term “Word” Is used to designate God’s son – Jesus Christ.

John 1:1-4 NIV    

In the beginning was the Word (Jesus), and the Word (Jesus) was with God, and the Word (Jesus) was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him (Jesus) all things were made; without him (Jesus) nothing was made that has been made. In him (Jesus) was life, and that life was the light of men.

Genesis 1:26 NIV 
Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground."

It is interesting to note that in Genesis, the Hebrew the word used for God “Elohim” is plural. 

As an interesting side bar, in Deuteronomy we see how in Israel’s great statement of faith we see the singular Yahweh used with the plural Elohim in an interesting way that suggests the Trinity.

The Trinity:

defines God as three divine persons, the Father, the Son (Jesus), and the Holy Spirit; "one God in three persons". The three persons are distinct, yet are one "substance, essence or nature"

Deuteronomy 6:4 NIV 

Hear, O Israel: The LORD (Yahweh) our God (Elohim), the LORD (Yahweh) is one.  

With His creation God gave value to all things. Each of us is valuable in God’s eyes and that it why He goes to extremes to get our attention. God has a plan for each of us. We will never know what that plan is unless we spend time with God and His Word each day. Many times we ignore God only to act on our own will and earthly self-centered desires. If we give priority to God in our daily lives, we have a better chance of understanding how to appropriate each of God’s blessings. Why remain in a futile existence when we can experience God’s blessings every day? In the book of Genesis we see the magnificence of God’s creation down to the very last detail. Don’t you think God cares about every detail of our lives as well? In Genesis, we see God speaking life into existence with His Word. God’s Word will speak life into our existence if we choose to read it and take it to heart. When God created light He separated the light from the darkness. Jesus will do the same for each of us if we trust Him and follow His ways. 

So when you read Genesis ask God to help you with those passages of scripture that may be difficult to comprehend or even hard to believe. Then see for yourself how God will respond to your request for Him to reveal to you His truths in a deeper way, He will open the eyes of your heart and give real meaning to your existence now and for all eternity.

Just Sayin………………..Dave