Genesis 1- Dr. Tim McKenzie

2:4 “Genesis” – “towlĕdah” – Origins – Source – Genealogy – Beginnings – History – Time

When? “In the beginning”
Who? “God”
Did What? “Created”
To What? The heavens and the earth
Why? For His glory; to reveal Himself
Purpose? Plan? Design?

From nothing to nothing (Evolution) or from Dust to Glory (God)? Grown up, highly evolved goo or Worth and Purpose? Can natural forces (Mother Nature) account for the universe?

What happens if you replace God? Man is the product of genetic coincidence; he is not accountable to a higher being; truth is relative; marriage is a social convenience; man is the center of the universe; a vacuum of unanswered questions. In the beginning God created man, now man returns the complement.

Psa 11 3 If the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?

Who am I? Why am I?

God – Eternal – Creator – Elohim (a plural noun with singular verbs) - Originator - Sustainer

"God is greater than the mind itself. His greatness cannot be conceived. All our thoughts about Him will be less than He, and our loftiest utterances will be trivialities in comparison with Him. He had no origin, no beginning, He suffers no change, and in His essential being there are no limitations. He is exalted far above the created universe, so far above that human thought cannot imagine it! We must not compare the being of God with any other. We must not think of God as highest in an ascending order of beings, starting with the single cell organism and going on up from the fish to the bird to mind of God. This would be to grant Him eminence, even pre-eminence, but that is not enough...we must grant Him transcendence in the fullest meaning of that word. Forever God stands apart, in light unapproachable. While we might be tempted to say that God is as high above an archangel as an archangel is above a caterpillar, the gulf that separates the archangel from a caterpillar is finite, but the gulf between God and the archangel is infinite! For the caterpillar and the archangel are but creations...God alone is the Creator!" (A.W. Tozer)

Earth - not eternal
1) Formless – chaotic
2) Emptiness – worst sensation of the soul
3) Darkness – not the presence, but the absence of something

Spirit of God “hovering” – moving – brooding

The Word of God “And God said” - Trinity
Who is The Word? Why does He speak? Does His return void? Perfect execution. No disobedience. Tells it to be and it be’d.

Isaiah 55 11 “So shall My word be which goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me empty, without accomplishing what I desire, and without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it.”

Colossians 1 15 Jesus Christ is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16 For by Him all things were created things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by Him and for Him. 17 He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.

Hebrews 11 3 By faith we understand that the universe was formed by the Word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible. (no inventory/backstock).

Psalm 33 9 For He spoke, and it came to be; He commanded, and it stood firm.

Day 1: Light
“God’s glory is like the sun; you can’t look directly at it, but without it, you can see nothing else.”
GK Chesterton

-Vanquishes the darkness
-essential to life
-Not the sun, moon or stars
-The glory of God – God is
Light and in Him there is no
darkness at all (1Jo 1:5b)

Matthew 4 16 the people living in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned.

2Corinthians 4 6 For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made His light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.

Day 2: Separation of Water from Water – atmosphere and the waters on the earth

Day 3: Seas, Land, and Fruitful Vegetation -- “kinds”

Day 4: Sun, Moon, Stars, and Celestial Heavens

Day 5: Fish and Birds – “kinds” – full

Day 6: Animals, Man and Woman

“In His image” “likeness” – One of those things God can’t do: create another God. By definition, anything He “creates” would have to be a “creature.”

How are we made in the image of God? Being – Reflect My Glory – Dominion – Worth - Responsibility – Morality – Soul – Choice – Reason – to Know Him and Fellowship with Him.

What is older than creation itself?

Eph 1:4 For he chose us in Him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love 5 He predestined us to be adopted as His sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with His pleasure and will— 6 to the praise of His glorious grace, which He has freely given us in the One He loves.

“Not good”; “Very Good”


Day 7: Rest

Pattern for Work and a Week
Holy – Sacred

What have you heard? What do you see?

Romans 1 20 since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities His eternal power and divine nature have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.

Isaiah 40 21 Do you not know? Have you not heard? Has it not been told you from the beginning? Have you not understood since the earth was founded? 28 The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth.

Job 42:5 My ears had heard of You, but now my eyes have seen You.

Psa 19:1-4 The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge. There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard. Their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world.

Job 12:7‑10 Ask the animals, and they will teach you, or the birds of the air, and they will tell you; or speak to the earth, and it will teach you, or let the fish of the sea inform you. Which of all these does not know that the hand of the LORD has done this? In His hand is the life of every creature and the breath of all mankind.

From looking at Creation, what is God like?
"Earth is crammed with heaven and every common bush afire with God. But only he who sees takes off his shoes. The rest sit around it and pluck blackberries."
Elizabeth Barrett Browning

Eternal
Creative
Structure/Order
Wise
Powerful
Loving
Intentional
Glorious
Awe
Laws/Boundaries/Rules
Faithful
Purposeful
Sovereign
Actively Working
Eye for Beauty
Detailed
Good
Sense of Humor
Provider
Created dependent upon the Creator
Connectedness/Synergy
Gracious

Creation vs. Recreation – Valid Comparison?
Dark à Light
Chaotic à Order and Meaning and Purpose
Empty à Fullness of Life, Fellowship, and Love

Response to His Word
Matthew 44 “Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. – Life – Obedience – Pu

How can I discern what ministry God wants me to pursue?- John Piper

In our Bible study, we stress how crucial it is to find your ministry (with your marriage being your #1 ministry). Below is a nice little nugget from pastor John Piper about some simple steps you can take when you detect a calling to a ministry to serve in some capacity. I've also provided a link if you want to download the entire podcast. -Logan

The following is an edited transcription of the audio.
How can I discern what ministry God wants me to pursue?
Discerning the will of God for your ministry would start with a deep and recurrent desire, which is a good thing. Then you must test it. You test it by its recurrence, asking, "Does it last?" And you test it biblically by asking whether it's a godly desire. Does it come from a desire to glorify Christ? Will the pursuit of this work lead to the glory of Christ?
After that you test it in the community. You bounce it off of wise counselors. The Bible makes much of good counsel.
Finally you look for opportunity. You don't so much wait for the Lord to give some explicit command to do it. You look for opportunity. You ask yourself, "Is the Lord opening the door for this good and godly vision that I have?"
But even that, I would say, might be too passive. Because if you have a deep passion that something good be done, and there is nothing wrong with doing it, and the people around you say that you're gifted to do it, you may just knock down the door. If there's no real reason why you shouldn't do it, then knock down the door and pursue your passion.
You shouldn't be hung up on waiting. If it would be a good thing, if it would benefit the church, and the people around you endorse it, then I think you should move and not wait.

http://www.desiringgod.org/ResourceLibrary/AskPastorJohn/ByTopic/92/2567_How_can_I_discern_what_ministry_God_wants_me_to_pursue/