GOD OF WONDERS
Genesis 1:1 – 2:7

INTRODUCTION
• When asked by a lawyer what the greatest commandment was, Jesus replied that we are to love God with all our heart, soul, and mind (see Matthew 22:34-40). We must use and exercise our minds when it comes to our faith and relationship with God.

GENESIS – THE BEGINNING
• Chapters 1-11 – Primeval history
• Chapters 12-50 – Patriarchal history
• Foundational book of the Bible

WHY IS THERE SOMETHING RATHER THAN NOTHING?
• Genesis 1 and 2 answers this when it introduces us to the “something” that fills the “nothing.”

GENESIS INTRODUCES US TO GOD
• In the beginning, God (Elohim) – Plural introducing us to the Trinity: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
• Two ways people view the world – through man’s eyes or through God’s eyes. This fact is why there is so much division in our society and the world.
• Illustration of conversation with atheist – Is there evil in the world? Is there good in the world? Is there moral law in the world? Do you believe you can have an effect without a cause? What is the cause of the moral law? Call it what you want, but I call it God.
• Genesis introduces us to a God who is real, alive, personal, loves us, and is pursuing us because He wants to enter a relationship with us that He has arranged through the giving of His Son, Jesus Christ.
o Fact: Jesus was born, lived, was crucified, rose from dead, ascended to Heaven – More evidence of this fact than Rome’s occupation of Britain under Caesar!

GENESIS INTRODUCES US TO THE UNIVERSE (THE COSMOS)
• God created the Heavens and the Earth and filled both.
• Form and Filling of Creation
o Day 1 – Form: Light Day 4 – Filling: Sun, Moon, & Stars
(Note: Light existed before the sun, moon, and stars! It was the Light of God, the Shekinah Glory of God. See also Revelation 21:22-22:5)
o Day 2 – Form: Sky & Water Day 5 – Filling: Birds & Fish
o Day 3 – Form: Land Day 6 – Filling: Animals & Man

HOW LONG DID IT TAKE GOD TO CREATE THE UNIVERSE?
• When there is a conflict between science and the Bible, it’s usually due to not understanding science and/or a poor interpretation of Scripture.
• So many theories! Who’s right? Science or Bible – BOTH!
o Several things can be true about a fact. Examples: Where is the center of Houston? (geographical center, population center, etc.) Who was bigger, Goliath or David? (physically, spiritually, mentally, emotionally, etc.)
• God’s Workday – To God, a day is like a thousand years and a thousand years like a day (see 2 Peter 3:8) yet He can give us our resurrected bodies in the “twinkling of an eye!” (1 Corinthians 15:52)

THE CREATED ORDER (COSMOS, NOT CHAOS)
• God is almighty and eternal, and this is His created order, intricately designed and made by choice, not chance!
• Illustrations (Newton’s solar system model, 10 pennies statistics)

GENESIS INTRODUCES US TO MAN (HUMANITY)
• Secular Evolution – Slime to Man (Man started low and is getting higher and better.)
• Bible – Man to Slime (Man started high and ended low in sin and selfishness.)
• In Genesis, plants and animals made after their own kind… until man!
• Genesis 1:26 “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness…”
• God personally formed man in His own image from the dust and breathed life into him. (2:6-7)
• We are created with a soul, an essence that can communicate with and relate to God – We are created after His kind, in His image, unique from other living creatures!

GOOD NEWS!
• We are LOST… BUT… because we are made in His image, God can help us, restore us, and save us! We can be FOUND … redeemed, remade, and built to live forever. We can learn to love God with all our Heart, Soul and Mind and even have the Mind of Christ!

Think It Over
• What has your understanding and view of creation been? Has it changed following this message? If so, how?
• Through whose eyes do you view people and the world? Man’s or God’s? What has your view of man been? The secular view (Slime to Man) or the biblical view (Man to slime)? Why?
• Why is it essential that a person have an understanding and view of “In the beginning…”?
• Spend some time reading Genesis 1:1 – 2:7. Then jot down some ideas or answers to the following: God is a God of Wonders because…
I am created in the image of God! Therefore I …
I want to love God more with my heart, soul, and mind, so I plan to…
This is my Father’s world, so I must …