Topic: Book of Genesis
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. (Gen 1:1-2)
The first four of words in Genesis 1 are “In the beginning God…” From these simple words, we know that there was somebody at out of the universe, who was the supreme of the universe, God. There was the God before the earth formed. There was nobody else beside Him. That is the one of good things that we cannot be confused about the Person who created the universe.
Unfortunately, most people created themselves their gods and put them as creators. For example: Moslems believe that their religion arrived from Allah. If they believe that Allah began the Islamic faith, where was Allah before the creation of the world? Most religious scholars believe that the Islamic faith came from Ishmael, a descent of Moabites and one of the sons of Abraham. If we look Abraham’s life, we see that God refused him to multiply his descendants from Hagar’s firstborn son, Ishmael, Egyptian slave. We will discuss further on this later on. In the meantime, let’s go to the next discussion question.
Okay, who is God of the universe? Before we would go to this question, we must understand that there is only one God in the Bible. Although there seems to be a strict god in the Old Testament and loving god in the New Testament, there is only one God. For example, the natural father disciplines his child if his child is doing bad thing, but not everyday. Instead, the father gives his child some loves and praises when his child is doing well. This is same method that God is using. So, do not confuse yourself between the Old Testament God and New Testament God, but there is the God in the Bible.
Throughout the Bible, we see God reveals Himself who He is. There are many descriptions to describe who He is. In Genesis 1:1, we recognize God as the Creator. He created everything in the beginning of this world. He is called Himself the Word (John 1:1), Savior (Luke 1:47), Alpha and Omega (Revelation 21:6), and the last Adam (I Corinthians 15:47), just few.
In Colossians, Paul explains us who God was in the beginning of this world. He says in Colossians 1:15-18, “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist. And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence.”
Does this description of person familiar to us? Of course, we recognize Him as our Lord Jesus Christ. Although His name is kept secret in the Old Testament, we see Jesus’ work on the people of Israel. In Genesis, Jesus appeared to Abraham as Melchizedek, priest of Most High and king of Salem (which it called later as Jerusalem). (See Genesis 14; Psalm 110:4; Hebrews 7:17, 21.)
Jesus was in the world since the Day 1 of creation. He was and is the God of the universe. But there was somebody else with Him. Read verse 2. We see that there was also the Spirit of God. Who is the Spirit of God? In John 14, Jesus gave promise to His disciples that He will send the Holy Spirit, who will help them to carry on His mission. Likewise, we see that God has a Helper in Genesis 1, which we will discuss Him later.
Notice that I didn’t call the Holy Spirit as it. Some preachers may call the Holy Spirit as it. We need to be careful about this. The Holy Sprit is the third person of the Trinity. God is the God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Again, the Holy Spirit carries His tasks according to the will of God. We see the Holy Spirit carries our prayer to God and return our request with answers from God (Romans 8:26-27).
How do these two verses reflect to the New Testament church? What is sufficient event that was carried throughout many generations in Genesis 1:1-2? Well, there are several reasons why we need to understand from these two verses. If we do not know the Book of Genesis, we wouldn’t know how our world began in the beginning.
We, as Christians, must hold the true about who created us. If there is no God, there would not be anything created in this planet. We wouldn’t be alive. The church wouldn’t exist for somebody to give honor the Creator. Although Genesis is a book of the Old Covent, it leads to who Jesus is. Again, Apostles John and Paul declare that Jesus was in the beginning of the world.
We also need to understand about the Trinity. God is the God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. They are whole parts of God and each has 100 percent of the being. Jesus declares in Matthew 28:19-20, “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
We worship our God, not because the freedom that He gave us, but He created us and gave the freedom to choose to honor Him. In the next section of the study, we will study more further of this section of the study.
Are you saved? Are your love ones and friends saved in the grace of God through Jesus Christ? The purpose of this study is to help you to become closer relationship with Jesus Christ. As Jesus said, "Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms, if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am." (John 14:1-3.)
If you are lukewarm in your relationship with Jesus Christ and want to know Him as your personal Savior and Lord of your life, please consider asking Him to forgive your sins and invite Him into your life. Paul says, “That if you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believed and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.” (Romans 10:9-10.) If you have done in your private room or workplace, then you need to tell to your friends or love ones about what you have done, so they may rejoice with you and want to have that relationship with Christ in their own life. There are many occults in the world, which do not know the love of God and His great plan for those who believe in Him. As it is written in John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
