Series: Never seen before in 2024
Thesis: To see or experience something, we have never seen before in 2024 requires us to do something we have never done before – So what is that “One Thing” you need to do that you have not done before? Maybe it is to read and study the Bible in 2024!
Maybe it’s to get to know the Story of God!
The Bible is the Story of God “The Creator” and his interactions with mankind his most favorite creation!
In the book “Unleash the power of storytelling” by Rob Biesenbach he notes how important it is in the age of information overload to see and rediscover the power of stories. He notes that storytelling is arguably the most powerful form of communication at our disposal. I add and God uses the Bible to tell His Story to us and also to teach us how to live a life that is valued for eternity.
He notes this about a great story:
1. It will win hearts – captivate, inspire and motivate people!
2. It will change minds – convince people to come around to the authors or tellers way of thinking.
3. It will get results – great stories persuade people to act in a way that transforms them and others.
The reality check is this is what “God’s Story” does every single day all over the world and has been doing over the course of history. The Bible tells God’s Story!
It’s a story filled with emotion!
It’s a story that connects us to the main character of the story!
It’s the story that humanizes God to us!
It’s a story that raises the stakes in the game of life and death!
It’s a story that shows who God is and does not just tell of Him but proves He is who He said He is!
Final thought from the book I want to make is this: “In its simplest form, a story is a character in pursuit of a goal in the face of some challenge or obstacle. How the character tries to resolve that challenge drives the narrative.”
Scripture:
2 Timothy 3:16–17:
16All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.
John 3:16-21
16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. 19 This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. 20 Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. 21 But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God.”
Sermon: Meet the author of The Bible! God!
Thesis: Genesis introduces us to God “The I AM!” it is called in Hebrew “Beeresit” which means “In the Beginning!” Gensis introduces us to the story of God and his connection to mankind!
Key Scripture Verse of Genesis 1:1: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”
Introduction:
This first book of the Bible Genesis written by Moses supplies us with answers to the questions that plague mankind. The answers it provides are not exhaustive but sufficient to bring about peace of mind to those searching for answers and a Creator!
Moses would be the most suited person in the history of the world to start the Story of God to each and everyone of us. The Bible is written by 40 authors who wrote the Bible over a period of 1,500 years. These Bible writers wrote as they were inspired by the Holy Spirit (see 2 Timothy 3:16-17).
Think about Moses who spent considerable time in the presence of God on the mountain with God – speaking with Him – listening to Him – seeing Him (Only his back) – he came back off the mountain shining with the shekinah glory of God all over Him!
See Exodus 34:28: Moses was there with the LORD forty days and forty nights without eating bread or drinking water. And he wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant—the Ten Commandments.
We also learn from Got questions: “After spending this extended amount of time with God, Moses comes down the mountain, and his face is shining with the glory of God (Exodus 34:29). We don’t know exactly what this would have looked like, but it was frightening to his brother, Aaron, the high priest; and to all the rest of the people. Because everyone was afraid to come near Moses (verse 31), he wore a veil over his face to shroud the glory (verses 33–35). We are not told how long this lasted, but presumably the glory began to fade when Moses was no longer regularly going into the presence of God. How long Moses wore the veil is unknown, but the veil is not mentioned during the remaining years of his leadership—roughly 38 years.” From Why did Moses have to wear a veil? | GotQuestions.org
When you search for the Creator and desire to learn the story of God “The Creator” he will reveal himself to you and it will be personal!
Illustration: Story of a Japanese Girl from Church at Home and Abroad:
Searching for the Creator!
In her lesson one day a young Japanese girl, named Tasshee, found the word, “Creator,” but did not know it’s meaning. Turning to the dictionary, she read, “Creator, one who creates; a name given to God, who made all things.” A startling thought crosser her mind, for she had never heard of such a God; and it filled her mind by night and day. She looked at the stars and said, God must have made these stars.” She marveled at the sun and trees and thought “God made these!” She went to the temple and looked at the image of Budda, and she said to herself, “It was not you Budda, for I never heard that you made anything.” When she went to Tokyo and old woman in the same house said to her, Tasshee, I am going to a meeting; come with me.’ “What meeting?” “A meeting to hear about God.” “Oh, no,” said Tasshee. “I do not want any of your God. I have a god of my own, if I only knew where He was?” Tasshee, however, went to the meeting. The missionary opened the Bible and read, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” Tasshee was started. “Why, she said, “this book is about God “The Creator?” “I have been looking for Him!” She became so excited she could hardly stay in her seat and the questions started flowing from her to the missionary. When the meeting was over, she rushed to the missionary and said, “Tell me, where is this God that made the heaven and the earth?” “Where does He live? Where is He now? How can I find Him?” Her desire for meeting “The Creator” was genuine and sincere.” She came to the next meeting and heard something amazing about “The Creator” “God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whosoever believes in him will not perish but have everlasting life.” Here again Tasshee was awed by God. He was a God of love! Her gods were gods of war, hate and revenge. This God gave His one and only Son. All the gods she had ever heard of never gave anything; the people had to give them sacrifices and offerings. Thus, Tasshee a soul in search of “The Creator” found him and received the Water of Life! Tasshee became a Christian teacher, dispensing the truth of the Word of God – The Bible – she would tell her story of searching and the amazing act of finding God “The Creator” of the universe – she would tell others how her God gave and through his giving she was set free and found her Creator! The story is said to be a true story taken from Church at Home and Abroad!
Question: Do you want to discover your Creator? Look into the pages of the Bible and He will reveal himself to you! Read and study the “Story of God.”
It’s important to know that Genesis answers many questions that plague mankind:
I. It answers some of the following Questions:
a. The Being of God is introduces – Genesis1
i. His Spirit – He (and the others?) was hovering over nothing, but He was ready to create something good. (vs 2)
ii. His Word - “God said” – He spoke the Creation of the Universe into existence with His Word! The power of Words!
iii. His Love – especially for His Creation – “It was good!” (vs. 31)
1. John 3:16 – solidifies his love!
b. The origin of the universe – Genesis 1
i. God spoke it into existence with His word – This to me is the “The Big Bang Theory!”
c. The creation of man – Genesis 1-2
i. The nature of who we are – “Made in the image of God!” Genesis 1
1. Genesis 1:27: “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.”
a. Notices we are created in the image of God every one of us – and he did so either male or female – no mistakes here people!
d. The origin of the soul and spirit – Genesis 2:7
i. Genesis 2:7: “The LORD God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.”
1. I recall in college by biology teacher saying the component for the mankind are found in the dirt – he was an evolutionary person, so I said to him sound very similar to Gensis and God’s creation of mankind to me!
e. The essence of divine revelation to mankind – Genesis through Revelation!
i. Genesis 1:15: “The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. 16And the LORD God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; 17but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die.”
1. God’s divine revelations are to protect us and guide us from making mistakes that will cause us to die!
f. The introduction of sin - Genesis 3
i. The battle of Good and Evil – the Devil introduced to mankind!
1. In our Alpha class the question was asked “Do you believe in the Devil?” “Do you believe in God?”
a. Years ago in some polls people believed in the Devil more than they believed in God but times have changed!
b. Following Gallup poll from 2023 – measuring the last 23 years - STORY HIGHLIGHTS
i. 74% believe in God, 69% angels, 67% heaven, 59% hell, 58% the devil.
ii. Nearly three in 10 do not believe in hell or the devil.
iii. Belief greatest among frequent churchgoers, Protestants, Republicans.
c. WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The percentages of Americans who believe in each of five religious entities -- God, angels, heaven, hell and the devil -- have edged downward by three to five percentage points since 2016. Still, majorities believe in each, ranging from a high of 74% believing in God to lows of 59% for hell and 58% for the devil. About two-thirds each believe in angels (69%) and heaven (67%).
i. https://news.gallup.com/poll/508886/belief-five-spiritual-entities-edges-down-new-lows.aspx?utm_source=alert&utm_medium=email&utm_content=morelink&utm_campaign=syndication
g. The purpose we all have with in the work of the Kingdom of Heaven.
i. We all have a divine calling and purpose!
1. Genesis 1:26: “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.”
2. Genesis 1:28: “God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”
h. The division we have in the human race is explained.
i. Why we are all divided rather than united!
1. Genesis 3-4
a. Selfishness – pride – self-centeredness – ego – disobedience to God’s word – evil’s influence
i. The divine purpose and role of Christianity to this world!
i. Genesis 3:15 “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head…”
1. Remember a few weeks ago we explored John and discovered that Jesus is “The Great I Am” – He is God’s Word in the flesh and was their at Creation and He was there at the fall too – I can only imagine this scene at the fall of mankind and the great loss of mankind of the Garden and the presence of God – then the realization of the impact of sin apart from God – but in the heart of the fall God looks at Satan and states:
a. Genesis 3:14 “So the LORD God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, “Cursed are you above all the livestock and all the wild animals! You will crawl on your belly, and you will eat dust all the days of your life. 15And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.”
b. God is there The Father – he points to the Son who is there and says, “He will crush you for what you have done!”
c. Jesus is revealed here in Genesis - not just in the Gospels but here in the beginning! Just like John 1 states!
ii. Hague states, “In one word, in this inspired volume of beginning, we have the satisfactory explanation of all the sin, the reason for the misery in this world, the contradictions in this world of good and evil, and the reason we need to be redeemed (by the great “I Am!”) (The Fundamentals, page 272).
T.S. – The book of Genesis answers many questions for us but it also records nine beginnings and traces 9 family histories:
II. “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” Genesis 1:1
a. The nine beginnings:
i. Genesis 1:1-2:3: The beginning of the earth as mankind’s habitation.
ii. Genesis 2:4-25: The beginning of the human race.
iii. Genesis 3:1-7: The beginning of human sin.
iv. Genesis 3:8-24: The beginning of redemptive revelation.
v. Genesis 4:1-15: The beginning of the human family.
vi. Genesis 4:16-9:29: The beginning of the godless civilization.
vii. Genesis 10:1-32: The beginning of nations.
viii. Genesis 11:1-9: The beginning of human languages.
ix. Genesis 11:10-50:26: The beginning of the Hebrew race (God’s covenant people).
b. Genesis records 9 family histories:
i. Genesis 1:1-4:26: The original creation of the family
ii. Genesis 5:1-6:8: The family of Adam and his succeeding generations
iii. Genesis 6:9-11:9: The family of Noah and his succeeding generations
iv. Genesis 11:10-26: The family of Shem
v. Genesis 11:27-25:11: The family of Terah and his succeeding generations
vi. Genesis 25:12-18: The family of Ishmael and succeeding generations.
vii. Genesis 25:19-35:29: The family of Isaac and succeeding generations.
viii. Genesis 36:1-37:1: The family of Esau and succeeding generations.
ix. Genesis 37:2-50:26: The family of Jacob and succeeding generations.
c. Genesis is a science book as are other parts of the Bible:
i. Genesis supplies us with the foundation for the science of creation “The Big Bang Theory.” God said it and bang it happened!
ii. Genesis supplies the foundation for the science of astrology – how the universe was birthed with it’s stars, planets, moon and sun!
iii. Genesis supplies the foundations for the science of sin and salvation.
iv. Genesis supplies the foundation of anthropology (science of man).
v. Genesis supplies the foundation for the science of sociology.
vi. Genesis supplies the foundation for the science of archeology.
vii. Genesis supplies the foundation for the science of psychology.
viii. Genesis supplies the foundation for the science of theology.
ix. Genesis supplies mankind with the essential of the science of God.
d. The recognition and acceptance of God as Creator is the precept that all teaching of the Bible should be based on!
i. Webb states, “The God who we worship is not a metaphysical idea; a form of thought; a philosophical abstraction; but a living, personal, eternal being apart from and prior to all human thought. He is not a creation of the intellect, but the intellect’s Creator. We must begin with Him.” (Page 25).
ii. Creation Scientist have proven the benefit of starting with recognizing God’s hand.
1. How do they do this to prove God is the Creator?
a. Illustration:
i. Let me borrow your imagination for a moment. Imagine that you are walking along a creek on a lazy summer afternoon, idly kicking at the pebbles along the bank. Occasionally you reach down to pick up a pebble that has an unusual shape. One pebble reminds you of a cowboy boot. As you role the pebble around in your hand, you notice the softer parts of the rock are more worn away than the harder parts, and that lines of wear follow lines of weakness in the rock. Despite some appearance of design, the boot shape of the tumbled pebble is clearly the result of time, chance, and the processes of weathering and erosion.
ii. But then your eye spots an arrowhead lying among the pebbles. Immediately it stands out as different. In the arrowhead, chip marks cut through the hard soft parts of the rock equally, and the chip line goes both with and arrowhead, we see matter shaped and molded according to a design that gives the rocky material a purpose.
iii. You have just done what many people dismiss as impossible. In comparing the pebble and arrowhead, you were easily able to recognize evidence of creation. Of course. The arrowhead might have been carved by one of my ancestors (Cherokee), for example. But the same approach can be used even when we don’t know who or what the creative agent might have been.
1. From What does it take to recognize evidence of Creation. Just the ordinary tools of science: logic and observation by (Morris/Parker, page 21).
iii. Creationists have a premise, “You don’t have to see the creative act, to recognize evidence of creation.”
1. Creation Scientist state, “Even when we don’t know who or what the creative agent is, then there are cases where creation is simply the most logical inference from our scientific observation.” (Page 49).
a. Example of using Creation Scientist methodology:
i. 2 basic parts of every living system are DNA and protein:
1. DNA is the famous molecule of heredity passed from generation to generation.
2. Proteins are the molecules of structures and function.
ii. The DNA molecules we code for - produce the protein molecules that make us what we are. That same principle applies to all life forms – viruses, plants, animals as well as human beings. (Page 5)
iii. According to Evolutionists they imagine that DNA and protein fragments along with time, chance and chemical reactions with the two automatically produced life – This is a wrong concept!
1. The problem with this belief is that the properties of bases and acids (chemical reactions) produce the wrong relationship for living systems.
2. Acid-base reactions would scramble up DNA and protein units in all sorts of “deadly” combinations. These reactions would prevent , not promote , the use of DNA code protein production.” (Morris , page 7)
2. Key point of this application:
a. But in the same way the arrowhead was formed from an outside force so it goes with our knowledge of DNA, protein, and their chemical properties, should lead us to infer that life also is a result of creation- someone put everything in order to make it work. There is a Creative designer and organizer (Morrise, page 11).
b. Life then is a property of organization, not of substance. Dickerson states – “The missing ingredient is an orderly mechanism” for life.”
c. Homology, another example “There’s another reason in our common experience why things look alike. It’s created according to a common design. That’s why Fords and Chevy’s have more in common than Fords and sailboats. They share more design features in common. (Morris, 21).
e. Creation verses Evolution
i. The Evolution Theory
1. As taught in our public schools today, the organic Theory of Evolution accounts for the Origin of mankind as follows:
a. Life on this planet originated several billions of years ago, when electrical disturbances caused reactions to occur in chemicals of the primeval ocean, and these reactions produced amino acids, and these amino acids organized themselves into living cells. As time went on, more chemical reactions caused the descendants of these one-celled organisms to mutate and develop into a variety of types of multi-celled plants and animals. The process continued, and as each new variety of organism appeared, natural selection would result in its being either better or less suited to the environment, and therefore it would either flourish or disappear. In the long run, then, species of plants and animals better and better suited to their respective environments appeared and developed. Man is the highest product of this development. He is immediately descended from the same ancestors as the apeas; more remotely, from the same ancestors as all mammals. He is himself still developing; that process is stalled by our present lifestyle, but biologically it is inevitable.
i. Presented by The Bible Friend!
ii. Refutations of the theory of Evolution:
1. Seven scientific evidences that support creation over evolution. By Robert Driskell
a. No Transitional Fossils
i. If all life forms have evolved from simpler life forms there should be millions (billions) of transitional fossils available for study. These transitional fossils, for example, would be of the type showing the process of one species evolving into another. However, no transitional fossils have ever been found. Geisler and Turek point out that, “…the fossil record actually lines up better with supernatural creation than with macroevolution. Indeed, there aren’t missing links—there’s a missing chain!” (Geisler and Turek, p. 152).
b. Irreducible Complexity
i. This idea is a companion idea to the fact that we see no transitional fossils in the fossil record. Irreducible complexity says that, “…living things are filled with molecular machines that perform the numerous functions of life. These molecular machines are irreducibly complex, meaning that all the parts of each machine must be completely formed, in the right places, in the right sizes, in operation order, at the same time, for the machine to function” (Geisler and Turek, p. 145). If one part of this machine is not there, the machine does not function; therefore, evolutionism’s idea that life came about gradually, a piece at a time, is not feasible. The basic parts for life must appear in working order, and at the same time for there to be any life at all…just as the Bible declares.
c. Non-viability of Transitional Forms
i. This idea calls into question how an organism, somewhere in the middle of the process of changing into a different organism, could survive at all. How could a fish survive if it were halfway through the process of changing from a fish to a dog, for instance? Would it have scales and fur? Gills and lungs? Fins and legs? It would be virtually impossible for an animal, partially evolved into another animal, to survive. Environmental factors and predators would end the evolutionary process quickly for these half and half animals.
d. The Bible tells us that all living things were created perfectly in the condition God intended for them. There is no reason at all to doubt the biblical record of creation and Noah's worldwide flood.
i. What we see in the layers of the earth’s crust is better explained by a global flood catastrophe than by the slow, uniformitarianist theories of evolutionists.
ii. Evolutionist scientists tell us that what we view on the earth’s surface, and its crust, is the result of millions (billions) of years of slow, steady deposits of material. The layers of our planet’s outer shell are a result of a plodding process that took a very long period of time. However, there are many features that simply could not have been formed this way and actually make much more sense when attributed to the worldwide flood of Noah’s time. Studies have been done on the effects of the Mt. St. Helen’s eruption on May 18, 1980, that show that landscapes similar to what we see in the Grand Canyon could have been formed in mere minutes instead of thousands, millions, or billions, of years. In other words, there is no reason at all to doubt the biblical record of creation and Noah’s worldwide flood.
e. Law of Entropy; Everything Runs Down
i. The theory of evolution relies on the idea that things can improve, or become more complex, given enough time. However, what we observe is that everything runs down or becomes less complex. This is called the Second Law of Thermodynamics or the Law of Entropy. For evolution to work, this law would have to work in reverse; new information would have to be added to the existing organism in order for it to improve, or increase in complexity. We do not see this in observable science. However, the biblical record of Creation (and the theory of creation science) explains everything we see around us in the observable world.
f. Dating Methods Flawed
i. Methods for dating rocks are based on assumptions. Therefore, if one (or some) of these assumptions are incorrect, then the date of the rock being tested will be incorrect. Those who believe in evolution also believe that the processes we observe now, physical and chemical processes, have always occurred at the rate that they are presently occurring. Thus, they claim to be able to tell how old something is by calculations based on that belief. However, there is no way to verify this uniformity they espouse. A worldwide catastrophe, such as the flood of Noah, would completely upset this uniformity by which they gauge the passage of time. Therefore, the dating methods used by these naturalistic scientists is based on unprovable assumptions, not observable facts. There was only one being who observed Creation; this same being was the One who did the creating and recorded it in the first chapters of His Word.
g. Conclusion
i. Evolution is not observable or falsifiable; therefore, it is not science. It is a philosophy of origins. “The question of origins—creation or evolution—is almost entirely outside the experimental domain of science” (Morris, p. 53). Therefore, if creation (theories of origins) is not scientifically observable or testable, we must get our knowledge of creation from another source.
ii. The Bible tells us that God created the universe, “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1 ESV). When this statement is accepted, all scientific problems concerning our origins vanish. There are no problems with transitional fossils, irreducible complexity, the viability of transitional forms, the geological features of the earth’s surface, or dating methods based on faulty assumptions when we simply believe the biblical record we have been given by the Creator.
1. Read more: https://www.whatchristianswanttoknow.com/7-scientific-findings-that-support-creationism-over-evolution/#ixzz8PIFIz1gd
iii. The Mathematical Impossibility of Evolution
1. Compared to evolutionary theory, gravitational theory is very simple, so simple that our existing mathematics can be used to fully describe it. Parts of evolutionary theory can be described with mathematics (for example, population genetics) but the entire theory is currently beyond our math ability. Is evolution a mathematically precise theory?
2. Unlike theories in physics, however, evolutionary theories are not based on mathematically precise laws of nature but on mathematical descriptions of idealized systems from which known complexities have been excised.
a. The above from the following sources:
i. https://www.hoover.org/research/mathematical-challenges-darwins-theory-evolution-david-berlinski-stephen-meyer-and-david
ii. https://www.icr.org/article/mathematical-impossibility-evolution/
Conclusion:
What do we need to know from this message?
Answer: The story of the Bible is about God and His interactions with mankind.
Why do they need to know this message?
Answer: We need to know who God is – He is “The Creator” of this world and mankind – God is all powerful and with His Word speaks things into existence – He is love and He loves mankind so much He sent His son to die for us so we could be saved.
What do they need to do from this message?
Answer: We need to get to know God through His word and through experience!! Then tell others about how to find Him and meet him!
Why do they need to do this?
Answer: Because people are looking for their God – their creator and God wants them to find Him through many of us!
