TEXT:
Gen. 1:1 "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth."
I. IN THE BEGINNING
A. THERE WAS A "BEGINNING"
1. Some have attempted to define existence as an
endless cycle.
2. They claim an infinite number of steps took place
to get us where we are today.
3. We must ask the question, "Could an infinite
number of steps ever get anyone
anywhere?"
4. In order to reach a certain end, if an infinite
number of steps had to precede it,
could the end ever be reached?
5. Of course not - not even in an infinite amount
of time.
6. For an infinite time would be unending, just
as the steps would be.
7. In other words, no end would ever be reached
because you can’t reach the end
of infinity.
8. The task could never be completed.
9. Neither could the step just before infinity be
completed, it’s still a mathematical
impossibility.
10. Neither could any other step at any point in
relation to infinity.
11. This present day has been reached, so it must
not have taken an infinite number
of days to reach it.
12. Mathematics affirms that there must of necessity
have been a beginning.
B. EINSTEIN AFFIRMED A BEGINNING
Albert Einstein's own world
view initially kept him from adopting a belief in a beginning or a
Creator. In 1917 he
hypothesized a loophole to the theory of general relativity in order to
escape such a conclusion.
He hypothesized a new force of physics that would perfectly
cancel out the deceleration
and expansion factors of the theory of general relativity. His
patch job did not hold up.
Astronomer Edwin Hubble in 1929 proved from his measurements
on forty different galaxies
that the galaxies indeed are expanding away from one another.
Moreover, he demonstrated
that expansion was in the same manner predicted by Einstein's
original formulation of
general relativity. In the face of this proof, Einstein grudgingly
abandoned his hypothesized
force and acknowledged "the necessity for a beginning" and
"the presence of A SUPERIOR
REASONING POWER." (A.V. Douglas, "Fourty Minutes
With Einstein" JOURNAL OF
THE ROYAL ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY OF
CANADA 50, 1956, p.100)
and (Lincoln Barnett, THE UNIVERSE AND DR. EINSTEIN,
1948, p.106)
C. GOD’S WORD AFFIRMS A BEGINNING
1. Genesis teaches a point at which time began.
2. Mathematics affirms a beginning.
3. Philosophy's kalaam argument affirms a beginning.
4. The science of astronomy affirms a beginning.
5. The Bible affirms a beginning.
6. There was a beginning, and God was there.
II. IN THE BEGINNING GOD
A. THIS STATEMENT REFUTES EVERY FALSE
"-ISM"
1. It refutes ATHEISM which says there is no God.
2. It refutes AGNOSTICISM which claims we cannot
know about God.
3. It refutes POLYTHEISM which states that there
are many gods.
4. It refutes PANTHEISM which claims that everything
and everyone is god.
B. THIS IS THE FOUNDATION OF ALL TRUE THEOLOGY
1. "In the beginning God…"
2. False theologies want to begin with man and work
up to God.
3. They have it all upside down.
4. Truth doesn’t begin with man, it begins with
God.
5. If you want good theology, you don’t start with
man’s ideas and try to fit God’s
Word into it.
6. If you want good theology, you begin with God’s
own revelation of Himself.
7. Some of you are thinking, but didn’t the
Bible come from men? NO!
8. The Bible started with God. (Can I have
a good Amen?)
9. 2 Pet 1:21 "…holy men of God spake as they were
MOVED BY THE HOLY
GHOST."
10. If you want your theology right, your philosophy
right, and your life right, you
need to begin with God!
(Can I have a better Amen?)
III. IN THE BEGINNING GOD CREATED
A. WE ARE NOT AN ACCIDENT
1. Evolution is based on the premise that time plus
dead matter plus chance formed all
living things.
2. If this be the case; then man is nothing more
than a very freak *ACCIDENT*
with no ultimate value and
no real purpose, spinning crazily through the darkness of space
on an unguided projectile.
3. But, the Bible tells us of better and truer things.
4. The Word of God tells us "In the beginning God
created."
B. GOD CAUSED US TO EXIST
1. Have you ever experienced a causeless effect?
2. …a perpetual motion device?
3. …a noise without a source?
4. …a watch without a maker?
5. …a man without a biological mother?
6. …a world without a beginning?
B. THERE IS A MEANING AND PURPOSE FOR OUR EXISTENCE
1. There is comfort in knowing that we are not just
an accident.
2. There is joy in knowing that an omnipotent God
who makes no mistakes was behind
our creation.
3. This adds meaning and purpose to our lives and
to the universe in which we live.
IV. …CREATED THE HEAVENS AND THE EARTH
NOBODY MADE IT
Many years ago Sir Isaac Newton had an exact replica
of our solar system made in miniature.
At its center was a large golden ball representing
the sun, and revolving around it were small
spheres attached at the ends of rods of varying
lengths. They represented Mercury, Venus,
Earth, Mars, and the other planets. These were all
geared together by cogs and belts to make
them move around the "sun" in perfect harmony.
One day as Newton was studying the model, a friend
who did not believe in the biblical account
of creation stopped by for a visit. Marveling at
the device and watching as the scientist made the
heavenly bodies move on their orbits, the man exclaimed,
"My, Newton, what an exquisite thing!
Who made it for you?" Without looking up, Sir Isaac
replied, "Nobody." "Nobody?" his friend
asked. "That's right! I said nobody! All of these
balls and cogs and belts and gears just happened
to come together, and wonder of wonders, by chance
they began revolving in their set orbits and
with perfect timing."
The unbeliever got the message! It was foolish to
suppose that the model merely happened. But it
was even more senseless to accept the theory that
the earth and the vast universe came into being
by chance. How much more logical to believe what
the Bible says, "In the beginning, God created
the heaven and the earth." The Word also declares,
"The fool hath said in his heart, There is no
God". (Ps. 14:1)