24-1117a - Before the Beginning, Scott Reynolds
Bible Readers: Wyatt Woosley and John Nousek

These Sermon Notes by Scott Reynolds

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Before The Beginning

Preacher: Scott Reynolds

Scripture Readings

1st Scripture Reading: Wyatt Woosley
John 1:1-3 (NASB)

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being.

2nd Scripture Reading: John Nousek
Genesis 1:1 (NASB)

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

Sermon Introduction

  • This sermon is the result of two recent studies we’ve presented,…​

    • The first being the: The Equipping of the Saints,

      • where the Saints are quipped, as a royal priesthood, to do works of service

        • in the unity of the faith

        • and in the knowledge of Jesus Christ

    • and the second influence on this sermon was the Apologetics Press article

      • that was presented on October 20th, 2024 that was entitled: Why Are We Losing Them?,

      • in which the importance of maintaining faith in the first eleven chapters of Genesis was stressed.

  • So, with that in mind, I would like to present to you:

A look at the beginning of the Bible narrative.

Beginning in the beginning with…​

Genesis 1:1 (NIV)

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

The Bible starts off very simply informing us that there WAS a beginning. The implication of that statement is that there was a specific point when time, as we understand it, started. The Hebrew concept of "beginning" here suggests an initial moment—a starting point for creation, which includes the heavens, the earth, and the temporal framework they exist in.

The DICTIONARY definition

temporal
adjective

1. relating to worldly as opposed to spiritual affairs; secular: the Church did not imitate the secular rulers who thought only of temporal gain.
2. relating to time: the spatial and temporal (space & time) dimensions of human interference in complex ecosystems.

* Grammar relating to or denoting time or tense.

spatial | (also spacial)
adjective

relating to or occupying space: the spatial distribution of population | a mouse’s spatial memory.

Notice The Subject

Of the sentence is: God. And it may seem obvious but, in contrasting Him to what He creates, God exists before His creation. In fact the Bible will later tell us…​

God Is Self-Existing

Moses in the 2nd 40 years of his life, after he fled from Egypt and before he returns to lead the Israelites out of Egypt, while he was shepherding in the wilderness came across a bush on fire, but not being consumed by the flames. He approaches it and the Angel of the Lord begins a conversation with Him from within the burning bush. The Angel instructs him to go back to Egypt to lead the Israelites out. Moses objects. In this exchange the Angel identifies who he is. From our previous studies we know Him to be the 2nd person of the Godhead.

In Exodus 3:13,14 (NKJV) it says: 

Then Moses said to God, “Indeed, when I come to the children of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they say to me, ‘What is His name?’ what shall I say to them?” 14 And God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” And He said, “Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, I AM has sent me to you.’”

In the Hebrew Bible, the name of God is represented by four Hebrew letters which are transliterated as "YHWH" or "JHVH". This four-letter word is known as the Tetragrammaton. The exact pronunciation was lost since the Israelites refused to speak it for fear of using God’s name in vain and the pronunciation is uncertain due to the absence of vowels in the original Hebrew text, but it is generally believed to be pronounced as "Yahweh" or "Jehovah." These letters appear nearly 7,000 times in the Hebrew Scriptures, and they are derived from the Hebrew verb "to be," suggesting meanings like "I am," "He Who Is," or "He Brings into Existence Whatever Exists." God’s name literally means He exists, that is, God is self existing.

God Is Eternal

In Psalms 90:2 (NIV)

Before the mountains were born
or you brought forth the whole world,
from everlasting to everlasting you are God.

Before the mountains or the earth God existed. He has existed forever (i.e. from everlasting to everlasting). Or as Buzz Lightyear says in the movie Toy Story: "To infinity and beyond," except in this case it would be: "From and to infinity and beyond."

God is Spirit

Jesus tells us in John 4:24 (ESV)

God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”

  • There is another realm, beyond the physical. A spiritual realm that exists without the constraints of the physical realm.

  • Unlike what Carl Sagan, of Cosmos fame, thought…​ The Cosmos is NOT all that is, or was, or ever will be…​ The Cosmos had a beginning and it will have an end, it is not everlasting. It is the physical, natural realm. It is temporary, it is finite. And it will end.

    2 Peter 3:10 (ESV)

    10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.

    Isaiah 51:6 (NKJV)

    Lift up your eyes to the heavens,
    And look on the earth beneath.
    For the heavens will vanish away like smoke,
    The earth will grow old like a garment,
    And those who dwell in it will die in like manner;
    But My salvation will be forever,
    And My righteousness will not be abolished.

    Hebrews 1:10-12; Psalm 102:25–27 (NKJV)

    And:
    “You, LORD, in the beginning laid
        the foundation of the earth,
    And the heavens are the work of
        Your hands.
    11 They will perish, but You remain;
    And they will all grow old like a
        garment;
    12 Like a cloak You will fold them up,
        And they will be changed.
    But You are the same,
        And Your years will not fail.”

  • The spiritual realm is outside and not under the constraints of the physical, natural realm, it is super-natural, that is: it is above, over, or beyond the natural realm

We are also told later that Jesus is Eternal

In John 17:5 (NIV), Jesus says in His prayer to God, the Father

And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began.

So, BOTH Jesus and the Father existed BEFORE the world began!! And more than that the apostle John says this about Jesus,…​

The Word

John 1:1-3 (NIV)

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.

Jesus IS God and was with God in the beginning. And more than that, Jesus IS the Creator. It is appropriate that the person of the Godhead who is called: The Word, who is Jesus, is the One who spoke things into being!

Psalms 33:6,9 (NKJV)

By the word of the LORD
    the heavens were made,
And all the host of them by
    the breath of His mouth.
    …​
9 For He spoke, and it was done;
He commanded, and it stood fast.

You know, since Jesus is God (ie the Lord) and Jesus is the Word, we could substitute His name in Psalm 33:6, for the phrase "the word"…​

It goes like this…​

By Jesus the LORD
    the heavens were made,
And all the host of them by
    the breath of His mouth.
    …​
9 For He spoke, and it was done;
He commanded, and it stood fast.

Is it any wonder then that even the winds and the waves obey His command? (Luke 8:22-25) We sing that song, you remember? (189, Master, the Tempest Is Raging)

There’s one more person of the Godhead to look at in connection with the creation

The Holy Spirit

In the very next verse in Genesis, chapter 1, the Holy Spirit is mentioned.

  • Genesis 1:2 - "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."

    • This verse directly states the Holy Spirit is present at the very beginning of creation.

  • Psalm 104:30 - "You send forth Your Spirit, they are created; And You renew the face of the earth." (See Psalm 104:24-30)

    • This passage directly credits the Spirit with the act of creation and sustaining life. The context is talking about all the life teeming in the seas and specifically Leviathan, a sea creature (see Job 41, the entire chapter), which is interesting since we first see the Holy Spirit hovering over the face of the deep.

God In Three Persons

We see that all three persons of God (the Godhead) were involved in the creation. Learning that Jesus is the person of the Godhead to speak things into being, we can see all three in the first three verses of Genesis!

Genesis 1:1, God, the Father

In the beginning God (the Father) created the heavens and the earth.

Supporting the idea that God, the Father, is in verse one is:

Hebrews 1:1-2 (NIV)

In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, 2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe.

Notice that the person of the Godhead who speaks to us is God’s Son, Jesus

Hebrews 11:3 (NIV)

By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.

Genesis 1:2, God, the Holy Spirit

The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God (Holy Spirit) was hovering over the face of the waters.

Genesis 1:3, God, the Son

Then God (Jesus) said, “Let there be light”; and there was light.

So when the Bible says in Genesis 1:26, that God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness,…​" It makes sense. All three persons of the Godhead were there involved in the creation. They have existed before creation.

 
One last thing I want to talk about before we move on to the creation of the heavens and the earth is…​

God Made Plans

Before God began His work of creating, He planned His work.

Ephesians 1:3,4 (ESV)

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, 4 even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him…​

Plans for us to be redeemed were made BEFORE the foundation of the world. This implies that God, before he created us, knew that He would need to save us, that we would need redemption.

Titus 1:1,2 (ESV)

Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, for the sake of the faith of God’s elect and their knowledge of the truth, which accords with godliness, 2 in hope of eternal life, which God, who never lies, promised before the ages began

Hope of eternal life (ie the possibility) of eternal life was promised before the ages (ie time) began.

2 Timothy 1:9 (NKJV)

[God] who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began,

Calling us to salvation was according to God’s purpose and grace given to us before TIME began. Here we are specifically told that "time" is not eternal, time had a beginning. Time was created.

So, God planned to call us to be holy and blameless, He promised us hope of eternal life, to save us according to His purpose and grace given to us in Christ Jesus…​ before time began.

And He did that through Jesus who also was foreknown (NASB,ESV), chosen (NIV) BEFORE the foundation (NASB,ESV), creation (NIV) of the world.

1 Peter 1:18-21 (NASB)

knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, 19 but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ. 20 For He was foreknown before the foundation of the world, but has appeared in these last times for the sake of you 21 who through Him are believers in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.

See Proverbs 8:22-31 for a description of God utilizing wisdom during the creation process.

So, before time began God made plans for creation and redemption.

Tonight we will continue our discussion, "Before the Beginning"

With

  • The Heavens

  • The Angels

  • and Morning Stars

All created before the creation of the earth

Invitation

The invitation is being extended to anyone who is subject to it.

Come while we stand and sing.