“In the beginning” there is no defense concerning the existence of God. His existence is assumed
He reveals Himself as ELOHIM (“El” means “Power” or “Fear”); Greater and superior to all other gods.
ELOHIM identifies God as the subject of all divine activity revealed to man and the object of all true reverence and fear of men.
God’s Sovereignty
Isa 37:16: “Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, enthroned between the cherubim, you alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth.
God as Judge
Psalm 75:7: It is God who judges: He brings one down, he exalts another.
God’s Majesty and Glory
Isa 40:28: Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom.
As the Savior God
Gen 17:8: The whole land of Canaan, where you now reside as a foreigner, I will give as an everlasting possession to you and your descendants after you; and I will be their God.”
God’s Intimacy with People
Jer 23:23: “Am I only a God nearby,” declares the Lord, “and not a God far away?
He recognizes the creation of man as very good (Gen 1:31)
He creates man in His own image and likeness that He may have a relationship with man and that man may rule over the earth. (Gen 1:26)
He speaks with man (Gen 1:28-30)
He creates an environment especially for man (Gen 1:3-25; Gen 1:29-30)
He tests man’s loyalty (Gen 2:16-17)
He seeks man (Gen 3:9)
“In the beginning” is the time of God’s creation
This is not a myth, it is a historical event
The Gap Theory:
Genesis 1:2; many scholars believe the verse should read, “but the earth became formless and void, an unhabitable ruin.
Combining a strict use of grammar with clarifying passages elsewhere in the Old Testament leads to a hint of some sort of judgment between verse 1 and verse 2 that left the Earth in shambles, an uninhabitable ruin.
Isaiah 45:18 - For the Lord is God, and he created the heavens and earth and put everything in place. He made the world to be lived in, not to be a place of empty chaos. “I am the Lord,” he says “and there is no other.
Jerermiah 4:23 - I looked at the earth, and it was empty and formless. I looked at the heavens, and there was no light.
Moody Handbook of Theology
believe that there is no gap between Gen 1:1 and Gen 1:2
The word “created” came from Hebrew word “Bara” means God created “out of nothing” or “exnihilo”
Asah means “to make something from something”
We know that the creation account actually begins in verse 3.
Hebrew 11:3 By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.
The days of creation are referred to as “it was evening, and it was morning” suggesting 24-hour days
The statement “second day” and “third day” also demand 24-hour days.
The creation accounts is a denial of any form of an evolution – atheistic, theistic, or threshold.
If a man is the product of an evolutionary process, then man is not morally accountable to God
If God directly created man, then man is accountable to God and was also created that he might walk in holiness for fellowship with God.
The greatness, the immensity, the magnitude of creation was to bring glory to God.
Man’s creation was special and unique
Man was created on the last day, the climax of God’s creation.
At the conclusion, God noted “it was very good” Gen 1:31 emphasis “mine”.
Man is not the product of evolution but the direct creation of God
Genesis 1:27
So, God created mankind in his own image in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.
Genesis 2:7
Then the Lord God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.
Genesis 1:27 gives the general statement and Gen 2:7 provides additional details of the same account
Christ also acknowledge that God directly created man (Matt 19:4)
God also created the individual species (Gen 1:27)
God created man in His own image and likeness
This does not refer to bodily form, since God is spirit (John 4:24) but in spiritual, natural, and moral likeness.
As spiritual likeness – have fellowship with God (Eph 2:1; Eph 2:5)
In his natural likeness - intellect, emotions, and will, to know and commune with God
In his moral likeness - may know and obey the precepts of God
God’s purpose in creating man is “let them rule”
Adam was God’s mediator, to dispense His will on earth
To exercise authority over all creation – plants and animals
To rule over God’s creation
God also gave man a test and if man fail, he will die (Gen 2:17)
The Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil was to develop man spiritually (No knowledge is immaturity – Deut 1:39)
God’s purpose was to attain the Knowledge of Good and Evil through not eating the fruit.
So that, man will glorify God – will rule earth in an unfallen estate
But man disobeyed and attained the knowledge of good and evil the wrong way
God placed man in the garden and gave man the opportunity to obey Him and lead the human race into eternal blessing (could have been confirmed in righteousness by eating from the Tree of Life)
It was a test concerning Adam’s loyalty and obedience to God.
The solicitation to sin came to Eve through the serpent.
The fact that the serpent could tempt Eve suggests evil was present (although man had not yet sinned)
It must forever remain a riddle to where sin came from; it is one of the mysteries of life.
Although it was the serpent speaking, it was Satan who engineered the temptation. It was possible because he was crafty, shrewd.
Matt 10:16: “I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore, be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves.
The serpent opposed the glory of God and sought to disrupt man’s fellowship with God and man’s rule over God’s creations.
Satan, through the serpent, raised doubt about God’s word; he lied by saying that man would not die, expressing it in strongest terms “You surely will not die”
Gen 3:1: Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”
Gen 3:4: “You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman.
Eve submitted to the temptation, sinning in the manner common to the human race: through the lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, and the boastful pride of life
1 John 2:16: For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world.
Adam also participated in the sin; although eve was deceived, Adam realized what he was doing, hence, the greater judgment
1 Tim 2:14: And Adam was not the one deceived; it was the woman who was deceived and became a sinner.
For this reason, Adam is constituted the first sinner
Satan, through the Serpent, raised doubt about God’s word, he lied by saying that man would not die, expressing it in strongest terms “You will surely not die.”
Gen 3:4: “You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman.
Eve submitted to the temptation; sinning through lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, and boastful pride of life.
1 John 2:16: For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world.
Adam participated in the sin; Eve was deceived but Adam realized what he was doing and the greater judgment. (1 Tim 2:14)
For this reason, Adam is constituted the first sinner
Adam and Eve came to the knowledge of good and evil, but not the matter they should have
Immediately, the world around them looked different
They recognized their nakedness, something they had not considered. (Gen 3:7)
Their mind have become defiled, hindering fellowship with God.
God called for Adam, the mediator of His truth, to accountability (Gen 3:9)
Adam as head of humanity, was being held responsible
JUDGMENT TO THE SERPENT AND SATAN
God first pronounced judgment upon the serpent and Satan who was the power behind the serpent
So the Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, “Cursed are you above all livestock and all wild animals! You will crawl on your belly and you will eat dust all the days of your life And 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.”
Gen 3:14-15
Because the serpent sought to exalt himself, he would be abased, crawling on his belly, eating the dust in his path.
Gen 3:15, should be understood as referring to Satan, although he would have a minor victory, the seed of the woman (Christ) would deal Satan a death blow.
JUDGMENT TO MAN AND WOMAN
To the woman: pain in childbirth and desire for her husband who would rule over her.
To the woman he said, “I will make your pains in childbearing very severe; with painful labor you will give birth to children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.
Gen 3:16
To the man: hard work and the ground would resist him.
To both: Death would occur
Adam and Eve died both physically and spiritually.
And 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.”
GENESIS 3:15
PROTOEVANGELIUM
Means the first announcement of the Gospel in Scripture (Gen 3:15)
Satan would deal a destructive, head-crushing blow. Christ victory over Satan at the cross, enabling woman to forever restored to fellowship with God and making men to rule ultimately. (Col 2:14-15; Heb 2:14)
Satan would have a minor victory “You shall bruise him on the heel”, suggesting the death of Christ, however, that death would spell Satan’s defeat
Although Adam and Eve had sinned, incurring death, God moved to resolve man’s dilemma by pointing to a future Savior who would eliminate death, restore believing man to fellowship with God, and consummate history with Messiah’s reign on earth to restore all that Adam had lost.
Even though Adam lost considerable authority in his kingdom rule as God’s mediator, Gen 3:15 looks to the future when messianic kingdom will be inaugurated, restoring all that Adam lost.
In the Edenic Era, God revealed Himself as omnipotent and sovereign in the creating of the universe and world.
God is Holy, demanding obedience for fellowship with Himself
God is a God of grace, as manifest through the promise of a Savior.
Man is the apex of God’s creating, created in the image and likeness of God for fellowship with God and for rule over God’s creation.
Man is a responsible creature, answerable to a holy God.
Man is constituted a sinner through the sin of Adam.
God initiates His redemptive program by promising a Savior to Adam and Eve.
The promise anticipates Messiah’s ultimate triumph over Satan, providing the basis for the restored kingdom