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Unlocking the Old Testament Part 2 - Genesis 1 — Transcript

by David Pawson - Official · 5,578 words · 827 segments · language en · Watch on YouTube

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0:02it's the story of how God was seeking a
0:06bride for his son each book is different
0:09from every other book I'm trying to give
0:11you the keys for you to unlock it for
0:15[Music]
0:26yourself well now the Bible is not one
0:30book but many the word bible comes from
0:32the plural word Biblia which means
0:35library and the Bible is not one book
0:37but 66 books and together these books
0:41form a history book the history of our
0:44universe but the Bible begins earlier
0:47and it ends later than any other history
0:49book because it begins with the very
0:51beginning of our universe it goes right
0:53through to the end of our universe and
0:55even
0:57Beyond but it's history written from God
1:00point of view therefore he selects what
1:03is important for him that makes it quite
1:06different from a political history or a
1:08physical history of our universe or a
1:11cultural history of our society God
1:14selects very carefully the things that
1:16matter to him the events which affected
1:19him most deeply therefore again it's
1:21quite different from every other
1:24history now there are two themes in the
1:27Bible number one what has G gone wrong
1:30with our world and number two how can it
1:34be put right I think everybody agrees
1:37our world is not a good place to live in
1:40something has gone terribly wrong with
1:42it and the Book of Genesis tells us
1:45exactly what but the rest of the Bible
1:48tells us how it's going to be put right
1:50or rather how God himself will put it
1:54right only God could solve a problem the
1:57size of our world and he's going to do
2:00it by rescuing the human race from
2:04itself for that's what we need to be
2:06rescued from ourselves that's what the
2:09word Redemption actually means to be
2:11rescued and we need to be rescued from
2:14ourselves so all 66 books form part of
2:19one great drama which I'm going to call
2:21the drama of redemption and the Book of
2:24Genesis introduces us to the stage the
2:28cast and the plot of this great drama
2:32and without the first few chapters of
2:34Genesis the rest of the Bible would
2:37really not make any
2:38sense the Hebrew title for this book is
2:41simply in the beginning that's because
2:44the Hebrew scriptures were in the form
2:46of Scrolls all rolled up and they would
2:49simply give each scroll the name of the
2:52first word or phrase in it so that just
2:55unwrapping the first bit of the scroll
2:57they could identify which book of their
2:59script Scriptures it was so they simply
3:01call it in the
3:03beginning when the Hebrew Old Testament
3:05was translated into Greek about 250
3:09years before Jesus was born they changed
3:12the name to Genesis which means origin
3:15or beginning and that's a very
3:17appropriate title because here we have
3:20the origin of our universe of the sun
3:23and the moon and the stars of planet
3:25earth on which we live here we have the
3:28origin of planet
3:30Birds fish animals
3:33humans here we have the origin of sex of
3:38marriage and of family life we have the
3:41origin of civilization of government of
3:45culture both Arts and Sciences we have
3:49here the origin of sin and death and
3:54murder and
3:56War we even have here in this book the
3:59origin of
4:00sacrifice both animal and
4:03human so it's a remarkable book just one
4:07small book 50 chapters and yet it covers
4:11the origin of all that and it deals with
4:15ultimate questions like where did our
4:17universe come
4:19from why are we here and even more
4:23personal why does each of us have to die
4:26something we rebel against something we
4:28don't talk about or think about
4:30something we dress up like a
4:32Horticultural show to try and disguise
4:34the horror of it but we all have to
4:38die why now these are ultimate questions
4:42of life and we need answers to them or
4:45else we just drown these questions in
4:49busyness and forget them but they can't
4:52be answered by any human being the
4:54historians can't answer these questions
4:57they can't tell us how how it all began
4:59because no historian was there either to
5:02observe or record how it happened
5:06scientists can't tell us about the
5:09beginning of our universe they can go
5:11back to the beginning but they can't go
5:13beyond that they can't observe anything
5:16beyond that so they can't tell us how it
5:20began and therefore much more they
5:23cannot tell us why it began science
5:26cannot find a purpose for this universe
5:30coming into being they can tell us some
5:33details of how it came about but
5:36certainly not why philosophers can't
5:39answer these ultimate questions they can
5:41only guess it is speculation when
5:45philosophers try and tell us for example
5:48the the answer to the question that
5:50occupies most of them the problem of
5:52evil where did Evil come from why is
5:55there so much evil in the world
5:57philosophers have strained their brains
5:59to try and give us an answer but it's
6:01all guesswork nobody really
6:04knows there is only one person who could
6:07really answer these questions for us and
6:09that's God
6:10himself so when you open the Book of
6:13Genesis you are immediately faced with a
6:15question are you reading the results of
6:19human
6:20imagination or divine
6:23inspiration does the Book of Genesis
6:25just give us another series of guesses
6:28from Human speculation about these
6:31things or does it actually tell us the
6:34answer give us the answer from the only
6:37person who was there when it all began
6:41and indeed the person responsible for it
6:44there are other accounts of Creation in
6:46the world there's one widely known one
6:49called the Babylonian epic it's far more
6:53complicated and far less credible than
6:55what you have in Genesis but it's only
6:58one of other sag which are supposed to
7:00tell us how it all began you should read
7:04some of them just to compare them with
7:07the sheer
7:08Simplicity and and convincing nature of
7:12Genesis 1 but you must decide when you
7:15read Genesis are you reading the product
7:17of a human imagination or a divine
7:21inspiration so you've got to take a step
7:24of Faith before you open the book but
7:28actually science is based on Steps of
7:31Faith I've got a science degree and I
7:34know that in science you you produce a
7:37hypothesis a working Theory and then you
7:40test it to see if it fits the facts
7:43that's how science progresses it's built
7:46on such leaps of Faith so you leap in
7:50faith into a theory and then you test it
7:53with the facts and therefore I believe
7:56that the approach of faith is scientific
7:59from that point of view and I say take a
8:03step of faith in
8:05Genesis assume it is God's answer to
8:09these questions and then see if it fits
8:11the
8:12facts and there are two big facts that
8:15stare me in the face which are perfectly
8:18explained by the answer in
8:21Genesis fact number one What a wonderful
8:25world we live
8:26in isn't it incredible the universe is
8:30amazing but this planet is the most
8:32interesting thing in the universe it's
8:35got more variety in it it's got more
8:37well it's got life in it we live in a
8:40wonderful world and the more you watch
8:43nature programs on television the more
8:46wonderful it appears to be and the
8:48wonders of modern photography are
8:50revealing so much to us do you like
8:52watching those programs What a Wonderful
8:55World we're in and the other fact is
8:58this
9:00it's been ruined by those who live in
9:03it now these are two facts we all have
9:06to live with and we're becoming more and
9:08more conscious of the environment and
9:10what we're doing to it 100 different
9:14species are becoming extinct every
9:18day we're destroying the world we live
9:21in now these two facts are extraordinary
9:25What a wonderful world we live
9:27in and why are we destroying it
9:31well I believe that the facts fit
9:34Genesis
9:36perfectly and I believe it's a
9:38scientific approach now let's look at
9:40the place of Genesis in the Bible it's
9:42not just the first book in the Bible
9:44it's the foundational book for the whole
9:48Bible most if not all biblical truths
9:52are here in the Book of Genesis in
9:56essence it's why it's been called the
9:58seed plot of the Bible the seeds of
10:01Genesis come to fruition later in the
10:04Bible but they're all there in
10:07embryo this book is in fact the key that
10:11unlocks the rest of the Bible have you
10:12ever wondered what the Bible would be
10:14like if it began with Gen Exodus instead
10:16of Genesis supposing this book was
10:19missing I think as soon as you began to
10:22read the Bible without it you'd say well
10:24I'm not interested in a bunch of Jewish
10:26slaves in
10:28Egypt why should I study their history
10:31and
10:32religion only if you had a particular
10:34academic interest in it would you read
10:36any
10:37further but because Genesis is there
10:40you're reading about
10:42yourself about your life you understand
10:45what makes you tick and why you can't be
10:50a better person and the person you wish
10:53to be in your best moments have you ever
10:54wondered why life is such a moral
10:57struggle most people want to be better
11:00than they are but fail why well Exodus
11:03wouldn't help you to understand that
11:05Genesis does because you're reading
11:08about your ancestor a man called
11:10Adam and when you read about him it's
11:12like looking in a mirror and seeing
11:16yourself the Old Testament is built on
11:19the Book of Genesis there are many
11:21references all the way through the Old
11:23Testament to people like Adam and Noah
11:26and Abraham and Jacob who changed his
11:29name to Israel the whole of the Old
11:32Testament Builds on the Book of
11:35Genesis but it's the New Testament that
11:38builds on it even more surprisingly
11:41Genesis is more quoted in the new than
11:45in the Old Testament would you believe
11:47it all the first six chapters 1 2 3 4 5
11:506 are all quoted in detail in the New
11:54Testament all the major writers of the
11:57New Testament eight of them all refer to
12:00the Book of Genesis and Jesus himself
12:03did of course for
12:05Christians Jesus attitude to Genesis
12:09settles all questions because if we
12:12follow Jesus then we trust him we
12:14believe he spoke the truth and it's
12:17interesting that Jesus
12:19regarded all the characters of Genesis
12:22as real historical figures not Legends
12:27he regarded Noah and the flood an
12:29historical event and if Jesus did then I
12:33do whatever other difficulties there may
12:35be and we'll look at them as we go along
12:38nevertheless if Noah was real for Jesus
12:41then he's real for
12:43me not only that but Jesus claimed to be
12:48on personal acquaintance
12:50terms with
12:53Abraham and he said before Abraham was
12:55born I am and he was glad to meet
13:00me and the Jews listened to Jesus saying
13:03this and said you're not 50 years old
13:05and you claim to know
13:06Abraham but Jesus is saying I was there
13:10I was
13:12there do you trust
13:14Jesus then that's the
13:16truth so Jesus was constantly endorsing
13:20the Book of Genesis when he was asked
13:22about divorce and
13:24remarriage what did he do he took them
13:28right back to gen Genesis chapter 2 and
13:31said you'll find the answer right
13:33there so you can see that the Book of
13:36Genesis really underlies the whole Bible
13:38provides the key to the rest without it
13:41the rest would not make sense to give
13:43you just one
13:44example you will not understand the
13:47cross without the Book of Genesis would
13:50you believe it because Paul says this is
13:53what happened at the
13:54cross just as one man's disobedience
13:59brought death to the human race one
14:02man's obedience brings
14:06life now that's the heart of the
14:10Cross but it's talking about Genesis
14:13chapter
14:143 so I think I've established my case
14:18therefore if you don't believe the Book
14:20of Genesis you can't rely on the rest of
14:23the
14:24Bible if Genesis is proved mistaken then
14:28the rest of the the Bible is
14:30shaken if Genesis is not true then
14:34chance is our
14:37creator and the brute beasts are our
14:41ancestors if Genesis is not true and
14:45therefore it is not surprising that this
14:48book has been more under attack than any
14:51other book in the entire
14:54Bible there are two prongs to the attack
14:58one is science
14:59scientific and we're all aware of some
15:02of the problems there I'm not going to
15:04have time to deal with them all in full
15:06but we'll refer to them and there are
15:09other tapes uh that have been made in
15:12videos that deal with them more fully
15:14but we have to be aware of them
15:17especially young people are aware of
15:20what they've been told in
15:22school biology classes and they come
15:26with that background to read Genesis and
15:28they have real problems and we must be
15:31honest about them for example science
15:34has questioned the order of creation the
15:38speed of creation and the method of
15:41creation science has questioned the age
15:44of the Earth the origin of men the
15:48extent of the flood the age of people
15:51who lived before the flood and many
15:53other
15:55things but behind that attack I believe
15:59there is a satanic
16:01attack the devil hates two books in the
16:05Bible Genesis and
16:08Revelation and he hates the first
16:10chapters of Genesis and the last
16:12chapters of Revelation particularly
16:15because the one describes his entrance
16:18into our world and the other describes
16:21his undignified exit from our world and
16:25so he likes to keep people out of the
16:28early chapters of Genesis and the later
16:30chapters of
16:31Revelation he wants to persuade you that
16:34Genesis is myth and Revelation is
16:37Mystery so that you leave them alone
16:41because he knows perfectly well that if
16:44you can destroy people's faith in
16:47Genesis then you have in fact destroyed
16:50the foundation of the whole Bible so it
16:53is not surprising that there's been such
16:55a lot of argument about Genesis
16:59if you distrust this book you tend to
17:02discard the
17:04rest now how did Genesis come to be
17:07written it's one of five books which
17:09form a unit not so much in our Bible but
17:13in Jewish scripture most certainly these
17:15five books form together the penta tuuk
17:19Penta means five there's a big
17:21five-sided building in Washington DC
17:24called The Pentagon well it's the same
17:26word pentat chuk the five books and they
17:30are often called by Jews the
17:33Torah which means
17:36instruction and they believe that these
17:38five books together form the Maker's
17:42instructions and it's very wise since
17:45the maker gave us these instructions to
17:48get the most out of life to become
17:50familiar with them so the Jews read
17:52through the first five books of the
17:54Bible every
17:56year on a lectionary every week they
17:59read a bit more so they get rounded in a
18:02year like painting the fourth bridge
18:03when they get to the other end of it
18:05they start again at the
18:07beginning and it is their weekly
18:11lectionary now Jews Christians and
18:15even Pagan
18:17historians believe that Moses wrote
18:20these five books and that's been the
18:24long tradition I so see no reason to
18:26doubt it by the time of Moses the
18:29alphabet had replaced the picture
18:33language that prevailed in Egypt and
18:35still in China in Japan today uh but
18:38that had been replaced by an alphabet
18:41and remember that Moses was University
18:46educated uh if ever you see Cleopatra's
18:48Needle on the temp's embankment that's
18:51one of two columns the other is in Rome
18:54which stood at the entrance to the
18:56Egyptian University and May well be two
19:00columns which Moses looked at every
19:02morning he went as a student so he had
19:05the education and the knowledge to
19:07compile these five books and I believe
19:10that that tradition is right though none
19:13of the books has a name in them there
19:15are however two problems if Moses wrote
19:19these five books the first problem is
19:21quite minor and that is that at the end
19:24of Deuteronomy Moses death is carefully
19:28recorded
19:29and I assume you would agree with me
19:31that that's a little unlikely that he
19:32wrote that Joshua probably added a note
19:35to that effect at the end of the five
19:38books to round off the story but the
19:41major problem is this the Book of
19:43Genesis ends 300 years before Moses was
19:49born now he lived during the days
19:53covered by Exodus Leviticus Numbers and
19:55Deuteronomy those four clearly come from
19:59his lifetime there's no problem with
20:01Moses writing those but Genesis ends 3
20:05to 400 years before Moses was born so
20:11how could he have got his material for
20:13the Book of
20:14Genesis one of the things we know about
20:17early Society is that people who don't
20:22write have phenomenal
20:25memories to this day tribes that have no
20:29writing can tell you the history of the
20:32tribe they pass it on around the
20:35campfire at night from father to son and
20:38this oral tradition as we call it is
20:41very strong in primitive communities and
20:44would be among the
20:46Hebrews especially when they became
20:48slaves in Egypt they would want their
20:51children to know who they were where
20:53they'd come from now there are two
20:56things that are normally passed down in
20:59this memory form one is
21:02genealogies family trees to give people
21:06their
21:07identity and sure enough Genesis is full
21:10of genealogies full of family trees and
21:14there is one phrase that comes 10 times
21:16in the Book of Genesis and it is these
21:19are the generations
21:22of scattered through the book if you've
21:24read it you must have noticed that
21:26phrase these the generations of that is
21:28exactly the kind of thing that would be
21:30passed on from memory to
21:32memory the other thing that gets passed
21:35on are sagas I mean Hero Stories of
21:39great things that your ancestors have
21:41done and so tribal memory is composed of
21:45these two things generation or
21:47genealogies and sagas the things our
21:50ancestors did that were exciting and
21:53these are told over the campfire now
21:55most of Genesis is composed of these two
21:58things
21:59stories about great Heroes interspersed
22:02with family trees so it is obviously a
22:06collection a compilation of memories
22:09that Moses picked up from the slaves in
22:11Egypt and put
22:14together and I'm sure you can see how
22:17clearly that was done
22:19except for one
22:22passage there is one part of Genesis he
22:26couldn't possibly have picked up that
22:29way the first
22:31chapter or rather since the chapter
22:34divisions as so often in the Bible God
22:36never inspired them are in quite the
22:38wrong place chapter 1 verse 1 through to
22:42chapter
22:442:3 is a section that Moses couldn't
22:47possibly have got from any human being
22:51that section he must have got from God
22:54himself it is one of those parts of the
22:57Bible that must have been directly
23:00dictated by God and taken down by a man
23:05most of the Bible did not come that way
23:08we mustn't think of the writers of the
23:09Bible as word processors as typewriters
23:12on which God typed out his word because
23:15God inspired the writers to use their
23:19own temperament and memory and insight
23:23and Outlook to shape his word but so
23:27overruled by
23:29the inspiration of his spirit that what
23:31resulted was what he wanted written so
23:34that other parts of the Bible have the
23:36stamp of the writer on them the rest of
23:40Genesis has the same stamp on it as
23:43Exodus Leviticus Numbers in
23:45Deuteronomy you can detect Moses style
23:48and hand in it but Genesis 1:1 to 23 is
23:53totally different and has all the marks
23:56of God's speech
23:59we shall see in a moment that it's
24:01mathematically
24:02Perfect When God speaks his speech is
24:06perfect
24:08mathematics see the Hebrew language
24:11doesn't have figures they just had
24:13letters and each letter stood for a
24:16figure so Alf or a was one and B was two
24:19and C was three and so on that's a a
24:23common way of counting and when you turn
24:26the letters of Genesis one into figures
24:31it is astonishing I've been in Jerusalem
24:34talking to rabbis who have actually
24:36worked out all the mathematics of every
24:39verse and they spend days discussing it
24:42because it's mathematically perfect the
24:45very first sentence in the beginning God
24:47created the heavens and the Earth is a
24:49sentence of seven
24:51words that's just one of the figures
24:53we'll be looking at this later but in
24:56many ways Genesis one is a unique piece
25:00of literature quite unique and has all
25:04the Hallmarks of having come directly
25:07from God so I can imagine Moses
25:09collecting all the memories of the
25:11people the genealogies and the sagas
25:14putting them together and then God
25:16saying now I'm going to write the
25:18introductions so take this down
25:20interesting that at the other end of the
25:22Bible the same thing happens Book of
25:24Revelation was not composed by John he
25:27was simply shown visions and given words
25:29and told now write this down write this
25:31down write this down and of course at
25:34both ends of the Bible you've got things
25:35that man couldn't possibly think up
25:38because they're both beyond the reach of
25:39his imagination so God had to dictate as
25:43it were the beginning and the end of his
25:48word Psalm 103 says God made known his
25:52ways to Moses I believe in in handling
25:56Genesis 1 I almost feel like taking
25:58shoes off you you really are on Holy
26:00Ground you're you're listening
26:02exactly to God's word making known his
26:06ways to Moses I have one proof that
26:10Moses wrote Genesis 1
26:13down and that it was not known before
26:16the time of
26:18Moses and it's this there is no trace of
26:23the Sabbath until the time of
26:26Moses there is no trace of Adam or Noah
26:30or Abraham or Isaac or Jacob taking a
26:33day off every week indeed there is no
26:37trace of the weak everything is in
26:39months by the moon and years by the
26:43sun now because we have Genesis 1 at the
26:47beginning of our Bible we assume quite
26:50wrongly that Adam knew
26:53it and that Adam observed the Sabbath
26:56and everybody else did after that no
26:57there's no Trace Adam was given a 7-Day
27:01week as far as Genesis 2 and 3 go he
27:04looked after the Garden of Eden every
27:06day had a bit of time with the Lord in
27:09the evening in the cool of the evening
27:11but every day he was working he had a
27:147-Day week and Abraham Isaac and Jacob
27:17were herdsmen and cows don't take a
27:20Sabbath I know that I used to get up at
27:234 every morning to melt 90 cows and I
27:25wish they did take a Sabbath but they
27:27didn't the Sabbath is unknown in nature
27:31it was through Moses that God revealed
27:34that he'd made the world in six days and
27:37taken a day off on the seventh it is
27:40from then on that the Sabbath becomes a
27:43feature of life and indeed when Moses
27:46gave the Commandment to remember the
27:48Sabbath day he added the explanation
27:52because God created the world as if this
27:56is new knowledge to them as if he just
27:58told them so that is a proof that
28:01Genesis 1 was dictated to Moses and was
28:05not known before his day there are one
28:08or two other indications of that as
28:11well so we turn at last to the book
28:15itself and to this amazing chapter with
28:18which it opens we're going to spend
28:19quite a lot of time in the chapter and I
28:22just want to spend the rest of this talk
28:25on the first four words in the beginning
28:31God Genesis is full of Beginnings the
28:35beginning of everything else except God
28:39God doesn't begin here and that's a very
28:42important Point God is already there
28:46when the Bible opens he was already
28:49there when the universe came to be he
28:52has always been
28:54there you see there has to be an eternal
28:59something or an eternal
29:02someone who was always there in order to
29:06bring our universe into being because
29:10nothing never turns into something by
29:14itself am I stretching you a bit it's a
29:18bit of philosophy for you a bit of
29:19Homespun philosophy but nothing ever
29:22becomes something by itself there has to
29:25be a cause and that causes either an
29:29eternal something or an eternal
29:34someone and the Bible Begins by saying
29:37it was an eternal
29:39someone and therefore the school boys
29:42question who made God is
29:44nonsense that's like asking can you have
29:47a square circle or can you fry ice it's
29:51nonsense because it's asking an
29:53incompatible question God never was made
29:57he made everything else he was always
29:59there now you must either say he was
30:02always there an eternal some someone or
30:05like Aristotle you must say it was
30:08always there an eternal something but
30:11that's the choice and you got to choose
30:13one or the other and the Bible clearly
30:15chooses an eternal someone it's the
30:18fundamental Assumption of the Bible that
30:20God exists eternally that he's always
30:24been there that he always will be there
30:26and that he's The God Who is his very
30:29name is a participle of the verb to be
30:33being some years ago I was praying and I
30:36said Lord please give me an English word
30:39to correspond to the Hebrew Yahweh that
30:42would give me the feel of its meaning
30:44and excite me and immediately into my
30:46mind came this word
30:49always that's very close to God's name
30:53always he's always there he is always
30:58that's the nearest I can get in English
31:00to the Hebrew
31:01Yak in other
31:03words the Bible never tries to prove the
31:06existence of
31:08God it's a waste of time as far as the
31:10Bible concerned he's there and he's
31:13always been there and you assume
31:16that to try and prove his existence as
31:19I've said is a waste of
31:21time he he's just there he doesn't have
31:25to be explained what has to be explained
31:27explained is the existence of everything
31:29else now this is the very opposite of
31:32modern thinking modern thinking says
31:34everything else was always there now
31:36you've got to prove to me the existence
31:37of God but no the Bible says God was
31:39always there and we have to explain now
31:42why anything else is there and that's
31:44how the Book of Genesis approaches this
31:47huge question by the time of Moses of
31:50course everybody knew that God
31:52existed he had rescued them out of Egypt
31:56he divided the Red Sea he drowned the
31:58Egyptian army they knew that God was
32:02real when you've been through an
32:03experience like that you don't need
32:05proofs for the existence of
32:07God but I'm afraid Modern Man does
32:11because he hasn't experienced these
32:12things and he wants proofs when you read
32:16Hebrews chapter 11 you read two things
32:19about creation number one you read this
32:22by faith we understand that the Universe
32:25was formed at God's command so that what
32:28is seen was not made out of what was
32:33visible and then a little later the same
32:35chapter says this whoever wants to find
32:39God must first believe that he
32:43exists and that he rewards those who
32:47earnestly seek Him in other words the
32:50Bible says assume he's there assume that
32:55he wants you to find him and to know him
32:57and to to love him and to serve him and
33:00then see what happens but start by
33:03accepting that in the beginning God was
33:07already there now the subject of Genesis
33:101 is not creation but the
33:13Creator that's the first mistake we made
33:16we make it's not about how our world
33:19came to be primarily it's about who made
33:22it come to be and in fact in just 31
33:26verses the word God comes 35
33:31times almost as if it's saying God God
33:34God God this is about God it's not so
33:37much the story of creation it's a
33:40picture of a
33:42Creator and when you ask what does
33:45Genesis 1 tell us about
33:47God you find yourself with a long list
33:51and I've just made a list here for you
33:54number one I find out that God is
33:56personal he has a heart that feels he
34:00has a mind that thinks and can speak his
34:03thoughts he has a will and makes
34:06decisions and sticks to them all this is
34:10a
34:11personality God Is Not An
34:13it God is a
34:15he he's a full person with feelings
34:19thoughts and motives like we
34:22have secondly God is
34:26powerful when our late daughter was a
34:28little girl I remember reading Genesis 1
34:31to her from her children's Bible and
34:33when I'd finished she just sat there
34:35quietly and then she said no sooner said
34:38than
34:39done and that was her
34:42summary it's a good summary what power
34:46what power just to say a thing and it
34:48happens what Authority you got to be
34:50pretty high up to do that sort of thing
34:53and the first Ten Commandments in the
34:54Bible are all in Genesis 1 did you know
34:56There Were Ten Commandments there count
34:58them up later he would give Ten
35:01Commandments to us but the first ten
35:03commandments were given to our
35:06universe next he is uncreated he's
35:09already there he always was there he is
35:13being he is
35:15always but how creative he is when you
35:19when you learn that there are 6,000
35:21varieties of
35:23beetle what an artist what imagination
35:27no two blades of grass the same no two
35:30snowflakes the same no two grains of
35:32sand the same what imagination how
35:35creative we can produce 7 million
35:37Volkswagen Beetles all the
35:40same but he has this creative
35:45mind the imagination gives great variety
35:48there are no two of us the same look at
35:50us what
35:52variety he is an orderly God the
35:55Symmetry and the mathematics of the
35:57universe are such that a Jew could find
36:00out that E equals
36:02mc² and that this applies to the whole
36:05universe it's mathematically so ordered
36:07we'll see more of that later he is a
36:10singular God because all the verbs are
36:13in the singular in the beginning God
36:15created the word created there is
36:18singular but he is also
36:21plural because the word God is not in
36:24the singular it's in the plural and it's
36:27not just a simple plural uh here would
36:30be the three words eloha means one
36:33God Elohim means two but Elohim means
36:39three or more and the word used here is
36:41three or more so in the first sentence
36:45we have in the beginning a God who is
36:47three
36:49created but he must be
36:51one isn't that
36:53astonishing he's a three in one in the
36:56very first C
36:58sentence and it takes the rest of the
37:00Bible to explain what that means but
37:03feny using a triple word for God with
37:06singular verbs all the way through
37:08Genesis 1 above all Genesis 1 says he's
37:11a good
37:13God sometimes when I have to choose a
37:15subject six months before a meeting I
37:18can never think that far ahead so I just
37:19say good God and I said that covers
37:23everything I ever want to say and twice
37:26now posters have appeared with a
37:27horrible picture of me on them and then
37:30good God above and uh meetings have been
37:33packed but God is
37:35good and therefore everything he makes
37:38is good because he is
37:41good that's the message of Genesis be
37:44under no mistake about this evil is not
37:48God's creation he is a loving God and
37:50wants to bless those he makes he's a
37:54living God who's active in this world
37:57speaking in this world doing things in
38:00this world he is a speaking God who
38:03communicates to us and wants to relate
38:06he's a God who is like us if we Are Made
38:08In His Image he must be like us as well
38:11as we must be like him and yet he's a
38:13god who's unlike us because the one
38:15thing we can't do is create we can make
38:19things out of something else but we
38:21can't create things from nothing we
38:24cannot speak and there it is so he's
38:27like us well finally I want to finish
38:31this talk by pointing out that God is
38:33never identified with his creation there
38:38is a distinction between Creator and
38:40creation from the beginning of the Bible
38:43and we must never get those confused the
38:45new age is confusing them now the
38:48Creator is separate from his creation he
38:51can take a day off and be quite apart
38:53from all that he has made we must never
38:56identify him with what he has
38:59made to worship His creation is
39:04idolatry to worship the Creator is the
39:07truth and in the next talk we'll look at
39:10some of the other implications of this
39:13amazing first chapter of Genesis 1
39:23[Music]
39:29[Music]

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