Genesis 1:1-5

[0:00] and the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters, and God said, Let there be light. And there was light. And God saw that it was good, and God divided the light from the darkness.

[0:11] And God called the light day, and the darkness he called night, and the evening and the morning were the first day. Father, we thank you for the word you put in front of us, Lord. We thank you that you are at the beginning, Lord, all beginnings, Lord.

[0:24] There's no beginning you're not at. Thank you that you're at the beginning, Lord. Lord, as we start, Lord, what to us is a new thing, Lord, Calvary Chapel, Charlotte. But to you, Lord, it's been in your heart, Lord, since before the world was even created.

[0:39] And Lord, each one of us here, we've been in your heart, Lord. And you said, I know the thoughts that I think towards you, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. And so, Lord, we know that we have an expectation of coming good in you.

[0:50] And we pray that you would speak to us through your word, Lord. There's so much here, Lord, more than we can go through. Lord, what is the message you have for us today that you want to deliver to each heart? And in Jesus' name, amen.

[1:03] So we'll start in Genesis, the book of Genesis. Genesis means origin or beginning. I've been reading my own personal reading in Proverbs. And it's interesting, the beginnings that are talked about in Proverbs.

[1:16] We'll look at some of that. Some of the basic facts of Genesis. It's the first book of the Bible. It is the first book. It's if you and the heading above Genesis probably says in your Bible, the first book of Moses, of the Pentateuch, the five books that Moses wrote.

[1:32] We have in it messianic predictions. We have in Genesis 3.15, Christ being the seed of the woman. Genesis 4.25, he comes from the line of Seth.

[1:45] Genesis 9.27, he comes from the line of Shem. That's through then Noah. Genesis 12.3, he's a descendant of Abraham. Genesis 21.12, the descendant of Isaac.

[1:56] Genesis 25.23, the descendant of Jacob. Genesis 49.10 from the tribe of Judah. We're going to see as we look at the creation story, there's a lot of dividing that happens. God likes to take his big picture and then to kind of like start to work it down and chop it up.

[2:10] And you can see that as we go through Genesis. Genesis will have a lot of, everything is started in Genesis, right? But nothing is finished.

[2:22] We get the beginnings, but not the end in Genesis. Genesis assigns value to the rest of the Bible. Without Genesis, there's no justification for the cross. There's no justification for Jesus to go to the cross.

[2:34] It's just, it's a bunch of emptiness. Why is he going to the cross? What's the reason? Well, to save us from sin. Well, where does sin come from? And it gives us justification.

[2:44] Without Genesis, we have no justification for our salvation. Genesis also gives order and reason to creation. Something that's severely lacking in our world today.

[2:55] The lack of order in our creation today. People are throwing off God's order. And we're going to see right from the beginning, God's specific order. And also, if this creation, as this book declares, is come about by the means of a holy God, a creator of all things, a miraculous God, who tells us later on in the New Testament, tells us of Jesus that all things were created by him and for him.

[3:22] And without him were not anything made and all things exist through him. If that's the case, then we should see this God. We should see his stamp upon all of creation.

[3:32] It should declare to us his character and his nature. And it does. I'm going to read briefly from a couple quotes from G. Campbell Morgan. He says that in Genesis, we see the science of God.

[3:48] We see the proof of the universe, of man. We see the beginnings of society, of sin, the reason for the division of races and peoples. We see soteriology or the study of salvation.

[4:01] We see that these subjects are dealt with in Genesis fundamentally, but not finally. Genesis makes it perfectly plain that human salvation must come from God and through man.

[4:16] The book reveals the fact that faith is the basis upon which God can work his will in man and upon which man can realize the will of God. First, that man is not holy of the dust, but that between him and God, there is an immediateness of relationship.

[4:32] And secondly, that man only finds himself and realizes the true meaning of his own life as he places his confidence in God and obeys with unquestioning loyalty.

[4:43] So Genesis, you know, think of it as a book of faith. It reveals to us that the whole entire foundation of humanity is based upon a relationship with God which exists by faith.

[4:53] We are saved by grace through faith, not of works. It's a gift of God. So Genesis declares that to us quite plainly. It starts out, in the beginning, God.

[5:05] So that word there, in the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. Right away, we're presented with this God, this creator. We don't have any history about him. We don't have any proof of him. He's just dropped there. In the beginning, God.

[5:17] I like that it says in the beginning. It doesn't say at the beginning. You know, God is in all beginnings. There's no beginning God's not part of. There's no life that has begun that God's not been there at the beginning. There's no marriage that's ever taken place that God was not there at the beginning of it.

[5:31] There's no war that's ever happened that God wasn't also there at the beginning. There is no beginning God has never been at and in. And that's great. It gives me great assurance. As we start a beginning here, God's in it.

[5:43] He's not just at it. You know, we are here. We are at this place. But God is here already, and he's in it. So God is in all beginnings. He's in every beginning that I have.

[5:54] So in the beginning, God. If you want to turn over to Proverbs, we're going to look at a couple verses in Proverbs. And I get this flavor of this beginning. Proverbs chapter 1. So as we approach the scripture, especially the Old Testament, we approach it from this side of the cross, right?

[6:15] The resurrection side of the cross is where we approach it. And so when we look at the Old Testament, Paul tells us that the things that were written before time were written for our learning, for our edification. So we look at the Old Testament through the lens of Christ.

[6:29] We see it through Jesus. Oswald Chambers said, To read the Bible according to God's providential order in your circumstances is the only way to read it. That is, in the blood and passion of personal life.

[6:41] So as we read scripture, God's desire is a relationship. Genesis, right from the beginning, is going to show that. This creation story is pretty wild. God could have just said, exist. And the world is fully existing.

[6:52] All the birds, all the trees, the sun, the moon, stars, everything. All of creation could have just existed. He didn't. He walks us through this process. He's going to take it step by step by step.

[7:04] Genesis presents to us not something that's come from man's discovery, but it's a revelation to man. And unfortunately, I think sometimes we try and use Genesis as a means of discovering things that I don't think we can from it.

[7:20] Because Genesis is not from the side of man. It's not our perspective. It's God's perspective on creation that he's revealing to man. And as he reveals it to us, there's a specific order he has here in a specific sequence of what he wants to show us and what we're to get from Genesis.

[7:36] And so God's going to walk us through that. But in Proverbs, Proverbs chapter 1, Solomon is writing to his son, right? And most likely, a lot of these Proverbs have come down through David, things that he had learned.

[7:51] And so Proverbs chapter 1 through 7 is to the son, to his son. And then eventually in chapter 8 and 9, he's going to get into wisdom. And wisdom in Proverbs is a picture of Jesus.

[8:02] Wisdom is Jesus, the attributes and the character and nature of Jesus, tucked away in Proverbs. It's just called wisdom. But in Proverbs chapter 1, verse 7, he says this, That word there, the phrase there, the beginning, the beginning of knowledge, it means the principal part.

[8:28] So when we see beginning, we just think, well, it's the start. It's the beginning. Well, it's more than just that. It's more than just a start. It's saying the very principal thing, the very, you could say the chief thing, the first thing.

[8:40] And so the fear of the Lord is the principal part of knowledge. It's a very principal thing. The first thing is that. But fools despised wisdom and instruction.

[8:54] Proverbs 8, where he's going to now talk, wisdom is speaking, and he's talking about wisdom, and wisdom is speaking to us. This idea of, again, beginning this first thing.

[9:05] And it tells us this about wisdom. In verse, let's start in verse 20.

[9:18] Proverbs chapter 8 says, You see a picture of Jesus in that, this whole chapter.

[9:31] Then it says this in verse 22. The Lord possessed me in the beginning of his way, before his works of old. I was set up from everlasting, from the beginning, wherever the earth was.

[9:43] When there were no depths, I was brought forth. When there were no fountains, abounding with water, before the mountains were settled, before the hills was I brought forth. While as yet he had not made the earth, nor the fields, nor the highest part of the dust of the world.

[9:57] When he prepared the heavens, I was there. When he set a compass upon the face of the deep. When he established the clouds above. When he strengthened the foundations of the deep. When he gave to the sea his decree that the water should not pass his commandment.

[10:11] When he appointed the foundations of the earth. Then I was by him. As one brought up with him. And I was daily his delight, rejoicing always before him. I like this part. Rejoicing in the habitable parts of the earth.

[10:24] And my delights were with the sons of men. Eventually, we're going to see that. Jesus is going to come. The presence of God is going to come and walk in the cool of the day. In the garden with man. And here he says, rejoicing in the habitable parts of the earth.

[10:36] My delights were with the sons of men. But he says, I was set up. In verse 23. I was set up from everlasting, from the beginning. From the principal part, wherever the worst.

[10:46] The earth was. So from the beginning. Here we have in Proverbs. This entity. Wisdom. This person. Well, if we turn to John. Let's see who this person is.

[11:04] John chapter 1. Tells us about the beginning. John writes. Presents to us. This. Same picture.

[11:15] That Genesis does. No background. No proof. No prior history. Just drops it on us. And he also is going to start 1 John. Kind of the same way. He says in John chapter 1, verse 1.

[11:26] He says, in the beginning. Genesis says, in the beginning. God. Says, in the beginning. Was the word. And the word was with God. And the word was God. The same was in the beginning.

[11:37] With God. All things were made by him. And without him. And without him. Was not anything made. That was made. In him. Was life. And the life. Was the light of men.

[11:49] And the light shines in darkness. And darkness comprehended it. Not. So in the beginning. In the beginning. With the Lord. The earth. Before ever the earth was laid. And the foundations were laid.

[12:00] Is this word. This word. Of wisdom. The principal thing. And this person. Who's the word. Who's been. Who has made flesh. And dwelt among us. Colossians. Chapter 1.

[12:12] So we're just laying some groundwork. Of who is this God. Who is he. As scripture reveals him to us. Especially to those of us. On this side of the resurrection. This side of the cross. As we approach Genesis. It's like okay.

[12:22] God created the heavens and the earth. That's pretty cool. You know. I like birds. I like fish and all that. I like his creation. But he gives us. As we get past Genesis. Genesis gives us the foundation.

[12:33] It gives us the beginning. But when we get into the rest of scripture. It fleshes out for us. Who this person was. And what all he did. And what it means. For us. More specifically. Colossians chapter 1.

[12:44] Verse. 13. Speaking of Jesus. Who has delivered us. From the power of darkness. And has translated us. Into the kingdom of his dear son. In whom we have redemption.

[12:54] Through his blood. Even the forgiveness of sin. Who is the image. Of the invisible God. The firstborn of every creature. Who is this God? What does he look like? We don't know what Jesus looks like.

[13:06] And yet Colossians tells us. He's his image. So the truth that is conveyed to us. Through Christ. Must have something to do. Other than visual. Right? Truth cannot actually be conveyed. Visually.

[13:17] Faith comes by. Hearing. And hearing by the. Word. Doesn't come through sight. We walk by faith. Not by sight. So where Christ is the image. Of God. It's not speaking of like.

[13:27] Sketch. Like an actual picture. It's speaking of the imprint. The. Representation. And that is conveyed. The truth that is conveyed through him.

[13:38] Is conveyed through his word. He's the image of the invisible God. The firstborn of every creature. For by him were all things created. By Jesus were all things created. That are in heaven.

[13:49] That are in earth. Visible and invisible. Whether they be thrones. Or dominions. Or principalities. Or powers. All things. Were created by him. And here's something Genesis doesn't give us. And for him.

[14:00] They were created for him. And he is before all things. And by him. All things consist. So here's Jesus. At the very beginning. Creating.

[14:12] Jesus who. Became a man. The son of God. To die on the cross for us. Created this creation. Where he was in the beginning. Beforehand. He was there at it.

[14:22] And it says that they're created for him. And by him. Just as man. Is created for God. Man cannot. We cannot fully realize. Our own life. Who we are. And our own value.

[14:33] Apart from our relationship. With Christ. We're going to look at a few more spots. Places about this word. If you turn to. Second Peter.

[14:44] Chapter three. Let's back up to first. Verse one. This second epistle beloved. I now write unto you. In both which I stir up. Your pure minds. By way of remembrance. That you may be mindful.

[14:55] Of the words. Which were spoken before. By the holy prophets. And of the commandment. Of us. The apostles. Of the Lord. And Savior. Knowing this first. That there shall come. In the last days. Scoffers.

[15:06] Walking after their own lusts. And saying. Not exactly what we would picture them saying. Is it? Where is the promise of his coming? For since the fathers fell asleep.

[15:17] All things continue as they were. From the beginning of the creation. It's. It's just. Uniformitarianism. Right? It just was this way. It is this way.

[15:27] It will continue this way. That's all there is. Well wait. We have a God that tells us. He was in the beginning. Before the beginning. And that this creation has a purpose. That it's for him.

[15:37] By him. Through him. And to him. But the scoffer says. Where is the promise of his coming? For this they willingly are ignorant of.

[15:48] And get this. That by the word of God. The heavens were of old. And the earth standing out of the water. And in the water. Whereby the world that then was. Being overflowed with water. Perished.

[15:59] So their ignorance. That causes them to scoff at God's promise. The blessed hope we have. Where Jesus says. Let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God. And believe also in me. In my father's house are many mansions.

[16:10] If it were not so. I would have told you. Behold. I go and prepare a place for you. And if I go. I shall come again. Receive you to myself. What a promise. But they don't believe that. And they scoff at us. Why? Because they are willingly ignorant.

[16:24] But that by the word of God. The heavens were of old. And the earth. Standing out of the water. And in the water. They reject creation. They reject Genesis. Without that.

[16:34] They reject the whole purpose of man. And the whole reason for man to have a relationship. With God. And so in the beginning. God created the heavens. And the earth. And this earth.

[16:48] What did it look like? What was it? Well verse 2 tells us. And the earth was without form. And void. And darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. I always like to look at the words God puts in scripture.

[17:01] And like. Especially when he doubles up things. Like why didn't he just say the earth was without form? Why didn't he just say it was void? But he doubles up there. He says it's without form. And it's void. And those two words.

[17:11] Form means like wilderness. Without form there. The earth was just kind of like. Just desolate. Just a wilderness. There is nothing you would look at and go. Yes.

[17:23] That's. That's God's creation. Like what we think of. And then void. Means empty. It's just an emptiness. So from our perspective. We would look at that and think.

[17:34] God do you have a plan with this? Do you have something you're doing with this? Turn to Isaiah 45 verse 7. And jump around to a few different scriptures.

[17:48] Genesis has been used. To give validation to a lot of things that I don't think are doctrinally sound. You know between verse 1 and 2. People say well there's a gap there.

[17:58] There's a gap theory. Well Exodus 20 verse 11 eradicates any gap theory. And the gap theory is that. Well God had created the heavens and the earth. And eons passed. But we need to fit in evolution.

[18:10] So we're going to say that since the earth is without form and void. That there's been millions and millions and millions and millions and millions of years. Of evolution. Getting up to this point. And either had to. God had to like eradicate.

[18:21] And start over with a new race. Or there's this gap of time. That's allowed evolution to take place. Well Exodus. Exodus 20 11 completely destroys that. It's where God is talking from the mountain.

[18:32] And giving them the 10 commandments. And he says. Remember the Sabbath day. And keep it holy. For in six days. God created. Heaven. And the earth. And all that in them is. So that's everything right there.

[18:43] And he links it to six. Literal days. So there is no gap. In the beginning. God created. Heavens and the earth. And he's going to take seven days to do it. But Isaiah 45. So the scripture answers its own questions.

[18:57] All the time. The best way. And here we have. Where we're going to get to this point now. Where it says. And the earth was without form and void. And darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.

[19:10] And God said. Let there be light. Before there was light. As we know it. There was darkness. Wait a minute. God is light. And in him dwells no darkness at all. He dwells in unapproachable light.

[19:21] How can there be darkness? Verse 7 of Isaiah 45. God's kind of in the middle of calling Cyrus. And he's declaring that he is Lord.

[19:35] And that he's capable. And verse 5 says. And I am the Lord. And there's none else. There is no God beside me. I girded you. Though you have not known me. That they may know.

[19:45] That they may know from the rising of the sun. And from the west. That there is none beside me. I am the Lord. And there is none else. He's talking about to Cyrus here. And he says this. I form the light. And create darkness.

[19:56] I make peace. And create evil. I the Lord. Do all these things. So the Lord here. Has created darkness. He has a purpose for it. A purpose for darkness.

[20:07] Well we're told there. He links it. Light and dark. With peace. And evil. Saying he creates evil. The Lord has a purpose in that too. And so before light. There was darkness. You know as we quoted that thing from Oswald Chambers.

[20:20] That's kind of how I approach scripture. I'm not really huge on like. It sounds bad to say this. Facts and figures. Like facts and figures. Yes. But how you know.

[20:31] I approach the word. I observe it. I interpret. And then it's like how does it apply to my life. Because I want a relationship with Jesus. I want to know him more. I want to grow in him. And you know I was raised in a Christian home.

[20:43] Christian school. Then homeschooled. And went to a school of ministry. And lots of knowledge. Knowledge puffs up. Love edifies. And I was puffed up for a long time.

[20:54] And I think that's why it took so long. The Lord to whittle me down to a place where he could use me. But man. I tell you. I'd rather have one moment. Where Jesus takes a scripture and says.

[21:05] I'm speaking this to you right now. I'd rather have that than like. All kinds of knowledge. That impacts my life. Jesus says the words that I speak unto you. They are spirit. And they are life.

[21:15] And he does that all the time. He just drops a scripture. Right? For me. You know. I get up in the morning. I'm seeking the Lord. I'm spending time with him. I'm reading. A lot of good stuff. Right? A lot of times that's where it's like.

[21:26] I'm breaking something down. Wow. That's really cool Lord. I see that in there. I see your creation in the word. I see how. This tied over here with this verse. Going through Genesis. There's way too much.

[21:36] Do you know how many verses there are. On light and dark. In the Bible. There's a lot. And so here. Where God is creating the darkness. And then the light. There's so much that ties into that. You could go forever. Right? But that's not usually when the Lord speaks to me.

[21:50] It's usually later in the day. Or something's going on. That like the Lord brings back one word. From that time in the word. And he speaks it to my heart. And it's like. Because it's just like. Oh you're so good Lord. So that's why I'm there every morning.

[22:02] You know. There's a verse in Proverbs that says. I can't. I'm not going to be able to free quote it. Where it essentially says. Blessed is the man who waits daily at my posts. Waiting at my gates.

[22:13] And that's what I think of in the morning. Just like waiting for Jesus to come out. Waiting like at his door. Is he going to come out? So that's why I'm there every morning to read. Because yeah. I want to see the stuff that's in here. Because I know God's going to apply it to my life.

[22:25] At a later point. So he creates the darkness. And he creates the light. And so what we have here. What I see as a picture in Genesis. Is just as we said that if this God. Who created all things.

[22:36] Was before all things. And in all things. And by things. And all things exist by him. And for him. Then we should see. We should see him stamped upon creation. And that's what I think. As he takes us through this creation story.

[22:47] Right. The earth was without form. It was empty. And darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the spirit of God. Moved upon the face of the waters. That word there moved upon means. It's like hover.

[22:58] Right. We've probably heard that. Like a dove hovers. But I like. It means to grow soft. Or relax. And so where we would look at something dark. And void. And empty. God's spirit's there. It's dark.

[23:09] And we can't see it. Psalm 139 tells us. That the day. The dark and the light. Are the same to him. It's no different. And where we might look at something. And think. I can't. I can't see anything of value here.

[23:20] Well God's spirit is there. And he's hovering over that. And it says he's growing soft towards it. And so the Lord has already got in his mind. Oh but I'm going to say light. There's going to be light.

[23:31] There's going to be birds. There's going to be trees. But first I've got to do the dry land. Right. I'm like. But Lord I want to get to the trees. I like trees. You know. What about man Lord. Let's create him.

[23:41] He's like. No I have an order here. I have a process to work this out. And that God. I think specifically. He gives us this picture of the earth. Without form. Void. And dark. Because he said. Guess what your life's going to be.

[23:53] Without form. Without. And void. And dark. Ephesians chapter 5. Verse 8. Tells us. For you are sometimes.

[24:04] What? Darkness. But now are you light in the Lord. Walk as children of the light. First we're darkness. Darkness is always first in our life. Because we're lost. We're separated from him.

[24:14] Even in creation. Before the fall. Before man was even created. God's like. I'm going to give you a picture of my heart for you. I want you to know. That it's okay. When you look at your life.

[24:25] And you're like. That is so dark. That area of my life. That is so formless. It's just a big void. Lord. I don't even want my mind to go there. I just feel like I'm falling into a hole. What's going to come from that? The Lord's spirit's there.

[24:36] And he's soft. Towards you. And he says relax. Because he's relaxed. He's not stressed out. He's not like. What's coming next? Oh man. It's dark. It's formless and void. What am I going to do?

[24:47] You know. He's not grabbing the angels. Guys. What do you think? No. He's relaxed. He's like. I know what's coming. And then he says. Let there. Be light. The wording there.

[24:58] Is to exist. So he's saying. To exist. Light. Light. And it did exist. The Hebrew actually puts it back to back. It's light. It's like. To exist. Light. Light.

[25:09] To exist. It's kind of like. He said it existed. And it did exist. And God said. This is. So. In biblical hermeneutics. That's just. The fancy way of saying. The study of. Scripture.

[25:20] And the wording. That we have the law of first mention. And so we see things mentioned the first time. The first words. Here we have the first mention. Of speaking. Of said. And what is it? It's God. Speaking. What into existence?

[25:32] Light. Guess what happens when God speaks. In your life. In my life. Light. Brings illumination. God said. Let there. Be light.

[25:42] There was. Light. Jumping over to 1st John 1 5. And John says. 1st John starts the same way. That which was from the beginning.

[25:53] He starts also in the beginning. You know. David does that a lot. Where God is just dropped. I love how it's just like. He's right there. Like in the beginning. Was the word. In the beginning God. David does that. Like Psalm 23.

[26:03] Says. The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want. But. In the. In the Hebrew. There's no is. It's just. The Lord. My shepherd. He just makes these declarations. He doesn't give any. History.

[26:14] Doesn't give any proof. He just says. This is how it is. For me. And so. Here John tells us. That which was from the beginning. We have seen. We have heard. We have looked upon. Our hands have handled. And if you look down at verse 5.

[26:25] He said. This then is the message. Which we have heard of him. And declare unto you. That God. Is light. And in him. Is no darkness. At all. And so here we see.

[26:35] In the beginning. In Genesis. God has created darkness. God is existing in darkness. But guess what's not in God. God. There's no darkness. God is light. Like God is love. So as a logical statement.

[26:47] If God is love. If A is B. Can you have love apart from God? No you can't. You can have something you call love. But wherever God is.

[26:58] There is love. Wherever God is. There is light. Well guess what. God's in darkness. Well then light's there. I'm in darkness sometimes. And God's like. Hey. That's light to me. I got that.

[27:09] Don't worry about that. It's the same with God is love. Well God. I don't feel right now. Like I'm being loved. I don't feel right now. In a good situation. Where I'm feeling like. People love me. Where you love me God.

[27:19] He's like. I'm there. I'm in that. And so love is there. Whether we witness it. Or experience it or not. And God said. Let there be light. Exist light.

[27:31] And there existed light. And God saw the light. That it was good. The first time. The word good is used. And what's it being used of?

[27:41] Again. Light. I love it. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. God said. Let there be light. Jesus is the light of the world. He said. Let there be light. And he gave us Jesus. And he looked down on that.

[27:52] And he said. This is my beloved son. In whom I'm well pleased. It's good. It is good. But Lord. You're going to send him in the darkness. Yeah. That's all right. Because out of that formless void.

[28:03] Of the death of his cross. Is going to come life. And light. And then here we see this first word. And God divided. God saw the light that was good. And God divided the light from the darkness.

[28:14] So right at the beginning. You have this God. Who's in the beginning. At the beginning. Before the beginning. And he says. I'm going to create something. And I'm going to create it in such a way. That I can then give the record of that. To the people that I create.

[28:26] Who I desperately want to have a relationship with me. In such a way. That they're going to read this. And they're going to say. Oh. Well. I understand that. Especially as we have the rest of this book. And so now he's saying.

[28:38] God divided. The light from the darkness. So God first creates darkness. With the world. Which is formless and void. And there's. We're going to see. As we continue on at a day two.

[28:49] And eventually. You know. That the earth. It's like. It exists. And it's all water. He's going to tell us. That he's going to separate out the dry land from the water. So it's almost like. It's all just a slurry.

[29:00] Or whatever it is. But he's also got darkness there. And then God steps in. Now he's going to divide. And it's his first word for dividing. And God divided the light from the darkness.

[29:12] And God called the light day. And the darkness he called night. And the evening and morning were the first day. God divides in our life too. When he comes into our life. And into our darkness. And it's formless and void.

[29:23] And he begins to work. And he brings light there. He brings light to our life. We're born again. We have Jesus. Well then he starts to divide. Doesn't he? The light from the dark. Right. What does the scripture say?

[29:33] The word of God is quick and powerful. Sharper than any two-edged sword. Piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit and joint and marrow. And a discern of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

[29:44] You know. We always say. What's the difference between a thought and intent of your heart? I got no idea. But the Bible does. It can discern between a thought and intent. So God comes in and he divides.

[29:55] He says. That's darkness. That's light. That's darkness. That's a joint. And that's marrow. That's. You know. That's a thought. That's an intent. Right. It's like. Oh. That thought must have been an intent.

[30:06] Oh Lord. I'm so sorry. And it's like. The Lord's like. It's just a thought. Let me divide that out for you. Let me just. Let that go. If we turn and look at.

[30:16] Second Corinthians. Chapter. Five. This division. Results in something.

[30:32] Second Corinthians. Second Corinthians. Five. Seven. Seven. Paul tells us.

[30:44] Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he's a new creature. Old things are passed away. Behold, all things are become new. Divides out.

[30:55] He comes in and he divides the old from the new. He says in Christ, there's a newness. The old things have passed away and all things have that are become new. And where it says all things are become new.

[31:07] The wording there is come into existence. All things have come into existence. Just like at the beginning. Interesting thing about beginnings. You can never have more than one. Or anything.

[31:18] You only have one beginning. You don't get it again. It never comes back again. You know, we like to say like, oh, I'm going to start over. You know, and you can. You know, if you think like you're playing a game or something and you fail.

[31:30] It's like, well, I'm going to try again. You can. It's a new beginning. But it is a brand new beginning. It's not the same beginning you just had. That's the past. You know, you have to start a different beginning. It may be in the same thing. But it's still a new beginning.

[31:42] And we think in Jesus, it's almost like, well, we get a fresh start in Christ. A new beginning. Yes, we are born again. We are made new. A new existence. Man, but then we fail. We fall back into that void and formless place in my soul.

[31:57] It's like, Lord, I need to start again. But I'm so glad I don't have to. Can you imagine having to start over at the beginning again with Jesus? Like all the progress you've made in your life, all the growth and all that you know of Jesus now.

[32:09] Your tested faith to know that God is big enough for this. That he's like, well, time to start over. Like brand new. A brand new beginning. It sounds good to say. But we don't have that. What do we have in Christ?

[32:19] Newness. We get newness. Turn to Romans chapter 6. It says, God forbid. How should we that are dead to sin live any longer therein?

[32:31] God forbid when he begins to divide from the light from the dark. I should stay in the dark. Just because I enjoy the experience of God's grace removing the darkness and separating out the dark from the light. That is a wonderful experience.

[32:43] When God comes in, you know, we think, oh no, God's going to convict me of my sin. He's going to. Yes, it's wonderful. It's wonderful when he comes in and says, hey, I'm going to bring light to this situation. It's going to bring healing. Remember, his spirit is soft.

[32:54] It's gentle. It's not stressed. It's at rest. So when he comes in and he begins to divide, it's a wonderful experience to have God just wash you and lead you into the light.

[33:05] But should we continue walking in darkness? Continue in sin? That grace abounds? God forbid. How shall I? We that are dead to sin live any longer therein. Why should we stay in the darkness when we can be in the light?

[33:16] Know you not that so many of us, as we're baptized into Jesus Christ, we're baptized into his death? Therefore, we are buried with him by baptism into death. That like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.

[33:31] Right? New beginning? In beginnings of life? No. But newness of life. If any man be in Christ, he's a new creation. The old things are passed away. He's a continual new creation.

[33:42] We get the experience in Jesus of this newness without having to have beginnings over and over and over. So we are to walk in newness of life.

[33:56] And God then, after doing this division, separating out light from darkness, remember there's no sun, there's no moon, there's no stars. The source of the light is something extraterrestrial, something outside of what we would consider being a source.

[34:09] God's later going to attach the source to the light that already exists. But right now, he says, I've created darkness, and I've created light, and they have their purpose, and I've divided them. And he called the light day, and the darkness he called night, and the evening and morning were the first day.

[34:24] He establishes time. We were talking yesterday about, oh, we're the Lord of days of 1,000 years, and 1,000 years is a day. And it's like, you know, we like to maybe look at that and go, well, does that mean, like, just as creation was seven days, or 7,000 years, and then Jesus returns?

[34:41] Look, I'm sure, I'm sure, because the Lord, the way he weaves things together, I'm sure there's something to that in some sense. But at the same time, we don't do the opposite, right? We don't go, well, God gave us, as God, the pattern was six days of creation and one day of rest.

[34:56] Well, maybe he wants us to work for 6,000 years and then rest for 1,000 years. So we don't reverse that, right? So here he's giving us an actual day. And for all of Scripture, a day is a day.

[35:07] And we have our first instance of time. And what God begins continues until God's purpose is fulfilled. Day and night will continue until God's purpose is fulfilled.

[35:18] What God has begun in creation, we're going to find out as we go through the creation story, day 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6, that what he has begun will continue until his purpose is fulfilled.

[35:30] So it says, the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the deep. I was stuck in verse 2 a lot studying this, just that picture. You know, we know that Scripture tells us in Psalms that deep crawls unto deep.

[35:41] The noise of your water spouts have gone over my soul. And that there's a depth in us and in the Lord that except he accesses, you know, we can't even understand.

[35:57] So God's put before us this beautiful picture in creation that he started. Before we ever get to the really cool, like, the birds are appearing in the sky. It just says, like, the sky essentially is just going to be poof, filled with birds.

[36:09] You know, I just kind of picture, like, the cartoons. Almost, you know, the bird, like, is flying through the air and kind of explodes. And there's just, like, feathers. Poof. Like, in reverse. Just, like, lots of feathers go poom. And then there's these birds flying around, right?

[36:21] And it says the seas will just, it just pretty much says that he fills them instantly with fish. Just like, poof. They're there. Filled with fish. Do you understand what has to be there for the seas to be filled with fish?

[36:32] The plankton and phytoplankton and all the minerals and nutrients and everything that has to come into existence. You know, we teach this to our kids in Sunday school, right?

[36:43] I realized the last time I'd gone through Genesis was back when we were at the school at Calvary Chapel Riverbend for the Sunday school. We did the Days of Creation. It was great. And it was fun.

[36:55] And the kids could grasp that. But then you start to get into the depth of what's here. And it's like, this isn't crazy. This is absolutely crazy. This is so wild. And then to see God's heart behind it as it's like a picture of how he thinks towards us.

[37:09] And as Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 2, verse 9. But it is written, It's not entered into our hearts.

[37:27] What God's prepared for us. In fact, most of the time we look at what God's doing in our life. And to us, it's like looking at that void and formless earth. To us, it's like looking at, Oh God, why did you create darkness first?

[37:38] What are you doing in my life? We can't comprehend it. But what does it say? God has revealed them unto us by what? His Spirit. The same Spirit that was there at the beginning. When Jesus was there creating all things.

[37:50] And the Father was there saying, Well done. This is good. It is good. The Spirit was there too, hovering over the waters. And God reveals them to us by His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things.

[38:01] Yea, the deep things of God. And so as the Spirit hovered over the deep, it's hovering over our depths too. And He's the only one who can show us the things that are in there. For what man knows the things of man, save the spirit of man which is in him.

[38:16] In other words, like, we got a cat. I don't really know what that cat's thinking because I'm not a cat. I don't have the spirit of the cat within me. I can have an idea of what makes you tick.

[38:27] You know, and your motives and thoughts and thought process. Because I have the spirit of man and so do you. So no man knows the things of man, save the spirit of man which is in him. Even so, the things of God knows no man.

[38:38] I'm not God. I can't understand God. Except by the Spirit of God. Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God. that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.

[38:52] Hidden no longer. Right? The things that, well, I can't know them. Because I don't have the spirit of God. Well, God gives us his spirit so that we can be able to know those things. The things that are freely given to us.

[39:03] And so, in Genesis, God who is in the beginning, God who is going to give us this beautiful picture in Genesis. Of generation, generating, creating.

[39:13] Of degeneration, the fall. And then eventually of his plan of regeneration. We're going to be able to see from this side of the cross, this side of resurrection. We're going to be able to see that picture.

[39:24] Not just the beginnings, but the fulfillment and the culmination. You know, as we begin Calvary Chapel, Charlotte, we don't begin it. The Lord begins it. Except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain.

[39:36] Except the Lord keep the city, the watchman wakes in vain. You know, it was neat. We just had the youth retreat last weekend. And I went into that just with the Lord, like on my heart, like, Lord, I need to see you work.

[39:51] I need to see you do something that's apart from man. That's apart from our effectiveness to minister to one another. Apart from our ability to counsel one another and to encourage one another. You know, having grown up in the church, apart from just seeing what Christians do best, which is love one another.

[40:06] I need to see, God, I need to see you do something. I need to know that you're in what's happening in my life, and that I don't have to apply this effort. We're going to see man eventually created.

[40:17] How much effort did Adam put into his creation? Nothing. God did it. How much effort did Adam put into his calling? God did it. How much effort did Adam put into where God placed him?

[40:31] Too much. How much effort did he put into finding a wife? Well, it took his whole side. When she's married, it takes more than that. But, you know, and so the Lord did, he did remarkable work and kind of just gave, just gave us this beautiful picture that he's like, I've got this.

[40:52] I'm in this. And it's so wild. And, you know, and Josh, Rebecca, they were there. Almost like, it's like you get to step into what the Lord's doing and you watch him do it.

[41:03] And you're there just kind of watching. And then he'll like use you. And you're like, that was weird and wild and cool. And then it's over and you kind of step back out and you're back into normal life and you're a normal person again. And you're kind of like, huh.

[41:15] Lord, you're pretty cool. It's pretty wild. But if on the other side of that, it's not more of Jesus. Or, you know, if you guys come here, you know, it should be that we have an opportunity that when God speaks into our hearts, we want to act on that.

[41:32] You know, we're to be doers and not hearers only. So I want us like specifically at Calvary Chapel Charlotte here, but like we give God opportunity. That where he has spoken to us, well, man, we need to respond.

[41:44] You know, I saw those kids responding. And if we had just said at the end of that, the main session with those kids, hey, if anyone wants prayer, you know, come on up, see you, peace out. I think maybe five kids would have stuck around maybe.

[41:57] But by pretty much saying, you know what? God's now done a work in us. Let's ratify that. Let's be doers. The idea being, what's God just spoken into your heart? What's he spoken into your life?

[42:08] What's he spoken into mine? To enact upon that. Not just to be a hearer, but to be a doer. This is like, if you want prayer, get prayer. You don't necessarily need to come and get prayer from me. Grab someone else.

[42:19] Find someone to pray for, to pray with. If you just want to sit and worship, if you just want to pray to the Lord. But what has God spoken into your heart and life that now is like, you know what, God? Thank you. Thank you for being in all of my darkness, Lord.

[42:32] Thank you that the Holy Spirit is resting and that he's not stressed out or I'm stressed out over what's going to come from this. Thank you, Lord, that you divide the light from the darkness. What is it that he wants to do or that he's spoken to you to be able to say, yes, Lord, I want to ratify that.

[42:47] I want to say yes in my own heart. I want to agree with you that I want you to do that in my life. Please, Lord. I'm just grabbing someone else and saying, hey, would you pray with me? God spoke this to me. And I just want you to pray that this would be real in my life.

[42:59] If God puts it on your heart to go and pray for someone, just go and pray for them or whatever. Man, I need Jesus. I love him so much. I know when I get far from him and it's not a good thing.

[43:12] And I also know when I see him move and it's more than just, hey, we showed up, we did some things, we had some knowledge. I'm going to read a couple, I'm going to close in prayer and I'm going to read a couple of scriptures because there's a ton about light and darkness that we just can't all get to.

[43:28] And then Kitty's going to play a couple songs and then she'll close us out in prayer. So just sit before the Lord to see what he wants to do. He's spoken to us. He's spoken his word. Father, we just thank you for your word.

[43:41] Thank you that it has the power to change our lives. Thank you that we can see in the beginning was God. He was at the beginning and before the beginning.

[43:52] Thank you that in all of our beginnings, you're there, Lord. You're already there. You're not at them. You're not just on the sidelines watching. You're not just kind of like disinterested. You are in them.

[44:04] And Lord, even when it looks like a really bad beginning, I would not have started the world that way. That doesn't give you the best look, Lord. I would have started it with all its glory and majesty and explosion of light and color and sound.

[44:15] And look how big I am. I'm God. Lord, you started just like you start the work in my life. You started in a place of darkness. You started where there was nothing, but the Spirit of God was there.

[44:28] And the Spirit of God was moving on my life. You weren't stressed out. You were in perfect rest. And you have a plan, Lord. And the fruitfulness that will come from that.

[44:40] And the joy we have of knowing Jesus now. We don't have to have new beginnings over and over and over and over and over, Lord. I feel those religions, Lord, where that's what they do again and again. I think of where it says in Scripture that we have a sacrifice now that's once for all.

[44:56] We don't do this again and again. But what a joy that we can be renewed and have newness of life. This then is the message which we've heard of him and declare unto you.

[45:08] That God is light and in him is no darkness at all. All things were made by him. Without him was not anything made that was made. In him was life and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in darkness.

[45:21] And the darkness comprehended it not. Arise, shine, for your light has come. And the glory of the Lord is risen upon you. For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth and gross darkness the people.

[45:34] But the Lord shall arise upon thee. And his glory shall be seen upon thee. And the Gentiles shall come to your light and kings to the brightness of your rising. That was the true light, which lights every man that comes into the world.

[45:50] For you were sometimes darkness, but now are you light in the Lord. Walk as children of light. Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with unrighteousness?

[46:01] And what communion has light with darkness? But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another. And the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin.

[46:13] We have also a more sure word of prophecy. Whereunto you do well that you take heed, as unto a light that shines in a dark place. Until the day dawn and the day star arise in your hearts.

[46:27] Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world. He that follows me shall not walk in darkness, but he shall have the light of life. Now, the Lord bless thee and keep thee.

[46:41] The Lord make his face to shine upon thee and be gracious unto thee. The Lord lift up the light of his countenance upon you and give you peace. Keep thee between the light of this. Peace.

[46:52] And B and G and g