Genesis 1
Peace be with you, listening
friends. We greet you in the name of God, the Lord of peace, who wants everyone
to understand and submit to the way of righteousness that He has established,
and have true peace with Him forever. We are happy to be able to return today
to present your program The Way of Righteousness.
In our last program, we read what God's prophets have
written concerning the angels and Satan. We learned that God,
in the beginning, created millions of spirits, calling them angels. Among the
angels, one was more intelligent and more beautiful than the others. That
angel's name was Lucifer. However, there came a day when Lucifer glorified
himself in his heart and showed contempt for God, wanting to take God's place.
Also, many other angels chose to follow Lucifer in his sin. Thus God, who
cannot tolerate those who rebel against Him, expelled Lucifer and the evil
angels from His holy presence. Lucifer's name was changed to Satan--meaning Adversary. After God expelled
Satan and his angels, He created for them the fires of hell which are never
extinguished. And one day God will throw Satan and all who follow him into that
fire. However, Satan has not yet been put into hell. He is in the world,
seeking to deceive whomever he can, so that they too will perish.
Today is our fourth lesson in the Writings of the
Prophets. In the first book of the Torah, called Genesis, in the first chapter,
in the first two verses, the Scripture says, "In the
beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and
empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep." (Gen. 1:1,2)
In the beginning, when God first created the heavens
and the earth, nothing was living here on the earth. Everything was formless
and dark. Only Satan and his angels were here. However, God planned to create
humans, who would have the capacity to know God, to love Him and to obey Him
forever. However, before He created man, God planned to make a beautiful world
where man could live in true prosperity. Today then, we will see how
God created and prepared the world for the people whom He planned to create.
What do the Scriptures say about how God created the
world? It says, "In six days the Lord made
the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them." (Exod. 20:11) Now let us
look in the first chapter of the Torah to see what God created in those six
days.
1.) Concerning the first day, the Scriptures say,
"The Spirit of God
was hovering over the waters. And God said, 'Let there be light,' and there was
light. God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the
darkness. God called the light 'day', and the darkness he called 'night'. And
there was evening, and there was morning, the first day." (Gen. 1:2-5)
Thus, on the first day, God commanded, "Let there
be light in the darkness." God ordered the
earth, which is like a great ball in the heavens, to rotate once every twenty
four hours. That is why we have about twelve hours of daylight and twelve hours
of night. What a great thing God did on the first day in separating the light
from the darkness!
2.) Concerning the second day, the Scriptures say,
"And God said, 'Let
there be an expanse between the waters to separate water from water.' So God
made the expanse and separated the water under the expanse from the water above
it. And it was so. God called the expanse 'sky'." (Gen. 1:6-8)
On the second day God created the
sky around the earth which we call the atmosphere. The atmosphere is the
sky which surrounds the world and contains the air we breathe. That same
atmosphere protects everything and everyone from the heat of the sun and many
other calamities. Without this special sky that God created on the second day,
man could not live on the earth.
3.) On the third day, God created the
oceans, the dry land, and vegetation. Listen to what the Scriptures say:
"And God said, 'Let
the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear.'
And it was so. God called the dry ground 'land', and the gathered waters he
called 'seas'. And God saw that it was good. Then God said, 'Let the land
produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit
with seed in it, according to their various kinds.' And it was so…And God saw
that it was good. And there was evening, and there was morning-the third
day."(Gen.
1:9-11,13)
Thus, on the third day, God the Great Designer,
created the oceans and the rivers, along with thousands of different types of
trees and plants, each with its own fruit and seeds. What a delicious variety
of foods God made: mangoes, bananas, coconuts, melons, tomatoes, cabbages,
carrots, rice, millet, peanuts, and thousands of other kinds of food! And God
said, concerning everything that He had created, "It
is good!" Everything
that God makes and does is good, wonderful and perfect! We have already seen
that there is only one thing that God cannot do. God cannot do that which is
bad, because God is good!
Perhaps some of you are asking, "If God is good,
then why is the world full of evil and strife? Why didn't my field produce well
this year? Why is my child sick? If God is good, why does evil come forth from
man?" Truly, these are important questions, and the Holy Scriptures give
us satisfying answers which we will hear in coming lessons. For today however,
let us simply keep in mind this important truth: God is good, and as a result, everything
that God created was good.
Let us take a moment to consider the
goodness of God.
We just heard how He created the trees on the third day. Do you know why God created the trees
with their fruit? Did God need them? Did He create the trees full of lovely
fruit to satisfy His own hunger? No! God the Creator is never hungry and is in
need of nothing! Why, then, did God create the trees? The Scriptures show us
that, God, in His goodness, created everything for
man,
whom He planned to create on the sixth day.
Do you recognize the
goodness of God? Can you taste a mango with its delicious
flavor, or smell a flower with its lovely scent and not recognize the goodness
of God? Can you see a tree and not thank the One who made it for you? Without
trees-life would be horrible! We would not have any firewood with which to
cook, or lumber with which to build a boat or a house. We would not have shade
in which to relax during the heat of the day, or leaves for tea and medicine.
Without trees-life would be impossible. And the trees that God created are only
one of thousands of good things that God made for our happiness. God wants us
to recognize His goodness. That is what the prophet David wrote in the Psalms
saying, "Taste and see that the Lord
is good." (Psa. 34:8) But now we must continue in
today's lesson, before our time runs out.
4.) On the fourth day, God said, "Let
there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate the day from the night,
and let them serve as signs to mark seasons and days and years." (Gen. 1:14) God simply
gave the order, and the sun, the moon and the stars came into existence in
the sky. God spoke another word, and the earth began to orbit the sun. He spoke
again and the moon began to orbit the earth.
What did God use to
create everything in the world? What does the Scripture
say? It says:
"The universe was
formed at God's command, so that what is seen was not made out of
what was visible." (Heb. 11:3) "In
the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word
was God. He was with God in the beginning.Through him all things
were made; without him nothing was made that has been made." (John 1:1-3)
We have already read that on the first day God simply spoke and said, "Let
there be light" and there was light. On the second day God said, "Let
there be an expanse" and there was an expanse. On the third day
God spoke again and what He spoke came into
existence, and so forth. Now therefore, what did God use to create everything
that is in the world? God used nothing except His
Word! All
He did was speak, and what He spoke came to pass. God created everything by His
Word. And the Scripture tells that, not only did God create everything by His Word,
God also sustains everything (holds all
things together) by His powerful Word. It is by the power of
God's word that the moon and the stars stay in the sky in their appointed
places. It is by the command of God that the sun rises and sets each day at its
appointed times. Just think how difficult our lives would be, if we did not
know whether the sun would rise tomorrow or not! The Scriptures say, "God
is faithful!" {In Wolof: God
keeps His covenants}
(1 Cor. 1:9) He can be depended upon. He never goes back on His word. He never
changes. "The word of the Lord stands forever!" (1 Pet. 1:25)
5.) On the fifth day, God created thousands and
thousands of species of fish and birds. The Scriptures say,
"And God said, 'Let
the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across
the expanse of the sky.' So God created the great creatures of the sea and
every living and moving thing with which the water teems, according to their
kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was
good. 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.' And there was
evening, and there was morning, the fifth day." (Gen. 1:20-23)
6.) Concerning the sixth day, the Scriptures tell us
that God created animals and man. Unfortunately, we do
not have time today to explain this important event. God willing, in the next
program, we will carefully examine what the Scriptures say about how God created the first
man and why He created him.
Today we have considered the
goodness of God.
We have read what the prophet of God, David, wrote saying, "Taste and
see that the Lord is good!" Friends, have you really tasted the goodness of God?
Every day we taste and eat various foods that God has provided for us, but have
we really "tasted" and recognized God's goodness? If you really want
to taste the goodness of God you must listen to and believe the Word of God.
The Holy Scripture says: "Man does not live on bread
alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God." (Matt. 4:4) In our next
lesson, we will discover that man is not just a body, but also the owner of a
soul. Our souls must feed on the words of God. God's Word is so good and
incomparably wonderful, but we must hunger for it. Does your soul hunger for a
knowledge of God and His eternal Word as much as your stomach hungers for food?
If you hunger for the Word of God in this way, you will discover the Truth that
can give you a perfect peace with God here on earth and an incorruptible
inheritance in heaven above! We know that this is true, because God Himself
promises it, when He says: "Blessed are those who
hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled!"(Matt. 5:6) Amen.
Thank you for your attention. We urge you to join us
next time as we see how God created the first man and, even more important, why
God created him….
May God bless you and may you never forget His
wonderful invitation to you:
"Taste and see that
the Lord is good!" (Psa. 34:8)
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