2-3-19 Sermon Notes – Week 4
Genesis – Day 4 to Day 6 – Genesis 1:14-25
Introduction
Last week, we focused on the first three days of creation. This week, we turn our attention to the next three days of creation.
Read Genesis 1:14-25
14 “And God said, “Let there be lights in the vault of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark sacred times, and days and years, 15 and let them be lights in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth.” And it was so. 16 God made two great lights—the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars. 17 God set them in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth, 18 to govern the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that it was good. 19 And there was evening, and there was morning—the fourth day.
20 And God said, “Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the vault of the sky.” 21 So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living thing with which the water teems and that moves about in it, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 22 God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the water in the seas, and let the birds increase on the earth.” 23 And there was evening, and there was morning—the fifth day.
24 And God said, “Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: the livestock, the creatures that move along the ground, and the wild animals, each according to its kind.” And it was so. 25 God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.”
Introduction
Days four, five, and six of the Genesis creation week correspond to days one, two, and three. That is, what God creates in each of these last three days is placed in the setting He created on the corresponding earlier day. In this case, on day one, God used His creative words to form light. This verse describes day four, where God commands that there exist “lights in the expanse of the heavens,” or in the “vault of the sky.” Verses 14 through 18 explain that these “lights” are the sun, moon, and stars.
Message
Day 4 – Regardless of translation, verses 14 through 18 can seem somewhat awkward in English. These words were originally written in Hebrew, and under a highly structured repeating pattern. And yet, the core point of these verses is impossible to miss: God made all the heavenly bodies, ascribed to the fourth day of His creation week. For the original readers of Scripture, this countered the widespread belief that stars, comets, and the sun were themselves divine and could have an influence on human activity. By clearly showing God’s creation and control, Genesis dispels the idea that there are any true gods other than God.
This raises what some see as a difficult question: How did God create light and day and night on the first day (Genesis 1:3-4) if He had not yet created the sun? It’s a reasonable question, and we don’t have a perfect answer. The easiest explanation is that God caused light to exist apart from the source of sun and stars until those were created, something clearly within His power. Another option is that these words describe the first time that the sun, moon, and stars became visible on earth, possibly due to a vapor canopy or clouds. Some scholars offer further alternative explanations.
In any event, Scripture does not provide specific details here, meaning they are irrelevant to the point at hand. The main idea of this verse is to describe God’s purpose for these lights, according to His command. They were to separate day from night, as well as to serve as signs of days, years, and “seasons,” which in this context refers to sacred times.
It is clear that God intended from the beginning for the earth and the solar system to move according to a regular pattern. He meant for days, years, and seasons to be orderly, measurable, and predictable.
Once again, at the end of day 4, “And God saw that it was good.”
Day 5 – Here we have the creation of the birds and the creatures that live in the water. The birds were designed for flying and the creatures that live in the water were designed for swimming. And again, “And God saw that it was good.”
Before we move on to day 6, let’s take a look at the beginning of verse 22. “God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the water in the seas, and let the birds increase on the earth.”
God blessed all living creatures and declared nature and animals to be good. God took great pleasure in His work and viewed it as very precious. In the same way, those who follow God should look at nature and all creation as beautiful and extremely valuable – something to be enjoyed.
Day 6 – Verses 24 and 25 – The creation of animals – each according to their own kind. These two verses alone counter the theory of evolution.
Concluding Remarks and Application
A few things seem to jump out from these verses – the order of creation – sun, moon and solar system – water creatures – birds – animals both wild and domestic. Also, the diversity of God’s creation commands our attention. We continue to see that there is evening and morning. (Interesting that a day begins with darkness and finishes with light where we usually have it the other way around). In addition, God continues to say that He saw His creation as good. All of this appears to be a prelude to His special creation – man.
Our takeaway and application is that God was/is never ‘out of step’ in the creation process. Perhaps, we can take a lesson from that in ‘building’ relationships with others and even our faith journey. That is to say relationships take time to develop as does our faith.
Next Week – The continuation of the series – “Origins! Created with purpose”
Week 4 – Study Notes – 2-3-19
“God Fills Up His Universe”
Read Genesis 1:14-25.
Watch this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a2wOujRZfNE
What did God make on Day 4?
What are the purposes of the “lights in the expanse of the sky”?
Does it seem odd that God didn’t create the sun and the moon until Day 4? Why do you think that is?
Does this text suggest or require that the Earth is the center of the universe?
Watch this video: https://youtu.be/7ki6HUOhjj8
What did God make on Day 5?
What are we told about fish and bird reproduction?
How does the evolutionary theory explain sexual reproduction?
How does creation explain sexual reproduction?
What did God make on Day 6?
What is a kind?
Would it align with species or families as scientists would define today?
Would it be defined by what can reproduce?
Human Population: If Humans have been around for ~50,000 years as the evolutionists suggest, where have the remains all gone?
Watch David Rives on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=io3A9bE_Y3Y
Watch Is Genesis History:
https://isgenesishistory.com/tale-two-dichotomies/
https://isgenesishistory.com/should-genesis-1-2-be-taken-literally/