When preparing to study the Bible, beginning in Genesis, it seems only fitting to begin at the beginning of the beginning. Yes, the book of Genesis contains profoundly more information than just the beginning. Genesis contains the beginning of many things. The world, the beginning of time, the beginning of man, the beginning of God and how He deals with His creation on a large scale and on significantly smaller scale. Genesis marks the beginning of redemption and salvation. From the first man to the first nation called by God, God is depicted as one who loves and protects those He calls His own.
Yet, probably one of the most simplistic yet profound statements in the Bible is the one found at the beginning of the Bible, "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth". The psalmist, the prophets, and the apostle have affirmed this simple yet magnificent verse. Although, it is the subject of much debate. The Bible assumes and never argues the existence of God. Although everything made, at one time had a beginning, God has always been. The vastness and enormity of this one statement is equaled by no other for it assumes and states many things concerning the greatness and truth of God.
First assumption being the existence of God; for it is said that He, which was in the beginning, is the one who creates something from nothing. The very sentences, "in the beginning God created," asserts the beginning of things and time. While it is understood that there is no empirical proof of the existence of God but creation itself, and belief in such a theory is based on faith alone. One can not argue the probability of a higher being possibly being responsible for such a complex and magnificent design. Proof of the designer is in the design itself. It would require more faith to assume creation just happened, then to believe God created it. In looking for a rational explanation as to how things came to be, assuming for a moment the big bang theory to be correct, the question still arises, who was responsible for setting such actions into motion? The answer would have to be God.
Genesis 1:1 assumes His eternity; for it states that in the beginning He created, not He was created. His existence is based solely on the statement that at the beginning of creation, at some undisclosed period of time, or more correctly, at the beginning of time as one would measure time, God was already there.
Does God exist? Since the appearance of mankind on the earth and up until today--would probably continue in the future--this question brought people to think, reason, and come up with the evidence, to present the best satisfactory answer.
“In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1). This section of a verse from the NRSV started the grand story of the bible. In the beginning the Bible brings two things to focus. The two things that are focused on is the setting and the main characters of the Bible (Professor Smallbones). The Bible opens in Genesis 1 with God creating. God creates light, the earth, the sun, living creatures, and many other things, but most importantly God creates humans. As God is the main character in the grand story he immediately forms a personal relationship with man and woman. God created Adam the first man and Eve the first woman. In the book, The Unfolding Drama of The Bible, Anderson says, “The
The account of creation is found in the book of Genesis. Chapters one through eleven tell of how and when God created the Earth, the Heavens, all forms of life and everything else in the Universe. Genesis also tells stories Adam and Eve as well as all of their descendants. Genesis is part of the living Word of God, providing details of the character of God, the principles of man, and man’s relation to God. Most importantly, Genesis offers teachings on the natural world, human identity, human relationships, and civilization.
Two arguments that best attempt to prove God's existence, are the ontological argument by St. Anselm, and the cosmological argument by St. Thomas Aquinas. The second out of the five arguments provided in the cosmological argument is based on experience and efficient cause. The efficient cause makes something happen, i.e.. Cause and effect, and this is the premises for his argument. Aquinas argues that nothing in this world can originate on it's own, and must have a first cause (God) to create an intermediate cause, to create an ultimate cause and effect. Infinity makes it impossible to have a first efficient cause, but if there is no first cause, there would be no intermediate cause (universe), and we (nature) would not exist.
telling her, “You will not die; for God knows that when you eat of it
God is Eternal: There is no beginning or end to God. He has always been, and he will always be. God is the only being that the laws of thermodynamics do not apply to. ( Psalm 90:2)
There are many arguments about the existence of a timeless maximally perfect being. The basis of the argument is whether God is timeless because timelessness seems to limit his abilities and limit his omnipotence and omniscience. Omniscience is God’s ability to be an all knowing being and omnipotence is God’s all power. A maximally perfect being (God) is defined by these characteristics in most major religions.
I believe that God created ex nihilo, or “from nothing,” as the basic definition of the bible word “create” (in Hebrew “bar’a”) suggests. “Bar’a” always has God as the subject of the verb and the item that is being created did not exist previous to God’s action of creation. Which means the universe has God as its preliminary cause and thus the universe had its purpose and design. This particular view sets the standard of our ethics. This also influences our views and meaning of life (euthanasia & abortion), our views on sexuality (homosexuality & pornography) Our core definition of marriage, our values, morals and ethics, our views on justice, and overall our trust in God’s word.
In the scripture, God formed the universe in six days. This is evident by the words that are used. For example, in the scripture, Moses uses the word “Yom” to mean day. This word is also used at other occasions in the Bible and it literally means the twenty-four-hour day. This thus gives an assurance that
Genesis 3:1-7 Genesis 1 focuses on the creation and order of heaven and earth which displays God’s glory and wonder and is followed with Genesis 2 which looks into greater detail of the making of our first parents Adam and Eve, which displayed the way the world was supposed to be before sin and death entered in. Chapter 3 is the fall, and it is where sin, death and Satan all come into action. Our life will make a lot more sense once we see where this originated and began. It is one of the most important sections of the Bible and if this is not understood, the rest of Scripture will not make any sense. Pastor-Teacher John MacArthur adds, “If you do not understand the origin of sin and its impact based on Genesis chapter 3, then your understanding of the world is wrong.
Genesis 1 is a very matter of fact story about how God created the earth. It begins with what was there before God had created anything: the abyss
Augustine explains that the heavens and the earth were already created, but that they were both in an “invisible and unformed ” state of being, waiting for the time of creation. So the “creation” of heaven and earth found in the account of Genesis 1 is referring to God giving form to the unformed heaven and earth.
For all intents and purposes, there are two views of the beginning of the universe. One of these is the creation told in chapters one and two of Genesis. Genesis confirms that God created the Heaven...
Genesis is the first creation story. God creates, establishes, and puts everything into motion. After putting all of this in motion he then rests. He creates everything on earth in just seven days. Before creation Gods breath was hovering over a formless void. God made earth and all of the living creatures on earth out of nothing. There was not any pre-existent matter out of which the world was produced. Reading Genesis 1 discusses where living creatures came from and how the earth was formed. It’s fascinating to know how the world began and who created it all. In Genesis 1 God is the mighty Lord and has such strong power that he can create and banish whatever he would like. His powers are unlike any others. The beginning was created from one man only, God.
The Bible points out that God is the origin of life, is the creator of all life forms. The first story of the Bible is called “Six Days of Creation and the Sabbath”. The Bible story of creation made man actually have two completely different versions. First, from the opening to Genesis 2:3 is the first version, talking about the "six days" of creation, the authors used the Jews known to God (called Elohim) said to God, and mention that God made the plants first, then animals, and finally made the man and ...