Old Testament - Genesis 1:1-2 (In the Beginning )
Channel: Calvary Chapel Windward
Date: 2016-01-25

GENESIS 1:1-2 - In the Beginning - - CC Windward - Pastor Tim

GENESIS 1:1-2 - In the Beginning - Calvary Chapel Windward - OAHU, HAWAII - Pastor Tim Newman - From Local Olelo / Oceanic / Time Warner Cable show "A View from Calvary" - Episode #270: - Original Air Date: 01/19/2011 A.D.

PASTOR TIM's NOTES:
Genesis Overview and Background
“In the Beginning”
Genesis 1:1-2
1. The Name of the Book.
1a. The Hebrew name
Bereshith, which means “in the beginning.”
1b. The Greek name is Genesis
How do we end up calling the first book of the Hebrew Bible by a Greek name?
When the Old Testament was translated into Greek about 250 B.C. the Greek
equivalent of the title was rendered Genesis
2. The Doctrines of the Book
It is the perfect title because;
this book gives us the genesis (the beginning) of the doctrines that form our worldview.
2a. The doctrine of God
2b. The doctrine of creation
This was in contrast to the crude mythologies of the surrounding nations.
2c. The doctrine of man, demonstrating that from the beginning we are both wonderful and
awful.
2d. The doctrine of salvation
We see this in the Garden of Eden and its grand development throughout the whole book.
3. The Overview of the Book
3a. An overview of Genesis reveals structured themes.
It is widely accepted that chapters 1–11 cover primeval history.
Chapters 12–50 patriarchal history
3b. The themes are divided by the word “generations of”.
The famous Hebrew term toledoth, literally translated “generations of,” occurs ten
times in Genesis.
a) Sin: the sin is described; Gen 3:6-7
b) Speech: there is a speech by God announcing the penalty; Gen 3:14-19
c) The Grace: God brings grace to the situation to ease the misery due to
sin; Gen 3:21
d) Punishment: God punishes the sin. Gen 3:22-24
4. The Content of the Book.
4a. The Content includes Grace.
Here is amazing grace—
Adam and Eve are punished, but God graciously withholds the death penalty.
Cain is banished from his family, but God graces him with a mark of protection. 
The flood comes, but God graciously preserves the human race through Noah.
Only in the case of Babel is the element of grace muted.4
But this lack serves to set up the continuation of grace during the following
patriarchal section of Genesis 12–50.
4b. The Content includes Faithfulness
The record recounts God’s faithfulness over and over again in the lives of the
patriarchs.
4c.The Content includes salvation through faith.
Moses makes it clear that is how Abraham, the greatest of the patriarchs,
was saved. Gen 15:6, Romans 4:11
5. The Author of the Book.
Who wrote Genesis?
The Scriptures, both Old Testament and New Testament, affirm that Moses was the author
of the first five books of the Bible (Genesis through Deuteronomy; cf. Exodus 17:14;
Deuteronomy 31:24; Joshua 8:31; 2 Kings 14:6; Romans 10:5; and 2 Corinthians 3:15).
Most significantly Jesus himself confirms Mosaic authorship (cf. John 5:45–47). Matt 8:4,
19:17,18, Mark 1:44, 7:10, Luke 24:27, 44


Heb 1:1, 2 Peter 1:20-21
6. The Date of the writing of the Book.
Internal biblical dating points to the late fifteenth century B.C
7. It is a Book about GOD AND THE BEGINNING
Vs. 1-2

7a. It is a book about God.
God is the subject of the first sentence of the Bible because his name here,
Elohim, dominates the whole chapter—
occurring some thirty-five times in all.
(Bereshith bara Elohim)
the name “God,” Elohim, is in the plural
the verb “created” (bara) is in the singular
Later we read of the creation of man using this same plurality in God. Gen 1:26, Ps
90:2

4 Ibid., p. 490.
As Phillip E. Johnson has stated (of Darwinian Evolution), “ it is defended, by some, against
all logic—for fear that a Divine Foot might get in the door.14
What we learn from the study of science is that creation could not happen without
God!
7b. It is a book about the universe.
Moses uses very specialized vocabulary here.
“Created” is only used of God in the Bible.
References to creation
Job 38, Psalms 19, 33, 90, 136, and Isaiah 45. Isaiah 40

7c. It is a book about God and the Earth.
The Hebrew of “without form and void” is rhythmic (tohu wabohu) and served as a
common expression for
a place that is disordered and empty22
The prophet Jeremiah helps us understand what is meant by the words, “without
form and void”
 Jer 4:23-26
“and the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.”
The verbal picture comes clear in the final Psalm of Moses where he uses the same word to
describe
“an eagle that stirs up its nest, that flutters over its young”
(Deuteronomy 32:11).
o Creation must be accepted by faith.
o Creation should cause us to worship God.

Neh 9:5-6

14 Phillip E. Johnson, Objections Sustained: Subversive Essays on Evolution, Law, and Culture, chapter 7, “The Unraveling of
Scientific Materials” (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1998), pp. 71, 72.
22 Wenham, Genesis 1–15, Vol. 1, p. 15.