We're finished with the book of Ephesians. So now we shall begin a new book, the book of Genesis. The book of Genesis, in case you wonder, it's the first book of the Bible. You just have to open the first page and the introductions and things, and you'll find the book of Genesis. I'm gonna try to have a sort of introduction to the book, but also look at the first verse. So I'll just read the first, I'll read the first two verses, but really we'll only look at an introduction to the book and the first verse. So Genesis chapter one, verse one. This is God's holy word. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. Where does everything come from? What came first, the chicken or the egg? Why are we here? Why are we now sitting here on chairs in a church or a building at the service? What events led up to this moment and what started it all? This is what the book of Genesis starts by telling us or is about. Why are we here? The book is said or believed to be written by Moses. So in Swedish, we call them the five books of Moses, the first book of Moses. And he has written five books. That's What we believe, what Jesus said, it says in Moses, Moses wrote about me. So it's fair to say that this was written by Moses or edited by Moses in some way. That these stories, this history that is in this book and the rest of the five books The law, the Torah, is written by Moses under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit in some way. And what Moses was writing about, these books were provided for the people of Israel to answer the question, why are we here? Why are we now in the land of Israel? What events led up to the fact that we came to this land? And what are we doing here? And what are we supposed to do here? So these five books tell the story of how Israel came into Israel, to the land. It tells about firstly how God created the world, not only the history of the people of Israel, but the history of the entire world, the creation of the world, how it all began. The book of Genesis begins like this and ends where the people of Israel are in Egypt. How did they end up in Egypt? That's what the book of Genesis talks about. What events led up to how they came into Egypt. So it is a story or history. It's a real story. A real history about real things explaining how Israel ended up there. How we ended up here. how everything came to being. It is a historical book. It's not poetry. It's not Psalms. It's not just wisdom literature. It's a historical narrative that tells the history of things that happened in reality. It's not a bunch of myths. concocted by people for some reason. It is a real history of real events, real things that happened about 6,000 years ago, at least 10,000 years ago, or at most 10,000 years ago, but not in a too far distant future if we ask what the text is saying. So it is a historical book and it's a straightforward, simple line that this book begins with. In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. It doesn't make colorful words or descriptions or poetic utterances or writing around things, trying to make them sound beautiful or nice or trying to make it sound like something. It is a straightforward, simple fact that it starts with, in the beginning, God created heaven and the earth. It doesn't start with apologetics, with proving God's existence by some philosophical considerations or philosophical arguments. It just states that in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Again, no glim-glam or glitter or flimflam or whatever smoke screens, circles. In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. It is straightforward. And it says in the beginning. In the beginning of the creation. It's not about God's beginning. It is about the beginning of the creation, of the existence of the creation. God created the heavens and the earth. God is already there. God had no beginning. He is already there and in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. It is the beginning of the creation. It is not the beginning of God. It doesn't say how God came to being or anything like that, where God comes from. God was already there. God was the precondition of the creation, of the existence of the heavens and the earth. The word created means to create something here. It can mean create something from nothing. It can mean to form something from something that already exists. It means that later on in the text. But here it's clear that he's talking about how God is bringing something into existence from nothing. God created the heavens and the earth. It was not that the heavens and the earth existed and God started to do things with them that comes later. He starts forming them. We read in the second verse and the next verses we read that the earth was without form and void and that darkness was over the face of the deep and that God, the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. So God created these things, the heavens and the earth and then he started to shape them, give them form, give them content. He created things in the heavens and the earth that he had created. The word for God is Elohim in Hebrew. Hebrew has different words for gods or God. We have the word El which just means God. We have the word Eloah, which means something more, a more majestic way of saying the word God. And here the word Eloah comes in the plural Elohim, which doesn't mean that God is many gods, that there is a plurality of gods. but that the Hebrew here is using a majestic plural to tell that something is majestic, so we could translate the word Elohim into the most divine, his divinity, his godness. or something. It is a high title for God that the Bible is consistently using. Sometimes it uses L for God, but mostly it's using this name or title, the Most Divine or His Divinity, God. There are different theories and some say that this is actually In the beginning it was many gods who created it and then they changed it into a monotheistic view of the Bible, of the thing, but it's in the Hebrew language, this is a majestic plural most likely, to say how God is the God himself, the most divine, his divinity, His Majesty, God. And He already existed as been stated. God was already there. He already existed. It doesn't answer why God exists, how He came into being. If He came into being, of course He didn't. It just states that God in the beginning created the heavens and the earth. He was already there. He already existed. He has already existed. And then it says He created the heavens and the earth. And then it goes on to describe that God actually creates the heaven further on. and starts forming the earth. So it can either mean that this is a heading describing how God created the heavens and the earth, or that God first created the heavens, the universe, space, And then the material matter, space and matter, heavens and the earth, and planets, or the planet earth. There are different theories there as well. But he, it states, the matter of fact is that he created the heavens and the earth. All things, the universe, space, the planet Earth, all matter for that matter. And then it starts describing how God continued to create the heavens and the earth, the universe, everything in it. So on the question, where are we from? Why are we here? How did we come here? How did we end up here? When we look at what we have around us, we understand that this universe, the heaven that we see above us and the earth we're standing on, and all that fills them, all that's in them, the universe is created by the eternal self-existent and almighty God. God is eternal and self-existent. We understand this because He is before the beginning. Before there was any time, before there was a beginning, He existed. He wasn't created. He existed in Himself. He was self-existent. He was before the beginning. He was in the beginning. And in the beginning, He created the heavens and the earth. We understand also that God is all-powerful. He is omnipotent because He can do all things. He is so strong that he could create everything. Everything that we see around us is created by God. That's how strong God is. That's how mighty God is. He can do all the things that he wants to do. He is so strong that he could create everything from nothing. to create the heavens themselves and the earth itself. In that way we know that God is all-powerful. Look around you when you're outside. Look at the mighty creation that God has created and understand that he is so powerful that he can do all the things that he wants to do. We know also that God did this by his own decision. It was God's own decision to create and again doesn't explain how God decided to create. He doesn't feel that need or God doesn't have that need to explain much about himself right here in the beginning or explain himself, why he does things that he does. He just states that in the beginning, I created the heavens and the earth. In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. He decided to do it and he did it. It was his own decision. There was no other thing. He was in himself existing forever and decided to create And here is where the beginning came. In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. And we cannot understand, we can't grasp this thought that during all eternity God existed and suddenly he started creating the heavens and the earth. We can't grasp how eternity can go on forever and some time during this eternity God decides to create the heavens and the earth. We cannot grasp, we cannot understand. We just have to take it for what it says. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. We can say that God created time itself. There was no time in eternity because time didn't exist in eternity. We can try to explain this philosophically in some way, but we cannot grasp it either way. We can't understand or grasp why, when, how God suddenly or simply decided to create. He made that decision by himself, by his sovereign will, and we are just to receive that fact. He decided to do this for his own reason. We can see that God is here. We can see that the Spirit of God is here in verse 2. We can see that all the three persons of the Trinity is actually present in the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth. We know that all things that Christ was there during creation, that Christ himself is the head and the beginning. There is an interesting thing with the word beginning in Hebrew, reshit. So in Hebrew, a word consists of three characters, three root characters, and this word has to do with something that is first. The word head comes from this word, Rosh. The word beginning, Rashid, comes from this word. We can see that Christ is this beginning himself. Christ is the head, the Rosh, and the beginning himself. We can read in Colossians, Colossians chapter 1 and 16 through 18, where it talks about the Son of God, the beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, who is the image of the invisible God, the one who brought forth the One who birthed all creation, Colossians 1, 16 through 18, for by Him all things were created in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities, all things were created through Him and for Him, And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning. He is the beginning. He is the head, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. Christ himself is. the beginning in which God created the heavens and the earth in him Paul says he is the beginning he is the head and in him and by him all things were created in heaven and on earth all things were created through him and for him and he is before all things and in him all things hold together The Son of God, or God the Son, is right here in the book of Genesis at the very beginning, because He is the beginning. He's the very first word that occurs in the entire Bible. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. We were asking what are good Bible quotes that show from the New Testament that Jesus is God. I think Colossians is the clearest that shows that he is God who created all things, that is before all things, holds together all things. We can read further that all things are created in Christ. Hebrews 1.10, again, he's talking about the Son of God, the Son, God the Son. Verse 8, of the Son, he says, and so forward, and then God says to God the Son. God the Father speaks to God the Son and says, You, Lord, laid the foundation of the earth in the beginning, and the heavens are the work of your hands. So God the Son, Jesus Christ the Son, is the one, the Lord, who laid the foundation of the earth in the beginning. and the heavens are the work of his hands. In the beginning, in Christ, God created the heavens and the earth. We read that Christ is the beginning in verse or in further on in John, John chapter one, In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. And through Him are all things that are created, and without Him nothing exists out of those things that exist. And the Word became flesh. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God and the Word became flesh talking about Jesus again Colossians as I read Colossians 1 18 states that he is the beginning and also in Revelation He says, Jesus says in Revelation 21 verse 6, He said to me, it is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. He is the beginning. Jesus is the beginning. Jesus existed before the foundation of the earth. In Proverbs 8 we read about the wisdom of God, which is a messianic passage in the book of Proverbs. Jesus refers to this when he says that he is the wisdom of God. And here he speaks again, the Lord possessed me at the beginning of his work, the first of his acts of old, referring to creation, in the beginning God created. Ages ago I was set up at the first, before the beginning of the earth. When there were no depths, I was brought forth when there were no springs abounding with water, before the mountains had been shaped, before the hills I was brought forth, before he had made the earth with its fields, or the first of the dust of the world, and so on. Literally, it says that he was anointed ages ago. So there in verse 23 in chapter 8, Proverbs 8, it says, from the age I was anointed, from the age I was anointed, Christ, the anointed one, was set up before the age. We read the same thing in 1 Peter 1.20, Here he's talking about the Christ, the Lamb of God. He was foreknown before the foundation of the world, but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you. So we see that Christ is here in the beginning. When God created, it was in Him that all things were created that exist. Now, knowing that God is the One, the Triune God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, The almighty, the all-powerful God, the majestic God, the most divine, His divinity, the sovereign, self-existent, all-powerful God has created the heavens and the earth. This should bring us to fear. to revere and to worship Him. That's why He created all things. Psalm 19 and 1 says that the heavens declare the glory of God. The heavens declare the glory of God. When we go out and see the heavens, And all creation, they declare the glory of God, that He is glorious, that He is all-powerful, that He is to worship, to be feared, to be awed. Romans 11, 36 says, For from Him, and through Him, and to Him all are things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen. The fact that God has created, the fact that we exist here in a creation where we are created by God, by an all-powerful, mighty being that has existed forever, shows us, should bring us, to fear Him, to revere Him, to worship Him, to give Him glory and thanks for all things, for our own lives, for our own existence. But there are those who are still stubborn, who are still proud and will not receive this fact and make up many different stories. Why not? They want wise explanations. They don't want a simple statement at the most epic book of all, the Bible. If this is such a great book, why does it begin in such a simple way by just saying that in the beginning God created Why doesn't it bring us wisdom, explanations, philosophical entanglements, philosophical reasons why God exists, and so forth? They want wise explanations. They want advanced theories. And how many advanced theories and myths have they not come up with? All the different idol myths, mythologies that we read about in religious books, how there were battles between gods. Many myths begin with how there are many gods that are fighting with each other and so they, in this fight somehow, they accidentally create the world and all human beings and everything, or for some reason to fight for them in the war and other things. We have the myth of the Big Bang, the Big Bang myth, also an advanced theory that for some reason nothing existed and nothing exploded and became everything and that all the dust was floating around in space and if you just give it a few billion, trillion, zillion of years Maybe some planets can form and suns and stars and everything. I actually read in John Calvin's sermons, he actually sounds like he talks about Big Bang. He talks about these people who believe that dust was floating around in space and it suddenly created came together and formed planets and suns and everything and Calvin says that this is such an utterly stupid theory. Those who believe this must be completely stupid. That's John Calvin. That's what he says. Then we have the myth of evolution. It even sounds like Calvin long before darwin existed is commenting on the theory of evolution that these thoughts were circulating even at his time it's impossible that that could happen but it sounds fancy it sounds like yes if we just if we just think and we give it a billion of years and we think that logically this maybe sounds like it holds. Logically, it sounds like a very wise and advanced theory or myth because they refuse the simple answer. If you know about Occam's Razor, they love that argument. but it speaks to the favor of God. Ockham himself was a Christian. He believed in God. What is the most simple? The most simple explanation must be the true explanation. What is the most simple, straightforward, reasonable explanation? That in the beginning God created everything, the heavens and the earth. And then they come with their philosophical stupidities. All the questions, what came first, the chicken and the egg? They get all these problems, they cannot answer these philosophical, funny, trivia questions, because they refuse to believe in God. The Bible gives the clear answer. God created the chicken or the hen first. And Romans 1.18-23 rightly gives the verdicts, the judgments over these vain myths, these delusions. for the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men by their righteousness suppress the truth For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived ever since the creation of the world in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse, for although they knew God, they didn't honor Him as God or give thanks to Him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things. that God exists is clear. It is known. Even to them, they know that God exists. But in their sin, in their pride, they want other explanations. They don't want a God to exist because that means that God has a law. It means that we have to live We have to obey someone. They want to suppress the truth in unrighteousness and come up with all these vain explanations, the vain thinking, futile thinking, become dark in their hearts, claiming to be wise, they became fools, etc. Because they want their sin. They don't want to obey God. They don't want to love the Lord their God with all their heart, souls, mind and strength. They want their sin that they love. They want to submit to no one. They don't want to submit to God. They don't want to fear and worship God. So they're trying to suppress it. And they pretend that there must be some more advanced theory or philosophically fancy explanation for it. And they shun the clear, simple facts. And for that reason, God's wrath is upon them, revealed from heaven against them. But in this book of Genesis and the whole Bible, God, in spite of this wrath that he righteously and rightly have upon humanity, God is still gracious and has revealed everything in his word. He didn't need to. He didn't need to write a book telling that in the beginning he created everything. But by his grace, he chose to reveal his word and all the other things that there is salvation that although man has sinned against him, turned against him, turned from him, there is still a way to appease God's wrath, to have God's wrath removed from you. And he reveals that already after Adam's sin. We shall look at that further on. when we get there, but God has graciously revealed salvation. Both creation is revealed by creation and the Bible, but salvation is revealed especially, uniquely in the Bible, in His Word. And by His grace, He has revealed this. And those who are Humble. Those who fear Him and worship Him will receive this information by faith. By faith. So we read in Hebrews 11 and 3, by faith we understand that the universe was created by God. So that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible. And verse six, and without faith is impossible to please Him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that He exists and that He rewards those that seek Him. Those who are humble will receive this word, receive this simple explanation by faith and understand How in all its simplicity, how epic this is, yet simple, that God in this way has revealed. In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. And even we know that those who are humble to this fact, those who humble themselves before God, are those that have been chosen before the foundation of the earth, as we have read in Ephesians. In some sense, the elect existed in God's thoughts before creation, before the beginning. This we cannot understand or comprehend either. All we can do, what we should do, is to fear and worship God in humility, in reverence, in thanksgiving. As Romans 1.21 says, it says that they knew God but didn't thank Him, didn't glorify Him, didn't honor Him, It means that we who know God should thank Him, should worship Him, we should fear Him. May this make us fear God even more. May this make us repent of our sins even more as we have repented, as we have been saved. Let us be refreshed in these facts of how great and majestic and mighty God is. And be refreshed in our repentance, turning from our ways those things that disgrace God, displease God, knowing that He has created us, knowing how big He is, how great He is, and to live for His glory as He says in Romans 11, 36 again, for from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen. Let's pray. God, we thank you for your Word, for the beginning of your Word, for the revelation that you chose to reveal yourself, not only in creation generally, but especially in your Word, the Bible. We thank you for this simple and understandable line, sentence, in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. You have revealed yourselves to the simple people, those who are not after big intellectual explanations, theories, philosophies, but to those who will receive it. We thank you for that and help us, God, to always, when we look into creation, when we look at the trees, the heaven, the grass, the planet, the clouds and everything, remember you and worship you and fear you. We pray these things in your mighty name. Amen.