Let There Be Light! Series

Let There Be Light!

A Message from Genesis 1

© 2006 Eric Bain

NOTE: This sermon is available in audio format @ www.sanctuary-church.com

Good morning, if you are not aware, we are beginning a brand new journey… a journey into our past… a journey that will have us looking at our earliest ancestors… A journey through the book of Genesis.

(Roll CD)

What you have just heard is a dramatic representation of Genesis 1, by Rob Lacey (put out by Zondervan Publishers)… I wanted us to listen to it, because I think it puts us in the mood for the story… that is Genesis. And if you’ve been around Sanctuary for any length of time, you may now know that I love to teach from the Stories… And Genesis is just chalk full of them…

• It starts out with creation and Adam & Eve…

• Cain & Abel

• Noah

• Abram

• Isaac

• Jacob

• Joseph

• And along the way there are things like miracles, murders, deceptions, kidnappings, battles of will, battles for love…

It’s like a great epic story!

How long will we be in Genesis??? I have no idea… We’ll be breaking it up along the way.

Nonetheless, grab a Bible and turn to the very first page… Or at least to first page of text…

-- PRAY –

Genesis 1:1…

In the beginning…

It sounds so simple really… In the beginning… As if it were the start of a great fairy tale or some story of fiction… But, no! This is no fairy tail… It’s not fiction… Oh, it is a story… yes… But it’s a story of actual events… (pause) In the beginning…

I’m reminded of another great literary beginning… (pause)

A long time ago… In a galaxy far, far away...

Only that won’t work here, because really…

• We have to go back so far… so long ago… that there was no “time!”

• Think of this… If there really was no time, then can you go back that far? It’s a fascinating question! (Tangent!)

A long time ago… In a galaxy far, far away...

No, that won’t work, because there were no galaxies!… You have to go to an existence, where there really was no time… and no place… It was just the beginning.

You see, it’s funny, because the story already has us asking a question - In the beginning of what?

• It can’t be the beginning of God…

• Because, He’s infinite. He existed eternally before this…

• So, the story starts with us wanting to know… (slow) In the beginning of what?

(pause)

I think we’ll come to a satisfying answer for that question, but for now we’ll just have to be content with saying that it’s the beginning of the Story. And yet, if that’s the case, then stories have endings. And so this story begins with us not only asking a question, but with us also anticipating that it’s going to go somewhere – That it’s going to have an ending. But where will it go?... What will that ending be?... Well, we’ll have to read the story, won’t we.

ILL – You see, In the beginning, is like the first statement of a really great novel… It gives us something to look forward to… And it leaves us with anticipation and a desire to read on… In the beginning…

GE 1:1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 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.

GE 1:3 And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light. 4 God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light "day," and the darkness he called "night." And there was evening, and there was morning--the first day.

Now… unfortunately, I have to step out of the story for a moment. It’s not that I want to; it’s just that – for many of us – we don’t have the ability to hear this story. In other words, it’s really difficult for us to grasp what the story is trying to tell us. Let me explain by way of an Illustration.

ILL: Imagine if you would… You’re go to see the original Star Wars played on the big screen. (Granted, I am going to be using a few of Star Wars illustrations this morning… but it kind of goes with my with my theme) Anyways, imagine if you were at the original Star Wars… Episode 4… and you’re there with a date. Nonetheless, the opening scene comes on with this giant space ship, which happens to be Princes Leah’s ship (only you don’t know it’s Princes Leah’s ship yet), followed by this huge Imperial Battle Cruiser. (Play this out) When your date suddenly turns to you and says… “Huh.. That doesn’t even look real!”