God Creates Heavens and Earth –
Teaching Notes
(Genesis 1:1-13; 9/2/18; Pas. Baines, Jr.)
Click here for the audio version.
Click here for to read Genesis 1:1-13
Introduction: A key idea in today’s Sunday School material is that God is the creator who has authority of this world. Prayerfully, we will be challenged to live like God has authority over this world and us.
Body:
Read Genesis 1:1-2
I. The Big Picture. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the Earth. There was darkness and emptiness. The Spirit of God hovered over the water.
Applications –
– God created. Notice in vs. 1 that God is the creator of the heavens and the Earth. This is a theological statement about how the world and we who live in it got here. This world and our existence are not the products of human ingenuity, idol gods, nor chance.
God is our starting point. And we did not accidently end up as we are. God created the world and us as we are. Let’s live like we appreciate God being our creator. This kind of living should include obeying God’s will for our lives, being wise stewards of the world, and being thankful for God’s marvelous plan.
Read Genesis 1:3-5
II. Day One. God called for light. Light showed up. God called the light – “day.” Darkness was called “night.” These things happened on the first day.
Applications –
– God’s light. Notice in vss. 3-5 that God created light. First, our text is apparently talking about physical light. Prior to God’s creation of light, there appears to be darkness.
Second, beyond the scope of our text, God is also the creator of spiritual light. Humanity is in darkness, until they come into God’s light.
As disciples of Christ, we should both live in God’s light (i.e., live in obedience to His word) and urge others to do the same. Our urging should be a matter of our lips and lives. Let’s work on living in God’s light and urging others to do the same.
Read Genesis 1:6-8
III. Day Two. God called for a vault. God called the vault “sky.” The sky separated the water below from the water above. These things happened on the second day.
Applications –
– God’s authority. Notice in vss. 6-8 that God is calling and naming things. This is a sign of authority. In other words, God has authority over day, night, sky, land, seas, and all of creation.
Really grasping this point should move us to worship God as the One in authority over all of creation. God is so much bigger than many of our worship and behavior patterns would suggest.
Let’s worship and live like God has authority over all. When we disobey His word, we are behaving as if He doesn’t have authority over us.
Read Genesis 1:9-13
IV. Day Three. God called the water under the sky together. The gathered water was called “seas.” The dry ground was called “land.” God called for the land to produce vegetation, and it was so. These things happened on the third day.
Applications –
– Diet. Notice in vss. 9-13 that God is the source of vegetation. As we read further in Genesis, we learn that the original diet was either all vegetables, fruits, and nuts or primarily vegetables, fruits, and nuts. As disciples, we should work on submitting to God’s authority over even our diet.
There is no intelligent debate about how a diet of vegetables, fruits, and nuts is so much healthier than a diet of sugar, processed foods, and even meats pumped up with drugs for the sake or profit and pleasure.
Think about how passages like I Corinthians 6:19-20 urge us to take care of our health. Let’s work on a healthy diet that includes at least a generous portion of vegetables, fruits, and nuts.
– Theology, science, and history. Notice in vss. 1-13 that we have theological statements. The purpose of our text is not to discuss science nor history. Therefore, we don’t have to be excited about unanswered scientific questions like God living in darkness before He made light or vegetables growing without seeds being sown or other issues.
We don’t have to be concerned about historic issues like how long ago this happened or how much time was between the days mentioned in the text.
The purpose of the text is to declare that God is the creator of the heavens and the Earth. Let’s focus on the theological importance of God being the creator, instead of being distracted by scientific or historic distractions.
Conclusion: Let’s work on living like God has authority over this world and us. God has much for those who obey His will.