Creation Days (Genesis 1)

Posted on April 10, 2015 by KD Manes under Bible Study

How many are your works, O LORD! In wisdom you made them all.” Psalm 104:24

God took great care to show us the chronology of His creation in six literal days.

The Meaning of Day

Yom—the Hebrew word for “day” in Genesis 1—is used both in the singular and plural form 2,301 times in the Old Testament. Although yom can have different meanings, similar to our English word “day”, the context in the Old Testament outside of Genesis 1 points to the literal 24-hour interpretation. Consider the following (Ken Ham, The Foundations):

The Hebrew word for day with a number [e.g., “. . . and the evening and the morning were the first day”] occurs 410 times, and always means an ordinary day.
The phrase “evening and morning” occurs 38 times, and always means an ordinary day.
The word “evening” with “day”, or “morning” with “day”, occurs 23 times, and always means ordinary day.
The word “night” with “day” occurs 52 times, and always means an ordinary day.
We also structure our week from God’s six 24-hour day creation week and seventh day of rest.

Creation Days

(source: AnswersinGenesis.org)
“For in six days God the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day.” – Exodus 20:11

Day One – Light (so there was light and darkness)
Day Two – Sky and water (waters separated)
Day Three – Land and seas (waters gathered); vegetation
Day Four – Sun, moon, and stars (to govern the day and the night and to mark seasons, days, and years)
Day Five – Fish and birds (to fill the waters and the sky
Day Six – Animals (to fill the earth), man and woman (to care for the earth and to commune with God)
Day Seven – God rested and declared all He had made to be very good

God’s Creativity and Power

God capped off His creation with Eve. (When Adam saw her, he whistled and said “Whoa! Man!”) 🙂 Instead of making her from the dust of the ground like Adam, He chose to sculpt her from Adam’s flesh and blood. This illustrates God’s intention of marriage between man and woman—beyond becoming best friends—to become one in unity and purpose. Marriage is also used to describe Christ and the church (Eph. 5:23, 32).

Of God’s other creation, Francis Chan, in Crazy Love, writes: “Why would God create more than 350,000,000 galaxies (and that is a conservative estimate) that generations of people never saw or even knew existed? Do you think maybe it was to make us say, “Wow, God is unfathomably big”? Or perhaps God wanted us to see these pictures so that our response would be, “Who do I think I am?”

Chan also reminds us of God’s detailed intricacy and diversity in His smaller creations:

A caterpillar has 228 separate and distinct muscles in its head.
The average elm tree has about 6 million leaves on it.
God made hundreds of different kinds of bananas; 3,000 different species of trees within one square mile in the Amazon jungle; and quite a variety of laughs—wheezes, snorts, silent, loud, obnoxious.

This list could go on and on. Chan has a great video called “Just Stop and Think”. When you have 15 minutes, I encourage you to see it below.

The Foundation of Foundations, Genesis 1:1

Posted on March 27, 2015 by KD Manes under Bible Study

The first verse in Genesis is foundational to this foundational chapter. Chapter one is also foundational to Genesis 1-11, which in turn is foundational to the rest of the Bible. I’m not trying to throw you a tongue twister. But . . . .

How one interprets this beginning statement/verse will affect one’s belief (or disbelief) in God. For if God created all things, He can also do all things.

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Henry M. Morris breaks down each word in this foundational verse. The following is a summary from his book, The Genesis Record.

God

The Hebrew name Elohim—which is used throughout the first chapter—stresses God’s majesty and omnipotence. Elohim is a plural name, but used with a singular meaning here, a “uni-plural” noun, suggesting the uni-plurality of the Godhead (Trinity). God is one, yet more than one.

Created

Bara means: only the work of God. Only an eternal, transcendent God can call into existence that which had no existence; the work of creation is God’s unique work (Rom. 4:17, Heb. 11:3). The only other alternative is to believe in eternal matter. But this violates the scientific law of cause and effect, since random particles of matter can’t—by themselves—form an orderly, complex, intelligible universe.

Heaven

This word in Hebrew is shamayim. Like Elohim, it is a plural noun, and can be used either as “heaven” or “heavens”. It doesn’t mean the stars of heaven (Gen. 1:16), which were made on the fourth day of Creation Week and make up the “host” of heaven rather than heaven itself (Gen. 2:1) . . . . In context, this word most likely refers to our modern term space: a component of space in our space-mass-time universe (“outer space”, “inner space”, “atmospheric space”).

Earth

Originally the earth was formless (Gen. 1:2). The Hebrew word erets means “ground” or “land”. This also refers to the basic elements of matter, which would be organized into the structured earth and later into other material bodies (planets, stars, etc.). It can refer to either a portion of earth, or the earth material in general (e.g., “Let the earth bring forth grass” -Gen 1:11).

“In the beginning”

This notes the beginning of time. Morris paraphrases Gen. 1:1 as the following: “The transcendent, omnipotent Godhead called into existence the space-mass-time universe.” These three components— space, mass, time—work together in our space continuum. Morris makes an interesting analogy: “God’s creative activity resulting in a tri-universe strongly suggests the Trinity of the Godhead. Elohim – God is one, but more than one: a continuum in which each component is itself coexistent and coterminous with the whole. That is, the universe is not part space, part time, and part matter, but rather all space, all time, all matter, and so is a true tri-unity/Trinity.” (Also see John 1:1: Jesus, “the Word” transcends the universe and was active in the creation process.)

So What?

Our world is not a product of random chance, but the result of a purposeful, powerful, loving, orderly Creator: God (Elohim).

“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth,” Genesis 1:1.

Genesis Overview

Posted on March 19, 2015 by KD Manes under Bible Study

Starlit skies, cascading waterfalls, towering mountain peaks . . . . How does one look at creation and not be amazed at God’s creative power? But with evolution smothering truth in most western schools, modern minds more likely ask: “How did I get here? Did God create the world? Or am I the result of a cosmic accident?”

Many theories abound on our origins, but only the Bible records a personal God who purposely created the universe and everything in it.

Genesis means “beginning” and sets the stage for the entire Bible. It records the origin of our world, human family, and civilization history from Creation to God choosing Israel as a nation through whom all nations would be blessed.

Creation Museum

The Creation Museum outlines seven major events in our history. The first four events are recorded in Genesis. The last three events result from God’s interventions to our disobedience:

Creation
Corruption
Catastrophe
Confusion
Christ
Cross
Consummation

Interesting Facts about Genesis

Author: Moses
Date: Around 1450-1410 B.C.
Genesis covers more time than all 65 books in the Bible combined (about 2,400 years).
The first 11 chapters—from Creation, the fall, the flood, and establishing the nations—span more than 2,000 years and 1,500 miles in the Fertile Crescent.
200 years span the middle section in Canaan (12-36).
Egypt dominates the final chapters (37-50) where God moves 70 people.

11 Accounts in Genesis:

Introduction to the Generations 1:1-2:3
Heaven and Earth, 2:4-4:26
Adam, 5:1-6:8
Noah, 6:9-9:29
Sons of Noah, 10:1-11:9
Shem, 11:10-26
Terah, 11:27-25:11
Ishmael, 25:12-18
Isaac, 25:19-35:29
Esau, 36:1-37:1
Jacob and Sons, 37:2-50:26

God’s character, promises and faithfulness are woven into this historical account. Master of using ordinary people in extraordinary ways, God’s plans light our darkest moments.

Genesis is our history.

Genesis sparks hope.

For a creative summary of Genesis 1-11, see the following video.

Overview of Romans

Posted on March 13, 2015 by KD Manes under Bible Study

In my last poll someone suggested I post a Bible study. Thus begins this journey. Beginning next week I will sequentially list the given Scripture passage. I won’t write out the entire passage, but may quote a verse or two, add interesting facts, expand on a given concept, and/or add poetry about the topic/passage.

The New Testament book of Romans seems a great starting point after exploring “Evangelism”.

Romans In a Nutshell

Sinners are saved only by faith in Jesus Christ.

Like a skilled lawyer, the apostle Paul presents the Good News—we are saved by grace (undeserved, unearned favor from God) through faith (complete trust) in Christ and His finished work on the cross. He further explains how this knowledge and living by the Holy Spirit’s power should affect our daily living.

Paul, like the other apostles, had never visited the church in Rome, but he had taken the gospel “from Jerusalem all the way around to Illyricum” (15:19). He planned to visit and preach in Rome someday. He also hoped to continue taking the gospel further westward to Spain. It’s unclear if Paul ever reached Spain or if he was executed in Rome after the end of the book of Acts.

roman-empire-map

The church in Rome began by Jews who came to faith during the Pentecost (Acts 2). A great number of Gentile converts also joined this growing church. Paul felt a bond with these Christian Romans, even though miles and obstacles separated them. In his letter, Paul introduces himself before presenting an organized and clear statement of his faith in Jesus Christ.

Statistics Please

Author: The apostle Paul
Date: About 57 AD, from Corinth near the end of Paul’s third missionary journey
Audience: Believers in Rome and believers everywhere
Purpose: 1) Paul was seeking support for his planned visit to Spain (15:24,28); 2) Paul sought to encourage the Romans to greater unity (14:1-15:13); 3) Paul wanted to explain his theology to the Romans and apply it to daily life issues.

Major Themes in Romans

Natural revelation – 1:20
The wrath of God – Ch. 1
A righteousness from God – Ch. 2
Abraham, a man of faith – Ch. 4
The benefits of believing – Ch. 12-15
Does justification by faith promote sin? Ch. 6
Life in the Spirit – Ch. 8
The triumph of believing – 8:26-30
What about the Jews?
Practical Christianity – Ch. 12
The obligations of love – Ch. 13

Hope you’ll join me next week!

Winter/Spring Update

Posted on March 13, 2015 by KD Manes under Uncategorized

Although it’s not official, spring has been knocking on our door the past few weeks. Bunnies, robins, tulip greens—along with a few weeds—have arrived in the Inland Northwest.

Living on the Palouse with its rolling hills and maze of changing colors is breathtaking, especially in spring! I love that the deadness of winter gives way to new life and growth.

New life. I’m thankful for the new life God offers us through His Son, Jesus, as revealed in His Word.

Growth. Yes—as my kids remind me—growing pains hurt! But I’m grateful God pursues and stretches us as He shapes us more into His likeness. I’m thankful He doesn’t leave us in our wretched sinful condition, unless we choose. But, rather pursues us with His great love and patience, orchestrating all our seasons.

Speaking of seasons, all three of my kids have wrapped up their basketball seasons.

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Cameron (14) and Jon (12) are stepping into baseball, while Annie (9) looks forward to volleyball.

Our local girls’ varsity had a fantastic season with their seventh consecutive WA 1B State Championship and record setting 71 consecutive wins.

Coming from one of the smallest schools, from the smallest class, and still being so successful is a sweet reminder: God’s not limited by our “smallness”. (Related post: Training or Trying.)

Thank you for your visits and for hanging in there with me through the lengthy study of Romans. God has taught, challenged, and encouraged me through this study. Wherever you are in Bible Study and/or Christian walk, I wish God’s blessings for you.

My next Bible study will journey back to our beginnings: Genesis. I hope you’ll join me. Your thoughts and insights are always welcome.

Although I can’t meet most of you personally over coffee, know that you are loved and appreciated!

And if you live in the eastern U.S., hang in there, spring’s coming!