Where my desire was to write Notes on the Book of Esther, after much prayer I have decided to write on the Book of Genesis. I have preached through Genesis a few times over the last forty years and will not use my sermon notes as my desire is to be fresh. Genesis is an interesting Book, yet many people use a razor blade to cut the first eleven chapters out of the Book saying it is myth (mythology) and serves only as a purpose to start the story of Abraham and the Hebrew people. Others again argue that we have misunderstood chapters one and two. So, because of such and other arguments, I have decided to start these Notes differently to my normal method. It might take longer but at least, once we start digging into the text, no one can say there is a hidden, mystic or deceitful agenda. By now you might feel that Genesis presents much controversy. To this I want to say that there is no controversy on God’s part. Those who raise such an objection create the controversy. Neither God nor the Book of Genesis creates any controversy … people do!
1) The existence of God. Many people question and even deny the existence of God. They might do this for any amount of reasons, though largely I will suggest it is because people refuse to deal with their sin and change their world view and morality that they question or reject the existence of God. To tackle the Book of Genesis we need to agree that there is a God who alone is sovereign and reigns. As strange as it might seem, the Bible never seeks to prove the existence of God. Why should it? The Bible assumes God is and is presented from that stand point to us. It starts this way:
Ge 1:1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
In saying … “In the beginning God …” is good enough to prove the existence of God! If God is speaking through the Word, He surely does not need to try and prove His existence! We shall get to Moses and how he wrote Genesis under inspiration. For now though, he is writing to people of faith … to people who know and experience God in their daily life. Since God called Abraham, giving him promises about becoming a nation, in their own land, under His rule … and this was almost six hundred years before Moses led the Hebrew people out of Egypt. Although there were many lapses in faith, they were still the people of faith and knew God existed. So when Moses wrote Genesis, the recipients of the document knew God existed. There was no reason for God or Moses to prove God existed. Then, the atheist and agnostic come with their arguments of denying God’s existence by requiring we prove God’s existence. Could we do any better than present Paul’s inspired writing in the Book of Romans?
Ro 1:18 The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, 19 since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. 20 For 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.
I include verse 18 as an introduction for context.
(1) What may be known about God is plain.
(2) God has made it plain.
(3) From “creation” (not evolution) God’s invisible qualities, which are His eternal power and divine nature, have been …
(i) clearly seen;
(ii) understood because the created is seen;
(iii) people are without excuse.
The Bible is a “faith based Book” and to believe God is and that God created is a matter of faith.
Heb 11:3 By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.
If faith is required to believe creation, then faith is needed to believe God is! Just looking at our glorious creation, be it our planet or the solar systems and the universe seen by the Hubby Space Craft’s cameras sending pictures to earth, one is “forced” to admit such beauty and majesty must come from a Creator. The Bible tells us that this Creator is God. The point being made is the Bible does not attempt to prove God’s existence because the Bible knows God is. This was Moses’ belief and that of the forefathers of the Hebrew people.
2) Genesis and mythology. In dealing with mythology, evolution and the Bible, we shall find many overlapping issues. This cannot be avoided. Let’s consider Genesis and mythology. Many scholars raise so many objections to the first even chapters of Genesis, saying these cannot be anything other than mythology, that they discredit these chapters as nothing more than a means to start the Abrahamic story. Largely such people are known as Liberal Theology Scholars. They might attempt to offer sophisticated academic arguments against the veracity of the text of Genesis chapters one to eleven … though every argument is proven wrong by those who are truly converted, spiritual people of faith, who provide good exegesis of the text. Allow me to attempt to provide an explanation for their rejection of these eleven chapters.
(a) They do not want to accept the existence of the one, true, living God who is Triune and sovereignly reigns all creation.
(b) They do not want to accept the Bible explanation of creation.
(c) They do not want to accept man as created in the image and likeness of God with moral and ethical responsibilities and accountabilities.
(d) They do not want to affirm that man has a soul compared to the animal kingdom.
(e) They do not want to accept the fact that man sinned, lost his purity, and has a depraved nature which he passes onto his offspring.
(f) They won’t accept the fact that the whole human race comes from one set of parents and through these passes on the sinful nature to mankind.
(g) They will not accept the fact that God is holy, set apart from all sin and that there is enmity between man and God because of man’s sin.
(h) They do not want to accept God shall send his Messiah as promised in Genesis three verse fifteen.
(i) They refuse to accept the universal flood that destroyed the race leaving only Noah, His son and their wives, from who the present nations of the world came into being.
(j) They refuse to accept that man’s sin caused the Tower of Babel to be built in honor of man and his supposed glory.
(k) They refuse to accept that God punished man for his sin, not just the Tower of Babel, but his refusal to fill the earth, a mandate given to Adam and Noah. God confused man’s language, spreading mankind throughout the planet.
Naturally there are more issues, but these suffice to prove why some would want Genesis one to eleven to be seen as mythology. We shall repeat it again and again … our Lord Jesus never rejected Genesis one to eleven. Rather He often referred to “in the beginning”. The Bible is God’s inspired, inerrant, infallible and authoritative Word. True Christians believe the Bible not man’s attempts to cut passage out of the Scriptures.
Dear God, our Father, thank You for given us Your Word and Your Spirit and for opening our spiritual eyes to believe You are, that You alone are God and that through Jesus Christ Your Son, You are our God and Father. Amen.