Genesis 1-2:3 2011 Larry F.

Hodges
Genes|s 1123
What can we |earn from Genes|s 1 about God?
God |s |ura|!
O Cod (Llohlm) ls plural ln Pebrew LeL us make" (Cenesls 126)
O plrlL of Cod (Cenesls 12 AcLs 18)
O esus ls Cod (ohn 1114 ohn 103033)
O aLher on and Poly plrlL (MaLLhew 281920)

oundaLlon for Lhe uocLrlne of Lhe 1rlnlLy of Cod Cne Cod 1hree ersons" (aLher on Poly plrlL)
O 1he word 1rlnlLy does noL appear ln Lhe 8lble buL ls LaughL lndlrecLly ln Lhe 8lble 1he concepL
explalns Lhe dlvlnlLy of esus and Lhe Poly plrlL whlle afflrmlng monoLhelsm
O 1he docLrlne ls formally deflned ln Lhe nlcene Creed (323 Au) whlch declares esus Lo be Cod of Cod
LlghL of LlghL very Cod of very Cod begoLLen noL made belng of one subsLance wlLh Lhe aLher

God ex|sted before t|me and h|story began (Cenesls 11 ohn 173 24 ll 1lmoLhy 19b)
God |s the Creator of the un|verse (Cenesls 11 salm 8911 nehemlah 96 salm 1022327)
O ln verse 1 Lhe heavens" (hashamaylm) seems Lo refer Lo Lhe enLlre unlverse (Col 116) LaLer Lhe
same word ls used locally Lo refer Lo Lhe aLmosphere (Cenesls 1820)
O Cod broughL order ouL of chaos and fllled lL wlLh llfe and llghL (formless empLy darkness)
O 1he sun moon and sLars are noL gods or heavenly belngs buL were creaLed by Cod for a purpose (glve
llghL and mark seasons days and yearsLhey are dependable) (Cenesls 11418 ueuLeronomy 419)
O And Cod saldand lL was so" Cod spoke everyLhlng lnLo exlsLence WhaL Cod wllls occurs (salm
3369)
O Cod's creaLlon was good" (Cenesls 14101218212331)
O 1he LexL ls hlghly organlzed Lo emphaslze Lhe orderllness of creaLlon
ome lmpllcaLlons
O anLhelsm (Cod ls ldenLlcal wlLh Lhe unlverse) ls noL a ChrlsLlan ldea
O naLurallsm (reallLy ls exhausLed by naLure conLalnlng noLhlng 'supernaLural' and LhaL Lhe sclenLlflc
meLhod should be used Lo lnvesLlgaLe all areas of reallLy lncludlng Lhe 'human splrlL') ls Loo llmlLed an
ldea for ChrlsLlans
O Pumanlsm (a phllosophy LhaL usually re[ecLs supernaLurallsm and sLresses an lndlvlduals dlgnlLy and
worLh and capaclLy for selfreallzaLlon Lhrough reason) ls Loo llmlLed an ldea for ChrlsLlans Powever
we do value lndlvlduals because Cod does
O Lvll was noL a parL of Cod's orlglnal creaLlon lL ls a resulL of rebelllon
O Cod creaLed sLrucLure 1he unlverse ls noL chaoLlc and unsLrucLured 1hls ldea ls aL Lhe hearL of
sclenLlflc lnqulry lf we run an ldenLlcal experlmenL under Lhe same condlLlons we wlll geL Lhe same
resulL noL a random resulL (peed of llghL Avogadro's number unlversal gravlLaLlonal consLanL
newLonlan mechanlcs 6 klneLlc energy mass eLc)
O 1lme has a beglnnlng (and an end eg MaLL 1349) CLher anclenL rellglons were prlmarlly concerned
wlLh Lhe cycllc naLure of Lhe seasons MosL LasLern rellglons vlew Llme as a perlodlc recurrence
ChrlsLlans vlew Llme and hlsLory as llnear Llnear Llme ls also Lhe vlew of modern sclence